Searching for Knowledge and Inspiration at the Moma Again

Did I find it?  I'm not sure. 

I've been working on a furniture design project, that's weighed heavily on my mind, mostly because I've never designed furniture before, so I am constantly looking at furniture everywhere I go.  I think its hard to see right now what I'm learning, but in a while from now, I'll understand. 

Jungle Gym Circus Inspiration

A few years ago, I helped design and build this:

(You can read more about it here.)  That has led me to develop a fascination with the circus, acrobats, and their equipment they climb on, as a great way to learn about architecture, and how the forms of things inform certain choreographies.

So now I find myself working on the design of another climbing structure, this one much bigger, and for now top secret.  But I can tell you that I have found a great source of inspiration in the most obvious but overlooked place - the playground.

This particular playground, recommended to me by a friend, has all of its jungle gyms build from basic industrial materials, and I think its great. 

If you're interested in learning more about playground design, I recommend the blog Playscapes.

Jane's Carousel, Jean's Cube

Its a carousel in a cube!

The Jumbletron

Cube

As I've been working with and researching cubes as part of the design for the house I'm working on in studio class, I decided to watch this movie, Cube. Its actually pretty stupid, and the acting is horrible, and I'm sorry to say that I did indeed watch the entire thing.

Here's the basic story line: 6 people awaken to find themselves trapped in a giant labyrinth of shifting rooms that are cubes. There are doors on each side that lead to new rooms, some with deadly traps, each marked with a number that contains a code as to the room's placement and line of movement along a Cartesian coordinate system. The people trapped inside must work together and solve the puzzle to find their way out and avoid the deadly traps!

Please don't watch it. Its so bad. But please feel free to watch the trailer if you're intrigued.