Environmental Design

GROUP THOUGHTS:

JULIAN: When the project was first proposed, I was kind of skeptical about how it would turn out. It was a really strange concept to me, but at the same time it was engaging. Many questions popped into my head...such as how would people react in a situation like this? Is it even possible to bring all these materials to the bus stop? What if no one reacts to this at all? I was very curious to find out. While I was taking pictures of the different interactions between the students and the table with cookies, muffins, and tea at the bus stop, it was not only fun but also it opened up a whole new perspective of the class to me. Every group in the class is free to be creative and can do whatever they want with the project, but what is most important is that it has to have a purpose which relates to our group's point/goal (boundaries). In our group's case; the various reactions of the people at the bus stop because this is something they do not see every day (crossing the boundaries/stepping outside of the norm). Overall, I felt the individual contributions that each group member made into our projects not only helped us learn something, but it also allowed each of us to learn to work with each other as a whole.

VICTORIA: Taking our theme of boundaries into consideration, it was quite fitting to target a bus stop for the environmental design.

The Porter bus stop, or any bus stop from here to Watsonville for that matter, is the epitome of a communal space. It is so communal, in fact, that it has become nearly devoid of character. One could argue that its colorful assortment of locals grant it character and personality. However, on the whole, bus stops offer no welcoming, attractive attributes. Clean or filthy, new or aged, most bus stops strike us as empty, impermanent, and altogether uninviting. As people, we stray away from that. We stray away from the grim and faceless. Oddly enough, it is because so many people share and pass through that space that it has become so faceless. It belongs to everyone, and therefore belongs to no one. Somehow, despite these bus stops being so collective and communal, they have become utterly uncongenial.

We sought to change that. We arrived at the Porter bus stop and domesticated it. Its blandness was eradicated as soon as we bestowed it with cozy, charming objects such as reading lamps, books, comfortable pillows, and warm appetizers. Within 60 seconds, the bus stop had been smothered in pleasantries reminiscent of home and its facelessness was gone.

As soon as we repositioned ourselves across the street, we became the spectators. The bus shelter became a tiny theater, and its myriad of people filing in and out became the unsuspecting actors. Through the addition of just a few carefully selected, domestic objects, they were to be faced with something entirely unfamiliar. If the individual was willing to take a seat between the pillows, sip some hot tea, and much on a few cookies, the once faceless bus stop would transform itself into an alluring space of their own.


LINA: After pitching this idea, and talking about how to carry it out, I had confidence in our group to execute this design in a thoughtful and exciting manner. The day of our project was cold, dark, cloudy, and on the weekend. We were hoping to implement our design at a time when there were many people at the bus stop, however, because it was the weekend, only a few students were out and about. None-the-less, we accomplished what we set out to do: bring a living room setting to a pre-existing bus stop and observe and document (through photography) the reactions of people. At one point, while we were waiting for people to approach the bus stop, I placed myself within the design, hoping to draw more people. I acted natural and waited. A girl approached and went straight for the cookies, I neither egged her on, nor pointed them out. I asked her if she thought they were “safe.” She replied: “they look store-bought, I’m sure they’re fine.”

STANLEY: I didn't really know what to think about this design project at first. It was all very confusing to me, that is to say, how do you change the environment? I mean isn't the environment always changing? But after having seen the reaction of the people coming to that bus stop, I can kind of gain a better grasp of the concept. The bus stop, which under normal circumstances is not a place anyone wants to have to be at for more than 10 minutes, but with this design, it completely changed the atmosphere of it. Of course people still couldn't wait to get out of there when the bus came, but everyone was intrigued to see a bus stop with snacks and tea, reading material, and cushions. No one expects a bus stop to be comfortable and I think that is what surprises most people... then again who knows how they viewed this design. Everyone has their own opinion and I would like to think the people who took a cookie and sat on the cushions felt as I do, but those who didn't want to approach the stop had a completely different view. Who knows...

BIANCA: When we started thinking about the environmental design, we had so many ideas. We decided to do this bus stop idea because it was fairly easy and we didn't have to ask permission or depend on anyone else. I think that everyone was hoping to get really strong reactions, but that didn't happen. However, reactions are reactions, whether strong or not. Some people ignored the set up and some were interested. When we started telling people to go get cookies, we got even more interesting reactions; like the guy who just nodded at us and looked away. I feel that this design accomplished it's task. It changed a normal setting into something else. I think that if people weren't so afraid of what others think of them, they would have been more curious. I really think this design changed the environment significantly, if only for a while, and whether people knew it or not, they were affected by it. It affected the way they acted, where they stood, and what they thought about a bus stop.