Collective_Difference ICFF 2005
2005
multi media
10'x20'
For the first-time ever, students representing the AIADO Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago participated as exhibitors at ICFF 2005 an went on to recieve the Editors Award of "Best Design School".
The School’s installation weaves together – literally and figuratively -- products, objects and architecture in an integrated and fluid design for the 200-foot exhibition space. The architectural structure is designed to function as a dynamic machine-like environment that distributes specially designed containers of colorful printed DuPont tyvek bags and injection-molded delrin card clips. Visitors will be invited to remove these designed containers and clips, which in turn, will transform the physical surface of the architectural space – creating an interaction between the designed object and the environment. By the end of the four-day fair, only trace elements of the give-aways will remain in the installation, and attendees will retain many of the original bags and clips. This dynamic exchange between the audience and materials will be documented and made visible on a flat-screen monitor in the booth.
The concept of ‘collective_difference’ was catalyzed as a result of student dialogue about the impact of globalization and the role of the designer in contemporary society. Students identified two opposing observations which guided the design project:
Observation 1: Globalization leads to standardized design.
Within the global system our material lives and distinct, local experiences are often undervalued. Is sameness blanketing the world through and by design?
Observation 2: We are all individuals.
The design and production team is highly diverse, reflecting demographic trends in the world around us. Each student on the design team originates from outside of Chicago and has traveled to SAIC to study and now to work collectively on this design project. Can individuals maintain their diversity and individual expression living in a world that constantly connects people at speeds and with methods beyond our personal discretion?
The idea of ‘collective_difference’ is expressed physically in the ‘woven’ forms of various elements of the exhibition design. The furniture components are woven together to form the total architectural structure; ribbons of tyvek bags are woven through the architecture structure to create a visual surface that moves and changes when any one ribbon of tyvek is pulled. ‘Weaving’ is the chosen form for SAIC’s design scheme. This construction method unites diverse elements without reducing the impact of the individual components - an ideal visual metaphor to express the concept of ‘collective_difference’.
The School’s installation weaves together – literally and figuratively -- products, objects and architecture in an integrated and fluid design for the 200-foot exhibition space. The architectural structure is designed to function as a dynamic machine-like environment that distributes specially designed containers of colorful printed DuPont tyvek bags and injection-molded delrin card clips. Visitors will be invited to remove these designed containers and clips, which in turn, will transform the physical surface of the architectural space – creating an interaction between the designed object and the environment. By the end of the four-day fair, only trace elements of the give-aways will remain in the installation, and attendees will retain many of the original bags and clips. This dynamic exchange between the audience and materials will be documented and made visible on a flat-screen monitor in the booth.
The concept of ‘collective_difference’ was catalyzed as a result of student dialogue about the impact of globalization and the role of the designer in contemporary society. Students identified two opposing observations which guided the design project:
Observation 1: Globalization leads to standardized design.
Within the global system our material lives and distinct, local experiences are often undervalued. Is sameness blanketing the world through and by design?
Observation 2: We are all individuals.
The design and production team is highly diverse, reflecting demographic trends in the world around us. Each student on the design team originates from outside of Chicago and has traveled to SAIC to study and now to work collectively on this design project. Can individuals maintain their diversity and individual expression living in a world that constantly connects people at speeds and with methods beyond our personal discretion?
The idea of ‘collective_difference’ is expressed physically in the ‘woven’ forms of various elements of the exhibition design. The furniture components are woven together to form the total architectural structure; ribbons of tyvek bags are woven through the architecture structure to create a visual surface that moves and changes when any one ribbon of tyvek is pulled. ‘Weaving’ is the chosen form for SAIC’s design scheme. This construction method unites diverse elements without reducing the impact of the individual components - an ideal visual metaphor to express the concept of ‘collective_difference’.
