DESIGN • 70 videos

Bauhaus Rules with Vic Reeves

Presented by Jim Moir, aka Vic Reeves, Bauhaus Rules brings the radical principles of the Bauhaus to a new generation, to discover if the school’s groundbreaking approach to training artists still holds its power 100 years on. Over the course of a week, six Central St Martins graduates - across fine art, fashion, graphic design and architecture - are challenged each day to create a new work of art, design or performance, sticking strictly to rules inspired by the artists who taught at the Bauhaus.

2019 • Design

Tattoos

Jeff Goldblum learns everything there is to know about tattoos. He gets behind the needle and tests out his artistic skills.

S1E3The World According to Jeff Goldblum • 2020 • Design

Tiny House Living Off the Grid

What do you get when you combine a passion for tiny-house living with cutting-edge green technology? Designer Graham Hill converts a small shed in Hawaii into the ultimate eco-friendly tiny house and a blueprint for sustainable home design.

Bright Now • 2019 • Design

Urbanized

A documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world's foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers.

2011 • Design

Objectified

A feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them.

2009 • Design

Jonathan Hoefler: Typeface Design

While researching vintage watches as inspiration for a new font, Jonathan Hoefler delves into his work for Apple, Obama's "Change" campaign and more.

S2E6Abstract: The Art of Design • 2019 • Design

Ian Spalter: Digital Product Design

On the heels of leading influential projects for Nike and Instagram, Ian Spalter explains the process of experimenting with new product designs.

S2E5Abstract: The Art of Design • 2019 • Design

Cas Holman: Design for Play

As founder of toy company Heroes Will Rise, Cas Holman crafts tools and objects designed to inspire kids (and adults) to play creatively.

S2E4Abstract: The Art of Design • 2019 • Design

Ruth Carter: Costume Design

A visual storyteller and frequent Spike Lee collaborator, Ruth E. Carter won an Oscar for her Afrofuturistic costume design for "Black Panther."

S2E3Abstract: The Art of Design • 2019 • Design

Neri Oxman: Bio-Architecture

Can we design our way out of an ecological crisis? At the MIT Media Lab, Professor Neri Oxman cultivates new materials that emulate nature.

S2E2Abstract: The Art of Design • 2019 • Design

Olafur Eliasson: The Design of Art

Olafur Eliasson creates sensory-rich immersive installations, including a lamp-lit sun at the Tate Modern and chunks of Arctic ice on city streets.

S2E1Abstract: The Art of Design • 2019 • Design

Looking Forward

Come see how an organization founded by 50 street beggars is now building a brand new town in Kenya.

S1E4Design with the Other 90 Percent • 2011 • Design

Crossroads of Change

A changing environment and shifting population patterns present significant new demands on cities worldwide. Luckily, people are coming up with ingenious answers.

S1E3Design with the Other 90 Percent • 2011 • Design

Ideas into Action

From the simple, to the profound to the life changing, see how design ideas and solutions are making a difference in the lives of millions around the world.

S1E2Design with the Other 90 Percent • 2011 • Design

A new Vision

See how designers and innovators around the world are tackling issues of urban poverty with determination and ingenuity.

S1E1Design with the Other 90 Percent • 2011 • Design

Rams: Principles of Good Design

For over fifty years, Dieter Rams has left an indelible mark on the field of product design with his iconic work at Braun and Vitsoe, and his influence on Apple. So, at 87 years old, why does he now regret being a designer? Rams is a design documentary, but it is also a rumination on consumerism, sustainability and the future of design. Dieter's philosophy is about more than just design. It is about a way to live. The film also features an original score by pioneering musician Brian Eno.

2019 • Design

Meet the Makers

Join us as we travel across the globe and meet artisans of some age-old crafts. In a time where consumerism fuels the machines of mass production and instant gratification, watch as these men and women devote their lives to preserve the artistry of their trade with their handiwork.

2018 • Design

Israel

Israel serves up a palatial family estate, a pastoral property that filters the elements, a house built on a cliff and a home with three gardens.

S2E8The World's Most Extraordinary Homes • 2019 • Design

Norway

Piers and Caroline travel to Norway to see a charming family cottage, a summer house built around a rock, a daring concrete home and a rugged retreat.

