Background

Since 2013, the LAES program has been collaborating with the Urban Informatics program at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia. Most of these collaborations have revolved around the InfoBooth project being headed by QUT architect/faculty member Dr. Glenda Caldwell. The InfoBooth project is an attempt to create a small phone-booth sized space that can be quickly assembled in different locations, allowing community members at that location to leave comments about current problems and questions in their community.

How many school shootings have there been in America in the last 12 years?

When looking for a community issue to address with the American design of the InfoBooth, Dr. David Gillette and Dr. Michael Haungs (co-directors of the LAES program) decided that they would like the LAES program to address the issue of gun violence in the USA. The shooting at the Pulse Nightclub earlier in the year (June 12th, 2016) hit hard with many members of the LAES program, and also spurred Dr.s Gillette and Haungs to use the creative and technical skills of the LAES students and program to respond to this public health issue in the USA. Therefore, for the Fall 2016 charrette, it was decided to combine the InfoBooth re-design project from QUT with the LAES program response to gun violence in the USA, with a more specific focus on gun violence at American educational institutions (K-12, university).

SOS is a six foot tall arc of plexiglass and wood panels that asks visitors to comment on how safe they feel in their community. Visitors are asked to leave colorful thumbprints on the outer arc of panels, indicating to what degree they feel gun violence has impacted their lives. The rainbow colors represent different categories such as 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year, 4th year or more, faculty, and non-Cal Poly. The inner arc asks visitors to reflect upon the number of shootings that occur in the USA, with a focus on school shootings. A sentence along the top of the frame asks: “How many school shootings have there been in America in the last twelve years?” The answer is provided by the number of holes that pierce the panels (back to front) as a statistical display (one hole per shooting) with years marking the bottom of the panels (two years per panel) from 2004 to 2016. A plexiglass box at the center of the inner arc displays an electric drill locked into the box. If another shooting occurs during the run of the project, then at noon the next day the box will be unlocked, the drill used to add one more hole to the panel, then placed back into the box.

#letstalkcalpoly

To extend this conversation across the country, the panels are connected to a social media conversation asking how safe people feel due to the prevalence of gun violence in the USA, and asking for a response to the number of shootings that have occurred over the years, in schools and elsewhere. The process of building the project, drilling the holes (and additional holes during the run), and visitors marking the walls with thumbprints will be documented and added to the project’s social media conversation. The social media conversation asks visitors to take photos of their thumbs with the ink from making their mark on the panel, accompanied by their statement on gun violence and their sense of safety.

The entire project is designed to be easily replicated around the USA at any campus or small community, using simple digital templates that guide computer-driven cutting systems to cut from plywood and plexiglass the six main parts that comprise the structure. The raw materials for the project can all be purchased at any hardware store in the USA, and costs $560. The digital templates are accompanied by a short video and one-page direction sheet demonstrating how the panels can be assembled and used for a public presentation.