The Utility of the Grid

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Guys, I’m writing this down in attempt to convince you that focusing on an expensive infrastructure might not be the best solution.

It’s true that something snappy and high tech would look good in a portfolio; but imagine how much better it would be for that same portfolio if you could say, “Look, our designs are practical enough to actually be implemented on a large scale.”

By creating an expensive infrastructure for the modules, you are burdening yourself with a big liability: liability for vandalism, misconstruction, damage during transport, and constant maintenance of not a few modules but an entire system.

In addition (and I’m going to preface this by saying we haven’t had the meeting on Saturday, so maybe someone’s come up with a solution)- tensile and kinetic structures may be insufficient in some cases to shield pedestrians. Porousness comes at the price of practicality: there’s a reason most construction sites in cities cover their chain link with a continuous barrier of plastic sheeting. That reason is to reduce dust, muffle sound- and- most importantly- protect passerby.

A tensile structure and its associated kinetic panels might fail to shield them from chips of flying concrete or the backsplash of an industrial strength power washer.

I’m saving the cost argument for last, because I understand that this is a design competition. I understand the rational of going crazy all out creative for the infrastructure. But expensive is often inefficient, and the city’s budget will not tolerate inefficiency, so if we want to have our designs be implemented, we need to stay constantly aware of budget constraints.

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That being said, here’s my idea for a panel infrastructure which is cheap, sturdy, flexible and (hopefully) practical.

The idea is that a roughly 8x4 frame is broken down into 2x2 modules. These modules can be scaled on each frame as 2x2, 4x2, 4x4 or even a full 4x8 spread. This frame is made of pressure treated timber, which is both durable and cheap. Each 2x2 panel is anchored to the frame by four heavy bolts.

The default panels themselves can be made of plywood, which is equally cheap and durable. More expensive panels- such as kinetic modules, company sponsored panels, exhibition shadowboxes and other more exotic additions can include any material necessary, as long as they accommodate those four bolts.

The base consists of a relatively mortarless cinderblock retaining wall, keeping the wood panels out of the damp and providing a stable platform to anchor the two hidden metal posts on the sides of the frame (although these might not be necessary). The rear is further supported by a V-shaped support anchored in a secondary concrete block (not shown). Of the front retaining wall, only the cinderblocks containing the anchor rods contain concrete- the rest are mortarless.

And that’s basically it. You can see some examples of the basic module and its various implementations (including Davesque kinetic panels and a folding bench). Remember I’m not saying we can have a few showpieces- but for the most part it could be beneficial to base even our most elaborate modules on a relatively practical infrastructure.

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Edit: Updated with collapsible sunshade/table/bench bus/train station wall combo.