Instagram and Wall Garden

Experimenting with window decals and Instagram and Printsgram for the Seeking Shelter installation walls. Below is the decal film I bought at Staples with a Printsgram set printed on it. I envision people sharing Instagram images of Silicon Valley and printing them on window decal film at the ZERO1 Biennial. Visitors will stick them to the bus stop shelter installation.

Below is the back side of a polygal wall with images showing through.

Can on a string phones & wall gardens

I am very excited that Monkey Wrench Design is donating two cans on a sting phones to be used into the Seeking Shelter installation at the ZERO1 Biennial.

1. The public will be invited to plug in their mobile devices and search specific tags in SoundCloud and listen to the audio there.
2. The public will be invited to submit audio recordings of what they would like to see in a bus shelter (these statements they will tag with "seeking shelter"). I am so jazzed about this integration. I am beginning to sketch out how this set up will look. Here is my first concept sketch below. 

Below is a sketch of the back side of the bus stop installation. It will have various interactive components:

1. The bus stop will have a herb wall garden of recycled plastic bottles. There will be a QR code link to a google form for people to submit recipes.
2. Youth designed radial patterns reflecting on community as well as and instagram image will be made into window decals. Visitors will submit the instagram images and I will print on window decal film for them to place up on the walls. These will light up like stained glass at night.

Wall garden test using polygal, Makedo parts and water bottles.

Above, starter plugs bought from Glow Hydroponics. The goal of the installation is to inspire youth to think outside the box and envision what they would add to a bus shelter.  The bulk of the project is the Seeking Shelter Youth Design Challenge that will launch in the fall.

Above is the structure so far. It will be painted soon.

Seeking Shelter Installation Construction

This week I have been working with my father and children in constructing the Seeking Shelter installation for the ZERO1 Biennial. My father took my design sketches and has created the components that will come together to form the bus stop shelter. It has become a family affair with my children and dad helping.

My father testing out the layout of the roof attachments temporarily on short lengths of tubes. The final pillars will be 8 ft tall sonotubes generously donated by Pacific Paper Tube Inc.

Cole and my father work on designing connection points of pillars to roof.

Measuring for polygal walls.

Emily and my father priming part of the roof structure.

Emily and I are priming roof component.

David Okada cutting the base of the bus shelter.

The base of bus shelter is beginning to take shape. The base will be assembled from three panels that connect to each other with pop out pin hinges. These initial construction came together seamlessly due to my father's great planning and labeling of the parts which he hauled up to San Jose from his L.A. workshop. In a few weeks we will continue priming all the components and paint the final colors. I also hope to be getting polygal plastic for the walls of the structure.

One wall of the bus stop shelter will be an interactive surface projection using a wii remote interactive surface set up. Another wall of the shelters will invite visitors to add laser cut vinyl window decals. Another wall will have a hanging garden that is similar to this design of a hanging water bottle garden. All of these activities are to inspire youth to envision ideas for their creations for the Seeking Shelter Youth Design Challenge.

Cole creating a water bottle planter. Rows of these will be hung in rows from the outside of the shelter on one wall. We are planting mint, lettuce and some other plants.

Seeking Shelter Installation/ More Model studies

David Okada has been busy making another rough model study of my concept for a public participatory bus shelter installation that will be a part of the 2012 ZERO1 Biennial in September. He surprised me by sticking in scale figures that are my mom, sister and my children! The roof here does not reflect the shape or materials of the actual installation. The roof will be more dynamic that what is seen here.(see earlier blog postings) The final roof is made of pvc tubes and will be covered by floating polygal shapes sandwiched between mesh.

The stickers in this model (he used translucent Zip-A-Tone...remember that medium!) represent vinyl window decals that the public will stick to the polygal walls. I will be taking youth pattern reflections on local community and will be translating them into vector files (Illustrator) so that I can laser cut colored vinyl film, hopefully at the TechShop, to create the decals.

How will people interact with this installation?

1. They will add vinyl decals (of various sizes and colors) to the walls to create a colorful collaborative collage. At night the shelter will light up like stained glass. (day and evening activity) This idea is inspired by the Obliteration Room by Yayoi Kusama.
2. Using a wii remote interactive surface set up, the public will explore creating a large mural of patterns created from local photos. This will be on one wall of the shelter. (evening activity)
3. Using Makedo connectors, the public will add components of polygal and cardboard to grow the space and to add their ideas of what other features it could have. (day and evening activity) We will be adding pre-drilled holes to the polygal to facilitate the connection of Makedo parts.

Table activity of small scale model making:

At the 2012 ZERO1 Biennial, there will also be tables set up at which the public can create small scale models of innovative bus shelters they envision. I just posted info in this lesson plan at Instructables. 5th graders I taught this school year will be assisting in teaching this workshop at the festival. We will have a diorama in which to photograph the festival creations and upload them to a flickr set for sharing with the schools participating in the Seeking Shelter Design Challenge.

