Today I spent some time prototyping a few versions of Block Builder, the project I spoke last time being funded by City Artist Corps Grant. Watch out, this dispatch is basically me recounting what my morning’s making session looked, and felt like.
I spent an hour this morning prototyping, broadcasting on Instagram Live (hi 7 of you who joined) - conducting a working and prototyping session while random people could pop in and out. It felt…different. I’m not sure if I’m going to do it again, though it was helpful to speak out loud and narrate what I was doing and thinking. So much of the making process is connecting mind and body, but also explaining the why and the reason, and it helped to have an external reason to speak.
What you are seeing are a few prototypes of a sticker-based version of Block Builder. I wanted to learn more about size and shape of the buildings, what the playing board should look like and what should be on it as an underlay, and to iterate what instructions I might need to give people as they play the game.
I am still seriously torn about stickers versus ink stamps. I would love to see a grid of stamps (kind of like the table of stamps at Muji), which are reusable (and a bit more sustainable than stickers) but I am very worried about keeping everything clean and as sterile as possible. Maybe handing out gloves and disinfecting it would reduce my (and other’s) fear. If you have strong sentiments, please feel free to email or add a note in the comments.
Building Size
There’s something nice about being able to hold the “right sized” building in the palm of one’s hand; a certain physical umami. Regardless of material, I’m homing in on the size. It’s a bit difficult, as the dynamic range of NYC buildings are giant – *I* don’t think a better block contains single floor single family homes, but evidence suggests there are enough people in the five boroughs who desire that kind of density. But then you have skyscrapers. Here is where stickers could be better – for stamps the limiting factor is how to manufacture a skyscraper-sized stamp at the right size to make the detached single family home legible. I might need two scales, for that…more prototyping is needed here.
Block Template Affordances
The block template needs some guiding affordances: I’m thinking both a grid but also possible cross streets. I don’t want to make it too complex or convoluted, since this isn’t a scale drawing, and more of an emblematic object, and vehicle for people to share their thoughts. I was thinking of putting a 20 or 30 foot grid since so much of NYC tax lots are 20/25/30 foot widths. The scale in these photos are 1:50 which I think is respectable (the block width is 500 ft and typical NYC blocks range from around 580 ft by 200 ft in Queens, to 850 ft by 200 ft in Brooklyn, to a typical Manhattan block of 920ft by 200 ft). I might need to double the size of the buildings…
Block Template Ratio & Materials
I also like how horizontal it feels – I’m going to experiment with aspect ratios, stealing from the best cinematographers and directors out there: Kubrick shot all over the place, but Kubrick’s three final films – The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut – were released 1.85:1. I just rewatched Michael Mann’s Last of the Mohicans and it’s released in 2.35:1 which lets the landscape really, really sing.
For material I’m going to experiment with some textured paper stock with – the copy paper I used was available, but something with texture will be required for ink stamps. I was also thinking of using a dark stock (Mohawk recycled denim or recycled straw) with with white inks if I go the stamp route. I like the idea of making a tree stamp and stamping that green tree overtop everything like an overprint. Which could also happen if I use uncoated paper stamps.
Make it come alive
I also think that the buildings are only one part of what makes the blocks of our neighborhoods come alive. No matter where we go, adding things like people, trees, bikes, cars, street furniture, food carts, etc begin to bring the street to life. I will need to think about how to integrate some of the work I’ve done on Typology.city to this project.
OK. So that’s a lot of words for an hour of making. Hope you enjoyed it.
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