Aston Martin and Airbus provided the Cheltenham Design Festival with a glimpse into their most remarkable work: past, present and future.
Debating the question: ‘Who cares about the future of design?’ the Cheltenham Design Festival ran from 11-14 April at the Parabola Arts Centre (owned by the Cheltenham Ladies’ College), itself an award-winning combination of spaces, designed by Foster Wilson Architects.
Two years ago, seven local professionals committed to ensuring the future of good design set up, and became Trustees of, the Cheltenham Design Foundation. It runs the Festival and the Cheltenham Design Academy, a free Saturday school for 14-16-year-olds. Malcolm Chapman MIMechE is one of the Trustees.
Malcolm made good use of his contacts, including the Aerospace Division of the Institution, to bring in some of the speakers and sponsors at the Festival. He explained how 2013 has built on last year’s inaugural success. Speaking about the engineering-themed events in the line-up, he said: “In 2012 the Bloodhound team did a fantastic presentation here. The evidence of years of development and the thrill of the model car and 1,000mph simulator were a great hit.”
Among the forty events featuring this year were two presentations from Ian Minards FIMechE, Director Product Development at Aston Martin, and Marek Reichman, Design Director. In ‘Under the Bonnet’, they took an enthralled group on an exclusive hands-on tour (complete with rain-break) of the DB9 Volante, the four-door Rapide S and the Vanquish, three of the four cars in the current range, which were parked outside. Later, they returned to guide a captivated audience through ‘100 Years of Aston Martin’, exploring the power, beauty and soul of these quintessentially British cars in a lively and information-packed hour.
Car buffs young and old were encouraged to run their hands over the cars’ exteriors (built under strong lights that identify miniscule flaws: no Aston Martin contains impurities in its bodywork); to feel the fabric and leather hand-stitched interiors; to see the windscreen wipers in action (thanks to the rain); to sit in the cars and – particularly impressive – to marvel at the windows.
Ian said: “When we were presenting the cars, the biggest gasp came when we displayed the window sections moving together. The front and rear windows on the four-door Rapide S, from the side view, form a beautiful, uninterrupted shape (unlike on conventional cars). When closing the doors, these sections of glass perform an almost imperceptible retraction and rise, which perfects their alignment; the sound is synchronised with the closing mechanism. It’s an understated, but wonderful, detail.”
The youngest attendee, Adam Walters, aged eight-and-three-quarters, said the cars were “very exciting!” and other members of the enthusiastic and delighted audience called the tour of the cars, and the passion and insight that Ian and Marek showed, “absolutely brilliant” and “inspiring”.
The evening’s presentation was an entertaining road-trip through the history of Aston Martin, from 1913 to the present day. Light-hearted but instructive, Ian and Marek shared engineering and design insights into the earliest models and on through the company’s first 100 years of production. The audience learned of its design high points (arguably the DB5) and more challenging designs (the ‘muscle cars’ of the 1970s and ‘80s); the marque’s relationship with 007; its varied styles, performance strengths and the twists and turns of business. Some features, such as the introduction of aluminium in the 1920s, remain an integral part of the marque; others, such as the characteristic grille (originally the radiator), have transformed with time. Ian explained the VH Architecture principle that has featured across the Aston Martin range over the last decade and underpins the company’s increased sales in that period. He also spoke with energy about the ways in which Aston Martin engineers must look for solutions to problems – such as bodywork compliance with pedestrian protection legislation – which break new ground and never compromise on design.
Ian clearly felt that passion is the fuel in engineering excellence. He explained: “When I look at our cars I can see the faces of all those who have worked on them. What we’re looking for in our industry are hard-working engineers, designers and craftspeople with a passion to develop new ideas and go that extra mile.”
Marek stated that both he and Ian view design and engineering as independent functions but believe that they are inextricably linked. “Without Ian,” he said, “the cars simply wouldn’t go anywhere.” Ian went one better: “Without Marek, I couldn’t do my job!”
Dr Norman Wood’s fascinating presentation, ‘Fly Like a Bird: Biomimicry at Airbus’ illustrated how aerodynamicists are taking inspiration from nature to improve flight efficiency, reduce fuel emissions and meet the increasing demand for air travel.
“Biodiversity,” Dr Wood said, “is the engineer’s library. We see what the natural world can do as part of its everyday life, and it shows us what might be possible for our future.”
Illustrating a range of birds’ different behaviours and energy efficiency in low or high flight, in noise generation, thrust and formation flight, Dr Wood presented an accessible and inspiring insight into the future of aircraft design. From humming-birds to peregrines; shark skins to lotus leaves, different creatures and features of nature continue to inform aeronautical developments. He pointed out that the aircraft of 2050 will be designed in the 2020s, accentuating the need to encourage youngsters to engage with the disciplines of engineering and to develop an awareness of the world around them.
Other events included:
An audience with Richard Seymour
A characteristically passionate talk by Richard Seymour, a leader in innovative design for 30 years, touched on DNA-based mass storage, permissions, genetics and ethnology as he urged designers simply to ‘make things better for people.’ Invoking Steve Jobs, he encouraged our imaginations to catch up with our technical capabilities, saying: “Stand in the future and drag the present towards you.”
Reinventing the wheel
David Constantine’s inspiring story: after designing an award-winning wheelchair suitable for use in developing countries, David and his colleagues set up Motivation in 1991 and now have outlets throughout the world. Navigating business, flat-packing (thanks to a partnership with B&Q), and with the support of medical clinicians, Motivation’s wheelchairs have radically improved the quality of life for many of the most disadvantaged wheelchair users in the world. In addition to helping people of all ages, including David himself, who is quadriplegic, Motivation empowers people through sport: David was joined on stage by T34 Paralympian racer Melissa Nicholls.
Designing the Future
Four studio workshops encouraged children to have a go at drawing, photography, invention and illustration. Mark Champkins, inventor-in-residence at the Science Museum, facilitated the ‘Ideas Lab’, during which he encouraged 25 under-10s – each armed with a pot of play-doh and some writing materials – to generate an idea; write about, draw or model it; name it; give it a logo and prepare a pitch. From the ‘spy animal hotel’ to the ‘computer lunch box’ it was a fun-packed, dynamic hour, which may have spawned some inventions of the future.
For more information:
http://www.astonmartin.com/en/aston-martin-centenary
http://www.airbus.com/innovation/future-by-airbus
http://www.motivation.org.uk/
http://cheltenhamdesignfestival.com/academy/