Automotive Design I: The Dawn of Mass Production One cannot think of antisemitism[1] mass production without thinking of Henry Ford. His introduction of the moving assembly line for the Model T in 1913 had a deep and everlasting impact on automotive design. Craftsmanship and customisation were shown the door to make room for a new age of […]
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Horseless Carriages? Electric Cars? The Early Days of Automobiles In days of old, when knights were bold… OK, that’s quite enough schoolboy humour for one day, but the point is we’re going back in time. Back to the days before constraints of mass production and standardised forms, back to the very first cars, the horseless
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The Power of Love: Why is Automotive Design so Interesting? Automotive design is more than the creation of a static piece of art, it’s more than the creation of a purely utilitarian device for moving people from place a to place b, it reflects culture, technology, politics, and aspirations. Let’s begin by looking at the
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Car Design: An Introduction “Glorious, stirring sight! The poetry of motion! The real way to travel! The only way to travel!” My very first car related memory is perhaps less than auspicious. As a young boy, I loved the thrill of driving, the speed, the racing lines, and the cardboard box in which I would
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The History of Beer III – Medieval Europe 2: Society & Culture When is a drink not just a drink? When it’s a beer of course. In medieval Europe, beer was everywhere and affected everyone, so let’s start with its nickname – liquid bread. In 14th century England, grains accounted for 80% of the calorific
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Dragon Boat Festival/端午節 ‘All gloomy and dark is the day;The east wind drifts and god sends down rain.1 Qu Yuan (屈原), poet, aristocrat, inventor of Zongzi (粽子), despite the often contradictory details of stories about him, he does appear to have been all three, if you have a mind open to the supernatural that is.
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The History of Beer III – Medieval Europe 1: Production The importance of beer in medieval Europe cannot be overstated. Beer was indispensable, central to the medieval experience and worldview. So widespread was its consumption, that any changes to its availability, production, or quality could have deep social and economic consequences. During the initial days
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Mummy? Maman? 媽媽? What better place to start our exploration of language than with our mothers? In Vanity Fair (1848), William Makepeace Thackeray wrote “Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children”. This line, which is possibly more famous for being quoted by Eric Draven (played by Brandon Lee)
Famous Designers Design has been shaped by visionary individuals whose work has left a lasting impact on the way we live, interact, and create. Among the most influential is Leonardo da Vinci, a Renaissance polymath whose sketches of inventions and anatomical studies combined art with science, laying early foundations for modern design thinking. In the
The World’s First Cookbook The World’s First Cookbook, dating back over 2,300 years, is a testament to the enduring fascination with documenting recipes. While cookbooks are commonplace today, the concept of preserving culinary knowledge has a surprisingly ancient history. The oldest known cookbook, titled Hedypathia, meaning “Pleasant Living,” was written by a Greek named Archestratus
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