Mr. Shuman and Ms. Monforton are both modernists, with little patience for fussy or nostalgic design, and house hunting was becoming a blur of irritating Victoriana.
The project that most encapsulates Johnson's mayoralty, the New Routemaster was to represent a triumphant return to the glory days of London transport with a nostalgic design that would bring back conductors and a "hop on, hop off" back door, as well as be more fuel efficient – with all costs "borne by the industry".
The old-fashioned instrument panel and steering wheel, to our eyes, seem more hokey than cool more like ornaments to jazz up a bland cockpit than integral elements of a truly killer, nostalgic design (say, that of the controls in Ford's GT supercar, which is also nostalgic but much sharper-looking and more of a piece).
His somewhat nostalgic designs are inspired, he said, by an amalgam of period influences: old botanical engravings, Romany culture and Dust Bowl portraits, to name a few.
In this way, though, Shakerism — the enthusiasm of the Shaker design, and the accompanying cult of box and broom — is not merely a nostalgic invention.
Instead of tailoring our activities to fit the viewing tastes of a prime-time audience, we relived our Clown College days with nostalgic events designed to test how well our professional skills had weathered the passage of time.
Recent introductions of nostalgic auto designs have reached sales plateaus in a few years, so it is logical to assume that the SSR will enjoy some time in the limelight before it moves from center stage, as the T-Bird, the PT Cruiser and the Volkswagen New Beetle already have.
Sarah Potter of SP Projects sees New Futurism as a natural evolution of the New Media genre, showcasing "the way artists are embracing new technology while still holding a nostalgic reference to design and color palette".
Or rather, hot: the technology that helped usher in the Industrial Revolution shows up these days in neo-nostalgic steampunk fiction, design and fashion.
It marks the next stage in global domination for Kidston's nostalgic floral print designs, seized upon by "yummy mummies", which are now sold through nearly 200 shops across the UK, Europe and Asia, including a store opened in Shanghai last month.
But by the 1970's, modern architecture was often seen as cold and soulless, and it fell out of favor, giving way to a more nostalgic, historicist approach to design.
