Killer Design: The AK-47 Joins a Show of the World's Most Influential Objects at the London Design Museum

Mikhail Kalashnikov's AK-47, first produced by some unknown Chinese manufacturer in 1945-1946, is one of the London Design Museum's 14 new acquisitions currently on view in "This Is Design," an exhibition of the world's most influential objects. (The other not so obvious "design classics" include an original Space Invaders arcade game circa 1978, a 2007 Kindle Reader, and a 1979 Sony Walkman). Introduction to the Soviet Army at the end of World War II, the AK-47 revolutionized the assault rifle and today continues to be one of the most widely disseminated (not to mention deadliest) weapons around due to its durability and cheap production costs. Who said design had to be uplifting?