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Sony Walkman1979 Sony CorporationSony had toimpose theworldwidename“Walkman”after itsAmerican business insistedthat the wordwasn’t properEnglish andcalled their version theSoundabout.In Australia, itwas known asthe Freestyle.The name“Sony” isderived fromthe Latin sonusmeaningsound.Originally, thisJapanese corporation hadthe much morecumbersometitle of theTokyo TsushinKogyoCompany.24Like Sellotape, Post-IT and JCB, Walkman hasachieved generic term status. Whatever the manufacturer of one’s small, portable stereo cassetteplayer, you will know it as a Walkman, pure andsimple. The CD version, the Discman, didn’t manage the generic accolade, where consumers stickdoggedly to the more common term, CD Walkman.That in itself reinforces the Walkman’s iconicnature.It wasn’t long after the 1979 launch that the basicWalkman began to appear in a variety of tailoredguises, not least for swimmers. Going underwater?No need to leave your music behind when you canbathe with a water-resistant Walkman.The casing is designed for active outdoor use, withwaterproof seals that help keep water out.Thought has been given on how to keep the devicesecurely strapped to the body during vigorousactivity. In addition to technical genius, Sony is amarketing colossus: spotting specific market segments and crafting products that appeal.

Moulton Bicycle1958 Alex MoultonAt 51 mph, theMoulton holdsthe world bicycle speedrecord in aconventionalriding position.Moulton offersa single framesize that fits allriders with noannoying topcrossbar.Anyone who has ridden a bike for more than a couple of hours will understand the meaning of thephrase “saddle-sore”. Horse not needed.Alex Moulton has spent almost 50 years continuously developing the perfect, hand-built bike.Having built suspension systems for cars (includingthe revolutionary Mini), Alex created a smallwheeled bike that was faster, more compact andhugely more comfortable than its conventionalcousins.Small wheels define Moulton bikes. With only halfthe rotating mass of standard wheels and highpressure tyres, aerodynamic drag is lower, riderscan pedal faster with less effort, and the whole bikeis sturdier.Moulton’s folding bike is a dream, and not justbecause it is compact and portable. The structure ofthe frame – a lattice of small diameter tubes – is farstiffer than a conventional diamond frame. It’s madefrom the same type of stainless steel tubing foundon jet fighters for transmission of hydraulic fluids.26

MacLaren buggy1965 Owen MacLarenMacLaren’sfirst buggyweighed lessthan three kilograms.ModernMacLarens foldin five seconds,so parents cantuck a childunder one armand still foldaway thebuggyIt’s rocket science! If you think baby deserves best,buy a buggy designed by a Spitfire pilot and aeronautical engineer.Owen MacLaren helped design the Spitfire’sundercarriage, so he knew a thing or two aboutlightweight, rigid, load-bearing structures. In 1965,not very impressed with existing products, heapplied his knowledge to the important personalchallenge of conveying his grandchild around.Until then, parents were stuck with perambulators– prams – unwieldy carriages of unattractive proportions with huge hoods that hid the child fromthe outside world.The MacLaren Baby Buggy was far more practicalfor both transporting the infant and for storage.Employing lightweight materials such as tubularaluminium, MacLaren’s structure could carry a sizable toddler and still fold away into a space notmuch bigger than that of a rolled umbrella. Itsthree-dimensional folding mechanism was umbrella-like too. In fact, it is sometimes referred to as the“umbrella stroller”.28

Gaggia Espresso Machine1938 Achille GaggiaCliff Richard’searly filmExpresso Bongo(1960) was oneof many at thetime centredon coffee barculture –in this case,London’s Soho.The first Gaggiamachines wereimported intothe UK by anemigrant Italiandental mechanicwho wasappalled atthe quality ofEnglish coffee.30Few inventions have spawned an entire subculture.One such rarity is the espresso coffee machinedeveloped by an indefatigable Italian engineer,Achille Gaggia, in the 1930s. In the post-waryears, these gloriously dramatic chrome and goldconstructions sold throughout Europe as fast asthe Milan factory could make them.The secret of Gaggia’s success lay in the sprungpiston system, by which hot water was forced athigh pressure through finely ground coffee beansheld in a filter. This did away with the traditionalneed for steam, which produced a much inferiorbrew.Modern coffee bars sprang up at railwaystations and on street corners, catering for the newcustom of taking a nip of concentrated blackcoffee at regular intervals throughout the day.These bars became social centres, especiallyfor the young. Dozens of variations were dreamedup – “cappuccino”, “ristretto” (extra strong) and“corretto” (with a shot of grappa).

