Event 1 - The Hammer Museum

An artist's rendering of the new bus in London

Last week, I visited the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles for the first time, and it was an incredible experience! The museum was so interactive, and had so many interesting things to say about interesting topics like global politics, the role of women in the household, transportation systems, architecture, and more. What I chose to focus on and write about was the new bus that artists and scientists have developed to replace the iconic double-decker buses in London. I have been to London before and loved riding on those huge buses when I was there, so I immediately took an interest in the collaboration between designers and scientists in developing their new, stylish, and upgraded replacements.

This is the rear stairway in the proposed bus

These new buses were designed by Heatherwick Studio, headed by Thomas Heatherwick, and English architect and designer. Transport by London commissioned Heatherwick to answer the question, "can a London bus be better and use 40% less fuel?" He answered this question with the New Routemaster, which is the first new bus in London in 50 years and does reduce energy consumption by over 40%. In order to accomplish this, Heatherwick had to rely upon modern car and bus scientists in order to reduce energy consumption, and had to make design sacrifices based upon what designs he could implement without inhibiting the lower energy demands. It showed me that in projects that combine art and science both sides need to give a little bit and be flexible with how their aspects are implemented in the work in order that the project can maintain its integrity as a true combination of art and science. Heatherwick did a masterful job of this.

These are the new seats in the proposed bus

Because these buses are such a centerpiece and iconic part of London, the competition to see who could design them was a fierce contest, and the construction effort has been very controversial. Mayor Boris Johnson won his mayoral race in part because he promised to bring back the Routemaster design, and so he commissioned Heatherwich Studios to design these new buses in 2010. In order to achieve that classic design, Heatherwick shrank the overall bulk by rounding the edges and wrapped the exterior with ribbon-like windows that illuminate the rear stairway (pictured above). I believe that the artistry and beautiful/classic design will take off well with the public, and will help with the publicity of the crossover between art and science projects, and how they can work together to produce useful and aesthetically-pleasing works such as this one.

Myself and a few friends at the Hammer

I would recommend this event to all of my classmates if they are in Los Angeles, because not only is this museum interactive and interesting, it asks some very poignant questions and makes you think about important issues like feminism and the role of the United States in global politics. I found it to be incredibly engaging, and more than that, fun! They have chairs that are ergonomically designed that you can spin in, and they have ping pong tables that you can go and play on any time. This was a unique and fantastic experience, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Event Link: http://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2015/provocations-the-architecture-and-design-of-heatherwick-studio/