Can the umbrella be improved?

Umbrellas have been around for more than 3,000 years, but young designers are trying to reinvent them.

They get lost. They poke people in the eye. They misbehave on windy days.

But umbrellas are one of the design classics of the modern world. From Mary Poppins to the Mikado to burlesque dancing routines, they feature regularly in popular culture. More than 5,000 models are on sale on Amazon. One city, Songxia in China, is able to make 500 million a year in more than 1,000 dedicated factories.

They in come in many sizes and colours, but the key thing we think we know about the umbrella is that they don’t change. We think the umbrella is as good as it’s going to get.

The most common umbrella, featuring foldable steel ribs under the canopy, was first sold in 1852. Compact, collapsible models have been widely available since the 1930s and the larger golf-style umbrella since the 1970s.

It would appear to the layman that most things that can be done have already been thought of. But designers are looking at evolving the umbrella further.

Source: BBC

N.H.Khider