B306 Chaise Longue1928-29 Le Corbusier/Pierre Jeanneret/Charlotte PerriandLe Corbusieris regardedprimarily as anarchitect, yethis furnituredesignpartnershipwith CharlottePerriand waslong-lived andhighlyinfluential.Charles Edouard Jeanneret, otherwise LeCorbusier, famously stated that a house wasa machine for living in. He extended this tocover the furniture inside as well, and was laterto describe his celebrated chaise longue as“a real machine for rest”.History has proved him right, both technicallyand artistically. The B306 is still recommendedby orthopedists today as ideal for back sufferers.It does not try to imitate the shape of the body,The yet supports the entire back while placing theupholsteredparts of the legs at the correct angle to relieve stress.chaise areavailable inhairy skin,leather orcanvas.32The chaise longue is just as pleasing aesthetically.It sits inside another metal frame, which enablesit to slide in an arc and thus move the sitter inone smooth continuum from upright to supine.The simple, fluid outlines testify to Le Corbusier’sdetermination to link artistic theory with practice.

Rotring Engineering Pencil1977 Rotring GroupThe inventionof the Rotringengineeringpencil posed aserious threatto the pencilsharpeningbusiness.Chunky, unpretentious and utterly dependable,Rotring engineering pencils and pens have noserious rival. The simplicity of the pencil’s design –plain aluminium, hexagonal in section – somehowexudes quiet authority. And at its top, the thinred ring (in German, “rotor ring”) subtly proclaimsits maker.It was in 1928 that Wilhelm Riepe developed theworld’s first nibless fountain pen. The innovationwas taken a step further by Wilhelm’s son, wholaunched the radiograph – the original technicalpen – in 1953.Rotring’s ditty(above)advertising thefour-colourballpointtranslates as“Saucy chicks,– bright tips”.34The firm became Rotring a decade later andhas since grown into a massive worldwidegroup of companies. Its products now includeeverything, from capillary ink cartridges andcomputer-controlled lettering machines toartists’ oils and colour cosmetics. But, to ahost of planners, designers, inventors anddreamers, the engineering pencil remains itsfinest contribution to the twentieth century.

Design Museum London1987-89 Conran/RocheThe museumalso housesa resourcecentre, toservice thedesignindustry,as well asConran’scelebratedBlueprint Café.Terence Conran and Stephen Bayley establishedthe Design Museum to explain, improve andraise awareness of design standards in the UK.They believed that consumer goods deserved afocal point, where their function, appearance andmarketing could be examined and explained.The pair found a disused warehouse overlookingthe River Thames near Butler’s Wharf. It was toocostly to renovate completely, so they decided todemolish and rebuild a major portion. The resultwas a ‘new’ 1930s building, an assemblage ofrectangles with a subtly layered frontage.The coolness of the exterior (the original brickhaving been covered in white stucco) wasechoed inside. The galleries on the top twofloors are flooded with natural light, bringingto life the neutral tones of oak and marble floorsand white walls. The sight of the Thames runningsmoothly below adds to the general calmness.No wonder one critic praised the Museum’s‘atmosphere of quiet decorum’.36

Geodesic Dome1954 R. Buckminster FullerWithin 30 yearsof Fuller’patenting hisgeodesicdome, morethan 50,000structures hadbeen built.Richard Buckminster Fuller was a brilliantand prophetic engineer, who aimed his manyinventions unequivocally at the betterment ofhumanity. Among these were a rechargeableelectric car, a vehicle which could move in anydirection and an all-metal house in kit form.The most wellknown dome isDisney’s EpcotCentre inFlorida, oftenmistaken for agiant golf ball!Fuller was intense in his belief that people couldcontrol large parts of their environment withoutbeing divorced from nature. To that end hedeveloped what he called the ‘geodesic’ dome.This was a large, lightweight enclosure whichcombined great strength with a minimal structure.The surface of the dome is honeycombedinto triangular pieces by a latticework of rods.This highly efficient framework can easily supporta weather-proof covering. Alternatively, the domecan be formed of solid panels. The geometry ofthe structure makes it perfectly rigid even whenbuilt of a weak material such as cardboard.38

