We welcome brief comments and/or relevant papers on the future of city transport design.
Please e-mail hhrc@rca.ac.uk
from Hugh Aldersey-Williams, design & science writer:
1. CARS IN FILM
I was struck by how the car is always mobile in film (a traditional continued in Omron's promotional video!). Even a traffic jam is in motion in Tati's joke. Of course, the car chase is a standard trope of the Hollywood film, never the traffic jam. Even in the bungled heist of Quentin Tarnatino's Reservoir Dogs, the getaway car gets away - imagine the comic consequences if it were locked in a traffic jam. Also, from the sequences Al Rees showed, I thought it was significant how often cars were driven by drivers smoking cigarettes - a neat double take on consumption as self-destruction.
2. BRITISH CAR INDUSTRY
Much of the shock of recent events at Rover relate to the fact that it is to be taken over by a non-car manufacturer, Alchemy. I think this is a worry that reveals the peculiarity - for good or ill - of the car industry. We'd never heard of Alchemy before, which suggests to me that we have not previously been worried about their special qualifications with regard to previous acquisitions. Therefore, it seems we regard making cars as qualitiatively distinctive compared to making anything else. (There is an echo here of discussions at the RCA about whether vehicle design is sufficiently different from product design to warrant a separate department.)
3. ALTERNATE USAGES FOR CARS
a) Think about the car-boot sale concept. b) Think how successful music etc in cars is. Where could this idea go? Personal concert halls etc?
4. TO TRAVEL OR TO ARRIVE?
There was an important point, rather glossed over, about whether we regard travel itself as desirbale and enjoyable or just a means of getting places. It is crucial to think about this before devising transport 'solutions'. One solution may be to find new ways to enjoy journeys. (This was the serious point behind my drugs to pass the time en route to Mars comment.)
5. CARS OF THE FUTURE
I was astonished how little cars had changed in Ronis's future vision. So, wheels had become levitating jets, but still one seat at each corner, and still four seats in a metal box.
6. RECONCEPTING
Ronis's future 'vision' of 'underground people movers' made me think that, yes, the Tube is in principle a solution; with a bit of reconcepting along these lines as well as the necessary investment etc. etc perhaps we could regard it more positively. (It also occurred to me as we were shown the 1939 Post Office film about its underground railway that we were watching a kind of London internet.)
7. CONSEQUENCES OF OUR ACTIONS
Ronis's reassurances that because we live longer we will experience the consequence of our actions is no help. We already live longer and already experience these consequences in pollution, global warming, skin cancer because of ozone layer depletion etc. Not much heed taken yet!
8. ENVISIONING
Does envisioning help us think, as Ronis claims, or does giving ideas 2D or 3D physical form actually preclude futher thoguth, especially thought that rejects or radically alters the presented concept?
9. UNIMAGINABLE?
I thought the best response I had ever heard (it was new to me anyway) re streest being 'unimaginable' without cars, as said by car lobby, planners etc, was that we no have no trouble at finding our streets horseless, as Al Rees said.
10. RANDOM PATTERN
I was troubled to hear Karl Ludvigsen describe bicyclists as a new 'random pattern' for London's drivers. The way most cyclists end up as a random pattern is when they are run down by drivers. When did Karl last get on a bike, I wonder?
11. THREAT TO DEMOCRACY?
There was a bizarre, American-influenced, pseudo-libertarian streak through the Moving On day, strongest in Ronis's contribution, echoed by Ludvigsen, but also there in Peter Stevens and others. Let's be clear that it is no threat to democracy as they purport to tax car use eg a fiver to come into central London. (Nobody says the Tube is undemocractic because it charges £3.60 for the same privilege.)
There was much that was encouraging at the conference - for example the willingness of partisans for/against cars to think about other modes of transport and the apparent acceptance in principle at least by many speakers that the problem requires a total systems design approach to its solution. But there's little point in detailing the many points where I simply agreed with what was being said.
from Sonja Dahl, MPhil Student, RCA Vehicle Design
Abstract
The increasing complexity of professional practice continues to extend the scope of design offering new and diverse applications which further intensifies its commercial value. In addition to this the continual blurring of social and cultural boundaries places the role of the designer once again on shifting ground. In view of this we must prepare ourselves for change in areas of education, research and management and prioritise the development of new processes and practices which are both flexible and capable of centralising consumer needs, wants and desires. Design is about questioning answers; it is about recognising the challenge and responding with creative flair and imagination but, there is much more to design than just the visual solution.
Modern motoring also presents us with a series of paradoxes which continue to complicate its existence; from pollution and safety through to production and employment, none of which have been completely resolved and emerge from the simple fact that, in a significantly short space of time, the motor car has become a major, and for many an indispensable part of our lives. Developments have accelerated since its invention and over the last 60 years we have witnessed one of the greatest phenomena develop before our very eyes.
Design is responsible for shaping our world, its power and value is constantly intensifying, combine this with the progressive dominance of technology, and intricacy of consumer behaviour and we are heading into uncertain territory requiring strong design management and coordination which prioritises user needs.The changing make-up of demographics presents new challenges for design and the commercial world. New markets are emerging which reflect dramatic and incremental shifts taking place across the globe, the designers role is therefore evolving.
We are very effective at harnessing the power of advanced technology keeping up to date with improved hardware and software, observations of the market however, are not given the same precedence. Designers must improve their sensitivity to change and rethink their competence's in anticipating future needs, working better with the user, interpreting and translating shifts into new products and services.
Paying close attention to the Automotive Industry, this thesis presents information which is forcing change within design studios, education, and management, identifying shifts which have profound implications for the future role of design and the designer.