0:00:04 > 0:00:06Unstoppable, innovative, exciting.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09No, I'm not talking about Andrew Graham Dixon.
0:00:09 > 0:00:10I'm talking about design.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13It literally shapes our daily experience.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18Whether we notice it or not, it is everywhere from supersonic jets to the humble toaster.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20So tonight in a Culture Show design special,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23we've got everything from cool classics to visions of the future,
0:00:23 > 0:00:25where machines have taken over the world.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Coming up, one step beyond with futurology.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35Design as a force for good.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39And the next generation of hackers.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47And if that wasn't enough, the latest round in the epic struggle of man versus machine
0:00:47 > 0:00:49is under way behind me,
0:00:49 > 0:00:53where a human designer is going head to head with the latest 3D printer
0:00:53 > 0:00:57in a race to build a scale model of Big Ben in less than an hour.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59A short while ago I got them started.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Over here, exuding a menacing confidence,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07we have the machine, the MakerBot Replicator 2.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11Over here representing mankind and manpower, we have Dominic Wilcox.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15- Dominic, how confident are you feeling?- Not confident, at all.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Oh, dear! Let's get this build-off started.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22Are you ready? On your marks, get set, go!
0:01:38 > 0:01:41Well, they look like they're about at the half-way mark now.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44So while they get on with that, we're back to the main business.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49The great Bill Shankley famously said, football isn't a matter of life or death,
0:01:49 > 0:01:50it's much more important than that.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Whether a fan of the beautiful game or not,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56there is no doubt it's deeply embedded in our towns and cities.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00A world in which local lads can become global superstars.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02And with fame comes fashion.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06It's so embedded in the game now that it's even inspired an exhibition
0:02:06 > 0:02:08at Manchester's National Football Museum.
0:02:08 > 0:02:14We sent fashion industry insider Paula Reed to find out more.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24I've never claimed to know much about football, but I do know my fashion.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26The new exhibition bringing the two together is in Manchester,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29which couldn't be more appropriate.
0:02:29 > 0:02:34Men's fashion retail is booming in the North-West and I think I know why.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Manchester is the home of the super-rich, super-famous footballer,
0:02:38 > 0:02:42and when it comes to spending, they're spending it all on fashion.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46So how did we get from this... to this?
0:02:50 > 0:02:52Hi, Paolo. Nice to meet you.
0:02:52 > 0:02:53Welcome to my dressing room.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58So what are football's big fashion moments then?
0:02:58 > 0:03:01There are three main moments we should consider.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04The first moment occurs in 1961.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07# Fashion! Ooh, beep beep! #
0:03:09 > 0:03:12A Fulham player by the name of Jimmy Hill campaigned
0:03:12 > 0:03:14to have the maximum wage abolished.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Basically, a footballer could only earn up to £20 a week,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20which is about £350 in today's money.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24- Not a big fashion budget.- It's not, is it? A pair of socks and a vest.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27This meant that suddenly footballers had disposable income.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Part of that income now started naturally being spent on clothes.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35This is the era of the Mods. There's Mod formal and there's Mod casual.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39The footballer who most sums up Mod formal was Bobby Moore.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42If we look at these photographs here.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47- Super sharp.- Look at that. Handkerchief, skinny tie, buttondown.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51This is a man whose mother used to iron his football laces.
0:03:51 > 0:03:56- The person who exemplifies the Mod casual look...- George Best.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00- Yes.- Gorgeous George. - Look at you! Look at you!
0:04:00 > 0:04:04Winkle-pickers, casual trousers, a nice jacket, and the haircut.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07It is not a million miles away from what's on the catwalks today.
0:04:07 > 0:04:08It still comes back.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11He's famously known as the first pop star footballer.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13And part of that was his clothes.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16His clothes transmitted that to the rest of the world.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20- I think of him as a fashion icon. - Absolutely.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23I like to think of myself as a bit different than everyone else.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Because I'm more like a pop star really.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33Of course, football fashion isn't just about the players.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35It's about the fans too.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37This brings us to our second moment,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41which is where we move away from what's going on on the pitch,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43and onto the terraces.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48The Casuals grew up on the football terraces.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51There was this revolution happening on the football terraces
0:04:51 > 0:04:53that nobody was picking up on.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55Describe the look to me.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58This is a good depiction of the Casuals.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02You can see that they are wearing here designer tops -
0:05:02 > 0:05:04Fila, Taccini, Ellesse.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08- This is the era of materialism. - Labels and bling and status.
