Intimate Space Study / Impromptu Design Competition

Sept 2009

In any school of architecture, private space is hard to come by, and Intimate conversations inevitably become public, as the tight quarters and odd hours kept by design students usually means there is always some body around to eaves drop. After our ADS VII studio was forced to awkwardly listen into a fellow student's dear john phone call, we decided it was finally time to address this issue. 

We proposed an impromptu, studio-wide, design competition to our professor, the intent of which was to design a low budget, and easily mass-produceable phone booth which could be placed around Seaton Hall - the home of Kansas State University's College of Architecture Planning and Design - to offer our fellow students a rare opportunity to enjoy a sense of privacy.

The studio secured funds from private design offices in Manhattan to build the winning entry, but unfortunately administrative issues kept the competition from becoming a reality. Nonetheless, the project was a valid exploration into design at a more intimate scale, and a welcome diversion from a rigorous graduate curriculum. 

My entry, Escape Pod, was to be assembled of CNC'd plywood slats which contoured to form an all-in-one seat and screening element. The overlap in the slats allowed the user to see out of the pod, while blocking views in from all but a straight-on viewing angle. 

Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, 3DS Max, Physical Modeling, Presentation Development and Delivery