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Best of British at the palace
MetroUpdated 00:00am on 23 Nov 2004
Penny farthing, Concorde's nose, a London cab and a Mini Cooper S with a Union Jack roof arrived at Buckingham Palace yesterday to form part of an exhibition of Great British design.
Also lining the Avenue of Design was a 1935 telephone box, a Routemaster bus, a Royal Mail post box and Catseye road markers. The icons were part of a reception hosted by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh to celebrate the best of British design.
'These are all wonderful examples, mainly from the past, but I don't think there is any one particular style that epitomises modern British design,' said Design Council director David Kester.
'It's all about being eclectic in the design climate of today. Our design industry in Britain is worth £5billion a year so we are a consulting arena for good design,' he added. More than 400 guests attended the event including shoe designer Patrick Cox, Sir Terence Conran and fashion designer Sir
Paul Smith. On display at the reception were items nominated by top designers such as Lord Foster, James Dyson and Kenneth Grange.