0:05:08 > 0:05:09Absolutely.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14At one end of the fashion label you had that designer-led revolution
0:05:14 > 0:05:16with Katherine Hamnett, John Galliano.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18The same thing is happening here on the terraces,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21but it's sports labels.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23You are throwing codes out to your friends,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25you're showing them you're part of the gang,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27but it's a very subtle way of doing it.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30So, Paolo, what brings us up to date then?
0:05:30 > 0:05:34The third era that we need to talk about begins in 1996.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40Gianluca Vialli arrives at Chelsea football ground,
0:05:40 > 0:05:45walks into the dressing room wearing a V-neck Armani cashmere sweater,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47designer trousers and brown brogues,
0:05:47 > 0:05:51and Chelsea captain Dennis Wise said, we took one look at him and said,
0:05:51 > 0:05:52"Where did you get your clothes?"
0:05:52 > 0:05:55And within a week we were all wearing them.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57And on the back of all this comes a boy from Leytonstone
0:05:57 > 0:06:01- by the name of David Beckham, which you might have heard of.- Absolutely.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04You must have had dealings with Beckham in your time.
0:06:04 > 0:06:09I have come across him backstage in a fashion show and he's impeccable.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14His clothes to me always appeal to all levels of society.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17He clearly loves clothes though. He absolutely adores them.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21He's had some bad looks though. The Tom Ford.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24- The matching leather jackets! - The case for the prosecution rests.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Absolutely. And I do believe Tom Ford was at Gucci at the time
0:06:26 > 0:06:30and apparently he said, "What are those people doing wearing my clothes?"
0:06:30 > 0:06:34And someone said, "Well, they bought them."
0:06:34 > 0:06:37There wasn't very much that could be done about it,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39but now he is practically a Tom Ford ambassador.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43He looks rather good in a Tom Ford suit, and I think they're all very close buddies.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46- He is a great clothes horse, isn't he?- Fantastic.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50- Anything he puts on, he looks great in.- I think this is what Mr Armani says.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54He's got such a love affair with sportsmen because they are superbly fit.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57They're peak performance, look amazing - they're great clothes horses.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59I know the feeling.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08And Strike a Pose: 50 Years of Football and Fashion
0:07:08 > 0:07:10opens in Manchester on Friday.
0:07:10 > 0:07:16Now from fashion to futurology, with legendary designers Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby.
0:07:16 > 0:07:17Enchanting and magical,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20they are renowned for pushing at the very limits of the word design.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Charlie Luxton went to meet the couple for a glimpse into
0:07:24 > 0:07:27their worlds of dystopian nightmares and visionary schemes.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35We can all agree on what makes great design.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39It is those objects we recognise as classics
0:07:39 > 0:07:42because of their stunning good looks.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48The innovative product that makes everyday life that much easier.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51Or that perfectly formed graphic that communicates
0:07:51 > 0:07:54a clear and simple message.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57We consider this brilliant design not only for the way it looks
0:07:57 > 0:07:59but the way it works.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02And if it wasn't for that perfect meeting of form and function,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05we'd think of it as useless junk.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07A chair you couldn't sit on.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09A sign that sent you wrong way.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14And a vacuum cleaner that didn't suck would, well...suck.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16So this is the role of the designer.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21We give them problems and they give us solutions, right?
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Well, not necessarily.
0:08:23 > 0:08:24Over the past 20 years,
0:08:24 > 0:08:28Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby have become world leaders
0:08:28 > 0:08:30in an alternative movement in modern design
0:08:30 > 0:08:35located somewhere between product design, sociology and science fiction.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40These self-confessed technology idealists
0:08:40 > 0:08:43have created countless prototypes and objects
0:08:43 > 0:08:48that at first glance don't seem to have much use at all.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52In fact, the designs often ask more questions than they answer.
0:08:52 > 0:08:53But give them a chance,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56because these ideas could be of more use to mankind
0:08:56 > 0:08:59than even the bagless vacuum cleaner.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03The husband and wife team's unconventional approach
0:09:03 > 0:09:08was given a name in Dunne's 1999 book, Hertzian Tales.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11He called it critical design.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15- Hello, Fiona.- Hi.- How are you? - Come in.- Nice to see you.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19What do you mean by critical design?
0:09:19 > 0:09:22Critical design I guess is about using design
0:09:22 > 0:09:24to ask questions rather than provide answers.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28Usually when we design stuff we are trying to meet a practical need,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31like illumination for working at our desks, phones for communicating.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34With critical designs we are trying to get people to think about stuff.
