The Birth of Sound Incubator

May 20th, 2010, 11:11 pm

The sound wall is beginning to take shape. The one other member in my group, Kevin, was unable to make it to class tuesday, so I, Stephen, started some of the design research.  I have started to look at several designs for a noise reducing shelter or wall. The search was inspired by the theories behind Helmholtz resonators, and sustainable design made from recycled materials.

I was very inspired by the use of skids in the type of shelters that can be found on the website Design For The Other 90%, a design group that focuses on

“use of local construction techniques and materials to build affordable permanent structures. In Africa, a low-cost device compacts soil into blocks for cost-effective buildings. In the United States, multidisciplinary teams, often composed of volunteers, are creating transitional or permanent housing for the homeless, and even for entire neighborhoods such as the areas of New Orleans destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.”

-Design For The other 90%

These concepts lead me to consider the use of  ”local construction techniques and materials” which lead me to the pallet or skid. A very common material that can especially be seen on and around the NAFTA superhighway that makes up large portion of the Green Corridor.

“The majority of the world’s designers focus all their efforts on developing products and services exclusively for the richest 10% of the world’s customers. Nothing less than a revolution in design is needed to reach the other 90%.”
—Dr. Paul Polak, International Development Enterprises

Me and Kevin will be working in assosciation with the artist group Tug Collective. This group is made of Gaelyn Aguilar and Gustavo Aguilar, an interdisciplinary art initiative.

“Tug is a free-range, performative research collective that serves as a platform for addressing issues of social and cultural transformation.  Our work is collaborative (we are not autonomous, self-contained individuals) and non-hierarchical (we respect difference by weaving it into the process).  Our projects come from disparate moments and geographic locations, and reflect an ethos that connects cultural production with community engagement.  We look for cracks in the pavement.  We co-create and cross pollinate. We propagate a sense of place.” -Tug Collective

We are all looking forward to working with each other and seeing where our creativity takes us.