Visit to London’s Design Museum by Form 4 Design students

18th November 2009

The emphasis of the day was to gain a better understanding of design, the responsibilities of the designer and two of its disciplines; Architecture and Ergonomics.

We saw an exhibition by David Chipperfield, who is of one of Britain’s leading architects. He has a huge international reputation and completed buildings in China, Japan, Italy, USA, Spain and Germany. Chipperfield produces subtle and sophisticated buildings, from museums to homes.

The second exhibition focussed on Ergonomics, which is the science and discipline of designing products, systems and environments. From the humble tape measure and TV remote control, to the vast and complex areas of transport systems and medical care, ergonomics improves how we interact with the world around us. Through prototypes, interactive displays and examples of ergonomic design, the exhibition revealed the importance of ergonomics for the real world.

The planned Design Museum visit was unfortunately curtailed, due to the volume of traffic in London that morning, but pupils still had time to soak in the visuals and take note of how real designers communicate and the approaches and strategies used.

After the visit, we cruised down the Thames, from Tower to Westminster Pier and a brief sight was caught of Her Majesty the Queen on her way to the State Opening of Parliament. A trip on the London Eye was the last highlight, before setting off up the A1 towards home.