Google SketchUp/Seeking Shelter

 

 In the last few weeks I have been conducting Google SketchUp workshops with 5th graders at two schools, one in Cupertino and the other in San Jose, California. I am working with 132 students. Students are learning how to create solid geometry forms from plane geometry shapes and are thinking about creating a 3D space that people move through. They will be creating their vision of bus shelters. On the surfaces of their structures they are applying their pattern designs reflecting on community.

 What I learn in teaching these workshops has led to revisions in lesson plans on the Slot Shelters site in the Google SketchUp workshop section. I have been fortunate to bring in HP tablets loaded with SketchUp in to the classrooms. The Krause Center for Innovation has been very generous to loan me these computer for these workshops. In the coming weeks student designs will be uploaded to the SketchUp 3D warehouse.

Interactive Bus Shelter Installation

I have been fortunate to have my dad, a toy designer and great creative mind, working on the Seeking Shelter art installation for the 2012 ZERO1 Biennial. Working from my conceptual sketch, he has designed a great roof framework made from PVC tubes and connectors. The walls of the shelter will be polygal upon which the public will add removable window decals designed by local youth.The pillars of the shelter will be cardboard concrete pour tubes. I am also hoping to integrate the use of Makedo  connectors and cardboard into the installation and related table activities at the ZERO1 Biennial event days in September. I am still dreaming of having a few of Monkey Wrench Design's tin can phones in this installation. (see the cans sitting on the yellow disk tables in sketch below). 12 more days to fund their project on Kickstarter!

My original bus station concept and rendering. The
zig-zag vertical walls are four 4' x8' x 1/4" corrugated plastic
translucent panels, polygal.

First scale model by David Okada. 1" = 1,' made of 5/8" wood dowels
and wire.Dowels are nailed and glued to the 'blueprint.'
Zig-zag panels are thick clear acetate sheet.

Initial laying out of full-sized PVC pipe roof -
on 'blueprint' on garage floor. Pipe is 1/2" ID PVC
irrigation pipe from Home Depot. Design by David Okada.

Full-sized roof (84"x 132" x 12") completed on positioning wood
stringers on blueprint. (Short roof cross-pieces and 18" radius corner
tubes were heat bent; long tubes were not. This roof design will use
only five support columns. Design by David Okada.

Connector reaming detail:

A. Top inset shows two drill attachments used. (1) is hole cutter (2) is sanding drum attachment
B. Lower  layout shows typical long axial tube with 'loose' reamed T and 'loose' reamed X connector slid on tube. Cross tubes for T and X connector positioned to indicate where they are inserted and glued into the unmodified joint openings.

Column support detail (Design by David Okada):
A. 8" diam.cardboard Sonotube with two wood interlocking
X-sections inserted at both ends and screwed: Bottom X  
made of 4x6 wood; upper X made from 2x4 wood and capped
with plywood disc. Both X-sections locked in position with wood
screws and finishing washers.
B. Bottom of tube assembly locked to 1" plywood floor from
underneath with countersunk 5/16"x5" lag bolts.
C. Plastic connector with 4 tubes is fastened to disc and the
upper 2x4 wood X section with four conduit clamps.
D. Shown extended wood channels for the 1/4" art panels to be
replaced by stock Home Depot mirror mounting steel channels.

Challenges in creating this installation:

1. It needs to be suggestive of a conceptual model (I don't want to imply that this design is the solution to the Seeking Shelter Design Challenge.) It is just an invitation to think about interactive/multipurpose bus shelters. The design of the shelter will invite people to add to it. It is a base structure to build upon.
2. It needs to be sturdy and stable! Many people will be leaning against it, putting decals on it and adding components to it. There will be a wii interactive surface set up on one of the walls in the evening. There will be some seating as well. I want this structure to last past the few festival days so that it can be used in other public contexts.
3. I need to transport and store this! I have only half a garage and no storage in our house. We are designing this thing to break down into smaller units and assemble on site. Still trying to figure out the transport...

Accessorizing a Conceptual Bus Shelter

Yesterday as I was sketching ideas for my Seeking Shelter bus stop installation I got an email about a great Kickstarter project, Can Over IP Technology. This is a tin can string phone that hooks up to a cell phone or laptop. I quickly sketched two of them into my design (see detail of sketch below.) I would love to have a few of these in the Seeking Shelter bus stop installation. These tin can phones invite playfulness and  imagination. They fit well with the materials I am using: cardboard tubes, window screen netting and elementary student pattern designs.

Who can be grumpy talking on a tin can string phone?

Seeking Shelter Installation

Day view of structure. Vinyl decals are added by public. These decals are silhouetted shapes are designed by local 5th-6th grade students. The installation will have many decals of different sizes to add.

Night view with structure lit up

Another concept sketch

Working on refining sketches for the Seeking Shelter installation for the ZERO1 Biennial in September. I will be working with polygal, cardboard tubes, pvc tubes, wire, small concrete pours and window screen netting. Visitors will attach vinyl decals (designed by local elementary school students) to the walls. One wall will be a wii interactive surface. More to come.

These colors in the sketch are just to give form to the sketch. The Polygal sample I have is translucent white but I may be getting it in different colors. Will see. I need to now make a scale model. The final piece will be around 4' x 8' x 9'.

