New Old – Designing the Right Balance
The 'New Old' exhibition at the Design Museum explores the role of new design in helping people to lead fuller, healthier and happier later lives.
30 years ago, in the boiler house at the V&A, Helen Hamlyn’s New Design for Old exhibition explored the role of new design in helping people to lead fuller, healthier and happier later lives. More recently, the New Old exhibition (which ran from January – February) at the recently relocated Design Museum looked to explore the very same thing.
Whilst Hamlyn’s pioneering work presented ideas such as an adjustable bed-side table, the more recent exhibition explored a whole new realm of possibilities. Self-stocking fridges, emotionally intelligent robotic companions and scooters primed with a ‘take me home’ button – it really does seem like the possibilities are endless.
From simple to spectacular
Walking around the exhibition the variety of innovative designs were impressive. However, whilst it was easy to be wowed by the many hi-tech solutions on offer, some of the simplest designs were the ones that struck me the most.
One such design was Sugru, a play-dough-esque glue that sticks to any surface, making it the perfect grip support for your favourite mug, the trusty garden trowel you’ve had for 40 years, or those bathroom taps that are getting that bit harder to turn. This innovation is the perfect example of new technology seamlessly integrating with the everyday, quite literally moulding to the shape of your life and your home.
Striking the balance
Technology holds so much hope for supporting us to live full, healthy lives but it also does raise the question, can there be too much of a good thing? If technology holds all the answers, could we become too reliant on it?
Take the beautifully designed Aura power suit; a lightweight fabric garment which incorporates motors, sensors and artificial intelligence, providing support for the wearer’s torso, hips and legs. This ingenious combination is designed to make it easier to get up, sit down or stand for long periods of time.
These are movements which get harder as we age, but they are also movements which many of us could carry on doing unaided, for longer, if we invest time in keeping active. We recently released research which shows the importance of strength and balance exercise to reducing falls and keeping your bones and muscles strong. We need to continue supporting and encouraging people to retain control of their own physical and mental health as far as possible. Technology can be a wonderful enabler, but it’s not the only answer.
So, the Aura power suit could be a fantastic aid for the less physically able, a stepping stone to enable more independent mobility. Yet we also need to make sure that these innovations stay grounded in reality. As one attendee in her late 70s observed “It’s a brilliant idea – but how on earth would I get into it? Or go to the loo?”
Universal design
It was clear from the exhibition that oversized grip handles and clunky, clinical mobility aids are not a thing of the future. The future holds promise not just of inclusive design but universal design – creating solutions that work for everyone, not for an outdated construction of ‘old age’.
A future of universal design goes beyond a change in technological possibilities. It’s about a change in how we think about later life. Later life is something that we will all experience in different ways, at different times. The future of innovation & design must be one that is person-centred, not product-centred. And it needs to be about creating lifetime value, for everyone, at every age.
