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because all cars were deemed high qual-
ity products, so the route to success
became clear - do something different.
The new mantra had arrived.
Of course, doing something different
is a bit like predicting the future: there is
no such thing. In fact, there are lots of
things, lots of possible futures and lots
of ways to be different. One response
to this issue has been Michael Krafft's
Star Clippers. The website reads, "In
1902, the largest, fastest sailing ship the
world had ever seen was launched. The
legendary Preussen dominated the seas,
only to be gone in a few short years.
Neither before nor since had the world
seen such a magnificent sailing ship,
until today…" He was referring, of
course, to the Royal Clipper, a five-
masted beauty flaunting a massive
54,360 sq.ft of sail area. At 197 ft in
length she is an impressive ship and
delivers to an ever more experience-
hungry passenger a taste of authentic
sailing even if "in the event of unsatis-
factory weather or wind conditions, Star
Clippers reserves the right to proceed
under motor power in order to meet itin-
erary requirements," — the best of both
worlds?
Even we at SPACE have moved in on
the act with Destination Brisbane. The
concept is not just an architectural state-
ment, more a demonstration of the
power of an icon. In this case, an icon
for the city of Brisbane and a beacon for
inward investment in the state of
Queensland. Our belief in the brand
route to cruise product development
rather than the ship route has been vin-
dicated by the awesome global response
to the publication of the concept visuals.
More than 50 magazines featured the
story and spread it round the world from
the UK to Northern Europe, then on to
North America. There it was picked up
by CNN and the Discovery Channel,
which featured the animation we had
created on its 'Cities at Sea' series. The
designers of future ships take note: to
achieve success you have to be differ-
ent, as the general public seeks to buy
into brands delivering powerful leisure
experiences and enduring memories.
Reflecting back from this future time,
it is interesting to note just how slow the
development of technology in shipping
has been. Rudolf Diesel invented his
famous engine in the 1890s, but even by
the 1960's, it had not reached a point in
its development at which it could usurp
the steam turbine in terms of sufficient
power output to reliably drive an ocean
going vessel. As with all modes of
transport, the last 65 years have seen
many technological improvements. I
say improvements, because nearly all of
today's technology was originally
invented in the 19th century, significant-
ly: welded hulls replacing the old hot-
riveted structures; steam technology
overtaken by gas turbine, diesel and
diesel electric power plants; air-condi-
tioning; Azipod propulsion; stabilizers
and so on.
Our chosen time frame for this article
began in 1939, the year which marked
the end of somewhat frivolous and dec-
orative Art Deco period and the begin-
ning of war-time deprivation and utility
design. It is no surprise, therefore, to
discover how much of so-called 'con-
temporary' cruise ship design is influ-
enced by or derived from the Art Deco
style of the 1930s, the period considered
to be the 'Golden Age' of ocean liner
travel. This decorative style, when it
first appeared, was applied to the interi-
ors of the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth
and Normandie. Art Deco, another
European export to America, is not to be
confused with the modern movement of
the same period that is still with us as a
living force. The modern movement
was considered too uncompromising an
approach as a provider of a viable aes-
thetic for luxury ships, although a some-
what watered down version found its
way into the QEII and Canberra.
One significant development in recent
years has been the diversification of
cruise products. The number of distinct-
ly different products that have appeared
beneath the catch-all term, 'cruising',
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