A Cabinet of Curiosity   By Cory Odell            11/21/11

I have always felt that furniture should be functional, but not be stripped of any aesthetics at the same time. I feel if anything, pieces should be functional works of art. Many of my designs over the course of time here in the IARC program have been very conceptual pieces of art, maybe not with the most furniture functionality aspects. I felt that it was time to add more functionality, but still promote the same idea of artistic elements as well. This was a very heavy driving force in my concept for my cabinet of curiosity piece.

            When first approaching the project I felt I needed to take all the objects being presented along with the piece, must be taken in consideration with the design. I wanted to draw a true connection between my design and what they were designing to go into the cabinet. I felt this was the only true way to make these pieces truly fit with my design.

When talking with Claire Druga, Shelley Gates, and Fallon Shearin I was able to grasp a better understanding of what they were designing in their studio. They were creating vessels for objects for other classmates. These vessels were then going to find a place to fit within our cabinet… a vessel for vessels if you will.

            The first object is a box that contains a cat collar. Claire Druga designed this. It has pictures of another studio mates cat and a place to put the collar. The second is a tray for a teacup and tea. Shelley Gates designed this piece. Lastly we have Fallon Shearin’s object, a box for a hair-dryer that is done in Mendhi designs. These are the henna tattoos that are worn on the hands of Indian brides. After seeing all three pieces, I realized that there was an easy connection to be made. That connection was Victorian era design.

            As I learned in Professor Mendoza’s class, the Victorian’s loved gadgets. They were right in the middle of the industrial revolution, and building and design objects to add simplicity to life was a huge trend. They created gadgets that had specific purpose. This made me think of Shelley’s tea tray that holds both the tea and the traveler’s mug.

            Cats were also very big in interior design from this time period. That is also what drew my connection to Claire’s piece. It also connected well to the specific gadgets for specific uses theory as well.

            Fallon’s Mendhi designed box made me think about “Orientalism” design. This was very popular during the Victorian era. It was pieces of furniture that were based upon Asian cultural pieces, but they lacked the cultural ties. They were mainly wanted for their exotic looks, but few people knew or understood the true purpose and the meaning of the designs.

            All three of these objects lead me to my final design idea, basing the piece on an idea of Indian traditional cabinetry, but presented in an “Orientalism” design. These were what I felt best spoke to the inspiration and to the pieces themselves.

            My materials were based off of many traditional elements of Indian design. I used Rosewood as a material, a species of lumber commonly found and used in India. I used Rattan on the doors; this is a style of design that was all the rage in Europe, when Britain imported it back from India during the Victorian era. I also used cast iron elements on the piece. There is also elephant style heads on the side to hold the doors open. Elephants are very popular in traditional Indian works of design and art.

            The piece features three shelves, one, which is enclosed behind iron, bared doors. On the top shelf there is also to smaller spaces behind small doors. There are larger doors on the front of the piece that can be opened or closed and give the piece a more traditional armoire appearance.

            I used a lot of colors that can be commonly found in Indian art and design, bright oranges, reds, purples, and turquoise. These colors can be found highlighting the three shelves within the piece.

The piece stands just shy of 3 ½ feet tall. I saw it as also being a functional piece in the sense it could also be used as a side table. That was my main goal in the overall design; I wanted it to have multiple purposes.

I also tried very hard to allow it to have various functional ways, yet still have varying looks. This is what brought me to add piano hinges on the front so they can be pulled completely to the side, and allow of all the shelves to show. It also allows the piece to have a lot more dimensions and colors when the piece is fully opened. The doors can be hooked to the sides on elephant head cast iron hooks that will keep the doors held open if one wishes, but the elephant heads also add another unique design element if one chose to keep the front doors of the cabinet closed.I thought is also very unique that my piece contained a cabinet within the cabinet. I used this concept based upon my first ideas of a vessel for vessel, a cabinet within a cabinet. I also thought this would be a fitting spot for the tea tray designed by Shelley. It played off the idea of cabinets for tea sets, something that was also very popular during the Victorian era.

  I used a lot of historic elements to pull this piece together in its entirety. I looked a both traditional Indian cabinetry as well as the historic Victorian era. All of these elements, along with the pieces created by Shelley, Fallon, and Claire helped me to create my final design. I feel that it is a multi-functional piece, which has several different ways to allow it to take on one look or another. I feel that it could work in many different living spaces, and it is a piece that is simple, yet charismatic and enchanting, a true cabinet of curiosity.

A New Concept for the Yacht

a design for future sea living life was recently brought to my attention... and for any james bond movie buffs, a yacht like the villain lair in the spy who loved me.

it is called utopia. and it is a living space on the sea.

