video
TIMELAPSE

http://youtu.be/9i27o89Vvws

Rose and Elliott
there was a video as well

Elliott encouraging Playfulness and Interaction through Dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSjHVon5j7g&feature=youtu.be

We had a lot of fun and I believe so did everyone who got involved! People complemented us on the idea and even the Manchester Evening News came and interviewed Rosa!

Here is a video of Rosa being Rosa...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1uMukWBzfw&feature=youtu.be

After transporting the flat-pack boxes to the site in Piccadilly Gardens via taxi, we quickly and easily set up, and the weather was on our side! The public were extremely interested in our exhibit, and many stopped to play. The Manchester Evening News even published an online article about the project, showcasing our aim to make people stop and enjoy what's around them in the hustle and bustle of a busy city.

We incorporated several 'playful' elements to our boxes, allowing them to be used by the public. Wind chimes were placed in some boxes, whilst others were spray painted with checkers boards for people to play on. Some faces of boxes were painted with chalkboard paint, allowing the public to draw on them, and other faces were covered with coloured material, making them more attractive to our audience.

People took interest in the project immediately and many were keen to get involved. The most successful aspect I believe were the blackboards. We collected drawings from people of all ages!

We spent a large proportion of our time cutting out different sized nets for our boxes. We decided to use thick, double-walled cardboard as this was not only widely available to us for free, but also a very durable material. Therefore the boxes are less likely to get damaged in a busy public place.

As previously mentioned, our concept is based on open space, of which there is plenty of in Piccadilly Gardens. We specifically chose a space with rows of trees, so our final model can sprawl from tree to tree in an organic style.

After discussing our individual ideas as a group, we decided to focus our project around cubic boxes - a versatile and simple shape. The concept for the final outcome was presented in a model, with the aim of covering an open walkway with various boxes.

ON THE THURSDAY THE PUBLIC GOT INVOLVED WITH OUR INSTALLMENT AND IT WAS A SUCCESSFUL DAY!

FUN!!!

FUN!!!

FUN!!!

FUN!!!

FUN!!!

FUN!!!

After being given the brief to create 'playful architecture', I researched various precedents in books to do with playgrounds and recreational space.
My favourite idea was that of a sloping pathway - perhaps one that people can jump/climb over.

Day 9. Filled a minibus with nets of boxes and transported them to site ready for assembly.

ON THE THURSDAY THE PUBLIC GOT INVOLVED WITH OUR INSTALLMENT AND IT WAS A SUCCESSFUL DAY!

INSTALLATION DAY

This was the big day! We crammed all the nets into a taxi, which drove them to Piccadily, where we had to carry them right across the centre, gaining much needed attention. We then began setting up and instantly drew a crowd of people! There were old, young, very young, men, women, smart, scruffy and even a news reporter from the Evening Standard! :D The day was a great success and I had a lot of fun, and im pretty sure the Piccadily public did too!

Days 5-8. After establishing a plan, we collectively created approximately 60 cardboard boxes. We decorated them with materials, words, grids for board games and installed certain boxes with wind chimes.

ON THURSDAY WE HAD TO TRANSPORT THE NETS TO PICCADILLY GARDENS, THIS TOOK TWO TAXI'S AND A LOT OF EFFORT FROM THE GROUP. ONCE WE GOT THERE WE HAD TO ASSEMBLE THEM ON SITE.

WE HAD TO THEN MAKE THE NETS INTERACTIVE BY PUTTING PLAYFUL THINGS ON THEM. WE DECIDED ON CHALKBOARDS FOR DRAWING, FABRIC FOR TEXTURE, CHIMES FOR SOUND AND CHESS AND CHECKER BOARDS FOR PLAY.

DAY - 8

This was just a quick meeting at 2 to finalise plans for the installation tomorrow. I looked into hiring a man-in-a-van but it was too short notice, so we decided on booking a taxi. We also talked about taking cameras and recording the process as best we could, and then looked forward to the experience we would be having tomorrow!

Day 3. We rejoined as a collective group to discuss ideas and decided to progress with the initial idea of multiple boxes to inhabit the space.

Day 2. After initial group discussions, we individually developed ideas based on personal precedents research. We made photocollages to explore different possible installations for Piccadilly Gardens.

DAY - 7

This was the final build day, which I spend the morning mind-mapping FUN concepts and the afternoon making those concepts a reality. This involved making stencils for draughts and letters, buying blackboard paint for some of the sides and choosing fabrics for the cubes. We went back onto the balcony to spray onto the nets that we had ready.

DAY - 6

This was finishing off the wind chimes and continuing with the cutting out of the cardboard nets for the cubes. Fortunately it was a nice day and we were able to use the balcony on the 4th floor! The whole group was there and we worked together with a system that meant we got through the cutting asap.

