Back at Rutgers, I had an incredible TA, Charlie Kontos, Jr., for my Land, Measurement and Mapping course. His passion for everything he did was inspiring, and his ability to turn a class based on using transits and calculations to map topography into something exciting should have earned him multiple awards. His love and studies of wildlife and biology had him on course to host his own television show. Tragically, he passed in 2010 at the age of 33. Soon after his passing, I was contacted by his parents to design a memorial kiosk that would serve at the entranceway to the Livingston Ecological Preserve on Rutgers University's Livingston Campus.
My design for them became more of a gateway than a simple kiosk--a structure that informs and engages, requiring visitors to pass through it on their way into the preserve. Like Charlie, I wanted the kiosk to educate, leaving visitors with a lasting impression.
Visually, I wanted the structure to appear simple--I wanted joints and hardware hidden, giving it the appearance of being free-standing. Bringing this to fruition proved a challenge (more, "the illusion of simplicity"), and some compromises had to be reached to bring the project to fruition. The horizontal slats serve to contrast the vertical trunks of the trees behind the structure. Their spacing was designed to act as a bird blind for the adjacent wetland, rich with avian activity.
The colored windows are meant to symbolize Charlie's ability to make the average exciting, providing visitors with different perspectives to see the world around them through filtered light.
The structure itself was designed to be modular, allowing for the easy replacement of any broken slats without the need for excessive processing--just the simple cutting of 2x4's.
These concept models were explorations on form, construction, and function, and were made in Rhino and rendered in VRAY.