0:09:34 > 0:09:39It's aimed more at the mind and the imagination, than practicality.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44So how do these idea manifest themselves? What do you design?
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Well, for example we are very interested in how robots
0:09:47 > 0:09:49can occupy our imaginations.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Most people are familiar with the idea of robots in the factory -
0:09:52 > 0:09:55these abstract, highly functional machines.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57But what happens when they come into the home?
0:09:57 > 0:10:04We wanted to look at the I guess the form, the scale, the kind of interactions with them,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08so we proposed three non-working models of robots
0:10:08 > 0:10:10that would act as discussion pieces.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12ROBOTIC SOUND
0:10:12 > 0:10:16We really want to play with the expectation of technology
0:10:16 > 0:10:20and we want to use design as a way of changing that expectation.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22We have a certain idea of what a robot should look like.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26One of the key things we're trying to do was make them not look like robots.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31So when you point at them and say, "These are robots" everyone would go, "That's not a robot!"
0:10:31 > 0:10:35In 2005, Dunne and Raby left their robots at home
0:10:35 > 0:10:40and turned their attention to how headline-grabbing new human genome research
0:10:40 > 0:10:43might affect the dating habits of the future.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45They came up with the evidence doll,
0:10:45 > 0:10:49an object designed for women to record the genetic information of their lovers,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52including a DNA sample.
0:10:52 > 0:10:53This data could prove vital
0:10:53 > 0:10:56in their search for the perfect biological partner.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01With every lover, a woman would buy a doll.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04So we said, take a sneaky picture of their face
0:11:04 > 0:11:07and we'll get it printed on the doll.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10You could write anything about the man's body -
0:11:10 > 0:11:13you liked their shoulders, or didn't like their legs...
0:11:13 > 0:11:17And we've got this secret drawer, which is the penis drawer.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19A very aptly located drawer.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22We had small, medium and large.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26Here you would put the piece of genetic material to store in there,
0:11:26 > 0:11:31so you could get it analysed and you could compare your different lovers.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35The latest project, United Microkingdoms,
0:11:35 > 0:11:39takes Dunne and Raby out of the bedroom and on to the street,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42with their vision of the transport of the future.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46They divided a fictional England into four socio-political sectors,
0:11:46 > 0:11:50each with its own innovative set of vehicles.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52Although they look strange, these cars and trains
0:11:52 > 0:11:56are all extensions of how we get from A to B today.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01We started looking at visions for robotic cars or self-drive cars.
0:12:01 > 0:12:07In all of them the passenger stands up and they can surf or do e-mail on the way to work.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12Access to the road is determined by price, pace and priority.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15A little bit like phone tariff systems.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17You buy access to the road.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21We think that this transport system could be quite grim.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26We want to visualise that now to have a discussion about is this the future we really want to have?
0:12:26 > 0:12:28And if not, how can we prevent it happening?
0:12:28 > 0:12:33This one just looks quite mental. What is this?
0:12:33 > 0:12:36This is basically a scale model
0:12:36 > 0:12:39of a three kilometre-long train
0:12:39 > 0:12:41that has a landscape on it.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43This is one section.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47It's probably 20 metres by 40 metres long.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51- So you live on this thing and you never get off?- You never get off.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53People live on it and in it.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57- And you just go round and round on your mobile landscape?- Yes.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59That's kind of...
0:12:59 > 0:13:01- ..nuts. - LAUGHTER
0:13:01 > 0:13:03It is a stand-in for an idea.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10The idea is - can one small design
0:13:10 > 0:13:14spin off a discussion on a bigger level?
0:13:16 > 0:13:20So, with no marketable product as an outcome,
0:13:20 > 0:13:24it's this process and the conversation that it causes
0:13:24 > 0:13:28that is in a way the real value of Dunne and Raby's work.
0:13:28 > 0:13:33That's the process - that exploring the boundaries of what's possible in design,
0:13:33 > 0:13:38that's massively influencing the next generation of designers that they teach.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Students of their design interaction course at the Royal College of Art
0:13:43 > 0:13:48have gone on to work on the front line of the biotech revolution in California.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53Taking critical product design to the Japanese pop video...
