Artsnight

If there were an olympic league table for design, Britain would be right at the top. Since the Second World War, British designers have revolutionised our homes, our workplaces, our roads and our public institutions. In November 2016, the Design Museum opens its new ú83m home in Kensington. To mark this great moment for British design, BBC Arts profiles ten great living British designers. Arts reporter Brenda Emmanus meets and profiles our 'Top 10', to find out what inspires them to make such phenomenal objects and to explore how designers have responded to society's evolving tastes.

The dramatist Stephen Poliakoff has long been obsessed with the secret history of Britain in the 20th century. His latest work, Close to the Enemy, looks at the clandestine work of the secret service after the end of the Second World War.

Historian and broadcaster David Reynolds talks to Poliakoff about the inspiration behind Close to the Enemy, as well as the always tricky relationship between history and fiction.

Alistair Sooke celebrates the protean genius of one of America's most prolific and original artists, Robert Rauschenberg. Fearless and influential, he blazed a trail for artists in the second half of the 20th century, and yet his work is rarely seen here in the UK. That is about to change with a major retrospective at Tate Modern in December 2016. Rauschenberg was the first artist to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 1963, creating a crucial bridge between the abstract expressionists of the 50s and the pop artists who emerged in the 60s. Famous for his 'combines' that elevated the rich junk of life to the status of high art, he continued to work right up to his death in 2008, collaborating with dancers, scientists and social activists on a startlingly broad array of projects. Alastair travels to the east coast of the USA to talk to those closest to Rauschenberg.