The Pill - a Social Networking Enhancement Device

The Pill Parti

The pill model.  8 1/4" x 3 1/8" x 1 1/2"  The side slot accepts an iPhone4 as the social media device.

THE PILL

Pills make things better.....

This pill is a social networking enhancer.  It allows an individual to utilize their social networking device anywhere in the world, regardless of power or internet connectivity.  Features include:

Charge pull - pull the string and the pill will activate a gyroscope and act as a power generating charging station.

Satellite button - Links you to a satellite with a satellite antenna, no cellular network needed.

Around me button - shows your friends on your will with dantance and directino from you and estimated travel time.

TV button - instantly links the pill to your television for viewing information.

Show me button - Activates video confrencing / video chat.

Emergency button - Instantly kills the pill to keep nosy people out of your social experience.

Kill button - Instantly disconnects all media devices around you.  All calls will be dropped, creating a world of silence.

A dining Story

When I was looking for inspiration for this current design, I wound up looking in nature.  I have two lemon trees that fully ripen around the winter solstice.  They remind me of the sun and the warmth of the summer.  I want to incorporate lemons and their color into my design.  I also really enjoy the green of the lemon leaves, so maybe that color will come into play as well.

I envision my dining experience to be with close friends and family.  I am thinking about incorporating the social media aspect into a drum like shade or shades that also serve as light fixtures above the table.  I want the social media aspect to be played down and just an idea that runs simultaneously, and is not intrusive and does not need interaction.

The space should be intimate, yet roomy to accommodate a crowd, maybe 25 x 25 with 12 ft ceilings.  I see a wall of glass that can accordion back and disappear in the warmer months and be closed during the colder months.  All other walls in the space would be solid.  One wall might have a series of small round windows that correlate to the position of the sun in the sky on the solstice days.  I'm not sure about this idea yet though. A fireplace will need to be incorporated and I think that will be on the wall opposite the glass wall, and off center. above the table and the sideboard the ceiling height will change, to a lower more human scale height.

My dining table will be a racetrack oval in walnut.  I envision arched legs that mimic the oval shape of the table top.  I want to experiment with painting the underside and backs of the legs lemon yellow, or maybe leaf green.  There will be a series of circular cutouts that encircle the table.  These relate to the sun and the importance of dining on the solstice days.  The table will be off center in the room.  1/2 of the space of the room should be devoted to the table.  In the other half of the room will be a sideboard composed of 5 round tables.  They will be solid and include storage and wheels so they can be moved around and positioned as need be.  I would make them out of walnut as well and would incorporate a series of circular cut outs near the top.  My chair selection may be Konstantin Grcic's tub chair.  I enjoy the circular shape and think it will work well with they other items that I'm designing for the space.  I also think the chairs will be incredibly comfortable and can be used in the room as general seating when not at the table for dining.

My other chair of choice is by Frank Gehry, hat trick.  The chair is bent wood and has a very special space under the seat that is spherical in thought.  I like the movement and life that the chairs have.

Overall i envision the space being very soothing and nurturing in feeling.  A limited color palate will help with this as will leaving out clutter and un-necessary items.

RR5, Kennedy, Reading Response #5 IARC 221

BP5, Kennedy, Blog Post #5, IARC 221

Babette's Feast (theory 2)

On Friday we watched Babette's feast.  A movie about two danish sisters who reside in the Jutland region during the 19th century.  This climate is cold and austere, yet beautiful in it's own way.  This austerity has a great effect on everything that they do.

They feed the needy with ale bread, a terrible concoction of stale bread mixed with flat ale.  It resembles glue.  Even the Sunday supper after church is quite terrible, as evidenced by the general.

The architecture is very simple.  Small white houses with thatched roofs.  Ceilings are not tall to help with keeping the interior warm.  There appears to be a central foyer in which all the rooms of the house are off of.  All of which have doors, again to keep the heat in the rooms where they are.  There is no electricity, so lighting is by candle or oil lamp.  Walls are white to help keep the interiors light.  One thing that I did notice is they used lots of dark wood, which is the opposite of what I think of in their region.  Typically you find Lighter woods and Lighter painted pieces, creating a light interior to offset the dark, cold, dreary outside.  This type of interior space was seen when the general was in Switzerland.

The film is centered around Babette, their servant, by necessity of herself, not the sisters.  Babette was forced from Paris where she lived as a renowned chef.  Babette is extremely grateful to be able to serve the sisters and does so with much humbleness.  Word comes that Babette has won the lottery, of course the sisters think she is moving back to Paris, which is not the case.  The sisters fathers 100th birthday is fast approaching and Babette convinces the sisters to let her cook a feast, a true French feast.  Reluctantly, they allow her.  Babette runs to Paris to gather everything that she needs and has it brought back by her nephew.  The kitchen now has huge shimmering copper pots.  The dining room is set with a white table cloth, new white china, sterling candle sticks, tall white candles and enough crystal to replicate the hall of mirrors at Versailles.  The table glows as do the guests dining.  Light is centered on the table, everything else starts to fade away, out of your field of vision.  This effect is very dramatic.  All light was dramatic without the use of electricity.

The use of lighting defined the spaces.  All lights were there for necessity, not just to look good or illuminate an entire room.  Everything was specific.  A specific light for a specific task, nothing more.