This past Sunday, Lewis Hamilton became the F1 champ passing Timo Glock in the last corner on the last lap of the last race of the season.  For less than 30 seconds, race winner Felipe Massa of Ferrari was the champ…until that last corner.  Lewis was crowned champion by 1 point.  Wow.

Lewis Hamilton, 2008 F1 Champ

I love Formula 1 (my dad worked in it) , I’m sad it doesn’t come to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (for the time being), and it is at the technological forefront of auto racing (hey, I’m in New Media) – so I’m always happy to bore you with this stuff.  However.

Recent experiences have made me consider design in a new way, especially the design of every day objects.  For me, these might be the things we take for granted or not really consider ‘designed.’  I was recently in Spain working on a couple of New Media projects for upcoming IMA exhibitions, including one on European Design.  In Barcelona I had the opportunity to interview designer Marti Guixe and architect Juli Capella.  Since these interviews (and the omnipresence of Gaudi in Barcelona), I have paid more attention to the objects around me – their function, aesthetic appeal, construction and so on.  You can find beauty and innovation in even the most mundane objects.  I’m telling you this because I hope you share your own experiences with design.

I missed Lewis’ incredible last lap because I was on a plane (I love the graphic design of the airline safety cards) and this of course, as it always does, made me think of Patrick Smith’s fascinating blog post on the jet liner as art.   So the combination of F1, recent exposure to leading designers, and IMA’s first ever guest blogger, inspired me to share some of my favorite F1 cars as objects of design.  Here’s 3 -

The Tyrrell P34, 1976 – yeah, it had six wheels. Talk about innovation and risk taking.

Image courtesy of formula1.sport24.pl

The Brabham BT-52, 1983.  There something about the lines of this car combined with the simple blue and white.

Image courtesy of km77.com

And, I would come under harsh criticism if I failed to mention the Ferrari 156 F1 Sharknose, 1961-62.  Hey, it’s a Ferrari.

Image courtesy of ultimatecarpage.com

These are just three cars from thousands of F1 designs over the years, but they illustrate an area of design that interests me.

I also love the Eames Lounge Chair, Tag Heuer Monaco watch and Lego’s.  It just something about the way they are designed.

I’ve listed my favorite design objects.  Now it’s your turn.

]]> http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/11/06/lewis-hamilton-and-design/feed/ 1 http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/05/25/dan-wheldon-racing-art-and-the-indy-500/ http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/05/25/dan-wheldon-racing-art-and-the-indy-500/#comments Sun, 25 May 2008 15:29:29 +0000 Dan Wheldon http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/?p=428 We asked Dan Wheldon to share a few thoughts as the Indianapolis 500 neared. Here is a pre-race update.

What a month it’s been so far in Indianapolis. My Target Chip Ganassi Racing team has performed flawlessly and put my teammate Scott Dixon on pole position, with myself close behind in second for our first ever one-two start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I’ve always been fortunate in my career to be in great equipment, and I hope to take the No.10 Target Honda Dallara to victory lane Sunday.

What a great feeling it would be to win a second Indianapolis 500. Winning this race in 2005 was the highlight of my professional racing career, and the highlight of my personal life came just a few short months ago in St. Petersburg, FL when I married my beautiful wife Susie. Things are going extremely well and I can only hope we have lady luck on our side when the green flag drops in a few short days.

I’ve always been a fan of the arts so in the spirit of good taste and with a nod to my heritage I’ll be sporting a new pair of PUMA racing shoes this weekend for the race. They are a very distinct blue, red and white pair that feature the British Flag…complete with a gold PUMA logo to accent the design. I also had a very special helmet designed for the race which shows off what its like to sip the milk at Indianapolis. I don’t want to give too much away so you’ll have to look for it on Sunday!

Finally, in starting on the front row for this year’s Indianapolis 500, my teammate and I were able to participate in a special visit to New York City on Monday at the new Sports Museum of America on Broadway in NYC. What a thrill it was to see a display showing off one of the helmets the team donated to the museum for the grand opening. That’s all the inspiration you need to close out the month of May in Indianapolis on a high note!

Here’s to another victory this weekend, and hopefully adding another piece of “fine art” to my personal collection!