Examples of enduring good design?

[threebikesmcginty]

Hook Norton beer...

Ever seen where they make it - good isn't it?

 

[Aperitif]

Ugly ugly ugly... I hate the south bank complex...it's horrible! And no, it isn't just buildings... I tried to move it into haircuts a few pages back...

The South Bank is lovely! Brutal maybe, but enduring. It will stay as an example of its time. (I liked the kinetic light sculpture on top of the Hayward that was governed by wind speed...)

Haircuts are no good - they're just transitional. Hair one day and goon the next!

Enduring design. What about the tea bag? I was thinking about this and had the PG Tips 'pyramid' down as a bit of a mis-glue in the bag making production line, giving birth accidentaly to this new, wonderbag.
Apparently not so. It was the product of brainstorming and enables water to permeate quicker blah blah. Don't believe it but this bag is the eigth wonder of the world.

 

[Aperitif]

Had much fun with this classic design in my youth, setting fire to my brother was a pleasing way to pass the time

Who opened the flappy bit at the end of the tray to find a green line or a red one?

 

[CopperBrompton]

The South Bank is lovely! Brutal maybe, but enduring.

Enduring only because of the cost of blowing it up and building something attractive in its place. :-)

 

[Spinney]

...this bag is the eigth wonder of the world.

Nope - not when the tags fall into the teapot and the tea ends up tasting of cardboard. I'll grant you these are good for bag-in-a-cup brewing up when you only get given those wooden sticks to stir with, instead of a teaspoon (grrr...)

 

[swee'pea99]

 

[dellzeqq]

the Hughes aircraft wasn't particularly enduring

- and I'm going to be a bit picky and point out that Concorde was a commercial failure from the word go, was hugely innefficient, and ended up being grounded after a terrible accident. Likewise the Landrover pick-up version was usesless, and the combination of aluminium bodywork and steel chassis wasn't particularly enduring - which part of the reason why the world now drives Nissan workvehicles.

 

[Fnaar]

The Hourglass Figure (here = Sophia Loren, but also see Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, perhaps Diana Dors (from the neck down) and that woman who works down the corridor from me

 

[Aperitif]

Enduring only because of the cost of blowing it up and building something attractive in its place. :-)

I had you down as 'cool' Ben...

 

[tyred]

[quote name='swee'pea99']

[/QUOTE]

Yes. Just the job for poking open the CD Rom drive on an old PC.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I'm going to be a bit picky and point out that Concorde was a commercial failure from the word go

For the manufacturer, but BA eventually turned it into a commercial success (and please don't start the £1 extra aircraft argument - that's highly misleading and will lead to me doing a lengthy Concorde geek reply ).

was hugely innefficient

On the contrary, for a supersonic aircraft it was fantastically efficient, which was what gave it the range to cross the Atlantic.

and ended up being grounded after a terrible accident

Temporarily grounded after an accident, something which has happened to many successful aircraft. Once the new fuel tank membranes had been fitted, it got its CoA back again and resumed operation.

Even after AF (who completely botched their Concorde marketing) ceased operation, BA's Concorde operations still remained profitable, despite then picking up 100% of the manufacturer support costs instead of 50% of them.

What killed it was 9-11: Concorde was unique in being heavily dependent on a small number of regular travellers, most of them flying once a week. 44 of those passengers died in the WTC.

 

[Globalti]

That medieval baronial castle pastiche that the Victorians loved so much has to be included as a design classic, doesn't it? Here's Cragside House in Northumberland:

Another design that can't have changed much in 100 years and still works pretty well, the pint beer glass:

 

[tyred]

What about the gretaest multi-purpose tool of them all - The hammer?

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Oh no...hang on...

 

[CopperBrompton]

Oh no...hang on...