TECH AUG
Hello blog readers. Its Finni from the past here and I am going to talk you through my project.
Firstly, I surveyed my site, the Mitchel Library, which is
the central public library for Glasgow. Luckily located on the 6th floor
are the City of Glasgow Archives. I went and received the most recent plans for
the building dating at 1966. I surveyed the 3rd floor Bailey Reading
Room on the recommendation of one of the archive employees. They told me it was
the floor with the least amount of change from the plans that I had. It also
had a mezzanine above which helped give me a bird’s eye view when creating my
survey.
I surveyed the placement of desks noting the single desk in
a grid like formation, also whether those desks where occupies. on the date,
Thursday the 22nd of November at 1 o’clock, the busiest of the two 2
times I visited.
The Input.
On each desk, there will be a lamp with an embedded sensor.
Dimensions 300x300mm. The lamp will illuminate when a person has sat down. I
have chosen to design my lamp with a retro atheistic. I want my design to
compliment the Mitchel Library vibe emitted by the 70s geometric carpets; see
journal for photographs. I was inspired by retro futurism. The retro take on
futuristic technologies. This informed me to give the lamp its clunky, UFO-like
form. The lamps will be clamped to each desk allowing them to be moved and
still record the correct information. No screws are needed to attach them to
the desks making them low impact and temporary.
I
want my lamp to be made from recycled plastics, from old commuters and
technologies. The computer manufactures Dell are already encouraging people to
donate their old tech. Dell then use the recycled materials in their new
models. Not only is this good for the environment but it gives new meaning and
respect to the old technologies that have influenced my design so much.
The Output.
The desk lamps will communicate to an instillation on the
ground floor. In the reception of the Mitchell Library will be a 5x5m octagonal
room with 2 openings at each end. Library goers will enter the room and walk
through like a tunnel. The floor will be evenly split vertically into 4 zones.
Each representing one of the 4 floors of the library. As the person steps into
each zone, spotlights appear on the walls and ceiling. Each light representing
an available desk space on the corresponding floor-zone. Thus, allowing the
studier to easily locate a free work space. The instillation should not interfere
with ones’ journey through the building as it is a simple passage way through
the entrance to the stairs with minimum impact on the users if they wish. It is
also a free-standing structure therefor making it temporary.
The lights in the instillation could be interpreted as a sky
full of stars. Similarly, the octagonal shaped room reflects imagery of the
space-ship-landing-pod. This is intentional, I wanted to continue the theme of
retro futurism and felt this instillation suited the 20th Centuries obsession
with space and the universe. The interaction should feel alien and transformative
whilst sitting comfortably within the retro aesthetic of the Mitchel Library
