Shipping containers on the coast

Shipping containers will be dropped at 15 locations around Cornwall

Now have you ever got up close to or even climbed inside a shipping container?

Only if you happen to have worked in the shipping industry perhaps?

Well 15 huge containers have been dropped in unexpected locations across Cornwall as part of a major art project.

Some of them have been painted on the outside but others have yet to get a new look as a team of designers moves around the sites to paint each one.

The show of centres around the idea of surprising "design stories".

They've all been nominated by people from the world of design, culture and academia, from Rick Stein to Kevin McCloud, then interpreted as an installation by local designers and artists.

Cornish miners dig in cramped conditions with minimal back-lift with the nominated, 'Cornish shovel'

Each story has changed something, be it a mind, a moment, a town, or maybe even the world. Some are humbling, some are astonishing, some are both.

You'll find containers in dunes and towns, on piers and bike trails.

Catch one near you and hear where titanium was first found, or how some engineers in Penryn built a robot for NASA.

Cornwall Design Season's Creative Director Peter Kirby explained the thinking behind the project.

"We were seeking the local, regional, national and global stories that have made a difference to people's lives - stories that have transformed businesses, improved health care, motivated communities, enhanced education, inspired culture and sustained the environment."

"The project has received a fantastic and diverse mix of nominations; some expected like Tate St Ives - an incredible cultural and architectural experience, some unexpected like titanium - a world changing metal that was discovered on the Lizard and others that we think will really astound - like Engineered Arts who've put robots into space.

Marconi, pioneer of wireless communications is nominated

Pete adds, "Why shipping containers? Shipping containers are fantastic symbols for a place that is surrounded by the sea.

"They are icons of design in their own right and reflect Cornwall's industrial heritage. It's always been our ambition to create the world's first rural design festival.

"To truly do this we wanted to take the festival to the people, so they can experience it in Cornwall's everyday places.

"Thanks to some amazing support from organisations like the National Trust, people will find the containers in coastal car parks, on harbour walls, on bike paths, in towns, on beaches and in parks.

Cornwall Design Season is in 15 locations across Cornwall from 19 February until 25 April.

To find out details of the exhibitions, locations, events, volunteering opportunities, opening hours or to sign up for e-mail updates visit: Cornwall Design Season