Spacebox

In a 6 week experiment, the various design disciplines at the University of the Arts decided to come together for a series of projects called StudioNext. During this time, teams consisting of Industrial, Multimedia, and Graduate design students tackled various problems with real world clients. My team was anointed Spacebox, a modular housing unit popular in Europe trying to find it’s way here. We were given a large space on campus to work with. A fullscale unit to play around in. And 6 weeks to generate concepts for a very public installation of Spacebox on the University campus.

The ideas were vast, due in large part to the rapid prototyping methods we developed. Performance space, gather area, popup gallery, residential, commercial. In the end we settled on two concepts, one specifically to a “comfortable” student housing angle based on American ideals. The second being a concept of Live. Work. Sell. Where budding, young artists can apply for support to help get their concepts off the ground. They could take residency for the 6-12 months that the program would last, work in the studio below, and have a mini brick-and-mortar shop on the ground floor to sell their wares.

Having been immersed in the latest trend of people seeking funding for their entrepreneurial spirit, this idea doesn’t seem so far fetched nowadays. Our final presentation can be seen here.