This design conjecture concerns a theoretical furniture system for the digital public participation lab. In this conjecture, the furniture of the lab consists mostly of a single kind of table: a trapezoid-shaped desk that adjusts and folds flat. By folding, any number of tables can be stored away when not in use. For chairs, a number of flexible and alternative seating options should be made available: wobble chairs, stools, balance balls, comfortable office chairs, etc. Users can choose the layout of desks as well as their preferred seating method, customizing the space to both their group and individual needs. A number of permanent fixtures would also need to exist in the room– a television for HYVE footage and other display, storage for technology, storage solutions for the furniture– but this conjecture proposes extreme freedom through user responsibility for the majority of room layout.
Although this design conjecture is interesting, it is only conjecture. The table design is not fully thought out. I don’t know how I would engineer the various mechanisms involved, nor do I think the form is satisfactory. The feel of this space is important, so I need my design solution for the DPP to be more elegant than this. The storage solution of tables stacked in the corner is a bit too clunky and makeshift to create the right environment. Despite this, I think this conjecture makes a step in the right direction for the philosophy I am interested in for the space.
