0:00:02 > 0:00:06The new Design Museum is opening in Kensington, London.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10Masterpieces of design are arriving.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17It's a showcase for the genius of design
0:00:17 > 0:00:19which has inspired the world.
0:00:22 > 0:00:23Since the Second World War,
0:00:23 > 0:00:28designers have revolutionised every aspect of our lives.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38And there's some design masterpieces
0:00:38 > 0:00:42you don't even have to visit a museum to experience.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56We want to celebrate ten great British designers
0:00:56 > 0:01:00who are pioneers of the past and trailblazers today.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10We will follow the trail of these ingenious designers
0:01:10 > 0:01:13from the 1960s to the present.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16In the '60s and '70s,
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Sir Kenneth Grange and Sir Terence Conran
0:01:19 > 0:01:22were among Britain's design superstars.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Habitat was really cool when I was young.
0:01:24 > 0:01:30And designer Margaret Calvert left her mark on British roads.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32In the 1980s and '90s,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35pioneering designers such as Rick Dickinson
0:01:35 > 0:01:39helped introduce computers to our homes.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44And Trevor Baylis brought wind-up radios to remote parts of the world.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48In fact, it was just here I made the wind-up radio.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53Before the end of the 20th century, Andrew Ritchie gave us
0:01:53 > 0:01:56a bike you could almost put in your pocket.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01David Constantine created stylish and affordable wheelchairs
0:02:01 > 0:02:05for sports and rugged terrain in the developing world.
0:02:05 > 0:02:10Apple products by Jonathan Ive took the world by storm.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13The job of the designer is to have a vision
0:02:13 > 0:02:15and a sense of where we can go.
0:02:15 > 0:02:16And in the new millennium,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20design engineer Roma Agrawal helped give shape
0:02:20 > 0:02:23to Europe's tallest skyscraper - the Shard.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27You must enjoy the view, but you also need to look up.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Every time I saw it, I thought, is it finished?
0:02:30 > 0:02:33And the design team of Barber & Osgerby...
0:02:33 > 0:02:37All we could stare at was the flame, making sure it was still alight.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40..designed a torch that captured the spirit of the Olympics
0:02:40 > 0:02:41and the attention of billions.
0:02:53 > 0:02:59Kenneth Grange is sometimes called the man who designed everything.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02I got into this game at a time
0:03:02 > 0:03:05when there were very few of us
0:03:05 > 0:03:08and I'd managed to build a reputation
0:03:08 > 0:03:11by the funny accident of being asked to do a big variety of things.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15You name it, I did almost anything in sight.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20From kitchen appliances to parking meters,
0:03:20 > 0:03:23from disposable razors to bus shelters.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27How many drops of rain have I saved from falling on people?
0:03:27 > 0:03:30And if it's not quite a big enough roof to keep them all dry,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33I've got to have a good answer for that.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35In the post-war era,
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Kenneth Grange has been Britain's moderniser-in-chief.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44It's silly, isn't it? Such a simple thing,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47but how sharp you can make this cut-off here,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50the actual importance in the whole thing, and therefore
0:03:50 > 0:03:53what the designer ought to spend a lot of time worrying about,
0:03:53 > 0:03:54is how well it pours.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58Kenneth Grange believes designers should have to live with
0:03:58 > 0:04:00what they design.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03You'll notice a big mouth here to get the water in easily.
0:04:03 > 0:04:04Very important.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08And for the past 20 years, he's been using the Kenwood kettle
0:04:08 > 0:04:11he designed to make himself tea,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14along with millions of others around the world.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18- KETTLE CLICKS - Magic click.
0:04:18 > 0:04:19Lift it off.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Pour the lovely water through the lovely spout.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25Cut off neatly, you see. No dribbles.
0:04:27 > 0:04:28And we're in business.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37After the war, people who had been making armaments went back to
0:04:37 > 0:04:40what they used to make, which was in one case, I know,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42irons for ironing your clothes.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Between the time that I was given the job of
0:04:46 > 0:04:52updating the electric iron and its original inception
0:04:52 > 0:04:54was probably 30-something years.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59"Newness" was a word that we might well have used instead of "design".
0:04:59 > 0:05:04Design was a very little-used word in our language at the time.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06'Hey, lady, forget all that.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09'Meet the swinging, mixing, mincing, slicing,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11- 'shredding Kenwood Chef.' - Ooh!
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Behind the cult status of some of his design successes,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17such as the Kenwood Chef,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20are savvy insights into the psyche of consumers,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23which go deeper than appearances.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26We read a lot into the weight of things.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28So when you pick something up,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32in that moment you make an assumption about its value.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Slightly heavier says longer life, better value, etc.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41So I asked them to use a particular material
0:05:41 > 0:05:46that is heavier and certainly weightier in the fingers
0:05:46 > 0:05:49and it's over-engineered to the point where
0:05:49 > 0:05:51it will last through two or three generations.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Sooner or later, that gets to be known in the marketplace.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58What better merit can you give a product
0:05:58 > 0:06:01than knowing it's actually going to outlast you?
0:06:01 > 0:06:03Is there anything the Kenwood Chef can't do?
0:06:06 > 0:06:08Since the 1960s,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12disposable razors have grown into a multibillion-pound industry.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18And Kenneth Grange came up with several compelling designs.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26It's such a big business that anything goes.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31If you make a blunder and you go to the market
0:06:31 > 0:06:33with a razor with ten blades
0:06:33 > 0:06:37and you get some bad press because somebody, quite rightly,
0:06:37 > 0:06:41points out that eight of them don't do anything at all,
0:06:41 > 0:06:43then you can go back to the market with two -
0:06:43 > 0:06:44but two new super-blades!
0:06:46 > 0:06:50A major commercial success was the Wilkinson Chrome Protector.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54I think you always aim to tell different stories.
0:06:54 > 0:06:59So the chrome version, for example, implies that it has a longer life,
0:06:59 > 0:07:04which then reflects upon the cutting efficiency of the blades.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Behind that little thing that you scrape your face with
0:07:07 > 0:07:09is a set of miracles of engineering.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13And I've often got the glory, when in fact the real heroes are
0:07:13 > 0:07:16the people who invented the thing in the beginning.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22When his design work moved from the private to the public sector,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26Kenneth Grange helped push British Rail into the future.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32Initially hired to design the paint job for a diesel engine
0:07:32 > 0:07:37in development, Kenneth Grange took his brief a giant step further.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42At his own initiative, he developed and began to test in a wind tunnel
0:07:42 > 0:07:44an entirely new shape.
0:07:47 > 0:07:5140 years on, the InterCity 125 remains
0:07:51 > 0:07:54a workhorse of British rail networks,
0:07:54 > 0:07:57and Sir Kenneth Grange continues to bask
0:07:57 > 0:08:00in the glory of his design masterpiece.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04The 125s were simply the best,
0:08:04 > 0:08:06best British train we've ever designed.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09Record producer Pete Waterman
0:08:09 > 0:08:12is one of Britain's most enthusiastic train collectors.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16His home can be mistaken for a railway museum.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Not only were they absolutely fantastic looking
0:08:20 > 0:08:22but, I mean, they went like sugar off a shovel
0:08:22 > 0:08:24and they rode brilliantly.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29I mean, still we have not bettered the bogeys on these 125s.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32Out of the blue the director of the railways came to me one day
0:08:32 > 0:08:35and said, "They're going to develop an alternative version
0:08:35 > 0:08:37"of a high-speed train."
