Centenary Lecture Series
March 12, 2009
From Brunel to Wallace and Gromit – the changing face of the British engineering designer
Professor Sir Christopher Frayling
Rector, Royal College of Art
Much has been written and said about the public image of the engineer and the engineering designer in Britain: from the glory days of Brunel and the Victorian inventors to the lower esteem of contemporary practitioners in the modern era.
This lecture looks at the changing public image of the engineer from a different perspective – that of popular film: from heroic modernists in the 1930s to Spitfire designers in the 1940s, to bridge-builders on the River Kwai in the 1950s, to Q branch in Whitehall in the 1960s, to Wallace and Gromit today.
The lecture asks ‘do these public images matter?’, ‘is the cultural realm more important than people realise?’, ‘what image of the engineer does tomorrow's generation have?’ and ‘what is to be done?’.
About Sir Christopher Frayling
Sir Christopher Frayling is Rector of the Royal College of Art, the only wholly postgraduate university of art and design in the world, and also Professor of Cultural History there. In addition, he is Chairman of Arts Council England, the largest funding body for the arts in the UK, he is the longest-serving Trustee of the V&A, and Chairman of the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, which selects the designs for new coins.
He has in the recent past been Chairman of the Design Council, Chairman of the Crafts Study Centre and a Governor of the British Film Institute. Christopher is well-known as an historian, critic and an award-winning broadcaster, with his work appearing regularly on network radio and television.
He has published seventeen books and numerous articles on contemporary art, design, film and the history of ideas. Christopher has been, for as long as he can remember, a passionate campaigner for the importance of the creative industries, and of arts education.