Project 2: Navigators: A Dérive into Product Design

The project encompassed an investigative exploration of London, and execution of a collaborative design response for a selected site and its stakeholders.

Studying inspiring urban installations, especially Liesbet Bussche’s Jewels in the City[1] re-ignited my interest in public art. Moreover, observing artefacts and illustrations (Fig.1) at the Museum of London, early on in the project, provided insight into time-based developments in services, products, communication, art and architecture that shaped the city over the ages.

My 3-member team’s guided walking tour of Shoreditch revealed a trajectory of change in the perception of street art, and subsequent effects on the urban landscape: from bearing anarchist connotations of vandalism and unlawful expression in the aftermath of war, turning into a celebrated mainstream art-form highlighting burning social issues, and eventually leading to gentrification and commercialization of the area over time. We identified a quiet green patch along a residential path leading unto the iconic Brick Lane, as a suitable site for our design response.

Bordering a residential access road toward the South and commercial streets along East and North-West, the area thrives on necessary and optional urban activities.[2] A railway wall along the North, acting as a ‘live canvas’, allows dynamic dialogue between street artists, while constricted vehicular access gives the space a rich experiential quality, appropriate for a pedestrian-oriented intervention for social engagement.[3]

The community-run Nomadic Garden across the railway wall, developed over derelict land[4], invites public participation in community gardening, bee keeping, DIY, event organization and resource sharing, apart from posing as a space to gather, observe and connect, over the creative context of art, music and innovative upcycling. A psycho geographical[5] writing exercise revealed variance in active and passive engagement patterns, suggesting that maiden visitors remained removed from the empowering art scene in the area.

Encounters with street artists and studies of global examples of urban art, implied its strong connotations as a powerful means of expression[6], assertion of ownership[7], soliciting dialogue[8] and connecting with the city[9]; apart from offering playful stimulus for awareness and change[10].  I compared the expressive art with ‘souvenirs’ as emotional products[11], bearing subjectively assigned experiential value; and envisioned a participatory installation, inviting visitors and citizens to make their contributions toward a collective ‘souvenir for the city’.

A T-swing installation offering enticing physical engagement opportunities, relatively inaccessible to children, encouraged me to consider the scale and safety requirements of a younger audience.

Modular transitions and multiple iterations in the Jacob’s Ladder and Peter Markey’s engrossing Kinetic Wave Machine at the V&A Museum of Childhood, inspired the concept of a 2mx1.75m kinetic Butterfly, allowing 3 functional wing positions. The installation would be propped in the foreground of Wooli’s Rose Arena, directing vision toward the obscure railway wall opening, leading to the Nomadic Garden.

Through scaled prototypes of laser cut acrylic wings and a variety of hardware, I inferred that hinges provided the desired flapping movement, and identified a further need for constraint along the range of motion.  

This was followed by an observation of constraints within everyday objects and an inspired prototype with similar ‘notches’.

The safety concerns posed by the hanging (red) arm sparked my inquiry into user interface, prompting a set of concepts for easier wing manipulation, based on kinetic projects explained in Making Simple Automata[14].

On the basis of studies of the lever mechanism [15] and a button interface in Ladybird Ring [16], I constructed a model with strings as the operable interface, reasoning the need for a propping structure (Fig.6) to produce the constrained motion.

The aesthetics of the prototypes, defined by the clear, mirrored and holographic acrylic, failed to respond to the innovative street art and neighbouring community garden, encouraging an addressal of the site context and its abundance in plastic and metal trash. For the 1:4 prototype, I constructed the wings as a wireframe surface, to act as a canvas for participatory ‘stringing of trash confetti’ by visitors, exemplified by Cod Stakes’ Bristol Whales[17] and El Anatsui’s recycled mosaic artwork[18].  A preparatory tutorial with Scott Wilson motivated me to explore more abstract forms as further research, to avoid the conventional aesthetic of the ‘familiar’ butterfly form, and challenge the perceptions of my audience. 

The final presentation afforded me the opportunity to observe subjective response toward my design. The kinetic movement and interface of the scaled prototype invited an overall positive review, despite my inability to demonstrate participatory aesthetic composition. Kyung Hwa’s suggestion toward child-safe materials motivated a later exploration of fabric for the wing surface[19], and rubber covering on the string handles for a safer interface; thereby reducing the weight and subsequent force applied.

