More Reflections on Shelter Installation

I have been meeting and contacting fabricators to identify materials to make a temporary outdoor modular art installation to launch the Seeing Shelter Design Challenge. This installation is really an exclamation point and question mark in the landscape to get people thinking about designing, brainstorming and building bus shelters that have greater functionality for the community. Some materials I am now thinking of are: window screen netting, cardboard tubes, polygal (light weigh translucent honeycomb plastic sheets) and vinyl decals shapes inspired by student pattern reflections.

At night, the installation will light up and one outer wall will become a wii interactive surface with Google SketchUp projected for the public to experiment with.

The installation needs to tie into the web based component of the project in a compelling way. The modular shapes units of the installation are the same as those that will be in a downloadable ISSUU catalog kit for Slot Shelters on the project site that students can print out. I am envisioning something like this ISSUU idea flipbook by MIO Culture  

In the design challenge starting in September student will first create prototypes from the modular units from the ISSUU magazine and submit images of their 3D slot card concept studies of bus shelters to the Slot Shelters Project site. These will be peer reviews and voted on for best concepts. The second phase of the project will invite students to create bus shelters in Google SketchUp and submit to a Google SketchUp Warehouse collection. There will be winners of this phase of the project selected by design professionals.

It is really interesting to meet with fabricators. I love to see their prototyping design process and creative use of materials. One great group I met with is The Monkey Wrench Group. Another amazing group is Because We Can.