0:08:37 > 0:08:40And they produced a model, a rather clumsy-looking thing,
0:08:40 > 0:08:44and the director came to me and said, "This is what they..."
0:08:44 > 0:08:46meaning the engineers, "..are going to make.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48"Would you decorate it for us?"
0:08:48 > 0:08:51And I did that, but I'd got sufficient time and they paid me
0:08:51 > 0:08:56well enough that I started thinking about what shape it could be,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58out of just my own interest.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00We made a variety of models
0:09:00 > 0:09:03which we took down to the Imperial College
0:09:03 > 0:09:04and tried out in the wind tunnel,
0:09:04 > 0:09:08and gradually developed a shape that had aerodynamics
0:09:08 > 0:09:11as its real, essential ambition.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16And so when the day came to give them my new livery for their model,
0:09:16 > 0:09:20I did that and also gave them my model, which they hadn't asked for.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23And, to their everlasting credit,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26they bought the arguments that I propounded.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30Suddenly trains aren't just about first-class travel.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Life isn't about people who have money and don't have money,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37and I do think that comes through in things like the InterCity 125.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39It wasn't just about people
0:09:39 > 0:09:41who could afford good design,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44but that good design should be for everybody.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49So it turned into a very important job in my life.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00For a long time, it stood as an icon of modernism in the railways.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05And I am particularly proud of the fact that I think
0:10:05 > 0:10:10it's come to mean quite a lot to a lot of people inside the industry.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Every single day, millions of people are expected
0:10:20 > 0:10:24to pay close attention to the designs of Margaret Calvert.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26And they've been doing so for over 50 years.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34There are hundreds of thousands of miles of roadways in Britain,
0:10:34 > 0:10:36punctuated by millions of road signs.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42And rare is the driver who gives their design a passing thought.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48These road signs have a simplicity and uniformity that was part of
0:10:48 > 0:10:52a radical rethink of road signs more than 50 years ago...
0:10:54 > 0:10:57..and more than anyone else, owe their appearance...
0:10:58 > 0:11:01..to Margaret Calvert.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03I do remember Jock saying, you know,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05"If this actually takes off,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08"it's going to be the biggest job ever
0:11:08 > 0:11:12"that any graphic design team have undertaken."
0:11:12 > 0:11:13And he was right.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18A designer named Jock Kinnear and his former student,
0:11:18 > 0:11:22Margaret Calvert, were the two key people who the government
0:11:22 > 0:11:27would entrust with this radical rethink of the nation's road signs.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31I have a slight girly crush on Margaret Calvert.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33She won't be aware of this
0:11:33 > 0:11:35and she won't be interested, particularly,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38but I do think she is sort of a bit of a genius.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42This is a woman who revolutionised road travel.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46I never tell people that I've been involved in it
0:11:46 > 0:11:48and people think it weird anyway.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53They don't think anyone designs something that simple, it just is.
0:11:54 > 0:11:59In the 1950s, road signs were haphazard and dangerous.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04Cars were becoming more affordable and a routine part of daily life.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Traffic jams were a new phenomenon.
0:12:10 > 0:12:16Modern roadways were a solution that would also help connect the country.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19The government would undertake one of its most ambitious
0:12:19 > 0:12:22post-war infrastructure projects -
0:12:22 > 0:12:26to start construction of the M1 motorway.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30I was really in the deep end.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33There weren't many woman like me then.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40What we were designing was to be read at speed and, of course,
0:12:40 > 0:12:45it had to be very simple, and most importantly,
0:12:45 > 0:12:49to use upper and lower case letters,
0:12:49 > 0:12:54because you read, as you know, word shape for a town.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59White on blue was chosen for the motorway,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03because the blue sits very well in Britain's landscape.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07The Road Research Laboratory
0:13:07 > 0:13:12would test the visibility of these handmade road sign prototypes.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16It all sounds a bit of a joke, but they would put the signs
0:13:16 > 0:13:20on the top of a car and then they would drive the car
0:13:20 > 0:13:23towards the men sitting on this platform
0:13:23 > 0:13:26and they would say when they could read it.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32Margaret would also design a series of warning pictograms.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40There are children crossing signs all over the world
0:13:40 > 0:13:45and we obviously wanted one to be unique for this country.
0:13:45 > 0:13:52What I felt was important was that they looked very active,
0:13:52 > 0:13:57so that you would really take note and think "slow down".
0:13:57 > 0:14:04I thought, why don't we have a girl leading a small boy,
0:14:04 > 0:14:08because it was the other way round before. That's what I did.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11It was quite a feminist statement then to say it's a girl
0:14:11 > 0:14:15leading a boy by the hand. Taking her little brother to school.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18It's not the big brother taking the little girl to school.
0:14:18 > 0:14:24I wasn't conscious of that being a feminism statement at all,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26it just never entered my head.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Well, I'm going to foist that feminist statement on her,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32whether she likes it or not! I think, sometimes, if you're
0:14:32 > 0:14:35a go-getting woman in a man's world,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37particularly mid-20th century,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40you don't even know you're being a feminist.
0:14:40 > 0:14:41Well, you just think "Why not?"
0:14:41 > 0:14:45So you do it. Nobody questioned it at the time.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50Obviously you work at keeping it as simple as possible,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53because you don't want it to date.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Margaret's work is absolutely constant.
0:14:56 > 0:14:57It still looks clean and fresh.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59It does its job so well as well,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01so it's almost the ultimate luxury.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05When we were thinking and beginning to design Autumn-Winter '15
0:15:05 > 0:15:08as a collection and just thinking about the beauty,
0:15:08 > 0:15:10but also the kind of humour that there is
0:15:10 > 0:15:12in some of the words and the instructions.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14This sort of double entendre, if you like.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20It's sort of become iconic and, again, if you would change it,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23to change anything now would cost an awful lot of money.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27This particular Anya Hindmarsh designer bag,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30made out of genuine python snakeskin,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34will only set you back about £3,000.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39The roadworks sign, the joke quickly arose,
0:15:39 > 0:15:43"Oh, it looks like a man having difficulty with a large umbrella."
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Well, of course, the minute someone says that
0:15:46 > 0:15:48and you look at it,
0:15:48 > 0:15:50that's exactly what it does look like.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55If somebody wants to come up with a different design, then fine,
0:15:55 > 0:15:59but at the moment, it's lasted nearly all my lifetime,
0:15:59 > 0:16:03over 50 years, so that's great.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14Some designers give a new look to what already exists.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18Others, like Rick Dickinson, face the rare design challenge
0:16:18 > 0:16:22of giving shape to an entirely new era.
