Concept: B-Part of it
Interactive narrowcasting connected to an online platform, placed in the urban area of Space-S (Strijp-S, Eindhoven). End result: graded 8 and graduated! (2016)
For my graduation project, I teamed up with Bob and we completed an urban design project for Woonbedrijf, a residential provider in Eindhoven.
The design challenge
Back in 2016, Woonbedrijf was appointed to build appartments in the vibrant area of Strijp-S, Eindhoven. They asked the question:
How can we improve social cohesion in the area by stimulating playful interactions between future residents?
Process
Woonbedrijf made the design process of Space-S revolve around co-creation. Future Space-S residents got involved in the decision making process. Bob and myself ‘recruited’ our own team of future residents. By hosting co-creation design workshops, we diverged and created lots of ideas. In the meanwhile, we had done a lot of research on social cohesion. We became inspired by the idea of an interactive piece of furniture, that would blend in with the industrial environment of Strijp-S. We also wanted to facilitate an online forum in which residents can create topics and meetings. These two ideas were combined into one product: B-Part of it.
B-Part of it
B-Part of it is an interactive beehive hanging at the entrance of each building of Space-S. The shape of the beehive represents the shape of the buildings. Each beehive section has it’s own RGB built into it. From the online community, residents open topics and plan activities. Based on where this is coming from, the corresponding beehive section lights up with a specific color. The LED screen shows provides more information about the activities.
Please see below for the mockups, clickable protoype, and a video of the physical prototype.
The online platform
Clickable prototype
The B-Part of it beehive
The physical prototype of the B-Part of it beehive
Designed in Illustrator, 3D printed, programmed with Arduino.
