Each time you blow out the candles on your birthday cake and make a wish, you’re activating the part of your brain responsible for magical thinking. Whether or not the wish actually comes true, for a brief moment in time you are sending out a message in a supernatural bottle — casting it into the Universe for possible future granting.
It’s this kind of phenomenon that inspired Turkey-based design firm Autoban to create their fascinating new Wish Machine, currently on exhibit at the London Design Biennale 2016. Wish Machine is housed inside London’s Somerset House, and was designed to fit with the LDB’s inaugural theme of “Utopia By Design.” Visitors jot down a wish on a piece of paper, drop it in the pneumatic glass tube, and after it zips around the hexagonal tubes inside the main room, the wish is sent flying outside into an unknown destination. You can read an interview with the Wish Machine‘s designer, Seyhan Özdemir, at Dezeen.com.
While in London be sure to also check out India’s contribution to Design Week. Entitled Chakraview, the installation represents, “a clear vision of modern india, the exhibit weaves together the country’s cultural heritage, using traditional textiles, ancient mythology and contemporary design innovations,” writes Designboom. “In doing so, it importantly presents a unique mixture of the social, political and religious climates that will always characterize the asian nation.” You can see the incredible photos and learn more at Designboom.com. You can learn more about all the installations of London Design Biennale 2016 by visiting LondonDesignBiennale.com (even though the website is full of frustrating dead ends — for example, there are no links to the designers’ websites, and I have no idea where Chakraview is located).
.
Photos by Ed Reeve and Gareth Gardner
