Last Friday, Lower III had the amazing opportunity to visit the Design Museum in London.
The purpose built museum is much bigger on the inside, used sustainable materials and the ceiling soared above us like an optical illusion. The reason behind our visit was to tune into our new inquiry “Sustainable products are developed by businesses to meet people’s needs”; because the workshop we were doing was all about Sustainable Materials!
In the workshop we discovered new types of sustainable materials and how they may be used. We were surprised to learn about how sustainable materials can also be smart materials (smart materials are materials that retain their original shape like heat sensitive paint, memory foam). We learned how chewing gum can be turned into other objects like the Gumdrop which is used to recycle more chewing gum, and a material made from mushrooms that can replace styrofoam inserts and insulation.
We also had the opportunity to look at the standing collection ‘Design Maker User’. We were amazed by the sheer number of objects displayed and the stories behind their design. Some objects were also grouped together so we could see how they evolved over time, such as telephones to mobiles, Apple computers, and how data storage changed from floppy disks to cloud storage. One stand out object was a 3D printed bionic hand – it was so cool to see because it was a great piece of design that really helps people. It was also really interesting to see the old steering wheels for cars which were very large and difficult to use compared with today’s steering wheels which have lots of safety features built in.
This was a really fun and interesting experience and is going to help us with our inquiry because it gave us a different perspective on how materials can be used sustainably and creatively. We also had a sneak peek into how businesses develop and evolve their products over time. We have come back to school feeling more knowledgeable about the ways materials and products can be designed and that everything is designed from a humble water bottle to games console.