0:16:23 > 0:16:30In 1982, the age of the personal computer arrived in Britain.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33No product like it existed.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36You were creating something that simply didn't exist.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42Rick Dickinson was responsible for the revolutionary design of
0:16:42 > 0:16:45the new and powerful ZX Spectrum computer,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48produced by Sinclair Research.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50In the Sinclair days, I lived in Cambridge.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52Just about everybody's house I went to had a Sinclair computer,
0:16:52 > 0:16:54and often I'd be going into a house
0:16:54 > 0:16:57and they had no idea that I'd been the industrial designer.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59So that was quite nice.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03I rarely let on that I had a hand in that.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09The Spectrum would capture the imagination of millions
0:17:09 > 0:17:13who would buy their first home computer.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16It was designed to connect with television sets.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18It had word processing capacity.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22It was the first Sinclair computer with colour.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Its wildfire success was its addictive appeal
0:17:25 > 0:17:27to use with video games.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31And all this computer power was stuffed inside
0:17:31 > 0:17:34what appeared to be just a keyboard.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38This is the very raw beginnings of the product development
0:17:38 > 0:17:41and certainly this is the starting point for the industrial design,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43because it's the user interface.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47Here's a clear development of the keyboard through sketches.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50It was a question of, "Well, guys, what should this look like?
0:17:50 > 0:17:51"I have no idea."
0:17:53 > 0:17:57Graphics is critical in terms of helping people find their way
0:17:57 > 0:17:59around the usability of the product.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03This is adding additional layers of data.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05Some of the keys have already got one, two, three, four,
0:18:05 > 0:18:07five items of information,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11and here I've just quickly picked out a single key
0:18:11 > 0:18:15to help me decide where data could be located.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18Lego is here!
0:18:18 > 0:18:20As an industrial designer to be,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22the young Rick Dickinson found
0:18:22 > 0:18:26some of his earliest design inspirations in Lego.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30All my birthday presents and Christmas presents would be Lego,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32and you'd always run out of a particular brick
0:18:32 > 0:18:35that you happened to be using a lot of.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37And it's the improvisation I loved.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43I should think it's been at least 30 years
0:18:43 > 0:18:47since I ever touched a Spectrum keyboard.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50And certainly wired up to a game like this!
0:18:50 > 0:18:52- COMPUTER BEEPS - I love the sound.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55I'd forgotten how attractive it was.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59Interstellar computer game battles
0:18:59 > 0:19:03have come a long, long way since the ZX Spectrum.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05GUNFIRE SFX
0:19:05 > 0:19:08The staggering success of the Spectrum just brought in
0:19:08 > 0:19:11literally millions of more users.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14We'd sold maybe five million Spectrums,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17and in those days, that was a massive figure.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19It was just unheard of.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22So it became a big industry, and I think the Spectrum was
0:19:22 > 0:19:26the catalyst for all of that.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28I can't remember how to turn round.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Overall rating - poor.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41People are very happy to pay very little money
0:19:41 > 0:19:45for an amazing product - a computer in their home.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47We cut out a lot of the manufacturing costs
0:19:47 > 0:19:53by pretty well effectively inventing our own keyboard technology.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57A conventional keyboard might have over 200 moving parts.
0:19:57 > 0:20:02The Sinclair computer used innovative membrane technology,
0:20:02 > 0:20:04requiring only three layers.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07The new rubber keyboard was waterproof
0:20:07 > 0:20:09and seemingly indestructible.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12The keyboard has such a reputation
0:20:12 > 0:20:15and it certainly wasn't designed to be indestructible!
0:20:15 > 0:20:18Village of Barley over in the distance on the left...
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Don't go outside and ask people what they want.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24You've got to decide what you think is right for them and usually,
0:20:24 > 0:20:26they like what it is that you do for them.
0:20:31 > 0:20:36New inventions and innovative designs often go hand in hand.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Inventor Trevor Baylis has been honoured for changing people's lives
0:20:39 > 0:20:43for the better, one well-designed wind at a time.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55A revolutionary design by a British inventor, Trevor Baylis,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59for how to power a radio, would have a life-saving impact
0:20:59 > 0:21:02- in the developing world. - It's a good idea.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05- It's a good idea. - Oh, fabulous. That's very nice.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08It's called the wind-up radio.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13Trevor Baylis is one of Britain's most celebrated inventors.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18In fact, it was just here I made the wind-up radio.
0:21:20 > 0:21:21This thing here looks a bit rough,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24but then, it was the first prototype.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26So you wind it up like that...
0:21:26 > 0:21:30His development of the wind-up radio in 1991
0:21:30 > 0:21:34has had ripple effects across the developing world.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37It was purely chance, because I was actually watching a programme
0:21:37 > 0:21:41about the spread of HIV or AIDS in Africa,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45and they said, "The only way we can bring information to those people
0:21:45 > 0:21:47"was through radio," but there was a problem
0:21:47 > 0:21:51because there wasn't electricity in certain parts of Africa
0:21:51 > 0:21:54and batteries were horrendously expensive.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57People were bartering their maize and their rice
0:21:57 > 0:21:58in order to obtain batteries.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02And then all of a sudden, I'm thinking to myself,
0:22:02 > 0:22:04"Hang on, I've got an idea."
0:22:04 > 0:22:07I got onto my DC motor,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09which, run in reverse, becomes a dynamo.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13I hooked up two wires which I put to a cheap transistor radio
0:22:13 > 0:22:18by chance I had near, which then led to my first radio here.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22Trevor Baylis was a champion swimmer in his youth.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27He went on to be a stunt double in films and with the money made
0:22:27 > 0:22:30as an underwater escape artist in a German circus,
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Trevor Baylis built himself a home on Eel Pie Island
0:22:34 > 0:22:36in the middle of the Thames.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41Here he built his dream workshop,
0:22:41 > 0:22:45and it's where he came up with the idea of the wind-up radio.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49I got a tremendous number of rejections from various people
0:22:49 > 0:22:52saying, "You don't know what you're talking about, mate."
0:22:52 > 0:22:53You know, all that sort of stuff.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59A story about the wind-up radio on Tomorrow's World
0:22:59 > 0:23:01proved a turning point.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03Well, what you've got is a box which contains
0:23:03 > 0:23:05a fairly powerful spring...
0:23:05 > 0:23:08After countless rejections on the grounds that
0:23:08 > 0:23:11his idea was either impossible or impractical,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15Baylis would get financial backing and product development support.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18So you think there really is a market for it?
0:23:18 > 0:23:22I think there's a tremendous market if it can be... If it can work.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24And Trevor's persuaded us that it does.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28But also, obviously, if it's marketed at an affordable price.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33The design of the prototype was a simple black box.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35When it was taken to rural Africa
0:23:35 > 0:23:38to get feedback from potential users,
0:23:38 > 0:23:40the reactions were phenomenal.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44We don't need batteries, we don't need electricity? That's super.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46- Save electricity. - I like it, I like it.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Bigger or smaller?
0:23:50 > 0:23:53No, I like it as big as this.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55- But bigger.- A big one.
