White Prototype
The Architect, the Craftsperson, the Inconstant Being and myself worked with different versions of prototypes. The Architect came with the idea of designing a platform that would stimulate transformation. She designed the first draft based on the measures of her feet and the height she wanted to increase when stepping on this platform. She knew already that she was not going to be the one performing that gesture but assumed that the Inconstant Being would have her same foot size. She made a drawing of the object at a scale of 1:200 and then a proper prototype with paper also at 1:200 scale. It looked like this:
Prototype in wood No. 1
The Architect liked it and she gave it to me (the Craftsperson) as the information to make the first tryout in wood. I translated the dimension to 1:1 scale and decided to build the prototype in wood with simple butt joints and screws. There were some scraps of Plywood in Tournevie so I used that. The result was the following:
Dovetail
After this, the Architect and I had very long discussions about this result and how to approach the idea of prototypes. It was clear that it was a test version but it was perfectly executed, beautiful and it would entirely fulfil its purpose.
We wondered what the purpose of a prototype was after all. It was made and it was what it needed to be, the joints and the wood weren't the most elegant but that would add certain clumsiness to the object that the Inconstant Being and I loved. The Architect insisted we should challenge ourselves and go for excellence so I had to try a more complicated joint to see if the next object should be built that way: the dovetail. It took me about 25 hours just to get this:
Prototype in wood No. 2
Of course it was grandiose and virtuoso but I rejected the possibility of doing the higher version of the first wooden prototype with dovetail joints. It would consume more time than what we had and I found the first tryout absolutely adequate. My refusal generated a lot of friction between us but she finally accepted that the second object for the other foot would be made also in Plywood- Veneered Oak- 15mm with butt joints and that the first version wouldn't be used as a prototype anymore but it would be a final version.
