WHAT DID I MAKE?
My project group made a wall of tiles to be installed in Zeppelin Station in Denver, CO. Zeppelin station is an immersive 100,000 square foot creative workplace and market hall located at the 38th & Blake Station on the RTD’s commuter rail line. It is designed to bring together innovators and give cultural experiences to the community. Based off of our site observations, most people come to Zeppelin Station to be social with their friends, hang out, get food or drinks, or shop at the small markets. For our interaction, we proposed installing a wall of tiles that rotate with one side being an abstract map of the RINO art district and on the other sides with artists’ works and biographies with information about them and where their galleries are. There would also be tiles that are blank for guests to doodle on and add to the wall of art. We would install these tiles on the wall space by the stairs that leads up to the second floor of the station. This would allow guests to interact with this space if they are going up or down the stairs, or if they are hanging out on the larger steps.
Here is a link to the full project write up.
PURPOSE
Our main idea was to prompt connectedness to the RINO art district. People usually spend time just sitting or eating in Zeppelin Station, with seemingly no sense of “okay, where do we go after we get drinks?” or “what is special about the space that I’m in?” We want to improve that. Since RINO has so much to offer, we want people to be more present within it.
The purpose of our interaction we are proposing for Zeppelin Station is to give guests the chance to learn more about the RINO Artists and artworks. Through this wall of tiles, we hope that guests will be more interested and involved with the artists in the area and create a community basis around the current artists. With a large presence already at Zeppelin Station, we hope that this interaction will entice guests to learn more about the artists and even go visit their galleries.
Impact of the experience
Through creating this wall of tiles, we hope that the this experience will impact the way the public interacts with the RINO artists and they take interest in learning more about the different artists in the area. We hope that through this experience there will be a stronger community based around the current artists and guests will figure out what to do after they get food/drinks at the different spots at the station.
FUNCTIONALITY
We made a 50% scaled down model of our tiles to give our classmates the ability to try out our experience. One side of the tiles made an abstract map of the RINO art district, with studio locations indicated. The other sides had studio information, pictures of artwork, and fun designs for people to doodle on and contribute to the art community of RINO in their own way. These model tiles were printed in color, cut out, and glued to cardboard squares. We mounted them on a wall with wire and tape to more accurately depict what the full installation would look like.
