ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Designing the Ocean for Theme Parks and Laboratories

• In Event: The Sciences of the Artificial: Modern Science and Design Expertise

English Abstract

This paper traces the cross-pollination of design expertise among engineers, architects, filmmakers, and physical scientists in one type of design project: the simulation of waves and tides. The paper will focus on the work of Scottish equipment design firm Edinburgh Designs, which has developed ocean-simulating equipment since its origins at the University of Edinburgh’s Wave Power Group in the 1970s. As an independent company since the late 1980s, Edinburgh Designs has designed and installed wave and tide simulators for European, Asian, and North American university research centers—but also for theme parks, water parks, and film productions. Through the case study of Edinburgh Designs, the paper demonstrates how the seemingly disparate arenas of academic scientific research, industrial engineering practice, filmmaking, and theme park design have contributed to a multidisciplinary form of design expertise.

Author

• Kristine Ericson, USC