Exciting design in the windows of the Wellcome Trust headquarters
The front windows of the building are seen by over 1.8 million passers by each year, providing the perfect opportunity to engage the public with our work.
Our window display changes at least once a year, with each one providing a unique artistic interpretation of what we do.
Find out about our previous window displays
WHAT IF…
New window display: February 2010
What if we could evaluate the genetic potential of lovers? What if our emotions were read by machines? These are just two of the questions addressed in our new window display.
Watch our behind-the-scenes video feature
Click through the gallery below to see images of the windows and find out more about the six current projects, which will be replaced with new designs throughout the year. You can also watch videos about two projects previously featured in the display.
215 Euston Road: Dunne and Raby, 2010/Wellcome Images
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The display features six different projects created by students, graduates and staff from the Design Interactions department at the Royal College of Art, each offering an alternative view of how science could influence our future. The purpose is not to offer predictions but to inspire debate about the human consequences of different technological futures, both positive and negative, by asking ‘what if’?
215 Euston Road: Dunne and Raby, 2010/Wellcome Images
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The display features six different projects created by students, graduates and staff from the Design Interactions department at the Royal College of Art, each offering an alternative view of how science could influence our future. The purpose is not to offer predictions but to inspire debate about the human consequences of different technological futures, both positive and negative, by asking ‘what if’?
215 Euston Road: Dunne and Raby, 2010/Wellcome Images
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The display features six different projects created by students, graduates and staff from the Design Interactions department at the Royal College of Art, each offering an alternative view of how science could influence our future. The purpose is not to offer predictions but to inspire debate about the human consequences of different technological futures, both positive and negative, by asking ‘what if’?
Astronomical Bodies: Michael Burton, 2010
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What if…meteorites seeded life on Earth?
Did life on Earth emerge from key chemical elements received from outer space? It has been suggested that phosphorus, embedded within meteorites, played a key role in seeding life on Earth. If this is true, the universe could be seen as bio-friendly, with life as a normal constituent of the universe and humans as astrobiological products of galactic composition.
The question then becomes: should we actively colonise space with life? Phosphorus naturally accumulates in our bodies, forming kidney stones. The proposition is to extract phosphorus from urine to form artificial meteorites. These will be launched into space towards Europa, the ice moon of Jupiter, believed to have the right conditions to sustain life. If successful, they will continue the propagation of life within the universe.
Did life on Earth emerge from key chemical elements received from outer space? It has been suggested that phosphorus, embedded within meteorites, played a key role in seeding life on Earth. If this is true, the universe could be seen as bio-friendly, with life as a normal constituent of the universe and humans as astrobiological products of galactic composition.
The question then becomes: should we actively colonise space with life? Phosphorus naturally accumulates in our bodies, forming kidney stones. The proposition is to extract phosphorus from urine to form artificial meteorites. These will be launched into space towards Europa, the ice moon of Jupiter, believed to have the right conditions to sustain life. If successful, they will continue the propagation of life within the universe.
Acoustic Botany: David Benqué, 2010
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What if…we could design plants to make sound?
The debate surrounding genetic engineering is currently centred on vital issues such as food, healthcare and the environment. However, we have been shaping nature for thousands of years, not only to suit our needs, but also to serve our most irrational desires. Beautiful flowers, mind-altering weeds and crabs shaped like human faces all thrive on this irrationality, giving them an evolutionary advantage.
We encourage nature to produce the things we find aesthetically pleasing, whether they are in its ‘best interests’ or not. Our emotions and beliefs therefore have consequences for the ecosystems around us, and for the moral value we put on ‘natural’ things.
By presenting a fantastical acoustic garden, a controlled ecosystem of entertainment, David Benqué aims to explore our cultural and aesthetic relationship with nature, and question its future in the age of synthetic biology.
The debate surrounding genetic engineering is currently centred on vital issues such as food, healthcare and the environment. However, we have been shaping nature for thousands of years, not only to suit our needs, but also to serve our most irrational desires. Beautiful flowers, mind-altering weeds and crabs shaped like human faces all thrive on this irrationality, giving them an evolutionary advantage.
We encourage nature to produce the things we find aesthetically pleasing, whether they are in its ‘best interests’ or not. Our emotions and beliefs therefore have consequences for the ecosystems around us, and for the moral value we put on ‘natural’ things.
By presenting a fantastical acoustic garden, a controlled ecosystem of entertainment, David Benqué aims to explore our cultural and aesthetic relationship with nature, and question its future in the age of synthetic biology.
Nuclear Dialogues: Zoe Papadopoulou, 2010
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What if...local communities informed public policy?
This project aims to deal with the contentious area of nuclear fission by choosing an open, non-judgemental environment, designed for dialogue rather than dispute.
