On yesterdays London evening news, it mentioned how window cleaning is to start being taken out on the famous 540ft 'Gherkin' building in London. It is going to be the first time it has had its windows cleaned since it opened three years ago.Due to the design of the building, a specialist team of nine men have to abseil down the side of the building to do the windows on the highest section, before reaching a height where the more commonplace cleaners' cradles can be used to finish off the 744 windows - 24,000square metres of glass. The job is expected to take ten days to complete, and the workman have to have there lunch whilst strapped on top of the 40 storey building. Despite its high-tech interior, the work has to be done in the old-fashioned way: with a bucket of soapy water and a squeegee.
The question I ask is whether this is really practical? Should designers have taken manual jobs such as this into consideration?
1 comment:
I personally don't think you should let something as mundane as window cleaning effect creative and innovate design.
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