white
YEAR:
2012
LOCATION:
san luis obispo, california
studio:
studio 400 + karen lange
PROJECT TYPE:
pop-up library
about the project
White was an installation for the Studio 400 Bookshow. We began with the idea of a surface in which to hang books while incorporating seating. Through material explorations we found 2 mil plastic as a semi-structural material when wrapped upon itself. After weaving it, we were able to create an “inhabitable surface.” The installation was designed, developed, and installed by students in Karen Lange’s studio as a showcase for the first drafts of our thesis books. The studio worked collaboratively in order to procure enough material to design an affective environment — in this case 80,000 square feet of plastic sheeting.
The material was worked by all 40 hands in order to build the environment. The installation encompassed four days of building, looming, crocheting, stapling, bending, and tying. Additional structure was constructed with wood framing and rebar, a detail that was concealed for the final show. The result was a plastic surface to be experienced above and below, a comfortable net in which to read. It was important that none of the original floor, walls, ceiling, or framing would be visible. By enveloping user experience in plastic, we aimed to transport the reader to a bizarre playground. Additionally, smoke machines were deployed randomly further defining a new atmosphere while projectors displayed thesis videos on the walls of the installation from behind the “plastic curtain.”
PROJECT: Studio 400 Book Show Installation 2011-12 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
DESCRIPTION: "White" was a gallery installation produced by the 20 students of Studio 400, a fifth-year architectural design studio at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The installation, which served to present each of the student's research books, was designed, developed, fabricated, and installed by the studio in a collaborative effort. The students developed the design over a period of about a month, with fabrication and installation occurring over a five day period. 80,000 square feet of plastic sheeting was sliced, loomed, woven, stapled, taped and tied to provide a climbable and malleable surface in the 4,500 square foot gallery. "White" supported a variety of interactive experiences above and below this dynamic surface, opening and exploring the relationships between book, user, material, space, and collective group.
PROFESSOR: Karen Lange
STUDIO: Annie Bui, Ben Hait-Campbell, Ian Carney, Hanya Chen, Dion Dekker, Christina Hackett, Nathan Kiatkulpiboone, Mariko Kobayashi, Emily Kirwan, Mike Loree, Ross Majewski, Isshin Morimoto, Ryan Nevius, Nick Pappas, Alma Padilla-Iriarte, Farnoosh Rafaie, Pablo Sandoval, Shanna Sullivan, Joe Varholick, Cory Walker
FILM EDITING: Pablo Sandoval, Farnoosh Rafaie, Mariko Kobayashi
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Pablo Sandoval, Mariko Kobayashi, Farnoosh Rafaie, Nathan Kiatkulpiboone, Ben Hait-Campbell
EQUIPMENT: Nikon d7000, Canon 20D, Canon Rebel XS, Canon 40D, GoPro