As I was designing this product, I knew I wanted to make a form that really just did the work of aesthetics on its own. I wanted the beauty to lie in its plain existence, fresh out of whatever mold it came from. That’s how I landed on concrete as a material.

Not only is concrete a material that I typically don’t find attractive, but it also made the product have a brutalist feel to it. Studying at UIC for 4 years now, I have been surrounded by brutalist architecture. Architecture I find to be inherently prison-like and unwelcoming. That being said, I really felt attracted and pulled in by the objects existence on a table top.

The inspiration behind the form is from Walter Netsch UICs old campus 1965 plan that had Greek amphitheater style meeting areas for campus socializing. That’s where the intersection between this product and its inspiration cross, both are catalysts for interaction among people and symbols of community.

Walter Netsch University of Illinois Circle Campus 1965