I gave one of my most important presentations to date looking something akin to Oscar from Sesame Street. I had been up for more than 24 hours straight, with unbrushed hair and teeth. I wasn't wearing a smudge of makeup, and my contacts felt like rocks in my eyes. I'm sure I smelled like the work I had been doing in the wood shop, and I still had sawdust on my jeans. Despite this, I was completely calm... Probably because I was too exhausted to be nervous.
Meet James and Marcus (right): the professors I was presenting to.
If you think they look like tough critics, you are right.
The presentation I was giving was an unusual one. Each student had been assigned to design and then build a 3'x3'x6' room for a client in about 5 weeks. It sounded fairly simple at first, until we got the materials list. We were permitted to build these rooms using only zip ties, string, tape, cardboard, plywood, plastic bags, recycled paper, conduit, and hardware.
Our professor, Marcus, showed us some images that were meant to be inspiring, but I found them rather intimidating... If he was expecting something like this, what would he think of anything I could build alone in a few weeks?
(All zip ties)
(Only packaging tape)
Granted, these projects require weeks of intense work from large groups of people, but still, they are quite impressive.
Our rooms rooms had to have two functions: a private function and a public function, both of the client's choice. Some of the clients had odd requests, like a sitting room that transforms into a wading pool, or a swinging room with walls that could open.
Thankfully, my client was not terribly high-maintenance. He requested a drafting room with walls that would open to display his drawings. Sounds simple, right? Well, it might have been for people who are accustomed to building things.
I am not.
I have always been wary of shiny, sharp things that spin fast, and that could potentially rip off digits - or even limbs. (Imagine Katy Perry's "California Gurls" music video - except cold and dark, where all the giant candy trees are bloodied saw blades, and all the Candyland characters have become zombie-like shop supervisors or maimed students.)
At any rate, I was less than thrilled about the assignment, and I had a lot of trouble coming up with an interesting design concept. My first couple of sketches looked like phone booth/casket hybrids... Not exactly the airy, clean type of space my client had in mind.
After several hours of sketching and lots of terrible ideas, I doodled something that interested me: a room with walls that peeled back like leaves or an orange peel. I imagined something of an "infinity room" with walls that move independently of each other, to allow the client to create whatever kind of room he wanted. I almost threw the idea away because it seemed an impossible feat, especially given the materials list, but my professor seemed to take a shine to it. So I tried it.
My first half-scale model was a complete and utter disaster. Only now do I wish I had a photo of it... It would give you a laugh. The panels which were meant to swivel and open or close laid limply on the floor like a dead plant. The string system which I had devised to move the panels was a tangled mess. I put on a brave face for the model critique, but I was humiliated. My classmates tried to boost my confidence by applauding my concept, and saying things like, "If it worked, it will be really cool."
Needless to say, my professor made me do the model again. So I did. Again, the second model also failed. I retreated to the bathroom to cry and do some more drawings, then started on another model.
Finally, weeks after some people were approved to start doing their final piece, I was given the green light. Down to Lowe's I went, and I returned with 3 sheets of lauan, 2 of plywood, 100' of string, and several types of hardware. (It sounds easy here, but trying to fit 5 sheets of 4'x8' plywood into a bus, then a taxi was somewhat of an ordeal.)
I'll spare you the details of construction, but I will say that inventing a way to make a cantilevered ceiling on which a person can yank (without breakage) is tricky.
I found a million ways how to make a room incorrectly, but in the end, I got it to stand up. PLUS the panels work! I'm still not really sure how it happened, to be honest.
Here are a few photos of my room on the site.
(Click to enlarge)
I apologize if some parts of the film are a bit non-sequitur... Obviously I am not majoring in cinematography.
The room is made solely of string, zip ties, hardware, trash bags, plywood and foamcore (technically not on the materials list, shhh!).
I brainstormed for a long time, trying to figure out a more elegant way to deal with the strings... Originally I had wanted to room to open and close by a crank on the back wall, but that turned out to be a nightmare. After abandoning the crank, I decided to have it open via the "rip cord" in center. That idea reminded me of The Matrix somehow, but I'm still not fully satisfied. In my opinion, it looks a bit like it could be a fancy suicide room with a black noose showcased in the middle. I suppose it isn't perfect, but at least most of the design problems I encountered were solved.
One of the professors said on Friday that my room was "theatrical," and that the zip ties reminded him of the fringe on a leather jacket... I certainly wasn't going for the leather jacket aesthetic, but I suppose the criticisms could have been worse. One of the TAs said that she thought it had an insect-like quality to it, which was much closer to my aim. I was striving to take materials that most people think of as trash and turn them into something that seemed more natural. The room actually makes a very organic sound when you get inside it, or if the wind moves the wings a little bit. All the zip ties rustle together lightly, and it sounds very similar to the sound of walking through tall grass. Here are a couple of stills that highlight some of the forms the room can take:
This project completely changed the way I see myself as a designer. Now if ever I see a really awesome chair or a unique lamp (again with the furniture obsession) I have a strange confidence. I don't feel so desperate to buy an innovative design before it sells out, because I know I could figure out how to build it myself. It might not be perfect the first time, and I might have to ask for help, but I could do it. Because of this project, I have much more confidence in my own hands.
Hi. Where is the space where the packaging tape installation took place?
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