The client for this project is a social design firm, called Rhizome, run by Rebecca Reubens, and collaborating with an NGO , Ekalavya, and TBDC, a firm that works with bamboo.
The brief is to be able to build a flexible exhibition system that reflects the values of sustainable design that the three firms represent, and display their products in a variety of contexts and scenarios, either as a group, or individually .
The store, Bamboo Canopy whose collections we intend to showcase.
The Basic module evolution : Here, since modularity was the idea, I chose the circle, as my base shape, and tried to look at forms arising from it, since it geometrically reflected an ecosystem, and also posed an interesting structure challenge.
Evolving configurations for the form
The client preferred a grid based form to a fully solid one, since it provided scope for customisation later, when needed. So, explorations moved in that direction.
Looking at a configuration after suggesting the grid.
To see what kind of look and the handling of a full scale module wolud turn out to be, a mockup was made in mild steel.
The other defining element of the form was the kind of spacers used between the arcs on the grid. This was evaluated, and a simple cylindrical one was arrived upon.
A few possible configurations were looked at, from very regular, organised ones, to the more organic, asymmetrical ones, which could be used based on the context and the wishes of the client.
Various views of the final full-scale mockup of the module. The shelf would be a clear acrylic sheet, which, from a distance, would give the illusion of the products floating in the arcs' centre.
