Artifact Investigation: The Conference Table

[artifact]
The Conference Table (1975) can be attributed to the designs of Andrew W. Palmer, John H. Norton, and Michael A. Goldfinger. This group of men was known to be a part of the 1971 Union Woodworks, of Warren, Vermont. The table is made from red oak and black walnut, standing at 29 1/2 x 120 x 42 in.

[influence]
The 1970s were a time of global change and revolution. Not unlike today, energy crisis and gasoline rations resulted in heightened economic awareness, while the costs of the Vietnam war placed a heavy burden the delicate US economy. Such social revolutions as integration and feminism reached their climax, and design was integrated with the scientific and postmodernism trends. The scientific community became fascinated with calculators, the Voyager, and Stephen Hawking's theory of black holes. Pop-art and postmodernist art was integrated with design, shedding light upon the works of such designers as Wright, Kahn, and Mies van der Rohe. The corporate culture grew, and hierarchy within the work environment was lessened, streamlining with the social revolution of the time. The Conference Table's design reflects many of the common themes of the 1970, namely scientific and post-modern ideas.

[compare]
This table shares qualities with Frank Lloyd Wright's Barrel Chair, which plays off of a rather traditional chair design. It incorporates recognizable materials (warm wood) with the rather unexpected use of circular and linear elements of an otherwise familiar object. Likewise, the Conference Table is a traditional table design which explores the relationship of sculpted curves and lines.

image courtesy of cache.wists.com

[contrast]
The Conference Table has little relation to the industrial Coupe Table Lamp (1967), designed by Joe Colombo. Its chrome and lacquer contrast with the warm wood of the Conference Table, and the mixed media nature of the lamp greatly contrasts with the sleek wood design of the table.

image courtesy of www.dwr.com

A moment of reflection...

These images reflect on my fall semester experience in studio thus far. I've compiled thoughts and images for each of bus | shelter and shelter | bus in such a way to demonstrate all that I've learned from these projects.

Comm[unity] Integration

In groups, we were assigned the task of essentially integrating our Second Year Studio with the Greensboro Community, while simultaneously spreading the word about our Bus|Shelter project. Below are a few examples of our guerrilla marketing designs, which include a T-shirt, which would fund new, better bus shelters (built by our studio) and a coupon book which would allow for a discounted bus fair.












Group: Anna Will, Jenny Deal, Nacarra Lessane, and Lauren Foster

Roadblock: Gateway

Until only recently, our studio projects were virtually limitless; asking only for boundless creativity. We were challenged with the implication of codes and standards for our current shelter:bus and bus:shelter projects, which, as we quickly observed, was much harder than one would assume. Although we recognized the use of codes through our everyday use of buildings, we had difficulty understanding and applying them to our projects. Ergonomics was, at first, equally as foggy a topic, but we soon realized that answers could be found in the experiences of our group member, Christyn. With her first hand experience, Christyn was able to describe the challenges and obstacles she endured during her time in a wheelchair. This insight allowed us a solid understanding as to how we could best accommodate handicapped individuals. Through research and experimentation, we realized that our culture has standards of proxemics ground into the instincts of each individual American. While there are texts and diagrams depicting these standards, we were able to develop an clear understanding through role-play and observation.

With our new found understanding of codes and standards, we would strongly push designers to make buildings more assessable. As noted by Christyn, buildings that are “handicap assessable” are not nearly as assessable as they ought to be. While they may not be in violation of code, it is important that designers understand their clients well enough to make their buildings function universally. Codes may not solve this problem, but they certainly help by ensuring a human’s ability to use and interact with a space safely. Our studio has grown accustomed to loose, conceptual designs, to which codes may have seemed a hindrance. It is now clear that their implication is somewhat of a relief, a gateway into functional, universal designs.







4s Group: Ben Adams, Leah Petriccione, Christyn Dunning, and Anna Will

node | shelter | bus

Through the shelter|bus charette, our studio has ventured into the realm of community service. We were instructed to design two mobile disaster relief buses to address two separate needs of hurricane victims. With much deliberation, our group narrowed it down to comfort and communication. We poured ideas onto paper, trying to integrate bus + function.














We used a bubble diagram to define the function and layout of the space. Bubble diagrams enable a person to visualize relation and hierarchy of an idea. In this case, we used it to create a floor plan for our "Comfort Bus."








We worked our sketches into refined drawings to help create a sketch model of a section of the Comfort Bus. The sketch models show how a person would access each private room on the bus, which includes a bed, table, and full bathroom. These rooms would be ideal for a family of four




Bubble diagrams came into play for our Communication Bus as well. We felt that in time of disaster, people often loose family and friends and have no way of gathering information about the crisis at hand. The Communication bus includes phones, TV, Internet, and an alert Marquee to inform and aid in communication. We felt that privacy was a factor in this situation, and therefore used a private/public bubble diagram to experiment with resulting spacial arrangement. Privacy is created by phone "pods" in the central "X" kiosk and through the small rooms at either end of the bus.










Because of flooding that so often occurs as a result of hurricanes, we felt that incorporating the idea of a "Duck Bus" would be ideal for this situation. This would make our bus a Hydra Terra vehicle, enabling it to drive on land or in water.






Our sketch model of the Communication Bus is a section, allowing the viewer the opportunity to view the phone kiosk an interiors of the private rooms.