Trip to London
Week 9 of our contemporary design culture class took us once more outside of limerick to broaden our view on design and give us some new experiences to take away from the module. This time however we went across the water to London to explore the city and all it had to offer. Having never been to London before it was completely mind-blowing to say the least, I had such preconceived ideas of what it was but I couldn’t have been more wrong, its immense in both its size and its cultural differences with an endless amount of new experiences to offer. 3 days might seem plenty of time to explore anywhere but I don’t think you’d ever fully discover a place like London even if you spent your whole life there. Throughout the course of our stay there, there was so much to take in on our every day tours. We made good use of the tube and got a good viewing of the different points of interest around. As we walked around I took a few pictures of things I found interesting, as you see below.
What you’re looking at here is a feature of a robotic arm in the design museum in London, the idea of this exhibit was to show how emotion can be simulated through artificial intelligence and how we are able to be tricked into having emotional feeling towards an inanimate object through the use of a few simple movement that might simulate that of a dog or another person. As regards to the design of the robot it is designed to make it relative to a living creature with the sensor on the end of it similar in design to a head. The overall shape of the robot is quite robust although through the use of white colouring and added gloss the item is made more appealing and a lot less intimidating to the user. The covering of the mechanisms and most of the electrical work also gives it more of a sleek look. Without all of these additions to the basic structure the robot would have a very industrial look to it and it would ultimately defeat its purpose making it harder to find emotion in it.
30 St Mary Axe or better known as the gherkin is an icon of London city standing 40 stories tall in the Financial district in London. The gherkin was designed by an architect called Norman foster, construction began in 2001 and was completed by the end of 2003. Essentially the gherkin is an elongated and twisted shaft which in my take on it is similar in style to that of a bullet. I find the geometry incorporates into the curve quite appealing and how the curves spiralling around the building are the make-up of the internal triangles. These triangles provide structural integrity to the building as well as a very appealing sight looking into its outside glass surface. Shafts are also built into the building running through it to provide ventilation as well as lights to various parts of the building.
The last piece that I have found and chose to review is the head of invention which is located outside of the design museum in London. The piece was made by a Scottish sculptor known as Eduardo Paolozzi in 1989. The sculpture itself is made from bronze and laid on its side along lengths of timber. The piece is of a human head divided into sections in which there is quotations set. Near the chin of the head are some gears. At the top and bottom of the head are exposed bits of machinery in which are meant to represent the brains. Paolozzi intended to capture a representation of how we can fit into the modern world to resemble or fragmented civilisation through creativity.
