Oral history; Interview with Ivan Bennett, 2017
Main details
| Reference number | 2018/527 |
|---|---|
| Description | Ivan Bennett discusses his career with Transport for London as Senior Industrial Product Designer. He discusses the design of moquette and the interior of vehicles on the network. |
| Interviewee | Ivan Bennett |
| Dates | 05/12/2017 |
| Collection | |
| Object type |
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| Topics | |
| Completeness | 100% |
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Physical description
Item content Attribute Value Object title Oral history interview with Ivan Bennett, 2017 -
Interview summary
Track 1 of 1 [00.43.40]. Ivan Bennett (IB) was born on the 20th of July 1966 in Pembury, Kent. His father a tool maker and mechanical engineer and his mother was a house mother, crafts person, retailer and charity worker. He went to University at Kingston Polytechnic to study Furniture and Product Design. [00:02:50] IB talks about being employed by JEDCO (John Elson Design Company) in 1989 and stayed on for 13 years. [00:06:00] IB begun working for London Transport as a consultant for JEDCO and then moved permananently to Transport for London in 2002 when he joined London Buses. [00:10:20] IB talks about working on bus stops, shelters, real time information displays, staff uniform, road side ticket machines, lighting and more. [00:12:20] IB talks about his work on wayfinding with Legible London and the Cycle Hire scheme for TfL. [00:13:30] IB talks about his role within the marketing department for Transport for London. [00:15:07] IB talks about moquette design and the design of the interior for TfL vehicles including London Underground, buses, trams and DLR. [00:18:30] IB discusses transport design in other countries and how they compare to TfL. [00:20:20] IB talks about the last moquette design that he worked on for South West Trains and the inspiration behind the design. [00:22:50] IB talks about the lifespan of moquette on a vehicle and how the moquette is cleaned and cared for. [00:24:10] IB discusses choosing a colour pallet and design for moquette that stands the test of time as it will be on a vehicle for at least 5 years. [00:25:20] IB talks about designing a moquette for London buses working with Wallace Sewell in developing a variation of the Overground and Tram moquette design, however this design was never put into production. [00:27:00] IB discusses performance specifications for public transport seats in how seating fabrics perform. [00:27:47] IB talks about other materials used for seating in other countries including metal, glass reinforced plastic, leather, leatherette and flat fabrics and the benefits of moquette properties that makes it suitable for public transport seating. [00:32:00] IB talks about how moquette is cared for and cleaned today. [00:33:50] IB talks about how the seats are upholstered in moquette today. [00:34:40] IB explains why moquette is still used today for public transport seating in London. [00:39:40] IB talks about the future for moquette and how technology might be incorporated into public transport seating in the future. [00:40:50] IB talks about the design projects he wishes to work on in the future. End of track [00:43:40] -
People involved
Role Person(s) involved Interviewer Georgia Morley, 05/12/2017Interviewee Ivan Bennett -
Associated companies, people and places
Places Interview location London Transport Museum, Acton Depot, 05/12/2017