S2E7The World's Most Extraordinary Homes • 2019 • Design

India

A tour of India includes an airy fortress, a fluid home with origami-like roofs, a new take on a tea plantation house and a lovely "patchwork" property.

S2E6The World's Most Extraordinary Homes • 2019 • Design

Spain

In Spain, Caroline and Piers see a farmhouse made of steel, a home with a floating pool, a circular sanctuary and a shared dwelling for three sisters.

S2E5The World's Most Extraordinary Homes • 2019 • Design

Secrets of British Animation

Explores more than a century of animation in Britain, including the creative and technical inventiveness of the UK's greatest animation pioneers. The defining characteristic of British animation has always been ingenuity. Unable to compete with the big American studios, animators in Britain were forced to experiment, developing their own signature styles. The documentary uncovers the trade secrets of animation legends like Bob Godfrey, John Halas and Joy Batchelor, Len Lye and Bristol's world-renowned Aardman Animations. Tracing the development of British animation from the end of the Victorian era to contemporary blockbusters, Secrets of British Animation shows the perseverance and determination that are part of the animator's mind-set. Focusing on the handmade tradition of animation in the UK, the programme includes newly-remastered early films from the archive of the British Film Institute.

2018 • Design

Animation 2018

A showcase of top animation from the UK's finest new talents. British animator Osbert Parker presents the TV premiere of exciting short films. All were recipients of grants under BBC Four and the British Film Institute's Animation 2018 initiative, which called out for new and emerging talent from around the country. The films take a variety of approaches, using styles and techniques ranging from hand-drawn images to live-action puppetry, stop motion, CG, 2D and 3D, covering a diversity of genres from science-fiction to documentary. Though richly varied in tone and content, they have been curated into four groups on the themes of animals, other worlds, obsession and love. Morris dancing badgers, a noir fairy tale, a heartening tale of love beyond the grave and an alien coming-of-age story are just some of the treats in store from some of the nation's most-imaginative and talented new animators.

2018 • Design

Japan

Caroline and Piers visit Japan to see a V-shaped home, an eccentric gathering place, a Zen-like escape, and a glass and concrete marvel

S2E4The World's Most Extraordinary Homes • 2018 • Design

Switzerland

In Switzerland, Piers and Caroline tour a modern chalet, a concrete retreat, an S-shaped home and a house built for it's owner's classic cars

S2E3The World's Most Extraordinary Homes • 2018 • Design

Portugal

Caroline and Piers start the season in Portugal, where a fully automated home, a serpentine design, an X-shaped stunner and a woodland property await

S2E2The World's Most Extraordinary Homes • 2018 • Design

USA

Piers and Caroline end their tour in Florida with a waterfront wonder, a modest pavilion, a modernist showpiece and a high-end home built on stilts

S2E1The World's Most Extraordinary Homes • 2018 • Design

Tattoos

They've been used to command respect, punish criminals and mark achievements. Tattooists speak about the origins of tattoo traditions and rituals.

S1E13Explained • 2018 • Design

The Exclamation Point (!)

The story of the exclamation point. How it came to be and are we overusing it today?

S1E10Explained • 2018 • Design

Rembrandt from the National Gallery and Rijksmuseum

Every Rembrandt exhibition is eagerly anticipated, but a once-in-a-lifetime show at London's National Gallery and Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum that took 15 years to prepare was remarkable. With exclusive and privileged access to both galleries, this film documents this landmark exhibition while interweaving Rembrandt's life story with behind-the-scenes preparations at these world-famous institutions. Rembrandt is the greatest artist that ever lived to many, and this film seeks to explore the truth.

S1E4Great Art • 2018 • Design

Michelangelo: Love and Death

The spectacular sculptures and paintings of Michelangelo seem so familiar to us, but what do we really know about this Renaissance genius, and who was this ambitious and passionate man? A virtuoso craftsman, Michelangelo's artistry is evident in everything that he touched. Spanning his 89 years, this episode takes a cinematic journey from the print and drawing rooms of Europe through the great chapels and museums of Florence, Rome and the Vatican to explore the tempestuous life of Michelangelo.