The inviting setting of a tea party allows for engaging discussion about the technology and its by-products, predominantly excess heat and hot water. Rather than imposing solutions, the discussion encourages suggestions as to how by-products can benefit communities living in close proximity to the reactors.
Participation is encouraged through a tasting of ‘yellowcake’ - a colloquialism for uranium oxide U3O8, an essential ingredient in the preparation of uranium fuel for nuclear reactors. The designer, along with scientists from Nuclear FiRST, devised a recipe for an edible yellowcake, using ingredients that contain radioactive isotopes, to challenge entrenched viewpoints and misunderstandings of risk.
This project aims to deal with the contentious area of nuclear fission by choosing an open, non-judgemental environment, designed for dialogue rather than dispute.
The inviting setting of a tea party allows for engaging discussion about the technology and its by-products, predominantly excess heat and hot water. Rather than imposing solutions, the discussion encourages suggestions as to how by-products can benefit communities living in close proximity to the reactors.
Participation is encouraged through a tasting of ‘yellowcake’ - a colloquialism for uranium oxide U3O8, an essential ingredient in the preparation of uranium fuel for nuclear reactors. The designer, along with scientists from Nuclear FiRST, devised a recipe for an edible yellowcake, using ingredients that contain radioactive isotopes, to challenge entrenched viewpoints and misunderstandings of risk.
Fantastics: Andrew Friend, 2010
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What if…we could design the fantastic?
If you are in the right place at the right time, you (may) experience something fantastic. This project is about the fantastic experience: be it the conscious quest to achieve a personal fantasy, or the more subconscious seeding of a fantastic situation or construct through the actions of others.
The fantastic has the power to engage the imagination, initiate dreams, trigger desires, excite, manipulate and confuse. The project’s aim is to explore how one can, through the production of objects and services located in specific contexts, enable these fantasies.
If you are in the right place at the right time, you (may) experience something fantastic. This project is about the fantastic experience: be it the conscious quest to achieve a personal fantasy, or the more subconscious seeding of a fantastic situation or construct through the actions of others.
The fantastic has the power to engage the imagination, initiate dreams, trigger desires, excite, manipulate and confuse. The project’s aim is to explore how one can, through the production of objects and services located in specific contexts, enable these fantasies.
The Attenborough Design Group: James Chambers, 2010
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What if...animal behaviour influenced the design of products?
The Attenborough Design Group (ADG) is a fictional research group within Texas Instruments that employed Sir David Attenborough’s naturalist approach to investigate the use of behaviours found in nature to defend emerging technologies.
James proposes an alternative history in which the ADG developed a number of products exploring the needs of various new technologies as they emerged during the late 20th century. These products also extend their longevity by engendering emotional attachment with their owners through their anthropomorphic behaviours, supposedly giving them an evolutionary advantage over other, more traditional products.
The Attenborough Design Group (ADG) is a fictional research group within Texas Instruments that employed Sir David Attenborough’s naturalist approach to investigate the use of behaviours found in nature to defend emerging technologies.
James proposes an alternative history in which the ADG developed a number of products exploring the needs of various new technologies as they emerged during the late 20th century. These products also extend their longevity by engendering emotional attachment with their owners through their anthropomorphic behaviours, supposedly giving them an evolutionary advantage over other, more traditional products.
Policing Genes: Thomas Thwaites, 2010
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What if...our garden plants were policed by bees?
Pharmaceutical companies are experimenting with pharming - genetically engineering plants to produce useful and valuable drugs. Currently undergoing field trials are tomato plants that produce a vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease and potatoes that immunise against hepatitis B. Many more plant-made-pharmaceuticals are being developed in laboratories around the world.
However, the techniques employed to insert genes into plants are within reach of the amateur...and the criminal. Policing Genes speculates that, like other technologies, genetic engineering will also find a use outside the law, with innocent-looking garden plants being modified to produce narcotics and unlicensed pharmaceuticals.
The genetics of the plants in your garden or allotment could become a police matter...
Pharmaceutical companies are experimenting with pharming - genetically engineering plants to produce useful and valuable drugs. Currently undergoing field trials are tomato plants that produce a vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease and potatoes that immunise against hepatitis B. Many more plant-made-pharmaceuticals are being developed in laboratories around the world.
However, the techniques employed to insert genes into plants are within reach of the amateur...and the criminal. Policing Genes speculates that, like other technologies, genetic engineering will also find a use outside the law, with innocent-looking garden plants being modified to produce narcotics and unlicensed pharmaceuticals.
The genetics of the plants in your garden or allotment could become a police matter...
Curated and designed by Dunne & Raby