0:23:55 > 0:23:56Bigger, a little bit bigger.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59I like it to be loud.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01- Not too loud. - Loud.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04This feedback will significantly impact
0:24:04 > 0:24:07the engineering and the design.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11It appeared that end users wanted a battery-less radio
0:24:11 > 0:24:14that was big, heavy and loud.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16I would buy a radio like this.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19You people with all these inventions. It's good.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21I like modern science. Thank you.
0:24:21 > 0:24:27Enter spring experts, gear experts and electrical engineers.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32After the development and redesign process was complete,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36the wind-up radio would be manufactured in South Africa.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41On his first visit to the new factory,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44Trevor Baylis was overcome with emotion
0:24:44 > 0:24:48to see his dream of a wind-up radio become a reality.
0:24:48 > 0:24:53I opened a factory down in Cape Town and they employ disabled people
0:24:53 > 0:24:58and that was a very good thing, from my point of view.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Thousands more people in remote parts of the world
0:25:01 > 0:25:04would hear public service announcements
0:25:04 > 0:25:06for fighting sexually transmitted disease,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09preventing infant mortality,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12and about the dangers of unexploded land mines.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17And music was just a wind away.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23KYLIE MINOGUE PLAYS FROM RADIO
0:25:23 > 0:25:25When you think about it,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29my pure chance idea made such a tremendous difference,
0:25:29 > 0:25:33not just to me but to society. You know, you think to yourself,
0:25:33 > 0:25:35well, you've left something behind, you know?
0:25:35 > 0:25:38MUSIC PLAYS THROUGH RADIO
0:25:48 > 0:25:50Sometimes a brilliant design is not enough
0:25:50 > 0:25:54unless it comes with a designer like Andrew Ritchie.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Someone prepared to dedicate his whole life
0:25:56 > 0:25:59to convince the world to give it a go.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06In 1976, an idea was hatched for an innovative design
0:26:06 > 0:26:10for a new type of bicycle.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12The designer was Andrew Ritchie.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15He was trained as an engineer,
0:26:15 > 0:26:19worked as a landscape gardener and was an avid cyclist.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23I used to bike everywhere, but one you could put in your pocket
0:26:23 > 0:26:27or a really handy thing you could take with you would be a good idea.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33Today, the Brompton bicycle is an international hit.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36It is ingeniously designed to transform itself
0:26:36 > 0:26:40in a matter of seconds from a reliable and fuel-efficient
0:26:40 > 0:26:44means of transportation into a piece of hand luggage.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48I have ridden Bromptons and what I love about them
0:26:48 > 0:26:53is the fact that commuters suddenly could cycle to the railway station
0:26:53 > 0:26:58in Basingstoke or wherever and put their bicycle on the train
0:26:58 > 0:27:00and get off at the other end and cycle it away.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04The Brompton bicycle has changed the lifestyles and commuting habits
0:27:04 > 0:27:07of almost everyone who owns one.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10Going from design to factory production
0:27:10 > 0:27:13was a classic tale of perseverance.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15Well, I was not a natural businessman and I didn't come across
0:27:15 > 0:27:18particularly as an entrepreneur, I don't think.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21So getting the backing and getting the show on the road
0:27:21 > 0:27:22took an incredibly long time.
0:27:24 > 0:27:25It was in this room
0:27:25 > 0:27:28that Andrew Ritchie's design obsession began.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32It happens to be directly across the street
0:27:32 > 0:27:35from a church called the Brompton Oratory.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44It was 1976 when a friend of his dad brought around
0:27:44 > 0:27:48a prototype for a folding bike called the Bickerton.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54The Bickerton folded in half and required the removal of its seat.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59Andrew Ritchie had an idea for an even more compact design.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02The Bickerton bike, which was being made in a very small scale
0:28:02 > 0:28:06in a garage by one Harry Bickerton, was the first genuine attempt,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09as far as I can see, to make a bike that was portable.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11This prompted me to think,
0:28:11 > 0:28:13"Well, this is a slightly awkward approach
0:28:13 > 0:28:15"Harry Bickerton has taken. There might be a better way
0:28:15 > 0:28:17"of getting the bike to be more compact."
0:28:17 > 0:28:19And as I had nothing better to do that evening,
0:28:19 > 0:28:21I sat at my desk in my flat
0:28:21 > 0:28:24and sketched out the basic idea for the Brompton.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29It's just the four extremities, front wheel, back wheel,
0:28:29 > 0:28:33handlebars and the saddle come down together to the middle.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36And my first prototypes folded doing exactly that but in
0:28:36 > 0:28:39rather a different way from what the modern Bromptons do.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43The first handmade prototype was built within a year,
0:28:43 > 0:28:47but it would take more than a decade to convince financial backers
0:28:47 > 0:28:52and ordinary cyclists to embrace his innovative new design.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55My friends, of course, were all racing ahead and getting married and
0:28:55 > 0:28:58raising families and I was slightly in the doldrums,
0:28:58 > 0:29:01a disappointment to my parents, getting nowhere,
0:29:01 > 0:29:05fiddling around with this obsession with a bike. And I was...
0:29:05 > 0:29:08I was living slightly from hand to mouth, taking temporary jobs,
0:29:08 > 0:29:10waiting upon the moment, when actually,
0:29:10 > 0:29:11I could get this all to happen.
0:29:11 > 0:29:16I had thought that I would become filthy rich from the proceeds of
0:29:16 > 0:29:19getting a licence deal going and would move on to a life of luxury.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21But it was not to be thus.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23Eventually it dawned on me and my shareholders
0:29:23 > 0:29:25that we would have to do what we didn't want to do at all,
0:29:25 > 0:29:28which was to try and set up production.
0:29:28 > 0:29:34There was enough backing to open the first small factory in 1987.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36By the mid-'90s, production expanded.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41There was a sort of commercial future beginning to show
0:29:41 > 0:29:44and I thought this could lead to something.
0:29:48 > 0:29:5340 years after the initial idea, the Brompton factory today
0:29:53 > 0:29:57in West London produces over 100 bikes a day.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00You may be aware there has been a bit of a cult around the Brompton.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03And a lot of Brompton fans, if you like,
0:30:03 > 0:30:04if that's the right word, congregate,
0:30:04 > 0:30:09whether it's in Korea or Singapore or Japan or on the Continent.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14It's created a niche which people didn't really see the point of
0:30:14 > 0:30:16until they came to experience it.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18British people are in love with the Victorians.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21One of the reasons we are in love with the Victorians is that
0:30:21 > 0:30:24there was not a problem to which they couldn't see a solution.
