The Tennessee Valley authority

The Tennessee Valley Authority, or TVA, was chartered by Congress in 1933 with purpose of bettering the lives of the poorest population of the United States residing in the watershed of the Tennessee River, an area woven through seven states. This infrastructural project with social purpose set out to control floods, improve navigability, reforest hills, advance agriculture, foment industry, and create electrical power and progress for a population living largely in rural isolation. What is not generally known is the degree to which design was the protagonist that propelled the TVA's success. The Tennessee Valley Authority: Design and Persuasion, edited by Tim Culvahouse, recovers this history in a thoroughly enlightening story, in essays addressing all scales of the project, from the grand remaking of the territorial landscape, to the iconic structures of the 34 dams, to the detailing of the machines and the graphic design of the PR campaign posters.