« Repost: Noguchi Museum | Main | Georges Perec, Puzzles »
November 14, 2005
Final Project ideas
I met with Aaron Harmon and Kati London to come up with ideas for our final project. There were a lot of ideas that we were interested in but we kept coming back to the same idea of an intimate space that could be created mechanically within a more crowded, public environment. Maybe a cocoon-like, possibly soundproof contraption the walls of which could be formed (pulled down or up) with a system of pulleys reacting to your weight on a seat. Would allow an opportunity to reflect, refresh, or escape. Also possibly allow direct communication with one other person in another part of the room. Singling out two people, maybe strangers, in a crowd and allowing them to interact privately:
Keywords:
intimate, user activated, transient space, private discussions in a
public and semi-public space, isolation, chamber, alone, solitude, reflection, hermitage
What is the general scope of ideas?
User controlled personal space, individual environment from which the
user can make some choices and interact from a quiet environment. Going with that idea we are creating a spontaneous closed space in a crowded area so that individuals can go to be alone and escape from the crowd, reflect, or be entertained by the motion of wall appearing around them. When octogenarians are asked what they wish they had done more of in there life, they almost always say "Reflect more."
What parts of the general scope are specifically covered by your project?
The privacy and solitude that enable reflection. The structural form determines the user's interaction. Cueing the user to place their feet in a defined area and upon the user's sitting down on an inviting seat, will trigger a pulley system that will create an
instant, singularly enclosed space for the user. The user then has the option to crank a lever or pick up the headphones/microphone and speak and listen.
How to introduce your project to someone who does not know about it?
We have all found ourselves excited to experience something but
overwhelmed by the noise and crowds around us. This project provides a
quiet, temporary, isolated spot to sit. Design should be intuitive: a swing-like chair that entices people to sit on it. It is actually a crank that makes the walls go up which also affects the space of others outside of the enclosure. Here they find themselves connected to headphones/mic, have an impromptu conversation with someone they may or may not know.
What is the intent for your project?
Create a surprising, intimate space for people to be quiet and connect
with others.
What is the audience for your project?
the inquisitive person looking for a nice spot to sit, the overwhelmed visitor at an exhibit, the unexpecting curious passerby who picks up the headphones and microphone/or gets instantaneously enclosed in space, an anti-social or quiet person. People who are feeling anonymous or alone in the crowd. They must also be adults, otherwise the chair system will probably not work. People who use our project are more than likely to have a college education and perhaps even an advnanced degree. The project's design should be intuitive, however, so the user does not neccisarly need to be able to read. Depenging on the materials we use, we can create either a masculine or femine space of isolation, or perhaps a unisex space. Urban individuals who live in cities that are vertically designed are also targeted viewers of this project. Rural peoples and indivudals from horizontal cities would more than likely feel trapped in the space rather than relesased from the crowed in such a device.
Describe the starting point for someone experiencing your project?
The person approaches a suspended seat, it looks comfortable, so they choose to sit, or not to sit. Perhaps they have already seen someone use it, so they know what is coming. It would be open, ambiguous, flat, but obvious that they should sit down on the seat or pull a lever to interact with it. Upon sitting down the weight of their body will draw the walls of the structure up/down around them, enclosing the user in a temporary foam coated room or 'pod.'
What does your project provide that other similar projects do not
provide or provide differently?
Vito Acconci did something similar, with pieces of board and a seat, that enclosed the user in a house like structure. However, this was not a private space, and had windows for viewing the outside. It also caused you to have to step over things while our walls will possibly drop down.
Also, the felt nest by Robb in the MOMA Safe exhibit. Except ours will probably let light in, so it is refreshing, not tiring. Also, easier to get into, and promotes conversation.
What are the resources available to you today for this project?
sewing machine, assorted sewing materials, computers
List some of the elements still missing in order to start creating your project?
pulley system, rope, fabric (felt? gauze?), wood to build seat, pillow, foam, (2) headphones/microphones
How do you plan to provide these elements?
Purchase, loot from trash, "borrow"
Posted by Fiona Carswell at November 14, 2005 12:22 PM