RB211 Engine1968 Rolls-RoyceAfter the 1971bankruptcy,Rolls-Roycewas re-formedas twoseparatecompanies –one to buildjet engines,the other toproduceautomobileand dieselengines.RB stands for Rolls-Royce Barnoldswick.This division of the legendary company wasopened in an old tank engine factory inNottinghamshire in 1943, and it was herethat engineers created many of the mostpowerful aero engines in the world.Among these was the RB211, introduced witha flourish in 1968. This pioneering engine, with40,600lb of thrust, was ordered by Lockheedto power its brand new Tristar airbus. The mostastonishing quality of the RB211 was its lightweight, thanks to fan blades made of carbon fibre.The triumph, alas, soon turned to disaster.The revolutionary new carbon material provedtoo weak for the stresses of wear, and had to bereplaced with heavier titanium. Rolls-Royce itselfwent bankrupt in 1971. But the RB211 was saved.Completely redesigned, it did indeed launch thepopular Tristar. And in 1981 Boeing selected animproved model to power the outstandinglyefficient 757 airliner – the first time Boeing had everintroduced an aircraft with a non-US power plant.40

John Hancock Center Chicago1968-70 Bruce GrahamThe sky lobby –betweenfloors 44-45 –is whereeveryonechangeselevators. Youcan stop hereto eat, shop oreven take adip in theswimmingpool.As American skyscrapers grew taller in thepost-war era, materials and design solutions werestretched to the limit. Existing structural systemshad to be revised. Added strength and resiliencehad to be found from somewhere.The John Hancock Center in Chicago presenteda clear answer to the problem. The building’sdesigner Bruce Graham described it succinctlyas ‘a diagonally braced tube’. The X-shapedbracing on the exterior was a visible expression ofits structural efficiency, with the walls bearing mostof the vertical load, and also coping with the lateralforces of wind. A secondary system of floors andwindow panels added sturdiness internally.The Center is also visually breathtaking, its taperedsteel form making a dramatic silhouette against theChicago skyline. This elegance is heightened bythe understated dark colouring of the exterior.42

Wink Chair1980 Toshiyuki KitaWhat is an ‘animated’ chair? The idea of anassemblage of steel, dacron and foam plasticcoming to life is perverse. And yet the Winkchair, with its Mickey-Mouse-ear armrests,its rounded contours and its jolly colours,has an animal-like charm quite unlike mostother modern furniture. One critic likened itto a gigantic friendly insect.The Wink moves, too. It can be flexed andbent to many different positions, from uprightarmchair to lounger. This neatly encapsulatesthe Japanese custom of sitting on the floorwhilst offering the Western visitor the comfortof a traditional backed chair.44Indeed, the Wink is the embodiment ofToshiyuki’s determination to assert hiscultural identity. His work, which includespaper lampshades and lacquer tableware,has been instrumental in the recent revivalof native Japanese arts. Yet his experiencesof the West have led him, he writes, ‘to designobjects which take into account the values ofboth worlds’.

Heron Parigi Drawing Board1964 Paolo Parigi“Metal is notcold. Metalis beauty,severeand uncompromising.It seeks noaccord fromthe worldwhichsurrounds it.It is sublime,of a harshnessthat needs nosculpting.”Paolo ParigiBorn near Florence in Italy in 1936, PaoloParigi found himself learning his trade atthe epicentre of post-war innovation inindustrial design. At twenty-eight, he unveiledhis first mass-produced project, the ‘Heron’drawing table, so-called because of its longlegs and expectant attitude.It was an immediate success, and inspiredin turn the company name, Heron Parigi.As partner and design director, Parigi haspioneered many ground-breaking productsincluding some astonishing perforatedmetal benches and office chairs.The great virtues of his group’s designslie in their apparent simplicity, their use ofthe minimum of parts and their pride in fineworkmanship. These qualities can be seento best effect in their vast range of drawingboards and tables, with their robustmechanisms and graceful efficiency.46

Art Museum Denver2003 Daniel LibeskindThe buildingwill form a“connectedgateway”betweendowntownDenver and theburgeoningGoldenTriangle areasouth of themuseum.The new146,000square footbuilding willconsist of geometric shards,flaring out likeflower petals,built of glass,titanium andColoradogranite.A sharplyangledcantileveredsection will jutacross thestreet towardthe existingmuseum.48Founded in 1893, the Denver Art Museum has thelargest and most comprehensive collection of worldart between Kansas City and the West Coast.The present building is itself as much a work of artas the objects it contains. The 28-sided, two-towered building, designed by Italian Gio Ponti incollaboration with James Sudler Associates ofDenver, has seven floors of gallery space, stackedvertically to enable visitors to reach desired exhibitsquickly by elevator. The exterior is covered withmore than one million faceted, shimmering grey tilesspecially designed by Dow Corning.In 2006, the Denver Art Museum will nearly doublein size and boast one of the country’s most uniquestructures. Construction on an extraordinary newbuilding designed by renowned architect DanielLibeskind began in July 2003 and, when finished,will include permanent gallery space, special exhibition venues, a restaurant and a rooftop sculpturegarden with spectacular mountain views.

