Report on visit to V&A Museum of Childhood

On the 12th October 2024, seven U101 24B students (including two children) met up at the V&A Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green in East London. The museum itself showcases a mix of displays of artefacts relating to childhood from a diversity of cultures around the world. Some artefacts date back to the 16th Century. On the upper floors, the displays are devoted specifically to the world of contemporary design, in particular how today’s designers are exploring new materials and technologies to create clothing, artefacts, furniture and prosthetics for children. Many of the displays showcase the work of designers who have focused on some particular aspect of the design process, for example, Sebastian Cox and Ninela Ivanova’s exploration of mycelium as a material that could be combined with wood sawdust to create sustainable furniture as well as alternatives to leather.  Bristol based design group, Open Bionics, have on display their prototypes for 3D printed prosthetic arms that respond to signals picked up from residual impulses in the child’s stump. In this latter case, the design aesthetic was an emphasis on the ‘super hero’ look, in which the prosthetic was very much about a look that signalled hi-tech, robot-like appearance.

Elsewhere, Ryan Yasin’s work details how he developed a range of clothing that would grow and expand as the child grows. Drawing inspiration from origami folding principles, he developed techniques for folding textiles that would allow the garments to expand to match the child’s growth. He documents how further collaboration with fashion and textile designers were combined to add visual interest to the clothing, which subsequently led to a rise in interest in his work.

What was notable across all these case studies was that all of the designers also included their design journals in the display as a documented record of their experiments and prototyping. It served to show that in U101 – where we encourage students to use their own design journal – we are doing so because this is exactly how professional designers choose to work.

The following are a few images of the visit that illustrate the range of design-related projects on display.

Design journal detailing experiments in use of mycelium

The role of design in the education of children

 

The ‘Hero Arm’ prototyping and development process

The Petit Pli expanding clothing concept

Petit Pli – collaboration with fashion and textile designers to add pattern and visual interest


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