For a project in the Architecture 202 studio class this spring, architecture Lecturers Patrick Rhodes and James Spiller asked students to design a human-scale machine that measures some kind of phenomenon (light, wind or sound, etc.) and engages the body. And 80 percent of their machines had to be constructed from recycled materials. Three of the students' projects will be part of Iowa State's exhibit at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and a fourth will be represented in a video. They were selected from 20 entries submitted in the student competition to design an interactive feature, which focuses on design thinking and innovation, for the Iowa State exhibit.
The selected machines and their designers are "Sphere" by Michael Krause, Fountain Hills, Ariz., and Lindsay Morris, Rochester, Minn.; "Drawing Machine" by Caleb Spiegel, Moline, Ill., and Eric Neuhaus, Cedar Rapids; "Disorientation Machine" by Rachel Johnson, Eagan, Minn., and Stephanie Waples, Middletown; and "Music Machine" by Michelle Rogge, Ham Lake, Minn., and Yuan Liu, Eugene, Ore.
Students are pictured with the "Drawing Machine," which makes the body the pencil. From left, Johnson (holding an umbrella from her "Disorientation Machine"), Krause, Deep Shrestha of Fairfield, Spiegel and Neuhaus.