Interior Design 270

Fall 2005

Instructor Michael Culpepper

PROJECT ONE: A Viewfinder: A Mechanism of Awareness

DUE: Wednesday September 28, 2005

“But now I have undertaken a different kind of search, a horizontal search. As a consequence, what takes place in my room is less important. What is important is what I shall find when I leave my room and wander in the neighborhood. Before, I wandered as a diversion. Now I wander seriously and sit and read as a diversion.”

Walker Percy, The Moviegoer

“Architecture is not simply a platform that accommodates the viewing subject. It is a viewing mechanism that produces the subject. It precedes and frames the occupant.”

Beatriz Colomina, Strategies in Architectural Thinking

Establish a point of view about the physical world on the Bellevue Community Campus. This point of view is about a physical phenomenon that is overlooked, ignored or misunderstood. Mobilize this point of view with a viewfinder that challenges the general public to become aware. This viewfinder should heighten, exaggerate or contrast the phenomenon.

This project will be the actual viewfinder. It will not be a representation of the viewfinder. The viewfinder will be real and literally installed on the BCC campus. The studio will record the public interaction with the viewfinder.

• Consider the actual performance and use of the viewfinder.
• Understand (in)habitation vs. prosthetics or extensions.
• Carefully consider the interactive qualities between viewer, viewfinder and object.
• Being the actual viewfinder, address structure, gravity, weight, and construction.
• Use authentic, appropriate materials. Craft is paramount.