Project Description
X Marks the Spot
X Marks the Spot
Winning design in a competition launched by the Speakers’ Corner Trust and Bristol Old Vic.
The brief was to create a portable platform for speakers – easily assembled and dismantled as needed.
The 1.3 metre square platform is made of oak planks from a Bristol boatyard. Runners in bright, bold colours act as an approach, extending out from underneath the platform to form an ‘X’. The ‘X’ motif is echoed throughout the design because of its currency as a symbol with a number of pertinent associations:
- traditionally denotes a place to which attention should be drawn
- a widely recognised symbol of democracy and citizens’ rights – i.e. the ‘X’ placed on a ballot paper
- historically, the use of an ‘X’ to ‘make one’s mark’
The presence of text on the platform and runners is in itself reflective of the ethos of free speech: Quotations from key campaigners for freedom of expression in the UK intersect on the platform.
With the platform being overtly open to 360 degrees, the speaker appears ‘in the round’. With neither speaker nor audience directed in how they orient themselves to it, the design creates a sense of being welcoming to all.
The design is now in use with the Speakers’ Corner Trust.
X Marks the Spot
Winning design in a competition launched by the Speakers’ Corner Trust and Bristol Old Vic.
The brief was to create a portable platform for speakers – easily assembled and dismantled as needed.
The 1.3 metre square platform is made of oak planks from a Bristol boatyard. Runners in bright, bold colours act as an approach, extending out from underneath the platform to form an ‘X’. The ‘X’ motif is echoed throughout the design because of its currency as a symbol with a number of pertinent associations:
- traditionally denotes a place to which attention should be drawn
- a widely recognised symbol of democracy and citizens’ rights – i.e. the ‘X’ placed on a ballot paper
- historically, the use of an ‘X’ to ‘make one’s mark’
The presence of text on the platform and runners is in itself reflective of the ethos of free speech: Quotations from key campaigners for freedom of expression in the UK intersect on the platform.
With the platform being overtly open to 360 degrees, the speaker appears ‘in the round’. With neither speaker nor audience directed in how they orient themselves to it, the design creates a sense of being welcoming to all.
The design is now in use with the Speakers’ Corner Trust.
Open Case
Open Case was an alternative proposal for the Mobile Speakers’ Corner competition. A simple construction of lightweight aluminium, the design resembles the form of a suitcase. This gives a practical advantage, with the handle allowing easy lifting and carrying. It also confers connotations of freedom and mobility, and reflects the tradition of using simple everyday objects – such as ladders or wooden boxes – as a speakers’ platform.
Open Case is composed of two interlocking parts – the platform and the base. When in use, the underside of the platform carries fold-out legs, which slot into the base to form a rigid structure. Removable folding panels carrying text can be sandwiched in between the platform and base, adding further support and visual impact. The use of text is also evocative of soapboxes and sandwich boards – other familiar tools of self-expression.
Categories:
design
Open Case
Open Case was an alternative proposal for the Mobile Speakers’ Corner competition. A simple construction of lightweight aluminium, the design resembles the form of a suitcase. This gives a practical advantage, with the handle allowing easy lifting and carrying. It also confers connotations of freedom and mobility, and reflects the tradition of using simple everyday objects – such as ladders or wooden boxes – as a speakers’ platform.
Open Case is composed of two interlocking parts – the platform and the base. When in use, the underside of the platform carries fold-out legs, which slot into the base to form a rigid structure. Removable folding panels carrying text can be sandwiched in between the platform and base, adding further support and visual impact. The use of text is also evocative of soapboxes and sandwich boards – other familiar tools of self-expression.
