My Inspiration

The Titanic was one of 3 'Olympic Class' liners commissioned by the White Star Line which was built at the Harland and Wolf shipyard in Belfast. Construction of the magnificent vessel began on march 31st 1909. the titanic is known to be one of the industrial marvels of its age, with the titanic being the biggest, fastest and most luxurious.

Finally after 3 years the Titanic was built and ready to set sail on her maiden voyage. Passengers on this elegant vessel consisted of silent movie stars, school teachers, millionaires and emigrants whom all shared the dream of finding a new life in America where this ship was intended to sail to.
on the fifth day of the during, reports of ice forced Captain Edward Smith to travel along a new path. Sunday 14th of April 1912, the sky was moonless, the waves drew flat and the air was chilling. These conditions made spotting ice on the water incredibly difficult for the ship crew.

11:40pm : ''Ice berg! right ahead!" 40 seconds later and a series of holes where being torn into the hull of the titanic. with immediate reports from the chief architect Thomas Andrews, that the ship would defiantly sink. the titanic was built to stay afloat even if 4 of the front hulls were breached however, 6 of the ships hulls were immediately breached and 5 of which were completely flooded within the hour.
less than three hours later, the titanic lay still on the Atlantic ocean floor, 4km down, claiming the lives of 1,500.
For many people, the tragic fate of the sinking of the Titanic would come to mark the passing of the opulence of the Edwardian era and foreshadowed the global tragedy of World War One. The story of the Titanic captured the imagination of the public across the globe, spawning countless books, films, plays, memorials, museums and exhibitions. The discovery of the wreck by oceanographer Robert Ballard on a Franco-American expedition in 1985 gave rise to a fresh wave of interest that continues to this day.

An example of this method of revival of the Titanic would be the newly built titanic quarters in Belfast which is in close proximity to the actual Harland and Wolf shipyards themselves. This waterfront regeneration of the Titanic opened on march 31st 2012 to march the anniversary of the ships maiden voyage on march 31st 1909. the building of the titanic quarters was a huge investment, costing £97million, however it invested into the imaginations and hearts of people across the world, with a recording of 8000,000 visitors in its first year of opening. others believe this revival of the titanic brought back pride to the people of Belfast as it did when the ship was built there initially.

An Introduction to my Project

The Titanic, famous for being the unsinkable ship that hit an ice burg and sunk, or to some, the ship that never sank. To me, the Titanic had great mystery behind it which I wanted to explore and develop through my project.
In the movie, with Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio, we get a sense of the luxury and beauty in the ship. I thought this would be a great aspect to focus on through experimentation with textiles as there is so much to do, whether that be the fine dining china or the luxurious fabrics that draped the ships in great elegance.
 However, after visiting the newly built Titanic Quarters in Belfast I was made aware of the harsh conditions through which these ships were built. This gave me the idea to base my project on the contrast between the 1st class experience on The Titanic with the harsh working conditions that the ship yard workers experienced.