"Utopia is not an object to travel in," said a spokesperson. "It is a place to be, an island established for anyone who has the vision to create such a place."

it is roughly the size of a modern day cruise liner, 100m x 100m
four helicopter pads
a swimming pool
observation deck

this concept came from a james bond film called the spy who loved. the designers Yacht Island Design and BMT Nigel Gee say Atlantis, as it was called in the film, drew into their design greatly... design ideas really can come from anything.

Source: http://www.ybw.com/news/would-you-live-on-a-james-bond-villain-style-floating-island/529798

Blog Post 005: Lights

Lighting was something the WAM group has bounced back and forth on. At first we felt like putting lighting within the piece, but due to budget and lighting limitation we chose not to go that route

Making the piece run off interior light had two options, battery lights, that would need to be changed or recharged, and connecting it to the wall. We didn't care for the latter idea either. It would limit where our piece could go, and we wanted this structure to be able to be moved anywhere, and not have to be up against a wall or connected to a wall outlet.

This lighting question is what brought us to make the top clear. We wanted to just cover it with a sheet of acrylic to let the natural light come in. The Weatherspoon lobby already has tons of natural light coming in through the oval dome skylight. This way it allowed for complete mobility, and could be lighted as well.

Lighting was a large factor in what brought us to our final version of the cabinet. Lighting should always be a large factor in any design. Great lighting in a space makes for great possibilities within the space.

Facebook going North... Way North

Facebook has plans to build a running plant in Sweden 60 miles from the Arctic Circle. The plant will be running off hydroelectric power from a near by river that produces twice as much power as the Hoover Dam does. It will also have 14 backup diesel power generators.

The whole reason to build so far north is that the Arctic temperatures will help keep the servers cool and prevent them from melting down and crashing. This new European location is also going to create faster Facebook speeds throughout Europe. The project is expected to cost around 760 million dollars and will hopefully be completed by 2014.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2054168/Facebook-unveils-massive-data-center-Lulea-Sweden.html

Mexico's Radical "Sky Scrapper"

Mexico City may see a new sky scrapper, but not up into the air, but down into the ground. The new concept design would go over 300 meters into the ground, be about 65 stories, and the design holds historical grounding in ancient pyramids built by natives to the country. They also have plans to have offices and apartments within the structure. The top would be a glass atrium area, that would allow for a lot of lighting to enter the space.

Many critics have cited that the bottom could feel very closed in and claustrophobic. There is also a worry that earthquakes, which are some what common to this area, could pose a danger to the construction. They came up with this concept because many people feel that high rise buildings would harm the look of the traditional skyline of Mexico City.




Source: http://whatsondalian.com/tech136.html

VC: Design Instructions

Instructions give us information on how to carry an action out, our how to construct something with steps along the way to building it. The best success with these lies in the use of easy to understand steps, very detailed yet simple drawings or graphics that help you know what exactly to perform. There is a very logical yet artistic work show in many of the guides.

source: http://drigbydesign.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/infoinstructional-design-examples/

Blog Post 004: WAM Design Elements

When analyzing our cabinet for the Weatherspoon and how the elements of design apply, I can clearly see how our project connects two the seven elements.

Space- The space element applies more here in what the cabinet will do to the Weatherspoon space it is in. It will allow a display addition for the gift shop. It will also add an element of inspired design in the lobby space.

Line- Our lines seem very fluid in the piece. We focus a lot on the curves and allow the piece to reflect a lot of the curves that can be found in the lobby space and of the overall shape and style of the building as a whole.

Color- Our piece is mostly birch wood, a color element not really seen in the lobby or the building. This will add a new element and color to the space, making it stand out more, and add color to a space that really has very little contrast within it.

Value- The piece we are creating adds value in the space because it is much lighter than most of the interior in the lobby space. It creates a contrast within the space from light to dark. It adds an element to the space that is not seen already.

Form- The form of the cabinet is made to fit the interior in many ways. It reflects the elements of curves and fluidity in the space. The space is very open and it lacks objects within the space, this display cabinet adds to the space and brings more furniture into the space, yet does not clutter the overall space. Not only is it a piece that fits, but the piece fits the space in its form and design.

Shape- The shape of the piece is very loose, and fluid. It has a curved top, asymmetrical doors, and the handles for the pieces reflect the curve of the top. The space follows a lot of these same curved and fluid design ideas. The piece has very similar elements to the space it is being placed in.

Texture- The piece is mostly made of birch wood. It is smooth, but not as glossy smooth as say the marble floor in the gallery. It has some sense of contrast within the space, but it still has a smooth texture too it like much of the Weatherspoon does. The difference in color and materials is what adds to the contrast in the space then I would say the texture does.

This piece has a lot of elements that relate to the gallery overall when it comes to design and style. The fluid curves and the smooth exterior have similarities. The contrast comes with the materials used and the colors of the piece. I feel the cabinet has the perfect balance of similarity and contrast to the lobby space it is going within.