I had arranged to meet Nick at the V&A at 11am. As I alighted on the tube at Pinner I received a text saying that his train was delayed and he would be 30 minutes late.
All my changes happened without any delay and as a result I arrived at 10:35 and spent the next hour wandering. Nick duly arrived at the updated time and we sat and chatted as he drank his coffee.
We bought tickets for the exhibition ‘Cars: Accelerating the Modern World’. The entry was dominated with one of the most icon car designs of the 20th Century.
The exhibition was interesting because it was not just about car design it included some of the impact of car manufacturing and design on other aspects of our lives in the 20th Century.
On entry we were confronted by one of the first ever cars built. The engineer, Karl Benz, had the equivalent to a carriage but without the horses, on the road in 1886.
The interesting aspect about the show was not just the cars they had gathered together for the display, although that in itself was impressive but some other aspects of the show.
The curators were also keen to demonstrate that the car had an amazing influence on other aspects of design and our lives. For example, when cars started to look at the aerodynamics of their design this also had an impact on the look of such things as cigarette lighters, hair dryers and much more. The approach of Ford to the assembly line had a massive impact on all forms of factory work, but also to the concept of efficiency in design. For example Corbusier’s architecture was minimalist and pure function probably in response to the Modernism of Ford.
After a very enjoyable 2 hours wandering around the lower reaches of the V&A we walked up Exhibition Road and towards High St Kensington where I suggested we haver lunch.
Albert Memorial
After a bowl of noodles we returned to Kensington Gardens and walked right across the Hyde Park to the subway near the Dorchester. I wanted to get a close up of the Dorchester Plane, which is one of the ‘Great Trees of London’.
I think I took the right shot because the Dorchester sits in the background. There is nothing mentioned by the tree of its status, and of course it is very barren at this time of the year. We walked on to the English Speaking Union in Charles Street, of which Nick is a member, and we indulged in a cup of coffee.
Said our goodbyes around 4:30 and I walked to John Lewis to buy some Elemis shower gel and obtain a Valentine’s present for Maggi. Achieved both objectives and headed back home.