0:30:24 > 0:30:29And the Brompton is a very visible demonstration of a solution
0:30:29 > 0:30:34to the problem of how you develop a bicycle that folds in so small
0:30:34 > 0:30:36it's really not much bigger than a briefcase.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39It's the functionality of it which is the design philosophy,
0:30:39 > 0:30:41if you like. The damn thing has got to work.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44Almost Heath Robinson sort of contraption.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46It has touched people's imagination.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48# Without you
0:30:48 > 0:30:50# Without you
0:30:50 > 0:30:53- # Without you - Without you... #
0:30:55 > 0:30:58David Constantine is a design champion the world over
0:30:58 > 0:31:00for people who depend on the wheelchair
0:31:00 > 0:31:03for their mobility and for their dignity.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12I was studying agriculture when I went out to work in Australia.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20In 1982 I dived into a shallow pool of water
0:31:20 > 0:31:23and broke my neck at C45 level...
0:31:24 > 0:31:29..which left me with no sensation from the shoulders down
0:31:29 > 0:31:31and no grip or hand function,
0:31:31 > 0:31:35and obviously no lower mobility at all.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37So the only option for me
0:31:37 > 0:31:40was to use a wheelchair for the rest of my life.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46Motivation was founded by David Constantine 25 years ago.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51Its mission is to design low-cost wheelchairs
0:31:51 > 0:31:53for adults and children
0:31:53 > 0:31:57and for use in rugged terrain in the developing world.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01Motivation has been out here for 20 years now.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05Its headquarters is a farmhouse in rural Somerset,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08with a UK staff of over 25.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12It has established a network of about 20 workshops
0:32:12 > 0:32:14in over 15 countries.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16It's about giving somebody something they want to use,
0:32:16 > 0:32:19rather than feel like they have to use.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23And that is a small sort of piece of the jigsaw puzzle
0:32:23 > 0:32:25that someone might need to put together
0:32:25 > 0:32:30to make themselves feel better after having a life-changing injury
0:32:30 > 0:32:33or having been born with a disability.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38I go all over the world,
0:32:38 > 0:32:40and every now and again, you come across
0:32:40 > 0:32:42someone in a Motivation chair
0:32:42 > 0:32:44and it's easy to see them.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47They've got a particular look
0:32:47 > 0:32:48and style about them.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51The chair isn't just a mobility device.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54It becomes part of you.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59David's first wheelchair was a design
0:32:59 > 0:33:02that had been around since the 1930s.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05It felt like a piece of the hospital was still with me.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08I didn't feel like I was a patient any more,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11I was just a disabled person wanting to get into society.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14At 21, I had no idea what design was.
0:33:14 > 0:33:19While studying computer programming and working at IBM,
0:33:19 > 0:33:20David had a chance encounter
0:33:20 > 0:33:23that would change the course of his life.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26I met a group of guys who were industrial designers
0:33:26 > 0:33:29and when I asked them over lunch one day what they did,
0:33:29 > 0:33:31and they said, "We're industrial designers,"
0:33:31 > 0:33:34and I said, "What's that?" And they explained.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38It was my epiphany moment.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41Because I suddenly realised that, actually,
0:33:41 > 0:33:44you're the guys that make the keyboard springs
0:33:44 > 0:33:47too stiff for me to push down on my weak fingers,
0:33:47 > 0:33:49you're the guys who put the on-off switch round the back
0:33:49 > 0:33:52so I can't see it or reach it.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56You are the guys who, you know, could do that differently.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00David enrolled in the Royal College of Art
0:34:00 > 0:34:02to study industrial design.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06There he took on a course assignment
0:34:06 > 0:34:09to design a wheelchair for the developing world.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13I had never thought about
0:34:13 > 0:34:15what someone in a developing country might do
0:34:15 > 0:34:17if they needed a wheelchair.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22The first trip to Bangladesh took place with two classmates.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27It was an exercise in going to find out what that need was.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31Motivation's work would further develop in India.
0:34:31 > 0:34:36People live predominantly in the rural areas along muddy tracks,
0:34:36 > 0:34:38between paddy fields.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42You need to be able to get over rough ground to your village.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46A big design breakthrough we made was designing the three-wheel chair.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50The three-wheel chair, with a longer boom out the front,
0:34:50 > 0:34:54made it much easier to get over rough ground and any pothole
0:34:54 > 0:34:57or muddy area cos the front wheel is much larger.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02We have one of David Constantine's wheelchairs in our collection,
0:35:02 > 0:35:06and it is there to show how someone who himself uses a wheelchair
0:35:06 > 0:35:11can understand the issues, what it's like to navigate rough terrain.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13It is designed to a price,
0:35:13 > 0:35:16it's designed to be comfortable to use and simple to operate.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21In addition to rugged terrain wheelchairs,
0:35:21 > 0:35:24there are Motivation wheelchairs for sports.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28The International Paralympic Committee approached Motivation
0:35:28 > 0:35:31and asked us whether we would be able to design
0:35:31 > 0:35:35a low-cost basketball chair. For people who, you know,
0:35:35 > 0:35:38if they're lucky enough to have a chair in a developing country,
0:35:38 > 0:35:40are never going to dream of actually playing sport.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47Wheelchairs are really expensive.
0:35:47 > 0:35:52And to find a chair that does all those purposes,
0:35:52 > 0:35:55that gives people mobility and they are able to do sport,
0:35:55 > 0:35:59but that's affordable, is really important.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01And Motivation's chairs have come in
0:36:01 > 0:36:04and they are sort of covering that gap.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09Over 200 of our chairs have gone out to Afghanistan
0:36:09 > 0:36:11and now they have a national team.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15Over 6,000 of these have gone to over 60 countries.
0:36:15 > 0:36:19I realised, actually, what design was,
0:36:19 > 0:36:21I realised I was surrounded by it.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25And I realised also what it could do for my quality of life,
0:36:25 > 0:36:28and that's what we've tried to do through Motivation.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34If the test for a successful product designer
0:36:34 > 0:36:38is how many people are craving to wrap their hands around it,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41then Jonathan Ive, the chief designer for Apple,
0:36:41 > 0:36:44can count his success in billions.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49In 2007, when we launched the iPhone,
0:36:49 > 0:36:54it was my privilege to make the first public call on stage
0:36:54 > 0:36:57to one of my best friends in the whole world, Jonny Ive.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59APPLAUSE
0:36:59 > 0:37:04If the modern world of industrial design had a poet high priest,
0:37:04 > 0:37:07it would be British-born designer Jonathan Ive of Apple.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13From the thought and the conversation
0:37:13 > 0:37:14to actually making something
0:37:14 > 0:37:16has been very important for us over the years.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21As a young designer just out of Newcastle Polytechnic,
0:37:21 > 0:37:26Ive was thunderstruck by his first encounter with an Apple product,
0:37:26 > 0:37:28the Macintosh computer.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32Can you remember your first reaction to an Apple product?
0:37:32 > 0:37:34It was in the late '80s.
0:37:34 > 0:37:39And I had struggled to use
0:37:39 > 0:37:43the computers that were available to me at art school.
0:37:43 > 0:37:48And I remember coming across the Mac right at the end of my time there.
0:37:48 > 0:37:53I remember my first reaction was, it's a curious thing,
0:37:53 > 0:37:58when we use technology and complex products, if we struggle,
0:37:58 > 0:38:00we assume the problem is ours.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03If we eat something that tastes terrible,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06we don't assume the problem's with us, is it?