S1E3Great Art • 2018 • Design

The Impressionists and the Man who Made them

Monet, Cezanne, Degas and Renoir are some of the world's most popular artists. Their works, and that of their contemporaries, fetch tens of millions of dollars around the globe. Who were they and how exactly did they paint? To help answer these questions, this film focuses on the man credited with inventing impressionism as we know it - 19th-century Parisian art collector Paul Durand-Ruel. It was his brave decision to back these radical artists and then, on the verge of bankruptcy, to exhibit them in New York in 1886 that created impressionism as we know it. Thanks to his sales to enlightened wealthy Americans that subsequently filled US galleries with impressionist masterworks, Durand-Ruel kept impressionism alive at a time when it faced complete failure. This film tells his remarkable story, along with that of the impressionists themselves.

S1E2Great Art • 2018 • Design

Canaletto and the Art of Venice

We start with an immersive journey into the life and art of Venice's famous view-painter Canaletto. The film also offers the chance to step inside two official royal residences - Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle - to learn more about the artist and Joseph Smith, the man who introduced Canaletto to Britain. The programme visits some of the sites immortalised in Canaletto's views, from the Rialto Bridge to the Piazza San Marco, and the Palazzo Ducale to the Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Featuring contributions from Royal Collection curators and the world's leading experts in Venetian history.

S1E1Great Art • 2018 • Design

Secrets of the Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa: bewitching, seductive, world famous. In the minds of millions, she is the ultimate work of art. Yet behind the enigmatic smile, she remains a mystery, fuelling endless speculation and theories. But is that all about to change? Is the world's most famous painting finally giving up its secrets? Presented by Andrew Graham-Dixon, this landmark film uses new evidence to investigate the truth behind her identity and where she lived. It decodes centuries-old documents and uses state-of-the-art technology that could unlock the long-hidden truths of history's most iconic work of art.

2015 • Design

Dream Big. Do Good. Spread Joy.

Industrial designer Helen Kerr works on everything from soap pumps to geo-mapping the island of Manhattan. Her team uses materials that can be broken down at the end of an object’s life, so each piece can be put back into the recycling stream.

S1E6Great Minds of Design • 2012 • Design

Designing with Ghosts

Nicholas Kennedy works with the ghosts of printing’s past, by using salvaged equipment. His style of “anti-design” or “found design” insists that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you create. He suddenly makes the dying art of bookmaking seem very much alive.

S1E5Great Minds of Design • 2012 • Design

Urban Redesign

The work of these street artists arises out of their love for the urban jungle. Their selected materials are intended to naturally grow, die, melt, or blow away in the wind. Their clever creations add dignity to derelict sites and beautify the city landscape, especially in areas of decay.

S1E1Great Minds of Design • 2012 • Design

The Gaudi Code

La Sagrada Familia – although still under construction in Barcelona – is a cathedral without any flaws. Almost 100 years after his death, experts are convinced that Gaudi was a mathematical genius and that each embellishing ornament of the Sagrada Familia actually serves an architectural purpose.

2015 • Design

Ilse Crawford: Interior Design

Interior designer Ilse Crawford creates spaces and objects that engage the senses and promote well-being, from high-end hotels to Ikea furniture.

S1E8Abstract: The Art of Design • 2017 • Design

Platon: Photography

Platon’s fearless portraits capture the souls of world leaders and ordinary people. A shoot with Gen. Colin Powell provides a window into his process.

S1E7Abstract: The Art of Design • 2017 • Design

Paula Scher: Graphic Design

Graphic designer Paula Scher paints with words, developing the visual language of iconic brands and institutions around the world.

S1E6Abstract: The Art of Design • 2017 • Design

Ralph Gilles: Automotive Design

As Fiat Chrysler’s global head of design, Ralph Gilles steers the brand into the future with sleek new sports cars and a self-driving electric van.

S1E5Abstract: The Art of Design • 2017 • Design

Bjarke Ingels: Architecture

Architect Bjarke Ingels unites function, fantasy and sustainability in “pragmatic utopian” designs like a clean power plant topped with a ski slope.

S1E4Abstract: The Art of Design • 2017 • Design

Es Devlin: Stage Design

Stage designer Es Devlin crafts evocative sets for concerts, operas, plays and runway shows using light, film, sculpture -- and even rain.

S1E3Abstract: The Art of Design • 2017 • Design

Tinker Hatfield: Footwear Design

Tinker Hatfield's background in architecture and athletics sparked his game-changing shoe designs for Nike, including the iconic Air Jordan series.