Day - 5

On the final day of the week me and Rosa began building the wind chimes that would be placed inside the sound boxes. The morning involved researching and designing the chimes, with the afternoon consisting of a metal workshop induction and the actual cutting and filing of the chimes themselves. This posed many problems but was quite therapeutic at the same time!

making boxes more colourful
playful

THIS IS A TIME LAPSE OF THE GROUP CUTTING...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45DeKyXz6jY&feature=youtu.be

encouraging signs on boxes

DRAW ON ME.
SIT ON ME. (carefully)
PLAY WITH ME.
SHAKE ME.

SOUND - that is what the concept was based on


(I took one home, I didn't wanted to bin them. I must confess. )

ONCE THE IDEA WAS DOWN WE THEN HAD TO CREATE A PLAN OF ACTION FOR THE TIME WE HAD LEFT. CUTTING CARDBOARD WAS THE MAIN FOCUS OF THE PLAN AND MAKING SURE WE HAD ENOUGH BOXES FOR THE INSTALLATION.

WE CAME BACK TOGETHER AS A WHOLE GROUP TO PRESENT OUR IDEAS TO THE OTHER GROUP MEMBERS. WE USED DRAWINGS AND MODELS TO BEST REPRESENT OF IDEAS BEFORE WE CHOSE WHICH ONE TO TAKE FORWARD.
WE DECIDED TO USE SAM AND MY IDEA WHICH IS AN INSTALLMENT OF INTERACTIVE CUBES IN PICCADILLY GARDENS.

AT THE START OF THE WEEK WE BROKE OFF INTO SMALL SUB-GROUPS IN ORDER TO GENERATE LOTS OF IDEAS. ME AND SAM USED SOME PRECEDENT TO HELP US ALONG WITH IDEAS AND CAME UP WITH SIX IDEAS SHORT LISTING THEM DOWN TO TWO WE THEN CAME TOGETHER AS A WHOLE GROUP TO DECIDE ON AN IDEA.

Day - 4

This was spent cutting out the cardboard boxes!!! Initially we just made one large box to test is structurally and to allow an understanding of the design. As soon as this was confirmed we cracked on with building the other 59 boxes...

Day - 3

The idea that I presented to my group was the concept of a playground based around used tyres. I decided on this as it meant tyres could be recycled and used in a positive light. The tyres would be turned into rope swings, seats, flower beds, sound boxes, smell areas and anything else that could be conjured up. The undertone of the idea was to bring adults back into using all 5 of their senses, and to enjoy the fun you can have with them!

Time Lapse of The group creating the boxes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45DeKyXz6jY&feature=youtu.be

DAY - 2

Day 2 we met up and decided that we would spend the rest of the day and morning of Wednesday coming up with our own individual ideas and schemes. I spent the afternoon in studios with Rosa and Elliot working together and bouncing ideas off each other, until I reached my own conclusion.

Final installation. The project was very successful and served its purpose of creating an interactive and playful space. The cubes created an intermit and playful area that stopped people in the street who were interested in the project and keen to get involved.

DAY - 1

Day 1 was just spent learning each others names and getting to know the other members of the group. Very little was done, of which even less was productive. But we did set up a plan for the rest of the week and decide upon what we would get up to in terms of development!

As we set up our installation, a reporter from Manchester Evening News came and interviewed me about our event. It was great to get Media interest, and to spread the word of our event.

another precedents sheet, concept models for individual development

precedents sheet, my aim was to create a labyrinth - to block people s way

Moving the nets for the cube installation to Piccadilly Gardens and constructing the project on site. The cubes were then arranged together to create seating and to promote the interactive elements.

Some of our boxes contained handcrafted wind chimes. These were cut and assembled in the metal workshops, and then attatched to the boxes. this meant that as people moved and played with the cubes and their arrangements, they would sometimes here a light jingle of chimes.

This is our group at the end of our day yesterday. We received a lot of interest from the public who joined in playing with and drawing on our installation, and considered the day a success.

Arriving to site
Moving such a large amount of cardboard is heavier then it looks. A taxi picked up all of our nets yesterday morning and dropped them near to Piccadilli Gardens for us to then carry to our chosen site and assemble. Carrying them across the public space already attracted some attention, curiosity and interest.

Cutting 60 cube nets out of cardboard and Monday and Tuesday this week. As they are nets, their transportation to site is made much easier. They can then be assembled on site, with string and cable ties, making the project much like a 'pop up' installation. Disassembled again at the end of the day; the installation is made to be transportable and quickly moved between locations.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/cardboard-boxes-piccadilly-gardens-students-9305559

Probably the mos important result we expected from this project was the public's involvement. And we had anticipated we were going to have to encourage the public to engage with the installation. This was not the case. All the boxes were not even finalized and we were still all working when the public stated focusing their attention on us, engaging, enquiring, and most importantly, PLAYING with the provided elements.