0:38:06 > 0:38:08We assume it's whoever made it.
0:38:08 > 0:38:15And it was this wonderful sense that here was an incredibly powerful,
0:38:15 > 0:38:18sophisticated tool that I could use,
0:38:18 > 0:38:20the problem hadn't been with me.
0:38:20 > 0:38:26It made me particularly curious about, well, who made this?
0:38:28 > 0:38:32Jonathan Ive joined Apple in 1992
0:38:32 > 0:38:35and is now their chief design officer.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37Ive, with his design team,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41now has a number of world-class Apple success stories
0:38:41 > 0:38:43under his belt, including the iMac,
0:38:43 > 0:38:46the iPod,
0:38:46 > 0:38:48the iPhone,
0:38:48 > 0:38:50and Apple Watches.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997,
0:38:55 > 0:38:58Apple was facing a billion-dollar black hole.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03Were you surprised when Steve Jobs embraced your prototype
0:39:03 > 0:39:06and made it part of the relaunch strategy?
0:39:07 > 0:39:10Well, it was much more than embracing,
0:39:10 > 0:39:14I mean, that was a product we worked on together.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17And it was an important product for Apple.
0:39:17 > 0:39:22I mean, it marked a radical change in the direction of the company,
0:39:22 > 0:39:28and Apple had been really close to bankruptcy
0:39:28 > 0:39:30at that point in the '90s.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37The sales of the iMac would exceed all expectations
0:39:37 > 0:39:40and reverse Apple's decline.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45And how much did the iMac encourage consumers
0:39:45 > 0:39:47to build almost an emotional bond
0:39:47 > 0:39:49with the product and with the design?
0:39:49 > 0:39:52Certainly the first half of the '90s,
0:39:52 > 0:39:57the buying criteria had been defined by price,
0:39:57 > 0:40:00hard drive size, chip speed.
0:40:00 > 0:40:05And of course, we make much more important decisions
0:40:05 > 0:40:08in our lives based on attributes you can't measure with a number.
0:40:08 > 0:40:09This...
0:40:11 > 0:40:14- ..is iMac. - APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:40:14 > 0:40:17One of the things the iMac, I think, did mark
0:40:17 > 0:40:21was the recognition that design and the object
0:40:21 > 0:40:24and how that would fit into your life, that was important.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29The choice of colours might be dismissed as superficial,
0:40:29 > 0:40:32although there's nothing superficial about using design
0:40:32 > 0:40:38to create an emotional bond between users and their computers.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40What would you say were the fundamental principles
0:40:40 > 0:40:43that guide or motivate your work?
0:40:43 > 0:40:45Just caring about every detail,
0:40:45 > 0:40:49and whether that is an unseen detail,
0:40:49 > 0:40:51or certainly details you don't see with your eyes.
0:40:51 > 0:40:57I think we really have come to believe that we sense care.
0:40:57 > 0:41:04There has to be a very strong relationship between good design
0:41:04 > 0:41:06and something that is well made.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09So that means paying attention to using materials
0:41:09 > 0:41:11authentically and truthfully.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15These products are so extraordinarily complex now.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19Extremely complex in how we use them, and it's, I think,
0:41:19 > 0:41:24the role of the designer to try and bring some order to the chaos.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Roma Agrawal is a design engineer
0:41:37 > 0:41:41who helped build and shape Europe's tallest skyscraper,
0:41:41 > 0:41:43the Shard in London.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50From the depths of its foundation to securing the glass shards
0:41:50 > 0:41:54at its pinnacle, she interprets the vision of the architect.
0:41:54 > 0:41:59She works in the medium of steel, with the knowledge of an engineer
0:41:59 > 0:42:02and the sensitivity of an artist.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04When people walk around a city,
0:42:04 > 0:42:09I think we do sometimes take it all for granted.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13Everything in our city is actually very well thought through,
0:42:13 > 0:42:16and it is quite incredible that all of these different types
0:42:16 > 0:42:18of design and different types of designers come together
0:42:18 > 0:42:21to create essentially what the soul of a city is.
0:42:26 > 0:42:28The kind of design that I do can really vary
0:42:28 > 0:42:32from being quite technical to being very, very aesthetic.
0:42:33 > 0:42:34There are so many different ways
0:42:34 > 0:42:36that you can join two pieces of steel together.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40Even foundations are beautiful.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43They're doing this incredibly important role.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48When you create the wall of a basement,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51there is a moment in time where you can go and stand and look at it
0:42:51 > 0:42:54and you see this kind of beautiful, undulating,
0:42:54 > 0:42:56very textured concrete in front of you.
0:42:56 > 0:42:57So while you might not actually
0:42:57 > 0:43:01be able to go and see a beautiful foundation,
0:43:01 > 0:43:04it's holding back water, it's holding back the ground.
0:43:06 > 0:43:07It's just pure desire.
0:43:07 > 0:43:12Something I want to look at, one day live in.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15I love the simplicity and how complex it is.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20I always say that you must enjoy the view,
0:43:20 > 0:43:22but you also need to look up.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24This is one of my favourite views of the building,
0:43:24 > 0:43:28cos you can actually see all these different angles that come together
0:43:28 > 0:43:29to create the floors.
0:43:29 > 0:43:33And you can see a rhythm of the steel columns here.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36That was very much a collaborative design decision
0:43:36 > 0:43:38between the design engineers and the architect.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43At first when I look at it, every time I saw it...
0:43:44 > 0:43:47..I thought, "Is it finished?"
0:43:47 > 0:43:49This is a particular favourite of mine,
0:43:49 > 0:43:51where you can actually see the top of one of the shards
0:43:51 > 0:43:53that make up the building.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56And you can see the interaction between the steel and glass
0:43:56 > 0:44:01at this point quite clearly, and I really love the slim columns
0:44:01 > 0:44:04and the slim beams, which are kind of off-set
0:44:04 > 0:44:05back from the face of the columns.
0:44:05 > 0:44:11And then I looked at it from a poetic perspective
0:44:11 > 0:44:12and the sky finishes it.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20I was brought in actually quite early on in the process
0:44:20 > 0:44:23to work with the developers and the architect
0:44:23 > 0:44:25and all the other designers involved.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28The architects had this vision of keeping all the steel
0:44:28 > 0:44:31open and exposed, and then we came in and looked at,
0:44:31 > 0:44:33well, how do the pieces of structure need to be,
0:44:33 > 0:44:36how far apart do they need to be?
0:44:36 > 0:44:38When you're putting together these bits of steel,
0:44:38 > 0:44:42we had a real impact on what those actual connections look like.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46All of that, every single weld and every single bolt
0:44:46 > 0:44:50has been thought through to make sure it looks fantastic.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55It just reminds me of one time
0:44:55 > 0:44:57I had the pleasures of hanging out with Quincy Jones,
0:44:57 > 0:45:01and I asked him a question about Billie Jean.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06Because when you hear it, you are thinking, "That's really simple".
