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Highlighting the important of engineering in daily life, a series of exhibitions considering engineers as the ‘unsung heroes’ of design forms part of the V&A’s Engineering Season.

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Words by Emily Martin
All Images: Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Highlighting the importance of engineering in daily life, a series of exhibitions considering engineers as the ‘unsung heroes’ of design forms part of the V&A’s Engineering Season.

Comprising displays, events and digital initiatives dedicated to global engineering design, highlights include a major retrospective of engineer Ove Arup.

Elytra Filament Pavilion.

An installation – called Garden – created by architects Achim Menges and Moritz Dörstelmann, alongside engineers Jan Knippers and Thomas Auer, launched the season.

Also, an installation by architects and engineers at the University of Stuttgart – the Elytra Filament Pavilion (above) – explores the impact of emerging robotic technologies on architectural design, engineering and making. Inspired by a lightweight construction principle found in nature, specifically the fibrous structures of the forewing shells of the flying elytra beetle, the pavilion in the V&A’s courtyard comprises an undulating canopy of tightly woven carbon fibre cells created using a novel robotic production process.