Student project turns tunnel into lounge
By Sabrina Willmer | Staff writer
Published Friday, July 30, 2004
Industrial design and architecture students have worked for the past year to transform this once inconspicuous tunnel between the main and undergraduate libraries into a place where students are enticed to lounge.
Abigail Saak, senior in FAA, said the project commenced at the start of last year when the senior class of architecture and industrial design students were assigned to create a design for the tunnel.
Brandon Parod, senior in FAA, said each group created a different concept for the design. Once the groups completed design, they held a project presentation before faculty members, classes and members of the Illini Union Board, Saak said.
The presentation impressed them and they received funding from the University, Parod said. Coca-Cola, whose vending machines are in the tunnel, funded the majority of the project, budgeted at $55,000, Saak said. The students pursued the tunnel project because it was an under-designed area on campus that they could improve, Parod said.
The designs submitted by the groups working on the project were combined to produce one ideal design for the tunnel, but the design altered during the past year due to students leaving and joining the project, Saak said.
People currently working on the project include three industrial design seniors, Parod, Saak and Matthew Whitlock, architecture junior Victor Jimenez, architecture professor Jeffery Poss and art and design professor Alex Fekete. Saak said the group is using ideas from previous groups and adding onto those contributions.
Construction, which began this summer, included creating furniture, painting walls, installing a new floor and placing lighting, Parod said. A color theory class, which focused on the effect of colors on emotions, chose different shades of blue and yellow for the walls. The variations of blue leading away from the undergraduate library are meant to create a calmer atmosphere. The blue becomes lighter as it reaches the center of the tunnel and transforms to light yellow and then an orangey color at the end of the tunnel. The brighter colors are supposed to radiate an energetic vibe following with the busy flow of students and the noisy vending machines, Parod said.
Benches will be constructed and installed in a way to create a wave, representing a flow of water, which symbolizes the flow of students through the tunnel, Parod said. The group will also seek funding to install a flat-screen television in the tunnel, he said.
The design is meant to make people want to stop and use the space, Parod said.
The group completed painting in the tunnel and is preparing to begin floor installation next week. The floor tiles will be lighter than the "typical gray-aged" tile and offset to create a brick pattern, Parod said.
The three industrial design seniors did not start working on the project until this summer but feel they have gained valuable experience.
Parod said at the end of last year he offered to help on the furniture design and found himself working eight to 10 hour days during the summer. He said the project allowed him to apply design concepts to real world situations.
Saak said she wanted to be a part of the team that finished the project because when she visits the University after graduation, she can see her contribution to the University. She said she learned how to work with a team and with architecture students.
"It (the final product) is going to be awesome," Saak said. "I hope people enjoy what we have to offer," she said.
Whitlock said he enjoyed contributing to a project that started at an idea and transferred to a physical stage.
The group expects to complete the project by the middle of the fall semester.
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