0:45:06 > 0:45:09MIMICS BILLIE JEAN RIFF
0:45:09 > 0:45:11It's like, it's so simple, the structure of it all.
0:45:11 > 0:45:16Quincy Jones said, from an engineering point of view,
0:45:16 > 0:45:20started dialling into the frequency of the kick drum and the bass,
0:45:20 > 0:45:24and making sure they didn't interfere with each other.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26MIMICS BILLIE JEAN RIFF
0:45:26 > 0:45:28So, I'm pretty sure...
0:45:28 > 0:45:32I had the pleasure to hang out with Roma.
0:45:32 > 0:45:37She took me on a tour to see how the Shard was made.
0:45:37 > 0:45:41All the hours thinking about the weight of the steel
0:45:41 > 0:45:43and the weight of the bolt and the nut
0:45:43 > 0:45:45that all make it come together.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48Think about all the sleepless nights she had trying to engineer it
0:45:48 > 0:45:49in her mind.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53All the simulations she had to go through in this virtual world,
0:45:53 > 0:45:58to then go out and find the steel and carve it out, to build it.
0:45:58 > 0:46:04I'm pretty sure her explanation would be similar in passion
0:46:04 > 0:46:06to Quincy Jones about music.
0:46:13 > 0:46:19From an experiential installation at the Victoria and Albert Museum...
0:46:19 > 0:46:22to innovative furniture designs,
0:46:22 > 0:46:27Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby are comfortable stepping outside
0:46:27 > 0:46:30the traditional boundaries of industrial design.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35One thing that people have said to us about a number of the projects
0:46:35 > 0:46:40we've worked on is it's the best idea that no-one's had.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45In recent years, they have won some of the highest profile commissions
0:46:45 > 0:46:48in Britain and the world,
0:46:48 > 0:46:52including a commemorative £2 coin,
0:46:52 > 0:46:58and the commission to design the torch for the London 2012 Olympics.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05We wanted to have a torch that would perform
0:47:05 > 0:47:08better than any torch previously.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12It's just one of those amazing experiences
0:47:12 > 0:47:15that you pinch yourself when you get to do it.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18I was really lucky - I got to carry the torch in 2012,
0:47:18 > 0:47:20and I carried it across the Millennium Bridge.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23It's really tactile, you've got all those holes in it
0:47:23 > 0:47:25and it's got a prism shape, isn't it?
0:47:26 > 0:47:29I liked it. Every now and again I do, I must admit,
0:47:29 > 0:47:32I hold it up in the front room and think, "Yeah, I carried that."
0:47:34 > 0:47:37When we first started on the design of the torch,
0:47:37 > 0:47:40we imagined it purely as a sculptural object.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45No-one had ever produced a torch that had never gone out.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48There's a lot of running and a lot of wind conditions
0:47:48 > 0:47:51that it has to perform in.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56Barber and Osgerby wanted to come up with a compelling narrative
0:47:56 > 0:47:59to inform the torch design.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02Som it was the third Olympic Games in London, and the Olympic motto,
0:48:02 > 0:48:04which is "Faster, higher, stronger".
0:48:04 > 0:48:08so we took those threes and actually developed the shape of the torch.
0:48:08 > 0:48:10If you look down at the top of the torch,
0:48:10 > 0:48:12there's actually a triangular form to represent that.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15When we came up with a pattern that we really liked,
0:48:15 > 0:48:20we realised that there were 7,600-and-something holes.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22And at that point, we thought, well, there are 8,000 runners,
0:48:22 > 0:48:25why don't we do 8,000 holes?
0:48:26 > 0:48:30The prototyping process went from a foam version
0:48:30 > 0:48:34to a paper version with the holes drawn in place
0:48:34 > 0:48:38to a version made by a 3-D printer.
0:48:38 > 0:48:40This was the first thing we looked at and thought
0:48:40 > 0:48:44this is very close to what the final torch might be.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46Then to a version in metal.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49This was the very first prototype made out of sheets of aluminium,
0:48:49 > 0:48:52laser-cut, and in this particular case,
0:48:52 > 0:48:54you see where we've welded it here,
0:48:54 > 0:48:57so you still have the solid metal field.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59This version would test how well
0:48:59 > 0:49:03various finishes stood up to the heat of a flame.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07We quickly decided that the torch should be gold.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11In the Olympic Games, your aspiration is to win a gold medal.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14We looked back over the history of the torches
0:49:14 > 0:49:16and actually, no-one had done a gold torch before,
0:49:16 > 0:49:18which we found quite interesting.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21We worked out there were 8,000 torches
0:49:21 > 0:49:23and each torch had 8,000 holes,
0:49:23 > 0:49:27so that was 64 million holes that needed to be cut.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31The fastest laser cutting machine in the UK would have taken
0:49:31 > 0:49:33six years to make all the torches.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36So we had a big problem. We only had 18 months to make them.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40In a race against time, the Olympic Committee located
0:49:40 > 0:49:45a laser cutting machine that cut holes at record-breaking speed.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49The performance requirements expected the torch to function
0:49:49 > 0:49:51flawlessly in extreme conditions.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57We went to BMW in Munich and used their wind tunnel,
0:49:57 > 0:50:02and in a wind tunnel, we blasted it with 75mph winds,
0:50:02 > 0:50:04with torrential rain, and actually they lowered the temperature
0:50:04 > 0:50:07so there was snow being fired at it.
0:50:07 > 0:50:09And it passed all those tests.
0:50:09 > 0:50:14Barber and Osgerby would also design the colour of the flame.
0:50:15 > 0:50:16We had to work with some engineers
0:50:16 > 0:50:22to get the exact right mix of gas, so we had a butane and propane mix,
0:50:22 > 0:50:26and what that did was it gave us the perfect colour of flame.
0:50:26 > 0:50:31So that the flame could be easily seen on television.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34When the Olympic torch arrived,
0:50:34 > 0:50:38it was fraught with tension and excitement
0:50:38 > 0:50:42and there was the fear that the flame might go out.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45All we could stare at was the flame, making sure it was still alight.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47Actually I'm not sure we could even really look,
0:50:47 > 0:50:49it was so nerve-racking.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53There were something like three billion people watching worldwide.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57And at the Olympic opening ceremony,
0:50:57 > 0:50:59there were no torch flame-outs.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13Our final designer is Sir Terence Conran.
0:51:13 > 0:51:15He's the designer's designer,
0:51:15 > 0:51:18whose work has been at the forefront of British design
0:51:18 > 0:51:21for the past six decades.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23And he has used his success
0:51:23 > 0:51:27to benefit the design industry as a whole.
0:51:29 > 0:51:33I've got more work now than I've ever had in my life.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36And here I am at the age of 85,
0:51:36 > 0:51:42who should be putting down the pencil and saying,
0:51:42 > 0:51:47"Come on," to young designers, "you get on with it."
0:51:48 > 0:51:53As busy as he is, he occasionally finds the time to relax
0:51:53 > 0:51:56in the garden of his estate in Wiltshire.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00And he always finds the time to enjoy a Cuban cigar,
0:52:00 > 0:52:04preferably Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2.
