Cabinet of Curiosity

Our final project in studio 112 developed through the collaboration with first year studio.  First year was given a project to design an object holder based on a partners needs for a particular interest.  For example, a ticket holder was designed for a student who needed a place to put her bus tickets.  From there, our second year studio was given 3 first year object each and asked to design a cabinet in which all three objects can be harmoniously displayed.  The cabinet was to be any size, any shape, and made from any material as long as it helped to display the three objects cohesively.

For my specific cabinet, my objects consisted of a hairtie holder, a martini glass holder, and a pen holder.  The hairtie holder is a 3 ½” x 3 ½” wooden box with inlaid geometry shapes on the outside of the box.  The martini glass holder is wooden shadow box in which the martini glass will sit.  The shadow box is the outline of a standard martini glass. My final object is a 3” x 12” x 3” pen holder.  The top and bottom of the holder is made of thin wood and has an inset shape that complements the placement of the pens.  The sides are made from acrylic.  When looking from the sides, the shape of the holder is in an extended hourglass shape.

When trying to think about a design for a cabinet in which to place these three very individual objects I tried to find connections between all three to help me develop a concept for a design.  After thinking and processing the object I found connections through the shapes of each object.  Each object is simple in its basic form consisting of straight lines and sharp angles.  From this concept of angularity I began to develop and design my cabinet.  At first I played with the hourglass shape but was sticking to a very basic 5 sided rectangular box.  I then began play around with angles and connecting angles and started abstracting my general boxy thoughts about a cabinet.  From here I developed the shape of my final cabinet.

            My final cabinet consists of 2 individual parts joined together by a mortise tenon joint. The top part measures 14” x 18” with a 45 degree angle.  The bottom piece measures 14” x 16” with a 45 degree angle.  The bottom piece has an extension on which the cabinet rests measuring 6” with a 120 degree angle. The top section pierces the center of the top of the bottom piece and extends down holding the cubed hairtie holder in place.  The pen holder rests at an angle right at the end points of the cabinet’s 45 degree angles.  The martini glass holder then rests on the top of the bottom section with the top section overarching.  The cabinet is made of acrylic which helps to simplify the cabinet and bring focus to the three objects contained within the cabinet.

My cabinet is based on the concept of angularity and connection through angles.  With this cabinet’s design all three object flow together because the shape of the cabinet helps to connect all three pieces.  When looking at the cabinet one’s eyes flows with the angles of the cabinet to the objects placed inside.  Each object is touching an end of the cabinet so that as the eye flows over the cabinet’s form each joint and end point connects with one of the three objects.