Austin Morris Mini1959 Alex IssigonisThe Miniachieved itsapotheosiswith starringroles in60’s heistmovies, TheItalian Job(1969) and TheThomas CrownAffair (1968).Lawrence, theunfortunatehusband ofBeverly, inAbigail’s Party(1977),upgraded hisMini every year.It began life as the BMC 850 and became theAustin Seven – the fifth car to bear that proudname. But it achieved legendary, almost totemic,status as the Mini, the most successful small carever made. Sir Alex Issigonis had already designedone classic ‘compact’, the Morris Minor, whenhe became BMC’s chief engineer in 1951.Soon he landed an even more challenging brief:to create a car which was small, fuel efficient andrevolutionary in shape.The result was an astonishing landmark inautomobile design, launched in 1959. With itsengine set transversely and its gearbox nestlingdown in the sump, the new car was less than tenfeet long. Yet it could easily carry four people and,One major thanks to small wheels and independent rubberstimulus suspension, it gave them a comfortable ride.50for thecreationof theeconomicalMini was theSuez Crisis of1956, whichhad led topetrolrationing.Above all, the Mini was perfectly suited to thespirit of the times. Cheeky, unconventional andnippy (with excellent road-holding qualities,thanks to front-wheel drive), it was embraced asa chic symbol of the Swinging Sixties. With oversix million sold, it has never gone out of fashion.

JCB Digger1953 Joseph BamfordBamfordinsisted that allhis diggerswere fitted withelectric kettles.That way, theoperatorwouldn’t haveto leave thecomfort of hiscab for atea break.Before 1953 no-one had ever dug a ditch withouta hand shovel. Then came Joe Bamford’s Mark IHydraulic Excavator. It fitted on a standard Fordsontractor, could swivel a full 180 degrees and dig upto 45 cubic yards per hour. Above all, it made useof the incredible force which could be generatedby hydraulic power.Over the next half century, JCBs played a majorpart in transforming the face of Britain – andthe rest of the world. They sprouted bulldozerblades, backhoe buckets and crawler tracks.They became a permanent fixture on buildingand motorway sites, farms and quarries.“JCB” even gained the rare distinction of becominga generic word, a shorthand description for allexcavators. Indeed, it now has its own proudentry in the Oxford English Dictionary.Bamford’s secret for success? ‘I always countthe number of parts: parts are money. Better tokeep it simple.’52

Eames Lounge Chair1956 Charles and Ray EamesCharles andRay Eameswere alsoexperimentalfilmmakers,and featuredtheir chair in ananimatedshort. The title,naturally, wasEames LoungeChair.One commonmisconceptionis that this wasthe chairdesigned forfilm director,Billy Wilder;that was theEames chaiselongue.54“The warm receptive look of a well-used firstbaseman’s mitt.” This was the homely aim ofCharles and Ray Eames when they created theirLounge Chair – and a homely object it has become,reproduced in a thousand guises all over the world.Derided by some as too conventional, and eventoo ugly, it is still a bestseller.In the 1950s, the Eames design partnershiphad accepted the challenge to design a modernAmerican equivalent of the comfortable leatherarmchair beloved of English gentleman’s clubs.The result had to be culturally acceptable to awide range of people.The chair’s basic framework was of three piecesof plywood, moulded in no more than two planes.This was covered in rosewood veneer and buttonblack leather upholstery, stuffed with down, featherand foam. The whole rotated on an ingenious‘spider’ mechanism.

Toio Lamp1962 Achille and Pier Giacomo CastiglioniThe floor lampsin Castiglioni’soeuvre areamong themost beautifuland simple ofhis designs.His Toio lamp,and theParentesi,a lampsuspendedbetween floorand ceiling, arefeatured in theMuseum ofModern Art’scollection inNew York.56With his brother Pier Giacomo, Achille Castiglioniemerged as a major driving force behind modernItalian design after the Second World War.Together they re-thought form, function andmanufacturing techniques, and produced workof apparently effortless grace and practicality.

right ugly. They may be designed to be functional, but many fail even in that respect. Little wonder so many people hate work. James Dyson was determined to be different. Chris Wilkinson's design for the Dyson Research, Design and Development Centre in Malmesbury, Wiltshire is intended to make the working environment inspiring.