This article was taken from the October 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
Ilona Gaynor is plotting a bank robbery -- all in the name of design. "The idea is to construct the perfect heist. Perfect means the police have no idea how they do it, there are no traces of it happening and they get away with it." The Whitechapel-based designer won't actually carry out the crime (it's expensive as well as illegal), but is exhibiting a forensic report of the fictional heist over six rooms of a Lisbon bank vault, from September 12 to December 15, as part of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale.
Gaynor turned to a life of (designing) crime while studying design interaction at the Royal College of Art, out of sympathy for the underworld. "Design itself is a kind of crime -- it's a weapon of the weak. With enough patience and time, the weapon can get even more extreme. The work we do is all about intricate patience." Gaynor's elaborate fiction is grounded in reality; after working with the FBI and LAPD to understand their thinking, she is publishing a book of her extensive research to coincide with the exhibition. "I originally wanted to rob a casino, because I think Ocean's 11 is utter nonsense -- you wouldn't need all those ridiculous locking-mechanisms," the 27-year-old says. "We went out to Las Vegas and talked to police, security guards, cleaners, everyone.
There's no way you can rob a casino -- but you can rob a bank quite easily. So then I wanted to know how spectacular we could make it."
The robbery is an extravaganza, involving a plane crash, five banks and snazzy outfits. Gaynor, who is the cofounder of design studio Department of No, is funding completion of the project with a Kickstarter: "It's very difficult to fund. People don't want to put money into robbing a bank." Asking nicely? This is supposed to be a stick-up.
Click into the accompanying gallery to see how to perform the perfect heist.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
