History Of Design

1. The bulb over your head

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Most cartoons depict that sudden brainwave that one gets; that "aha" factor, by showing a lit bulb hovering over one's head. This article is a small whack on the side of the head about the bulb itself. Before Edison came up with the idea of the bulb, the sources of light were candles, etc. … I need not get into those. What is interesting is that all those sources critically depended on the presence of oxygen. A simple experiment where an inverted glass is put over a burning candle needs no detailed explanation: Gradually the candle flame would die, demonstrating that the flame needs oxygen for it to survive. Therefore before Edison came along, a light was almost synonymous with a flame. When Edison hit upon the idea of generating light by passing electricity through a conducting medium, he tried many filaments — including carbonized bamboo. Unfortunately, most of them burnt off. Till he got that brainwave, that aha factor which changed all of mankind forever. He put the filament inside a glass container and removed the air from it and in 1879 the bulb as we now know it was born. Philosophically, the act of removal of the air is significant and revolutionary. Till that date, it was the presence of air which played a key role in illumination, and from the invention of Edison's bulb onwards it would be absence of air which would play a key role. …

Author: anyarchitectanyarchitect
Edited: anyarchitectanyarchitect
Last edited on: 02 Sep 2008 12:46
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2. Analogies: Planes that flapped their wings

When I was studying architecture, it was drilled into my head to seek patterns from nature. Look at a tree, the teacher told me — look at its foundations, how it is wider at its base… that is how building foundations are to be. And so on and so forth. Even today, there are references to nature in design. (E.g. Calatrava and his references to the human backbone.) Strangely enough inventions almost never went down that path. …

Author: anyarchitectanyarchitect
Edited: anyarchitectanyarchitect
Last edited on: 02 Sep 2008 12:47
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3. Taming the screw

It is often assumed that two opposing ideas can never come together to solve problems. That is a wrong assumption. And this is best demonstrated in an invention called the turnbuckle. …

Author: anyarchitectanyarchitect
Edited: anyarchitectanyarchitect
Last edited on: 02 Sep 2008 12:47
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