S1E2Abstract: The Art of Design • 2017 • Design

Christoph Niemann: Illustration

From New Yorker covers to Instagram sketches, illustrator Christoph Niemann plays with abstraction and interactivity -- and questions authenticity.

S1E1Abstract: The Art of Design • 2017 • Design

The Art of the Impossible

Professor Sir Roger Penrose is more than just a fan of MC Escher's mind-bending art. During the course of a long creative collaboration, the British mathematician and the Dutch artist exchanged ideas and inspirations. Some of Escher's most iconic images have their origin in Penrose's mathematical sketches - while the artist's work has served as a starting point for the professor's own explorations of new scientific ideas. To coincide with the first ever Escher retrospective in the UK, Penrose takes us on a personal journey through Escher's greatest masterpieces - marvelling at his intuitive brilliance and the penetrating light it still sheds on complex mathematical concepts.

2015 • Design

The Origami Revolution

The centuries-old tradition of folding two-dimensional paper into three-dimensional shapes is inspiring a scientific revolution. The rules of folding are at the heart of many natural phenomena, from how leaves blossom to how beetles fly. But now, engineers and designers are applying its principles to reshape the world around us—and even within us, designing new drugs, micro-robots, and future space missions. With this burgeoning field of origami-inspired-design, the question is: can the mathematics of origami be boiled down to one elegant algorithm—a fail-proof guidebook to make any object out of a flat surface, just by folding? And if so, what would that mean for the future of design? Explore the high-tech future of this age-old art as NOVA unfolds “The Origami Revolution.”

NOVA PBS • 2017 • Design

Underground

Piers Taylor and Caroline Quentin explore unusual homes built underground. In Greece, they view a house hidden beneath the landscape that still boasts stunning sea views. In the Swiss Alps, they visit a house made so invisible it has to be accessed via a tunnel. Next it's over to New Zealand's South Island to a house built underground to soften its impact on the landscape as well as withstand the threat of earthquakes, before the pair inspects a Dutch house created by deep excavation, which features a huge, light-filled open-plan living space.

S1E4The World's Most Extraordinary Homes • 2017 • Design

Coast

Piers Taylor and Caroline Quentin visit an island in Norway, spending two days in a house built on a footprint of just 100 square metres. In Spain, the pair head to a home built into a steep cliff face overlooking the Mediterranean, featuring a cantilevered terrace offering maximum sea views and a swimming pool as well as an unusual tiled roof. After viewing a house in New Zealand crafted from two separate wooden cladded structures, the duo explore a home in Canada inspired by two ships in dry dock, designed to peer over the coast, allowing the sea to pass underneath.

S1E3The World's Most Extraordinary Homes • 2017 • Design

Forest

Architect Piers Taylor and actress Caroline Quentin explore unusual homes built in or near areas of forest. After trips to properties near Madrid and the Catskill Mountains in New York State, they arrive in Piha, New Zealand, to a house built within an indigenous forest of pohutukawa trees. Navigating very strict environmental laws, this wooden-cladded and glass-roofed property mimics the branches of the surrounding trees, while its huge sliding glass walls open up to allow the surrounding forest to become an intrinsic part of the house itself.

S1E2The World's Most Extraordinary Homes • 2017 • Design

Mountain

They begin in California, viewing a property built from the wings and tail fins of a Boeing 747. In Arizona, the pair stay in a modern house with an innovative take on an ancient technique of absorbing the heat during the day and releasing it at night. In New Zealand, Caroline and Piers view a house camouflaged using cedar cladding, while their last stop takes them to a hexagonal alpine chalet with a steel chimney core that anchors it to the mountain.

S1E1The World's Most Extraordinary Homes • 2017 • Design

The Toilet: An Unspoken History

We each spend three years of our lives on the toilet, but how happy are we talking about this essential part of our lives? This film challenges that mindset by uncovering its role in our culture and exploring the social history of the toilet in Britain and abroad - as well as exploring many of our cultural toilet taboos. Starting in Merida, Spain with some of the the earliest surviving Roman toilets, we journey around the world - from the UK to China, Japan and Bangladesh - visiting toilets, ranging from the historically significant to the beautiful, from the functional and sometimes not-so-functional to the downright bizarre. Leading the journey is Everyman figure, Welsh poet and presenter Ifor ap Glyn, who has a passionate interest in the toilet, its history and how it has evolved over the centuries, right up to the development of the current design. Finally, there's a glimpse of the future and a possible solution to the global sanitation issues we now face.

