Concorde or Spitfire?

[gordonroxburgh]

Whatever you favour, get voting on the BBC Culture Show's Great British Design Quest

Both are now in the top 10, so lets make sure both are in the top 3 for the final vote

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/cultureshow/designquest/vote/

[Lyneham Lad]

Concorde or Spitfire? Hadn't realised such a vote was going on - thanks for bringing it to my attention and giving me the opportunity to vote for what must be THE most stylish icon of all time....................the Routemaster bus! :E





Only joking - voted for the most beautiful article designed by man - Concorde :ok:

[forget]

Agree with Lyneham Lad. Nothing else comes close - design brilliance! :ok: :ok:

[Whirlygig]

As my mother worked on the wind tunnel tests for Concorde, in particular the shape of the air intakes, then .... for me .... it's the Spitfire ;) :p

No Mum, don't beat me again, no please ... alright... it's Concorde!!

Cheers

Whirls

[Globaliser]

I love this sort of Internet voting. It's great how my mum, my dad, my sister, my brothers (didn't know how many of those I had!), my aunties and uncles, my cat and my dog and my budgie all think that Concorde was the greatest and most beautiful thing ever designed. :D

[Onan the Clumsy]

I think the RML allayed some of the boxyness of the original Routemaster, so I'm voting for the Peguin Paperback, cos you always knew they were a goos read, DMs cos they're bloody comfortable and the tube map because it throws scale to the wind :ok:

[Groundloop]

Would Concorde qualify as a "British" design icon. Didn't the French have a bit part in it?

[Conan the Librarian]

Merde!!!

Conan

[treadigraph]

Almost voted for the Routemaster as it's far superior to the modern bus design...

Nah, it's got to be the Spitfire, aesthetically pleasing and a vital part of world history. Though I think the Beeb could have found a better pic to illustrate the type - never did like the Vokes filter mod, and is that an external fuel tank on the belly?

[Genghis the Engineer]

I'm just off to a meeting at the now German owned Mini factory in Oxford.

On which grounds, Spitfire it is!

G

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

What are 'Grand Theft Auto' and 'Tomb Raider'?:bored:

[jabberwok]

What are 'Grand Theft Auto' and 'Tomb Raider'?

It's going like all other polls isn't it? Like the polls for the best and worst British people. In this case we are looking for a representative icon of British design. To me that means the accent is for something distinctly British and something of distinct design.

Some of the finalists give no indication of being British (except to a minority). Few people on the street being shown those pictures would identify a common link to them all. I hate to say it but even Concorde is a bit iffy - was the original design ours or was it jointly conceived?

To me there are only five that are distinctly British. They are the Mini, the Routemaster, the Spitfire, the telephone box and the Underground map. The map is a masterpiece of design and should be up there in the final three. Bias, however leads me to choose the Spitfire.. ;)

[Rollingthunder]

Concorde or Spitfire?

That's really not fair.

The TD was a great bus, the first really modern bus. the ST was fine as was the Dennis Lancet,and the LT, and Regents (which I drove). The Q was curious, and the Regals were regal espectially in Green Line livery. Never was too crazy for the RMs, but they were the last of the classics.

Voted for the Spit, but the Hurricane was a better gun platform.

[jabberwok]

That's really not fair.

Life isn't. There's some rubbish in the final that really ought to be kicked out - and there's stuff that ought to be on the final list that has fallen by the wayside.

Of course you then start to think what you would like to see on the list. Campbell's Bluebird? Union Flag? Mallard? Cutty Sark?

Any other offers?

[Genghis the Engineer]

Life isn't. There's some rubbish in the final that really ought to be kicked out - and there's stuff that ought to be on the final list that has fallen by the wayside.
Of course you then start to think what you would like to see on the list. Campbell's Bluebird? Union Flag? Mallard? Cutty Sark?
Any other offers?

If you read the website (or saw the programme, which by some fluke I did) you'll know that it's "since 1900", so that's the union flag (arguably the most distinctly British bit of design ever) and the Cutty Sark out.

The problem with the Bluebird and Mallard (apart from "which Bluebird") is that they're probably not that recognisable to anybody who isn't British.



Incidentally, the late Genghis grandsenior (also an Engineer) told me that he'd been originally apprenticed at the garage where Campbell Senior kept his car. A big Bentley tourer, in royal blue, with "Bluebird" painted down the side.
G

[jabberwok]

The problem with the Bluebird and Mallard (apart from "which Bluebird") is that they're probably not that recognisable to anybody who isn't British.

Nah.. Everyone knows Bluebird now since Jack Vettriano painted them. :}

R101 qualifies then - but it's only a faded memory to most.

A pity about the 1900 limitation because we designed many things of beauty before that date - like Harrison's H4..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1860000/images/_1864737_h4300.jpg

[Genghis the Engineer]

A brilliant piece of engineering certainly, but design?

G

[jabberwok]

I see your point but yes - I would suggest design was also at the heart of the timepiece. If it had been a simple matter of brilliant engineering (which it certainly was) then Harrison wouldn't have made it so aesthetic - he could have made the face and hands very dull indeed. Craftsmanship was there is spades down to the last detail.

It wasn't a one off either so qualifies on that count too (unlike Babbage's Mathematical Engine). Cook took one with him on his Pacific wanderings.

Enough though - I'm sure everyone could put up a suggestion for equally brilliant designs of the past. The longbow, the aaarrggghhh shaddup, shaddup, shaddup...

[Genghis the Engineer]

Fair point, particularly since the Spitfire and Concorde are beautiful as a side-effect of the brilliant engineering design, not through any particular desire on the designers' parts to make them look good.

G

[WG774]

Genghis took the words out of my mouth. Concorde's form is dictated by function, physics is beautiful, hence so is Concorde.

Being a design fanatic, I tuned into the programme this week and was a tad disappointed to see two computer games in the running... How long will their legacy last?

Not convinced Concorde or the Spitfire qualify as "design" in the contemporary sense - as previously hinted. What other form of "design" has its entire aesthetic dictated by function? Aside from a F1 car, I'm stuck for examples... Aircraft must be the noblest form of design, if indeed it does qualify to be described as such (maybe they should have two categories: aesthetic design, and engineering design) . I would have thought the term "design" in the sense implied in the programme to be more applicable to aircraft interiors...

You'd be hard-pushed to find a better example of British Design than a C-Type (http://www.seriouswheels.com/jkl/Jaguar-C-Type-1280x960.htm)

Anyone recall the time Clarkson interviewed several Italian head designers from the likes of Pininfarina / ItalDesign / Bertone etc? He asked them who they looked up to, and who influenced them; one by one they replied "Jaguar".

[gordonroxburgh]

Just make sure you all are clicking the link and voting, we need to get the aviation vote out there...either for the Spitfire or Concorde

[foxmoth]

What kind of TAP would vote for a non airbourne entry?
Has to be the Spitfire as Concord has French input.:E

[LowNSlow]

Sorry peeps but for enduring appeal, functionality, beauty and day to day use 70 odd years after it's invention it has to be the Tube map! Neither the Spit or the Concorde fulfill all of the above as beautiful and charismatic as they are / were......

[ORAC]

And the winner is........Concorde. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/cultureshow/designquest/icons/phase4/conc.shtml) Well done guys. :ok:

[Globaliser]

Woo hoo! Thanks for reporting back with the result.