Author: Sally Caird
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50 Things And More That Made Today’s World
Like Dr Seuss’ metaphorical ‘The Cat in the Hat’ BBC Radio 4 opens the box to release ” 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy“. The “Things” did not stop at 50 but kept coming throughout the first and second series. “These things will not bite you” said “The Cat in the Hat”, but are…
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Design dreams of digital worlds – but is digitech sympathetic?
The architectural collective Assemble– winners of the Turner Prize – continue to explore the designed and manufactured world in the second part of BBC Radio 4’s series, The Sympathy of Things inspired by John Ruskin’s views on aesthetics and the central role of sympathy. With Amica Dall and Giles Smith, the BBC state “The series is an argument…
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Taste some Raspberry Pi? Yes please!
Raspberry Pis are a key smart technology at the heart of the Internet of Things (IoT) and are central to the design of our future smart cities. At the Open University, there is interest in the way smart technologies can help build and manage the world we live in, and in their role in helping…
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Design dreams of the material world – but is it sympathetic?
Have a listen to BBC Radio 4’s two-part series, The Sympathy of Things in which the architectural collective ‘Assemble’ – winners of the Turner Prize – explore the designed and manufactured world, arguing that just as mass production has disrupted and changed our relationship to the material world, so digital technologies will also disrupt these relationships…
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PhD Fellowship Opportunities at the Energy DTA
Energy research opportunities at The Open University (OU) through the DTA3 COFUND Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD Fellowship Programme. The OU is a partner on the successful bid for the ‘Extended University Alliance Doctoral Training Alliances (DTA) in Energy, Applied Biosciences for Health and Social Policy called The DTA3 COFUND Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD Fellowship Programme. This is…
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Learning about design and technology
Learning about design and technology: It is not true – there is such a thing as a free course! Design and technology are increasingly ubiquitous concepts. This is reflected in several recently launched free OpenLearn Courses in areas relevant to engineering, software and industrial design. ——-Find out more TT284 An introduction to web applications architecture An introduction…
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Farewell Trevor Baylis -Inventor, Designer and Engineer
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The Leaning Chimneys of Stewartby
Back in the 1930s, the London Brick Company established the largest brickworks in the world across Bedfordshire. Over 2,000 people were employed here at this time. A rich source of clay had been found in the place John Bunyan called the ‘Slough of Despond’ in ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’. At the peak of the brickworks, there…
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The Woman’s Hour Craft Prize 2017 announced today!
Prepare to be inspired by the fantastic designs entered for the Woman’s Hour Craft Prize, which is in partnership with the V&A and the Crafts Council. The BBC website is hosting a range of features and interviews to celebrate craft design and the use of materials and technologies in design. It’s worth a listen. This…
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Designing Sustainable Higher Education Teaching Models
The Open University takes sustainability seriously! In addition to establishing carbon reduction measures to meet Government targets, the OU is interested in how the design of different higher education (HE) systems impacts on the environment. How do the distance education systems used by the OU, as a leading provider of creative open learning, compare with conventional campus-based…