#CulturalKiosk_Design -Final Presentation

Over the past 5 weeks I have been working on a collaborative project with VCU University in Qatar with Esther Lockhart to design a kiosk to reflect the culture of Qatar. Over the course of the project we had weekly Skype conversations with the students to try to understand as much as possible about their culture. Our aim was to create a kiosk that focussed on the future of Qatar as they look ahead to 2022 to host the world cup.  We wanted to peel back the perception that people have of the country so that they can embrace what the future holds for Qatar.  The following presentation takes you through our thought process leading to the final design.


SLIDE ONE.

This project asked us to create a cultural kiosk to represent the county of Qatar at world fair events.  This image of Qatar’s skyline is pretty much a westernized perception of Qatar.  Therefore, our aim throughout our entire design process was to raise curiosity about the country and to discover what lies beneath the visually attractive front.

SLIDE TWO.

Having been intrigued by the architecture within the skyline we delved into this further by looking at two specific buildings.  One that is presently standing within Doha’s skyline and one that is a project for the future.  Both the tornado tower and the design for the national museum of Qatar were influential in our design process.

SLIDE THREE.

After further research we realised that Doha’s skyline isn’t just about the architecture.  When watching videos on Qatari lifestyle, having skype conferences with VCU students and meeting up with people who have worked in the local vicinity of Doha – we agreed with the following quote: ”it’s future flourishes from within.”

SLIDE FOUR.

With this in mind we both went straight to the drawing board to convert our initial thoughts into sketches.  These sketches mainly derived from the idea of ‘peeling back’ the perception of Doha to show that Qatar has a clear vision to enrich its people.  The sketches also reflect how we want to emphasise that the best is still to come and it’s continually shaping itself for the future.

SLIDE FIVE.

From this we expressed our thoughts and sketches into a 3D form.  This involved playing around and creating a series of scenes that represented the unraveling of Doha’s exterior in order to focus on the REAL under lying strength of the country.

SLIDE SIX.

As part of our emotive making process we also produced a series of videos to illustrate the close connection between the delicate and beautiful formation of a ribbon and the formation of the city.  This particular video represents how rapid the city of Doha appeared and shows how we are ”unravelling” the city to focus on what lies beneath.

SLIDE SEVEN.

This collection of images helped us further our development.  The top right image is an inspiring example of innovative architecture found in education city within VCU Qatar that mixes the old traditional architecture with the new.  The other images helped us develop a unique form that would act as the basis for our final design.

SLIDE EIGHT.

A progression in our development meant that we could create a journey that would symbolise our concept.  In this process we also realised that inventive structures are not only features on Qatar’s horizon – as the world cup also beckons in 2022.  In thinking this we realised the degree of opportunity this could bring to the people of Qatar now and in the future.

SLIDE NINE.

These elevations illustrate our final design that have derived from the previous slide.  They show the front elevation, the back elevation and the plan elevation of our kiosk.  The structure was inspired by Doha’s domineering architecture collaborated with the traditional design of archways from areas such as Souq Wakif.

SLIDE TEN.

This axonometric explains the different aspects to our design and how it has been put together so it can be transported.  The ‘mesh structure’ represents the people crossing paths in Qatar and how they can meet to form a unified solid structure.  It’s designed in a way so it fits together easily so that it can be dismantled and reassembled at any world fair event.

SLIDE ELEVEN.

The materials we have chosen have deliberately been kept to a minimum in order to grab the attention of the audience.  The combination of corian with steel work together to produce an organic abstract structure.  What WE like about corian is that it has beauty, strength and versatility built into it’s very nature.

SLIDE TWELVE.

This is our final model.  It tells the story of unravelling the corian skin to reveal the steel rod mesh structure that exposes Qatar’s culture to the world.  We feel the perception of Qatar is going to change- instead of looking at the outside, it will be understood that it is that of the people that make the country what it is.

SLIDE THIRTEEN.

This is a simple animation showing the 360 degree view of our kiosk.  We want our kiosk to be a place where people come together to retrieve information about Qatar and how it could benefit them by going to the world cup in 2022 with people from other cultures at an event where they will share one common interest.

SLIDE FOURTEEN.

This rendered perspective highlights how the public would interact with our kiosk.  We want to get people curious about Qatar, just like we were from the very start!  The people will be informed at the kiosk about future events mainly the world cup in 2022 and the benefits that will reap from this, including the opportunity to cross paths as the people come together to create a mesh of cultures at this one event.

SLIDE FIFTEEN.

At the end of the day we want to bring Qatar to the surface to expose itself for the first time.  In doing this we hope to entice people in from all over the world to see how they can contribute to Qatar and what Qatar has to offer them.