Engineering the Spectacular
We were honoured to be invited to speak at the Engineering Club in London earlier this month. Although Jim Tinsley was unable to attend as planned, Sales and Marketing Director Tim Leigh and Head of R&D, Edwin Stokes stepped in and found a knowledgeable and enthusiastic audience of 250, keen to hear what goes into creating some of the most spectacular live events across the world.
Behind every spectacular lies hours and hours of unspectacular preparation. Like feet furiously paddling underwater, this work is unseen and belied by the slick delivery above the surface. Tim and Edwin offered insight into the rather unglamourous but often fascinating processes at work during the 1000’s of hours of prototyping, trial and error, and practice that go into helping our clients create shows that push the creative boundaries.
They also talked about the challenges associated with ceremonies such as for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games; London 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. The technical challenges behind such manufacturing structures as the Hive, the UK Pavilion for the 2015 Expo in Milan, were also discussed. This structure comprises 169,300 individual components and is currently being dismantled prior to relocation to London’s Kew Gardens.
Previous speakers have included Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners who gave a presentation on their additions to Jean Prouvé’s demountable house; and Dr Mirko Kovac, Head of the Aerial Robotics Lab at Imperial College, London.