Życie rzeczy i życie z rzeczami. Jak badać urządzanie mieszkań w PRL-u?

The history of Polish industrial design, as the area deprived of institutional setting, has not developed independent research tools. To a large extent, it relies on methodologies hammered in the circles of Anglo-Saxon history of design which, in turn, has been struggling with its own identity and definition of the discipline from the very beginning. On top of methodological issues typical of the world design history, there is the Polish characteristic, which – especially in reference to the period after the Second World War – is indicated by economic context, that is the centrally controlled economy. This context should be particularly taken into account in the case of studies in the area of consumption. This article, in reference to methodological issues regarding design history from the perspective of material culture studies, presents methodological proposals related to the study of the Polish material culture of the People’s Republic period (PRL). The discussion is based on the example of the work on the history of Polish apartments in the years 1944–1989, featured in the book Futerał. O urządzaniu mieszkań w PRL-u. Keywords: history of design in the Polish People's Republic (PRL), consumerism, material culture, wall unit, Polish People's Republic (PRL)