Yesterday I was reminded of the peculiar nature of the architecture world. In our efforts to make our environment better we often devote inconceivable amounts of time to accomplish something seemingly trivial and ordinary. This latest example involved the installation of an overhead projector at the office. For ordinary people this would involve bolting it to the ceiling, approximately centered within the space and running the cables to a reasonable location (time required 1 hour). But for the designer this turns into an art. First the mounting location is selected. An off-center location to avoid conflicts with the hanging lights and to provide a pin-up space to the right of the projection screen. The projector was carefully attached to the wood beam, the cords perfectly laid down the middle of the beam, to the wall, ultimately cascading on the presenter's table. Perfect until you fire it up and see the image. A debate ensues about the choice to employ an off-center projection approach. How far off-center do you have to go so it doesn't appear "slightly off"? The balance and form of the room are now considered as are standard pin up paper sizes. The projector is pulled down and remounted in a centered location. The iPhone level app ensures the image sits square upon the wall. A screw strips out, so now a non-white replacement is made. Yes, we are now painting the end of the screw to match. The cable is re-run through the space. Finally up goes the projection screen. Wait...it doesn't come with a chain for mounting? A solution is reached, a guy in the office is going to bring in some spare chain he has in his garage. And yes, this is exactly the kind of weird shit architects hoard in their garage. Time elapsed 04:00+ hours and we are waiting to mount the screen on Monday. Meanwhile the ordinary person has solved world peace.
01 May 2010
Projected Perfection
Yesterday I was reminded of the peculiar nature of the architecture world. In our efforts to make our environment better we often devote inconceivable amounts of time to accomplish something seemingly trivial and ordinary. This latest example involved the installation of an overhead projector at the office. For ordinary people this would involve bolting it to the ceiling, approximately centered within the space and running the cables to a reasonable location (time required 1 hour). But for the designer this turns into an art. First the mounting location is selected. An off-center location to avoid conflicts with the hanging lights and to provide a pin-up space to the right of the projection screen. The projector was carefully attached to the wood beam, the cords perfectly laid down the middle of the beam, to the wall, ultimately cascading on the presenter's table. Perfect until you fire it up and see the image. A debate ensues about the choice to employ an off-center projection approach. How far off-center do you have to go so it doesn't appear "slightly off"? The balance and form of the room are now considered as are standard pin up paper sizes. The projector is pulled down and remounted in a centered location. The iPhone level app ensures the image sits square upon the wall. A screw strips out, so now a non-white replacement is made. Yes, we are now painting the end of the screw to match. The cable is re-run through the space. Finally up goes the projection screen. Wait...it doesn't come with a chain for mounting? A solution is reached, a guy in the office is going to bring in some spare chain he has in his garage. And yes, this is exactly the kind of weird shit architects hoard in their garage. Time elapsed 04:00+ hours and we are waiting to mount the screen on Monday. Meanwhile the ordinary person has solved world peace.
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