Ove Arup at the V & A

I thought I should take in an exhibition as hadn't been to one for a while. It's not a great time of year for doing this as galleries seem to be finishing summer exhibitions and getting ready for winter ones.

But I had meant to see the civil engineering exhibition at the V & A. This was primarily an exhibition about Ove Arup, both as to his achievements during his lifetime and his legacy. While not a blockbuster there was enough to be interesting.

One starts by climbing up into a gallery looking down on the main exhibits below. Not much up here apart frm some doodles and the like. And some descriptions of Ove Arup works outings. An attempt to show the man before the works. Unfortunately my attempt to go down into the main hall was just met by a wheelchair user trying to get up. No room for passing. One just had to wit for the inexorably slow chairlift to works its way up, disgorge its passenger and then slowly work its way down again, by which time quite a crowd had gathered.

When finally down one worked one's way through Ove Arup's oeuvre. The first area which I knew nothing about was working on designs for air-raid shelters. He had recommended and designed the equivalent of an underground multi-storey car park for Londoners.

But on a grander scale was his most famous work, the Sydney Opera House. The displays included the rather cool wooden model used to work out how wind would pass along its strange shape using a wind tunnel. A nice object in its own right.

And for a quirky item there was the huge computer used to make all the calculations necessary. Apparently they reckoned doing them all manually would have added 10 years to the project. An equivalent device would probably fit in your pocket these days.

There were also some later clever designs, notably an American art gallery with strange concrete brackets inserted to diffuse direct overhead sunlight into the art space.

But the most engaging exhibition was a sound booth which allowed one to work out what the acoustics would be for various projects. That was genuinely fascinating, especially listening to the acoustics of a concert hall. Definitely the highlight of the exhibition for me.

But the highlight of the visit was out in the courtyard. They had constructed a pavilion/shelter with a lattice roof which was simply beautiful. I want one.

Still left time to pootle around the underwear exhibition (hey, its free I am a member, so go round anything). Actually not that exciting. A number of corsets so one can be amazed at how (and why) women tied themselves into such garments, plus some much more modern bras etc. Very much a female show - well you can't do much with men's pants and vests, or at least not much that is worth putting into an exhibition.

Then a wander down my favourite sculpture gallery and off home, to a well deserved if late lunch.