7.12.09

2nd shift-Boston brainstorm

Second try.

Here are the notes from the initial conversation between me and Temps:

2 big renders
bank of people
1 time lapse band
1 sectional band instructional


literal captions
san serif on captions

acrylic in tension?

Captions are important
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Vague, right?

We talked about the ultimate idea just being how to make dead spaces be not so dead. In doing this, we hope to increase pedestrian circulation from the Financial District into the South End, all the way to the port. The area offers a series of disconnected zones--dense brick studios > parking lots galore > convention center and hotels for those coming to Boston just to sit in their hotel lobbies and have meetings > shipping central.



I'm making a density map out of the South End and using it to call attention to the enormous amount of dead spaces, specifically parking lots. There are a LOT.

Our scrim boxes will entice from across the bridge as odd boxes on poles and trees, acting aslarge urban lamps.

As you move from the Summer/Congress Street bridges inward and move past the denser blocks of brick buildings, you move into a zone where you can either continue crossing the bridges to come to the Convention Center, or walk beneath the bridges to what amounts to a half a mile of parking lots.

Larger scrim boxes will be suspended above the parking lots, not so much as physical areas of congregation (which the rest of the scrim boxes are) but acting more like guideposts for continuing the journey toward the port.

Continuing from the parking lots is a more dense area full of hotels for professionals visiting the Financial District. Or the Convention Center. Or the World Trade Center. The hotel area iseconomic holy ground, but there is no pedestrian traffic. The few outdoor areas are sad.
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This is getting too specific, but whatever. Temples and I have configured what elements we want on the board and who would be the best to realize them.

We want two very large renders showing the scale/population density/materiality of the scrim boxes. The title of our project should pose a provocative question, and these renders should be our visceral, visual reaction. But, they're also kind of just eye candy.

With these renders, we're going to concentrate not only on the scrim boxes, but also on the rendering the people--physically and emotionally. There will be "ticker tape" lines of dialogue spanning the renders, acting as thoughts and reactions of our population. These should represent what we're trying to accomplish with the scrim boxes--stop and smell the roses, ask your neighbor what these fucking ugly boxes are, whatever. The act of conversing/socializing is important, not the quality.

In addition to these renders, we'd like to make a film-strip of an area/multiple areas throughout the day, showing the change and increase in population density and also the physical qualities of the scrim and how our lighting system can change, or react (if we wanted to do motion-sensor leds).

In tandem with that film strip, we'd like to develop another film strip that mimics the action of the first, but deconstructs it as a series of elements, ending with what we would imagine is a construction-material diagram. The first would be rendered with photos, this one might simply be a collection of lines--perhaps the city skyline and then the elements we're bringing out, ie. showing just the scrim box as an element, showing how it's hung (via tension with local objects), etc. This diagram would show the ease with which the system could be mounted, because let's face it, the South End is broke as a joke.


So in the end, here's our final schedule/task list:




TEMPLES:
1 large render with people and lighting (night or day, pick one)
filmstrip 1 showing daylighting, density

DYLAN:
filmstrip 2 showing elements, construction--talk to Temples about this, I don't know if I did a great job explaining above


MADISON:
density map with scrim placement (can be adjusted, of course)
1 large render with people and lighting (night or day, whichever one Temples didn't pick)

And then we'll do/edit the write-up together. Or Temples and I can do it.

Temples and I want to have prelim renders done by tomorrow so we can match the styles and everything. The final board can be pieced together on Thursday night--it's not due until Friday at 4.

I feel like I'm missing some things, so let me know. This is going to be good. I hope.


1 comment:

Temps said...

I'm not sure If I'm doing night or day. But I guess day? isn't the map going to be kinda nightish? you should start that one. I'll play with both though.