The Book Of Me

During the first project of the semester, my design students were asked to create a linear book showcasing their life so far. The "book" was to be as long as each student is tall, and have one "page" per year of life. The "pages" were to be 11" wide. No glue, sticky tape or staples were allowed; the students had to design the joints.

What you see here is a small sample of my students' ingenuity.

The first on the left is a double helix. The "pages" were a combination of wood and foam core, and the "joints" were made of bent and cut aluminum L-shaped angle.

Second from the left was all made out of chip board, the joints included. The "pages" overlap, have slits cut into them, and are joined together by narrow strips of chipboard connecting each two pieces. It is worth noting that each "page" had its own carefully designed image or collage of images to represent the year's happenings.

The third one has corrugated cardboard beer cartons for "pages" and an unruly twine for the joins.

The fourth one was made from chip board "pages" held together with buttons. Yes, they are actually sawed on!

The fifth one has a 2x4 " piece of timber for a "spine", plywood pieces for "pages", and all is held together with massive bolts and nuts.

I get very excited when my students take an assignment and blow it out of the water!

Onto more "real" projects; now the students are working on a design for a rooftop garden on one of the buildings on campus. The added challenge lies in a fact, that each was assigned a contemporary accomplished landscape architect, and they are to produce a design solution somehow inspired by that person's design philosophy and/or work.

Have I ever mention I REALLY enjoy my job??? ;-)