Adam’s comment on the need for more collaborative design solutions, made me reflect on missed opportunities for offering engagement through a cohesive response, and the possible potential in installing my prototype upon a landing in Wooli’s ‘Rose Arena’. A number of performance-based presentations delivered by fine art students inspired me to develop my presentation skills toward more impactful demonstration of my ideas to a large audience. Overall, the process proved to be a successful introduction to kinetic design, and substantially furthered my knowledge of user engagement in the public sphere.

Bibliography

Print:

Coverley, Merlin, ‘Psychogeography Today’, in Psychogeography (Pocket Essentials, 2007), pp. 111-139.

Gehl, Jan, Cities for People, (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010), pp. 3-29

Parsons, Tim, ‘Perception: Value and The Object’, in Thinking: Objects Contemporary Approaches to Product Design (Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Publishing SA, 2009), pp. 29–30

Race, Robert, Making Simple Automata (Wiltshire: The Crowood Press, 2014)

Online:

Anatsui, El, Artworks, <http://el-anatsui.com/artworks/> [accessed 17 September 2019]

Bussche, Liesbet, Jewels in the City (2009) <http://www.liesbetbussche.com/urban_jitc.html&gt; [Accessed 5 September 2019]

Inghirami, Laura, “City”, Instagram Post by @donna.jewel, 16 September 2019

Intern, PR, ‘WHERE: The Nomadic Community Gardens of Brick Lane’, (2016) < http://www.underground-england.co.uk/news/where-the-nomadic-community-gardens-of-brick-lane/> [Accessed 27 August 2019]

Okita, Yumi, Embroidered Insect Sculptures. 24 December 2018. Instagram Post. [accessed 21 September 2019]

Stakes, Cod, The Making of the Bristol Whales, YouTube documentary, 30 July 2015, <https://youtu.be/-sKgXfPcd1M> [accessed 17 September 2019]

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[1] Liesbet Bussche, Jewels in the City (2009) <http://www.liesbetbussche.com/urban_jitc.html&gt; [Accessed 5 September 2019].

[2] Jan Gehl, ‘The Human Dimension’, in Cities for People, (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010), pp. 3-29 (p. 21).

[3] Jan Gehl, ‘Necessary and Optional activities as prerequisites for Social city activities’, in Cities for People, (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010), pp. 3-29 (p. 22).

[4] PR Intern, WHERE: The Nomadic Community Gardens of Brick Lane (2016) < http://www.underground-england.co.uk/news/where-the-nomadic-community-gardens-of-brick-lane/> [Accessed 27 August 2019].

[5] Merlin Coverley, ‘Psychogeography Today’, in Psychogeography (Pocket Essentials, 2007), pp. 111-139.

[6] Banksy’s political satire

[7] Stick’s works asserting equal ownership by immigrant citizens

[8] Thierry Noir, other artists’ works on the Berlin wall, subsequent thawing of the ‘Cold War’

[9] ‘Broccoli Man’, Adrian Boswell’s urban engagement through installation of broccoli sculptures across streets

[10] ‘Think Twice! One Love, One Life’ paste-up, Dore Galo; aiming at social awareness 

[11] Tim Parsons, ‘Perception: Value and The Object’, in Thinking: Objects Contemporary Approaches to Product Design (Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Publishing SA, 2009), pp. 29–30.

[12] Observation: Constrained motion in a gym bench

[13] Prototype with notches for constraint

[14] Robert Race, Making Simple Automata (Wiltshire: The Crowood Press, 2014)

[15] Robert Race, Making Simple Automata (Wiltshire: The Crowood Press, 2014).

[16] Laura Inghirami, “City”, Instagram Post by @donna.jewel, 16 September 2019.

[17] Cod Stakes, The Making of the Bristol Whales, YouTube documentary, 30 July 2015, <https://youtu.be/-sKgXfPcd1M> [accessed 17 September 2019].  

[18] El Anatsui, Artworks, <http://el-anatsui.com/artworks/> [accessed 17 September 2019].

[19] Yumi Okita, Embroidered Insect Sculptures. 24 December 2018. Instagram Post. [accessed 21 September 2019].