Faster, better, more beautiful
Faster, better, more beautiful all the time: The design of least resistance: that’s the philosophy behind streamlining, one of the most important design principles of modern times.
On this Third Floor, the articles are divided into several levels. Airily picking up some facts about streamlining? Then select ‘wind force 1’. More depth and stories can be found under ‘wind force 5’. While ‘wind force 10’ will take you to the depths at lightning speed.
- Article
- Book
- Designer
- From the exhibition
- Interview
- Podcast
- Video
- Achtergrond
- GOTHIEK
- Industrie
- Ontwerper
- Subcultuur
- Tentoonstelling
- Tips
- Wind force 5
- Wind force 10
- Windkracht 1
- Windkracht 5
- Windkracht 10
Aerodynamic Forces and Simulations
Annemiek Koers was responsible for the world’s most aerodynamic production car in 2022. She wrote an essay on calculating aerodynamic forces and what simulations are involved.
Eugenics as Social Streamlining
Christina Cogdell wrote a short essay for the Third Floor on eugenics as social streamlining.
A streamlined kitchen
In 1926, architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky designed the first modern kitchen, a streamlined kitchen.
Flying squids
There are squids that, thanks to clever streamlining, can fly, but how do they do it?
Why are airplanes slowen than they used to be?
Why aren’t commercial flights getting faster? This video digs into the technological and environmental problems facing supersonic flight.
Historical streamlining books
Much has been and continues to be written about streamlining, the design style as well as the scientific phenomenon. A selection of historical books by curator Tomas van den Heuvel.
Flow Visualisations in Sports
Flow visualisations of four sports in which fluid mechanics is crucial: cycling, speed skating, skeleton and swimming.
Streamlined solar cars
Solar cars need to be as efficient as possible and are therefore completely streamlined. In this video, Luc Evertzen of Solar Team Twente tells you more about the importance of streamlining solar cars.
Streamlined athletes
Cyclist Ellen van Dijk is a seven-time world champion and set the world hour record in 2022. In this video, she elaborates on why streamlining is important to her.
Streamlined animals
In search of the ideal streamline, people often look to nature. But what are we actually talking about when we talk about streamlined animals?
Streamlining and aerodynamic drag
What is a streamline? And what is aerodynamic resistance or ‘drag’?
Future
In our present age of climate upheaval and fuel shortages, reducing air resistance is right back at the top of the design agenda.
Performance
Aerodynamics or hydrodynamics are crucial to speed sports like swimming, cycling, skating, bobsledding and skiing.
Ideal
At its height, the streamlined design was accompanied by certain modern ideals.
Style
It was no coincidence that the streamlined look became so popular in the 1930s.
Icons
New, streamlined vehicles were frequently held out in advertisements as the future of transport. In this way, streamlined trains, cars, aeroplanes and boats assumed an iconic status.
Experiment
Many early experiments set out to compare forms in order to identify the perfect one.
Enchantment
For hundreds of years, a galloping horse was viewed as the epitome of speed. But this would change in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. New inventions like the train, the car and the aeroplane meant that speeds that once seemed fantastical were becoming increasingly possible. This new potential for progress had a huge…
Nature
Learning from nature can still be very useful when it comes to creating aerodynamic designs.
What exactly is streamlining?
The term “streamline” originates from science and engineering, but what is it?
