Penny Sparke

Penelope Anne "Penny" Sparke (born 6 November 1948) is a British writer and academic specialising in the history of design. She has been Professor of Design History at Kingston University, London, since 1999, where she is also Director of the Modern Interiors Research Centre.

Early life and education Sparke was born on 6 November 1948 in London, England. She studied French Literature at Sussex University between 1967 and 1971, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. She remained at Sussex to undertake a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), which she completed in 1972. Sparke was awarded an honorary degree from the University for the Creative Arts in 2016.

Academic career From 1975 to 1982, Sparke was a lecturer in design history at Brighton Polytechnic (now the University of Brighton). In 1999, she joined Kingston University, London, where she had been appointed Professor of Design History. Her areas of specialism include design history, history of the modern interior, and design and gender.

Other work In 2007, Sparke, worked as a consultant for Pyrex helping with the communication project for their new cookware range designed by George Sowden.

She was previously the Course Director of the V&A Museum/Royal College of Art Postgraduate History of Design Programme.

Sparke is Chair of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Design History, published by the Design History Society.

Selected works 1982 Ettore Sottsass Jnr. Design Council 1983 Consultant Design: The History and Practice of the Designer in Industry, Pembridge Press 1986 An Introduction to Design and Culture in the 20th Century, Allen and Unwin, 1986 Modern Furniture, Bell and Hyman 1986 Japanese Design, Michael Joseph 1987 Electrical Appliances, Bell and Hyman, 1987 Design in Context, Bloomsbury, 1988 Italian Design, from 1870 to the present, Thames and Hudson 1995 As Long As It’s Pink: The Sexual Politics of Taste, Pandora 1998 A Century of Design: Design Pioneers of the Twentieth-Century, Mitchell Beazley, 2001 Design Directory: Great Britain, Howard 2002 A Century of Car Design, Mitchell Beazley, 2004 An Introduction to Design and Culture: 1900 to the present, Routledge, 2005 Elsie de Wolfe: The Birth of Modern Interior Decoration, Acanthus Press, 2008 The Modern Interior, Reaktion Books, 2010 The Genius of Design, Quadrille Publishing Ltd,