A Seeking Shelter youth design challenge will be hosted at the Slot Shelters website and will launch with the ZERO1 Biennial. The challenge invites youth to design innovative bus shelters addressing local needs. More info on the Seeking Shelter Design Challenge is here at this google presentation doc.

Judges:
As of yesterday, these professionals have agreed to be judges of the Seeking Shelter youth design challenge:

1.       Michael Dudley, professor of architecture, the Royal University College of Art, Stockholm, Sweden http://www.kkh.se/

2.       Adam Royalty, Lead Research Investigator at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (the d.school)  http://dschool.stanford.edu/bio/adam-royalty/

3.       John Locke (New York architect) http://gracefulspoon.com/blog/2011/07/06/dub-002/

4.       Margaret Simmons-Cross,  VTA Highway Project Manager

Bus Wraps of Seeking Shelter Design Challenge

There may be an opportunity to create bus wraps with the 01 Art & Technology Network and the Santa Clara VTA to promote the Seeking Shelter Design Challenge. Above is my first concept sketch for these. It includes patterns created by 6th grade students in Alum Rock, San Jose and 5th grade students in Cupertino California. The idea is that there would be multiple buses with these wraps and each bus would feature different student patterns and bus shelter designs. QR codes would link to project site where the student statements on their patterns and structures could be read.

Currently, innovative bus shelter design is being explored by many urban planners and I want to engage youth in this conversation of how can a bus shelter become community hub of a different sort. Two days ago I brought slot cards into four Fifth Grade classes of 33 and we explored making bus shelter models in groups. We discussed working with plane geometry shapes and creating solid geometry forms We discussed the designers Ray and Charles Eames and discussed personal space/public space in the context of a brainstorm on built structures in our communities. We then compared and contrasted with the brainstorming done by students in Azerbaijan on the same topic.

Next students will discuss patterns in Voicethread with students in other States and students will create bus shelters in Google SkechUp and share designs to a Google SketchUp Warehouse collection.

If bus wraps are made, they would be coordinated with the launch of the Design Challenge which would invite more schools to participate in the Slot Shelters project this coming academic year.

If you are an arts educator interested in this project please visit the Slot Shelters site to get a feel for the project and then fill out the Google Doc form below.

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.

Slot Shelters Installation Studies Continued

Yet another rough idea for the installation for launching Slot Shelters. This design would make use of a variation of materials for the modular units. I would like the roof units to be translucent material. I am wondering if it is possible to embed led lights in the roof material and have mood or motion sensors below for people to interact with and have reflected in the action of the lights. There would be additional sections of the structure connecting and extending outward. I envision sparse use of pattern and color. Large scale colorful student slot cards with their pattern designs would also be printed and will be available to the public to build additional structures near this one.

more pattern studies below: 

Seeking Shelter/Slot Shelters continued brainstorming

Engage shelter would have some pinwheel pieces spin in the wind or by hand. Refresh shelter would collect water and it would musically collect down rain catch chains.

Seeking Shelter/Slot Shelters Installation: I have been thinking more about the connecting unit shapes for structure installation of Slot Shelters. This structure will be an exclamation point and question mark inserted into the public landscape to excite people about the possibilities for what a bus shelter can be.

A design challenge for youth will launch at the same time.  
The challenge will invite youth to envision the bus shelter as more than a waiting space.
How can the bus shelter function in replenishing/refreshing, engaging and enriching the community? How can the space be designed to invite community connection, gathering and sharing? How can it be a node in environmental and community needs such as solar collecting, water collecting, digital device recharging, food growing? This challenge will be hosted on the Slot Shelters website.

The installation will playfully introduce the general themes: refresh, engage, and enrich. I will design and install a shelter in which each wall represents one of the three themes.
The Engage Wall will have units which spin by touch and wind.
The Refresh Wall will collect water from the slanted roof and the water will descend musically through rain catches (made of the building units cut from metal and folded into cones).

The Enrich Wall will have the building units printed with elementary student pattern art (from this academic year's Slot Shelter participants) along with their statements describing how their patterns reflect their neighborhood. Perhaps people could add to the art – so that it is an ever changing piece.  They could draw or leave notes & messages. Perhaps it is poetry they are writing down. It is a way to connect to people you may never meet.

very rough concept sketch of what a basic shelter might look like using the new slot units.

Two alternative shapes for the basic unit shape. One of these will be selected to work from.

The unit pieces I am creating (and still refining) will fold and connect to build the structure. The main basic unit shape will integrate both angular forms and organic shapes.
The organic shapes within it reflects on identity and place... cells and aerial view of Bay (together referencing a large span in scale).
The angular shape in the pattern unit is the standard pinwheel. It references green design and the  ingredient of playful experimentation necessary for innovation design in Silicon Valley. As a basic quilting pattern, this angular shape also references the quilt work of cultures pieced together to form our unique community.

The basic shape design will have several variations or slight "mutational" forms that will be laser cut so that resulting pattern has a dynamic texture of variation within the repeating pattern. Two examples below:

These new pattern shapes will be used in conjunction with the original patterns created for the classrooms. There will be a free issuu book for students to download and print the card pieces.