2012 • Design

Cities

Cities are growing at a faster rate than any other habitat on Earth. They may seem an unlikely place for animals to thrive, but they can be a world of surprising opportunity. Leopards prowl the streets of Mumbai, peregrine falcons hunt amongst New York's skyscrapers, and a million starlings perform spectacular aerial dances over Rome. In Jodhpur, langurs are revered as religious deities and in Harar, locals live in harmony with wild hyenas. Many animals, however, struggle to cope in the urban jungle. As the architects of this environment, can humans choose to build cities that are homes for both them and wildlife?

S1E6Planet Earth II • 2016 • Design

CRASH: The Year Video Games Died

Lil' piece of Arcade history.

2016 • Design

Helvetica

A documentary about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture.

2007 • Design

Objects of Desire

Picking up the story of design from the drab days of the late 70s, the final episode tracks the explosion of wild creativity that defined the 'designer decades' of the 80s and early 90s. By addressing wants rather than needs and allying themselves to the blatant consumerism of 'retail culture' designers emerged from the backrooms to claim a starring role in the shaping of modern life.

S1E5The Genius of Design • 2010 • Design

Better Living Through Chemistry

The story of design enters the 50s and 60s, when a revolutionary new material called plastic combined with the miracles of electronic miniaturisation to allow designers to offer post-war consumers something new: liberation.

S1E4The Genius of Design • 2010 • Design

Blueprints for War

The Genius of Design examines the Second World War through the prism of the rival war machines designed and built in Germany, Britain, the USSR and the USA, with each casting a fascinating sidelight on the ideological priorities of the nations and regimes which produced them.

S1E3The Genius of Design • 2010 • Design

Designs for Living

In the crisis-stricken decades of the 1920s and 1930s, with the world at the tipping point between two global wars, design suggested dramatically different ideas about the shape of things to come, from the radical futurism of the Bauhaus to the British love affair with mock-Tudor architecture and the three-piece suite.

S1E2The Genius of Design • 2010 • Design

Ghosts in the Machine

The first episode of this new series tells the fascinating story of the birth of industrial design. Alongside the celebrated names, from Wedgwood to William Morris, it also explores the work of the anonymous designers responsible for prosaic but classic designs for cast-iron cooking pots to sheep shears - harbingers of a breed of industrially produced objects culminating in the Model T Ford. Includes interviews with legendary designer Dieter Rams and J Mays, Ford Motors' global head of design.

S1E1The Genius of Design • 2010 • Design

Teaching to See

This [film] is about patient and dedicated teaching, about learning to look and visualize in order to design, about the importance of drawing. It is one designer’s personal experience of issues that face all designers, expressed with sympathy and encouragement, and illustrated with examples of Inge [Druckrey]’s own work and that of grateful generations of her students. There are simple phrases that give insights into complex matters, for example that letterforms are ‘memories of motion.’ Above all, it is characteristic of Inge that in this examination of basic principles the word “beautiful” is used several times.”

2012 • Design

Future Crisis

The future of graphics in crisis.

S1E5A Brief History of Graphics • 2014 • Design

Voodoo Bloom

The voodoo magic of 3D acceleration, and the resultant bloom in realistic graphics.

S1E4A Brief History of Graphics • 2014 • Design

Polygon Realm

The forging of a polygon realm.

S1E3A Brief History of Graphics • 2014 • Design

Sprite Supreme

A time when sprites reigned supreme.

S1E2A Brief History of Graphics • 2014 • Design

Pixel Pioneers

The dawn of video game graphics.

S1E1A Brief History of Graphics • 2014 • Design

Why is Modern Art so Bad?

For two millennia, great artists set the standard for beauty. Now those standards are gone. Modern Art is a competition between the ugly and the twisted; the most shocking wins. What happened?

Design

World of Warcraft: Looking for Group

Explore the history of WoW with its creators, and journey into corners of Blizzard and the WoW community you’ve never seen before.

Design

Everything is a Remix

"Everything is a remix" is a four-part video series, produced by Kirby Ferguson, a New York-based filmmaker. This video here is a mix of all those four parts. If you want to watch them separately, check his website, http://everythingisaremix.info.

2013 • Design