InfoBritain

 

Enginuity, Shropshire

Enginuity can probably be best described as a design museum. It was opened as a centre piece at the Ironbridge site in Shropshire, dedicated to the history of modern industry. Enginuity describes the new discipline of design which developed alongside the Industrial Revolution. Before the Industrial Revolution craftsmen made their own decisions about what they created. Only in exceptional cases, such as in the work of Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 - 1519), did a person draw a design and have other people make it. The period from 1770 to 1914 saw European society change profoundly. Industrialisation meant that craftsmen could no longer make spontaneous decisions about what they made. The actual creation of a product was increasingly mechanised, and the form of products had to be worked out carefully beforehand. The person doing this planning became known as a designer. This process began towards the end of the eighteenth century, in the textile industry.

Enginuity is an excellent place to see how designers go about their work, and how the creative process exists as strongly as ever in what they do. Visitors can actually take part in activities where they carry out design tasks themselves. For example you can design an earthquake proof tower!

Directions: Leave the M54 at junction 4 or 6, and follow signs for Ironbridge Gorge. Then follow signs for Coalbrookdale Museums. Click here for an interactive map centred on Ironbridge.

Opening Times: Open daily, all year, 10am - 5pm.

Address: Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, Coach Road, Coalbrookdale, Telford TF8 7DQ . Postcode for Enginuity is TF8 7DQ.

Access: wheelchair access is good.

Contact:

telephone: 01952 884391

web site: http://www.ironbridge.org.uk/