0:13:57 > 0:14:00And even blasted off to NASA,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03where the Dunne and Raby approach led to new ways of working
0:14:03 > 0:14:05and a musical space opera.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12So whether you've noticed it or not,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15the influence of Dunne and Raby's work and their critical design
0:14:15 > 0:14:21is being felt far and wide as they seek to redefine what design means
0:14:21 > 0:14:24and what it can achieve in our future.
0:14:24 > 0:14:29The only restrictions to that, it seems to me, is the limit of human imagination.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41Dunne and Raby's United Microkingdoms opens in London's Design Museum in May.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45While we wait for that, let's see how our design race is hotting up.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49Over here, Dominic - you look quietly confident, I would say.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51While over here, the machine...
0:14:51 > 0:14:53That's recognisably Big Ben.
0:14:55 > 0:14:56As they go on to the home straight
0:14:56 > 0:15:00we're off to an increasingly fashionable area of design.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03Critic Alice Rawsthorn's new book, Hello World,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06explores the dynamic field of social design.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08We sent her off to meet some of its pioneers.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14To make a difference to your local community,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17you could volunteer at a food bank or champion recycling.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21But the changing world of design is creating new opportunities
0:15:21 > 0:15:23for the socially and environmentally conscious.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28So we've got 40 tilapia in each of these tanks
0:15:28 > 0:15:32and they basically provide the nutrient to the vegetables
0:15:32 > 0:15:35that are growing over there through their poo.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38The eco-social design group Something & Son
0:15:38 > 0:15:42has transformed a derelict building in east London into an urban farm,
0:15:42 > 0:15:46with the aim of growing as much food as possible in a small space.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52Why did you decide to open a food- growing laboratory like Farm Shop?
0:15:52 > 0:15:55We had lots of questions about the future of food.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58What's going to happen with population rising,
0:15:58 > 0:15:59food prices going up?
0:15:59 > 0:16:01They were quite innocent questions.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04Then we had the opportunity to take over an empty building
0:16:04 > 0:16:06and we put the two ideas together.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09So we got an urban setting, a shop on the high street,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11we've got an issue around food.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14What could we learn by bringing those two ideas together?
0:16:14 > 0:16:17It's a lot more interesting and complex designing something
0:16:17 > 0:16:22within a social outcome rather than a commercial outcome.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24The complexities within that are so much more
0:16:24 > 0:16:29than designing something where you are just selling - a car, for instance.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32Design is not drawing something pretty and having it made.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36Design is fundamentally trying to unlock a problem in its truest sense
0:16:36 > 0:16:40- in all of its facets and complications, the bad times and the good times -
0:16:40 > 0:16:43and come up with something at the end that works and can last.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47And Farm Shop is a sustainable project because it looks after itself financially,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50it's teaching people about environmental issues,
0:16:50 > 0:16:51and it's a social space.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55While some designers are using their skills to work with local communities,
0:16:55 > 0:17:00one is working on a city-wide scale to redefine the identity of a place,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02inspiring a new wave of innovation.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09The essence of social design is empowering a society.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12Or elements of a society.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Co-founder of Factory Records, Peter Saville
0:17:16 > 0:17:19is famous for the artwork he designed for Joy Division and New Order,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22but now plays a strategic role in local politics
0:17:22 > 0:17:26as creative director of Manchester.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28I like to imagine what things could be.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30When we founded Factory Records in the late '70s,
0:17:30 > 0:17:35I was of a mind of what could a record label be.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38Not what ARE they, but what could they be.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41That was very much my feeling with Manchester.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Saville concluded that Manchester needed to rethink its identity
0:17:46 > 0:17:50as the world's first industrial city, by modernising it.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53He came up with the concept "original modern",
0:17:53 > 0:17:59an idea that spans everything from transport networks and building projects to the arts.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01It had been understood from the very beginning
0:18:01 > 0:18:05that a slogan was not being sought for the city.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10So there was no intention for "original modern" to be a slogan for the city.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13It was a way to think about yourself.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16After proposing it in 2004,
0:18:16 > 0:18:20the city council asked me to stay on
0:18:20 > 0:18:25as almost the provocateur of this idea.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30There have been new developments, which have epitomised it.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32Principally the Manchester International Festival,
0:18:32 > 0:18:39which was a programme of entirely new or debut works.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41In a way, it's our culture.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46You know, artists and designers are part of that.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51The medium, the specific medium of your work might differ.
0:18:51 > 0:18:58Mine has enormously, from doing a record cover 35 years ago
0:18:58 > 0:19:02to helping promote the ethos of a place.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05But the spirit of it is the same.
