Signage & Lighting, Way finding examples for Tunnel

I gravitate to circular signage for this particular space. I feel it somewhat is reminiscent of the nodes/seating areas.  This sign and its mounting would be ideal as you can see it from either direction as you pass through.

  The dim lighting in the tunnel makes it difficult to make out current signage- back lit or illuminated signs would be an improvement.

Pathways can be guided by lighting. Color coded walk ways would give the user an easy way to follow the correct path to their destination. Lighting and color coding can be combined to not only give the user direction as to where to go, but also, improve the user experience with better aesthetic that additional lighting (in a creative method) would add.

This is an example of a more artful approach to providing additional lighting in the tunnel.

The organic shapes in this design could be developed/manipulated to provide direction to the tunnel user with out using the obvious arrow graphic.

LED rope lights are easy to manipulate and shape, can be found in a wide range of colors and would provide additional light. This method of lighting is more aesthetically pleasing than a flood or spot light. It is an opportunity for expression, while serving a practical purpose.

Steps of Designing & AEIOU: Way finding

1. Determine the situation
2. Define the unit of analysis
3. Create a representation of the situation
4. Final solution
5.Identify these aspects- AEIOU:

Activity: What is the destination?
Environment: Where is your space?
Individual: Who will be the user?
Object: What is in the space?
Understanding: Will users be able to understand, learn, read your way finding?

~~~~~~

Tunnel AEIOU

Activity:
-walking to class, a meeting, work
-meal at the Kansas Union
-leaving campus
-passing through
-hanging out
-singing

Environment:
Tunnel is a walk way between Red Lot 91 & the Kansas Union. Mississippi St. & Spencer Art Museum are exit points between these.
*adjectives of space- plain, cold, dark, empty

Individuals:
-students
-faculty
-employees
-visitors

Objects: 
-railings
-stairs/steps
-benches
-doors
-pillars
-signs
-lights

Understanding: 
Way finding should be easy to follow/navigate so that the user can reach their destination efficiently.

*proposed solutions: color coding pathways and entrances, lighting, visible and legible signage

Tunnel Way-finding Mock Ups

TUNNEL MAP

******REVISED VERSION of this mock up:

WAY FINDING KEYS

(circles with text to be painted to the right of each exit door way; large scale- corresponding color stripe to run along the wall from each exit to lead tunnel user to each destination. color key to be posted at each exit)

SAMPLE 1

SAMPLE 2

MURAL CONCEPTS 

(for the node located near lot Red 91)

(for node located at the Spencer & Mississippi St. exits)

Tunnel Survey Results

I assembled and placed two ballot style kiosks with a short questionnaire for users of the tunnel to provide feedback on the idea of decorating the space. The kiosks were posted for 4 days.

 

The survey asked:

Who are you?

What time of day is it?

Would you like to see this space decorated in some manner?

Suggestion?

Based on the surveys received, primarily students use the tunnel, in the later part of the day, and there was an overwhelmingly positive response to decoration of the tunnel.

Suggestions included:

murals

color

more lighting

abstract sculptures or wall painting- NO advertisements

University of Kansas/Lawrence themed artwork

school spirit

VanGo to do paintings/murals

KU art students to do murals

tile mural

gallery/rotation of artworks

**In retrospect, for this project, I believe an additional questions that should have been asked, "How difficult is it to find your destination using the tunnel?" and "How did you learn of the tunnel?"

Also, I believe it is notable to mention that the kiosks were placed in the nodes of the tunnel, unattended, for four days and both were found in tact. Of the 37 responses, only one was filled out with an inappropriate response. I feel that says something for the integrity of KU students, faculty, employees, and campus visitors.

Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City; notes: City Image and It's Elements

Kevin Lynch: The image of the City; notes 1/22/2014

City Image and Its Elements:

Giving visual form to the city is a special kind of design problem-

Urban landscape is to be seen, remembered, and delight in

Boston, New Jersey, and L.A.

5 elements: paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks

Paths: channels along which the observer customarily/occasionally/potentially moves.

                Streets, walkways, transit lines, canals, railroads

                Predominant elements in images

Directional qualities

                *along these paths other environmental elements are arranged/related

                May be mistaken as straight; abrupt shifts in pathways may cause misalignment

Grid based pathways- easier to navigate

Edges: linear elements not used/considered as paths; boundaries between two phases, linear breaks in continuity.

                Shores, railroad cuts, edges of development, walls

Lateral references rather than coordinate axes; important for organizing features in the role of holding together a generalized area, as in the outline of a city

                Directional qualities

District: medium to large sections of the city, 2-dimentional; observer enters “inside of”

               

Common identifying character (well defined character of districts- easier to navigate)

Thematic continuity help define a district:

Texture, space, form, detail, symbol, building type, use, activity, inhabitants, degree of maintenance, topography

Nodes: points, strategic spots in which an observer can enter

Junctions, places of break in transportation, crossing or convergence of paths, moments of shift from one structure to another

                May symbolically hold dominance over a district

                May be called cores

Landmarks: point-reference, in this case observer may not enter them

Simply designed physical object: building, sign, store, mountain

                Some may be seen from many perspectives and at a distance for reference

                Some may be within a city as towers, golden domes, great hills

Or mobile point such as the sun- gives reference to location and relation to it

Design - Thoughts

quotations that I felt could be applied to Design

KU Tunnel

Entrance of Tunnel at Lot 92- near Practice Field

Seating area 

 Hall to node/intersection of tunnels

 Node/Tunnel Intersection

 Spencer Art Museum

To Mississippi St.

To the Union

 Perspective from exiting Tunnel to the Union

 ----Exterior exntrance to the Union & pathway to Tunnel entrance from Union: