Sausalito_

What might a truly participatory design process look like?

The brief called for the creation of a sculpture that interacted with the site conditions – wind and people.

Given that our site was a Discovery Museum, we saw this as an opportunity to experiment with our design process. Working closely with Museum administrators, staff and visitors, we conducted interviews, observational research and multiple prototyping sessions.

This guided but open design process became a study in giving voice to the community. Working with former IDEO great, Brianna Cutts, we asked: How might we embody the spirit of the community, as well as the site conditions, into an object?

Through countless rapid iterations, and some pretty crafty problem solving, we arrived at a design that was itself a curious object – perfect for a place that aspires to promote curiosity, exploration, discovery, imagination.

Made (almost entirely) of bamboo, The Kraken stands 25ʼ tall and sports a kinetic 40ʼ long laminated bamboo cantilevered arm.