0:19:05 > 0:19:10It's to make a contribution to the way we live.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12And the way we live is our culture.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18As more and more designers are grappling with social problems,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21one British design group has become a global leader in the field
0:19:21 > 0:19:25by inventing new solutions that local councils are investing in.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28I suppose that everybody that we work with
0:19:28 > 0:19:32understands that the existing ways of problem-solving aren't working.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Perhaps what's true to say, although people wouldn't articulate it,
0:19:36 > 0:19:39is that they're at the end of their tether with traditional ways of doing things.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43At Participle, designers lead multi-disciplinary teams
0:19:43 > 0:19:46that use the design process to redesign critical aspects
0:19:46 > 0:19:48of the welfare state.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52It's a big ambition for a small enterprise in South London.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55One of the major social issues you've worked on is the
0:19:55 > 0:19:59ever-expanding elderly population and how to improve the standard of care for them.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03Can you explain what sort of solution you've proposed?
0:20:03 > 0:20:04Yes, Circle is our solution.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06It's basically a membership-based organisation.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10So, if you're a member, you might call up and want somebody
0:20:10 > 0:20:11to help you with your garden,
0:20:11 > 0:20:13you might want to do something social.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16You might want somebody to help you when you come out of hospital
0:20:16 > 0:20:18after an operation as you're rehabilitating.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21It's important that designers understand the relationships
0:20:21 > 0:20:23that would make that really work,
0:20:23 > 0:20:25so that it really feels like something that's being done
0:20:25 > 0:20:27in a way that fits with your life.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29So every single aspect of that service is being designed
0:20:29 > 0:20:33to understand how it will work, how it will not be condescending,
0:20:33 > 0:20:37how it will take care of practical things in the way you would like them done.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40So I'd like to think the future is
0:20:40 > 0:20:43delivering these areas of work at scale in Britain
0:20:43 > 0:20:47to many thousands of people and really making an impact in their lives,
0:20:47 > 0:20:51and at the same time, we're providing real-life concrete examples of what
0:20:51 > 0:20:54a redesigned welfare state might look like for this century.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03And Hello World will be in bookshops in March.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05Next tonight to a little-known but fast-developing
0:21:05 > 0:21:07corner of the design world - hacking.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11It's not quite as ominous as it sounds, as I found out earlier.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Take one everyday product...
0:21:18 > 0:21:21..and adapt...
0:21:21 > 0:21:23..redesign...
0:21:23 > 0:21:26..customise.
0:21:26 > 0:21:27That's a hack.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31Hacking is something we normally associate
0:21:31 > 0:21:35with illicit computer programmers or the ugly side of journalism.
0:21:35 > 0:21:41In the world of design though, hacking doesn't involve government inquiries or legal warfare.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45True, it has a subversive edge but it's more creative than destructive.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48A process by which people can redesign everyday products
0:21:48 > 0:21:50for their own purposes.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52A make-do-and-mend for the modern era.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Hacking used to be a fringe DIY activity
0:21:57 > 0:21:59but now it's got so popular,
0:21:59 > 0:22:01there's even a website dedicated
0:22:01 > 0:22:02to hacking products from Ikea.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07Boasting thousands of redesign ideas for your flat-pack furniture.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12And now hacking could be about to become an everyday activity.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16As of next month, a new material,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19designed to make it easy to hack any home product,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22will launch in DIY stores across Britain.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26Sugru, which means play in Gaelic,has been voted
0:22:26 > 0:22:28a more important invention than the iPad.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32It comes in a pack like this.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36It feels very much like Play-Doh when you take it out of the pack.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38You can mould it into any shape at all.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42It has really good adhesive properties so it will stick to anything in your home.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44And the magic part is that overnight,
0:22:44 > 0:22:49it will transform into a really durable and flexible silicone rubber.
0:22:51 > 0:22:52Wow. It's incredible.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54So how is Sugru being used?
0:22:54 > 0:22:58Initially, it was really well adopted by the creative community
0:22:58 > 0:23:02but we're now starting to see signs now of its being used
0:23:02 > 0:23:03by all kinds of people
0:23:03 > 0:23:08and this is something that everybody can do.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Sugru has built up a vibrant online community,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14with people sharing hack ideas and photos.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18This is one of my favourite examples of a design improvement.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22It came from a dad in Germany who sent us a photo on the internet.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24His three-year-old was really into photography.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27He built the Sugru up around the camera with these walls
0:23:27 > 0:23:31which are flexible and rubbery so if it drops,
0:23:31 > 0:23:33instead of breaking, it will bounce.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35And it makes the design a lot less uptight.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38A lot of product design is very uptight, isn't it? And perfect.