0:52:04 > 0:52:09Designs by the founder of Habitat have always been in demand.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12Even an ashtray he designed for one of his upmarket restaurants
0:52:12 > 0:52:15triggered a crime spree.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18I heard 10,000 of those ashtrays were stolen from Quaglino's.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21- Is that correct? - I think it was more like 100,000.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24- Seriously?- A gigantic quantity.
0:52:28 > 0:52:33When the first Habitat store opened in Chelsea in 1964,
0:52:33 > 0:52:36it was at home in the cultural revolution of the '60s.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41Designs for home furnishings acquired an elegance
0:52:41 > 0:52:45and affordability it never dared aspire to.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49Habitat was really cool when I was young.
0:52:49 > 0:52:56What Habitat offered was what seemed to be modern design
0:52:56 > 0:52:59that was not like the sort of stuff you had grown up with,
0:52:59 > 0:53:04which by and large, before that, furniture was big and it was dark
0:53:04 > 0:53:06and it was drab.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10Habitat wasn't really selling furniture.
0:53:10 > 0:53:14Habitat was selling a modern lifestyle.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18If Britain had a ministry of taste,
0:53:18 > 0:53:22it would no doubt be headed by Sir Terence Conran.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29Do you see yourself as creating British taste
0:53:29 > 0:53:31or shifting British taste?
0:53:31 > 0:53:37I think gradually moving it. Bringing it gently along.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41Terence Conran would build a high-street empire
0:53:41 > 0:53:46on the design philosophy of plain, simple and useful.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50The intelligence of a designer will go into shaping that product
0:53:50 > 0:53:54and making it a product that people, I believe,
0:53:54 > 0:53:56will enjoy more than a product
0:53:56 > 0:54:00that hasn't had that same consideration given to it.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04Flatpack furniture was another stroke of brilliance.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07It kept costs down and brought couples closer together
0:54:07 > 0:54:11as they fought to assemble their new furniture.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14When you were a young person living in a bedsit or flat,
0:54:14 > 0:54:18Habitat offered you an opportunity, as it were,
0:54:18 > 0:54:23to reinvent yourself as a creature of a new world.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28Terence Conran introduced millions to modern design
0:54:28 > 0:54:32for their kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms.
0:54:32 > 0:54:37Habitat was responsible for introducing Britain to the duvet,
0:54:37 > 0:54:41and I understand it may have had an impact on our sex lives.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44Would you take some credit for the way our sex lives have changed,
0:54:44 > 0:54:46with the introduction of the duvet?
0:54:46 > 0:54:49Well, I'm always fascinated by the duvet story,
0:54:49 > 0:54:56because...it was such a success.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59Irene is here to tell us all about duvets, and there she is in kip,
0:54:59 > 0:55:04as lovely and as clean and friendly as Bexhill-on-Sea.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06LAUGHTER
0:55:06 > 0:55:10Isn't he a cheeky monkey? Well, this is a duvet...
0:55:10 > 0:55:16The duvet became a bedroom hit in the new era of sexual liberation.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19I had been staying in Austria
0:55:19 > 0:55:23and I'd been put to bed with a duvet and thought,
0:55:23 > 0:55:27"Oh, this is jolly nice, why don't we have them in England?"
0:55:29 > 0:55:33So we brought in the duvet, and in our Habitat catalogues,
0:55:33 > 0:55:37we did this extremely good picture
0:55:37 > 0:55:41of a man making the bed with a duvet,
0:55:41 > 0:55:45while his girlfriend was making herself up
0:55:45 > 0:55:47in a mirror on a dressing table.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50And we added a little caption, it said,
0:55:50 > 0:55:53"20 seconds to make a bed..."
0:55:54 > 0:55:58And it just worked. And you know,
0:55:58 > 0:56:02every young person at that time wanted a duvet,
0:56:02 > 0:56:04and I do think it had perhaps
0:56:04 > 0:56:07something to do with their sex life as well.
0:56:07 > 0:56:12Because it was relaxed and a bit abandoned.
0:56:12 > 0:56:14So you made a lot of us late for work!
0:56:16 > 0:56:19It's the latest coup by the millionaire creator of Habitat,
0:56:19 > 0:56:20Sir Terence Conran.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24His retailing empire is worth more than £650 million.
0:56:26 > 0:56:30When Habitat, the company I'd built,
0:56:30 > 0:56:35became a public company, I had a lot of money.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37Terence Conran has been the godfather
0:56:37 > 0:56:41to the new and the original Design Museum,
0:56:41 > 0:56:44which was founded in 1989.
0:56:44 > 0:56:46I had a sort of patriotic urge...
0:56:46 > 0:56:48HE LAUGHS
0:56:48 > 0:56:52Conran brought funding and a personal vision
0:56:52 > 0:56:57to introduce Britain to an international design perspective.
0:56:57 > 0:57:02I felt it was very important that British designers
0:57:02 > 0:57:07and British manufacturers should understand the world.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10Ten years ago I was hired by Terence and the other trustees
0:57:10 > 0:57:14at the museum with a brief to move the museum somewhere bigger,
0:57:14 > 0:57:16more accessible, where we could do more things.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18And he's been a constant presence behind my shoulder, saying,
0:57:18 > 0:57:21"Have you thought about this? Have you thought about that?"
0:57:22 > 0:57:26A donation of £17 million by Terence Conran
0:57:26 > 0:57:30also helped to make the new Design Museum a reality.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34I still get this real excitement
0:57:34 > 0:57:36when something that you've worked on
0:57:36 > 0:57:39and thought about for many years
0:57:39 > 0:57:42actually becomes a reality.
0:57:42 > 0:57:46Making things, I think, is very much at the root of design.
0:57:49 > 0:57:53That's the most joyful thing for me.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00For me, design starts with how things are made.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03Whilst I like to think very internationally,
0:58:03 > 0:58:05I think that British design is very special,
0:58:05 > 0:58:07and it's to be preserved and protected.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11The museum will showcase an international mix
0:58:11 > 0:58:15of design of the past and design of the future.
0:58:15 > 0:58:21Design is important to the economic survival of this country.
0:58:22 > 0:58:25Design has changed my life.
0:58:25 > 0:58:31The Design Museum will grow to be more and more our spiritual home.
0:58:31 > 0:58:35The role of a design museum is inspiration.
0:58:36 > 0:58:39I still think that the role of the museum,
0:58:39 > 0:58:42I think, arguably, is probably greater now than it's ever been.
0:58:42 > 0:58:44Why didn't I go and do something useful with my life,
0:58:44 > 0:58:46like producing something?
0:58:46 > 0:58:52I've got myself a bookcase that... I've only made one so far,
0:58:52 > 0:58:53but I'm hoping that will take off,
0:58:53 > 0:58:56because it has a great second purpose.
0:58:56 > 0:58:58It's actually a coffin as well.
0:58:59 > 0:59:02The idea of taking the books out and getting into the bookcase
0:59:02 > 0:59:06seems to me the perfect way to end your days, really.