14 March 2020 | New Scientist | 29Building beauty
Photographer Alastair Philip Wiper
IMAGINE standing in a space big
enough to hold more than 18,000
containers full of consumer goods.
“My strongest memory was
the scale,” says photographer
Alastair Philip Wiper of his
experience in 2014 shooting the
construction of a Maersk Triple E,
then the world’s biggest container
ship. “The shipyard was the size
of a small city. Huge ship sections
were moved on cranes, welded and
painted by people who looked tiny.”
This image of a cross-section
of the ship features in his latest
book, Unintended Beauty, and it
is part of the Forms of Industry
exhibition at London’s Royal
Institute of British Architects
until 16 May.
Wiper’s work explores
the aesthetics of industrial
and scientific sites. This shot
shows the charm he found in the
unfinished ship. “There are a lot
of things you can say are ugly and
beautiful at the same time,” he
writes in Unintended Beauty.
The ship also made waves
environmentally. The Triple E
label refers to its design principles:
economy of scale, energy efficiency
and environmental improvement.
Shipping accounts for more than
90 per cent of world trade, but is
also a huge polluter. In 2015, it
caused 2.6 per cent of global
carbon dioxide emissions.
The craft has a new, slow-
steaming engine that optimises
speed to 30 kilometres per hour,
which can lower fuel consumption
and cut emissions. Its waste heat
recovery system uses exhaust
gas to run the onboard generator,
while the redesigned hull helps
the ship carry more containers. ❚
David Stock