While we may have expected the transportation process to not be easy, it turned out to be downright an adventure. Once we got that sorted, we managed to get down to assembling the boxes on site. Everyone contributed, everyone got their hands (and knees, mostly) dirty, and this was a great proof of great teamwork.

Finally, we set up our 1:1 model installation and seeing the good respond of the publics of all ages were keen to get involved. It showed how a simple cube cardboards used to drag the public attention in the busy space.

The work of the second week, after finalizing the actual box templates, focused on how to make them more attractive. An extraordinary idea was to use chalkboard paint to cover some of the surfaces and turn them into virtual drawing spaces for passerbyers. We also covered some surfaces in colourful materials, spraypainted various designs and inserted improvised wind chimes in some, to create more playful elements.

The final day begun with how we struggle to bring all the cupboard nets to test out our installation on site ( Picadilly Garden )

Everyone helping to do the 1:1 Model making for installation. Jobs were divided for cutting, spraying, painting and etc.

After brainstorming and sketching, we came out with different ideas of models. Then, two of the models was chosen to be presented to the rest of the group.

On day 2, we went to Piccadilly Garden for site visit to look which of the space has more potential for our installation. After that, we started to sketch out ideas of seating design that could relate to the site.

The first task we were asked to do was research some precedents of playful spaces. I looked more into precedents that touches about cascaded concept with playfulness.

Attracting the local press was pleasing as it suggested our experimental art installation had evoked much interest during the few hours that we were trialling it out on site.

Although we were worried our installation would attract only young children, members of the public of all ages were keen to get involved. It was great to see the excitement that our installation created and the public's creativity demonstrated how a simple cardboard box can be used to enhance a very busy public space.

The simplest form (cube) has transformed a busy route in piccadilly Garden to a playful and interactive place!

The final day began with a struggle to fit all of our cardboard nets into the minibus to set up and test out our installation on site, in Piccadilly Gardens.

Sending off the nets to Piccadilly Gardens. We spent about an hour making them into cubes of different size on site before they are ready for public to play with. :)

We went to the site in the morning and started our installation of the cubes we have created earlier. The public have been so supportive and interactive. Didn't really expect people to stop by and play with the cubes, but they really did! It is so much fun! :)

Installation in Piccadilly Gardens. We brought the nets and built the boxes on site to make travelling easier. Members of the public started to interact with the boxes and create chalk drawings throughout the day

After creating the nets for the cubes we added playful elements to some of the nets. These elements included chalk painted sides on some of the cubes, creating wind chimes that would be installed into some of the cubes, creating stencils allowing us to spray paint games and letters onto the cubes and adding a variety of fabrics to some of the cubes to create variation and colour.

We cut out just under 70 nets from reinforced cardboard that would be used to create the cubes. Using nets allowed the instalment to be constructed on site. We ended up creating 3 different size nets so that we had a variety of sized cubes. The bigger cubes would then help create the framework for the instalment and used for seating and climbing, with the smaller boxes being movable including interactive and playful elements.

Presenting our group models to the rest of the group. A group decision was made to use our concept for the final instalment. As a group we then discussed material options and looked at how we could make some of the cubes more interactive through sound and interactive games.

We then looked at the site in more detail to work out exact locations of trees and seating to work out how the network of cubes would fit into the space.

After developing a series of sketch designs we chose two of the ideas to model. These could then be presented to the rest of the group. Left - Framework that fits into the landscape of Piccadilly Gardens supporting a series of hanging elements. Right - Series of cubes that are installed around trees in Piccadilly Gardens that look at creating climbing, seating and playful spaces.

After looking at precedents and looking at potential spaces in Piccadilly Gardens for our instalment, we begun to sketch our ideas for a new interactive seating design that would relate to the site.

Analysing Piccadilly Gardens, looking at movement through the site. Through analysing the movement we were able to outline spaces within the site that are used the most. The seating instalment should then be located in one of these spaces to increase its impact on the public and increase interaction.

The first task involved looking at precedents of existing playful and interactive seating. I looked at precedents that involved high levels of interaction with fun and playful aspects. I was looking for existing seating that would make people stop and use it, and ones that could potentially fit into Piccadilly Gardens.

Cutting out the stencils to be used for spray painting.

Spray painting some of the faces using the stencils we created earlier

Cutting stencils to create interactive and playful faces for the boxes

Design ideas: collage, initial sketches and proposal