BEACON DESIGN
11-12.2021
Group project in collaboration with
Adriano Salaroli,
Clara Hermanns,
Amber Vermeulen and
Gokce Çalışkan.
Project realized for MOtelMOzaique Festival, including a guided walking tour with spatial landmarks representing the festival. Design focused on the ephemerality of architecture, one that is designed to exist for a short period and then disappears, providing a fleeting experience and leaving behind a memory.
academic project
SEE GUIDED TOUR
The top plan of the beacon prototype is a simple triangular shape. Made this way, it connects the most arches in one point, avoiding single ends for power purposes. It can be scaled and multiplicated to fit the space of the tunnel.
The first and last arches are the biggest ones- three meters wide and two meters high, inviting for exploration. From the bases of this emerge two others, one that is still possible to pass through without major effort, a second that requires passers to lean under a little. The middle one is the smallest.
If it proves too low for the user, the inflatable structure will deform and go back to its’ original shape.
The quality of the maze represents itself in multiple passage possibilities through the engaging beacon. Like a gate, it highlights the forgotten courtyards of Rotterdam.
LIGHT STUDIES
Although the inflatables are playful and involve themselves, we decided to make them more noticeable in the existing context of the space we are working with - shaded, brick tunnels, and back alleys. Colorful projections are inviting from the distance and stand out at night time.
It also introduces the atmosphere of the MOMO festival, encouraging people to interact with the structure. We discovered that projections from an angle give the best effect on the translucent material.
MATERIAL STUDIES
Our first choice of material was a recycled parachute, which turned out to have lost its’ air-tight qualities. After the scale model showed us the problem, we quickly switched to plastics.
The choice depended on a lot of different properties of plastics, different types, and recycling processes. After we collected multiple samples of various types of plastics, including PVC, polyethylene, and polyurethane sheets, and various shopping and garbage bags, we picked the most optimal solution in ratio strength-melting properties-cost.
Finally, we used LDPE plastic from packaging bags because of our budget, but the best solution to use in this beacon would be either reused plastic bags, or ripstop material, which stands out with its’ resistance to the human factor in public space, but is a quite expensive material.
The choice depended on a lot of different properties of plastics, different types, and recycling processes. After we collected multiple samples of various types of plastics, including PVC, polyethylene, and polyurethane sheets, and various shopping and garbage bags, we picked the most optimal solution in ratio strength-melting properties-cost.
Finally, we used LDPE plastic from packaging bags because of our budget, but the best solution to use in this beacon would be either reused plastic bags, or ripstop material, which stands out with its’ resistance to the human factor in public space, but is a quite expensive material.