0:23:38 > 0:23:39Yeah, that's exactly it.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41How we behave normally with our gadgets -
0:23:41 > 0:23:43we worship them and think they're perfect.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47But he made it his own and made it work better for him.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Do you see it revolutionising design in the next few years?
0:23:50 > 0:23:53It seems like we're in an interesting period.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56One of the most exciting things
0:23:56 > 0:24:00is the visibility of the improvements
0:24:00 > 0:24:03and redesigns and hacks people do.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08I hope that the engineers are looking at all those colourful Sugru repairs
0:24:08 > 0:24:11and seeing, actually, we'd better make that stronger
0:24:11 > 0:24:14or make the shape different and whatever.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17It's like a total crowd-sourced product development.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21Some designers like Assa Ashuach
0:24:21 > 0:24:23are taking this a step further
0:24:23 > 0:24:26and encouraging hacking at an early design stage -
0:24:26 > 0:24:28before the product is even made.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34This new digital forming software enables a non-designer like me
0:24:34 > 0:24:36to personalise Assa's products,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38in this case, a lamp.
0:24:40 > 0:24:41I can change the colour,
0:24:41 > 0:24:42the height,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45and even adapt the fin design and overall shape.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51As a designer, why would you want someone else meddling in your designs?
0:24:51 > 0:24:55Product design is designing products and objects for people to use.
0:24:55 > 0:25:00For me it was always very important to have elements of interactivity.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04I'm always looking for opening a door to the user.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06But do you feel you're relinquishing power?
0:25:06 > 0:25:08We've been brought up with the big designer,
0:25:08 > 0:25:10who designs these amazing objects,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13and you're basically giving power to the consumers.
0:25:13 > 0:25:19Yes, it's true but I see that as empowering the designer
0:25:19 > 0:25:20to empower the user.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24The technology enables the designer to add another layer
0:25:24 > 0:25:28on top of the designing product. It's a design experience.
0:25:28 > 0:25:35So users at home, when they play and co-design, they will say, this is a nice experience.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37So the experience will become part of the design.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42What happens if the co-designer creates something you don't like?
0:25:42 > 0:25:48This is a difficult point. Because sometimes it's horrible.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50- Really horrible. - LAUGHTER
0:25:50 > 0:25:53But if I want to make sure that all the variations are almost, like,
0:25:53 > 0:25:5880% approved by me,
0:25:58 > 0:26:00then I'm giving less freedom to the user,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03so I'm constraining the experience to such a level
0:26:03 > 0:26:06that it will always come out well.
0:26:06 > 0:26:07I see the user as a partner.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10There's a partnership.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13It's time for the moment of truth.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16What will Assa think of my co-design?
0:26:16 > 0:26:21- There it is.- Wow.- What do you think? Don't be too harsh.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27- No, it's actually quite nice. - "Quite" nice!
0:26:27 > 0:26:30I found it really interesting - you start to think about things quite a lot.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32Probably more than you would do in a shop.
0:26:32 > 0:26:38You're questioning your judgement over and over again. I like that.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40- There are some big decisions to make.- Yeah, yeah.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44I guess you do in a way become in part a designer.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47You start to make associations, think about things.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50With the way you think about things, and the look of it, all the time.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53It's also about giving some of the designing joy to the user.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59I'm not quite sure about the base now that I've seen it like this.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01Hacking is liberating design.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05It's no longer about star designers handing us products that we have to accept.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07It's a partnership, a collaboration.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10And the implications are enormous.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13Frankly nobody knows where design is going to head next.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15But isn't that exciting?
0:27:19 > 0:27:22KLAXON
0:27:22 > 0:27:27Right, that's it. The race is over and it looks to me like a dead heat.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30The machine's made an absolutely perfect model of Big Ben.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35But there's something about Dominic's creation that shows there's life in us old humans yet.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37In a few years' time though, who knows where this
0:27:37 > 0:27:39machine will have taken us.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43Finally tonight, images of millinery magic from Philip Treacy.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46A new book out next week documents the key moments
0:27:46 > 0:27:48in the incredible story of his hats
0:27:48 > 0:27:51that have captivated the fashion world for more than 20 years.
0:27:51 > 0:27:52Goodnight.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd