FOLIE: Context and Function

After the Week#2 studio session the group had some strong ideas on the folie. I had brought along the idea of some kind of observatory, but the group quickly came up with a more collabotative design.
The basic concept is a learning tool that requires co-operation between participants rather than simply a shared experience. The "lesson" was to be about communication by means other than verbal and visual, and how non-direct cues can influence the decisions we think we make on our own. The object of this lesson in a broader learning context was open communication channels for the potential student.
Initial concepts of the form of the folie were dictated by these ideas. Some broad ideas came to the fore:

- The folie was to be an open structure and offer some reason why a passerby may want to engage with it.

- The folie would be something two participants passed through having a shared but separated experience.

- Although separated, the participants would need to be able to communicate with each other, though never directly.

The vertical wall takes shape; at this point
as part of a vertical maze

Notes on original observatory concept

After exploring several options including horizontal and vertical mazes, the basic form was settled on; a wall separating the participants and a short series of simple puzzles along the wall. To solve the puzzles, each participant would need to communicate a key that would solve the puzzle on the other side of the wall. The puzzles would be simple; the challenge would be in the communication.

Puzzle Concept; non-verbal communication
of a physical pattern

Puzzle Concept; verbal communication of
a spatial puzzle

Final form concept; stair seperated by rising
wall with view and spiral down.

The idea of a wall and a series of puzzles terminating in a shared experience gave strong direction to the kind of form that the folie might take. A series of doors on a stair separated by a solid wall is the current favourite. The final viewing platform at the top of the stair could serve as both an enticement and a reward. It would also allow a visual link between the folie and the river.