Overview

We’ve all been there: sat down at the continental breakfast buffet at the hotel halfway through your perfectly curated plate of questionable food (yum). A couple bites in you realise you forgot to grab a glass of apple juice to wash it down. As you return with your glass, who would have expected the dining table to become a crime scene: your plate of food prematurely snatched by the waitstaff. Cleared too soon.

Michelle Wu and I have had enough! We’ve designed a new version of the ubiquitous car steering wheel lock (i.e The Club) for your plate in order to secure and deter unfinished-food-thieves.

2b62f28af9f94769bd47706fae8eba63.MOV

Read below to see how we did it.

The Brief

<aside> 📖 Absurd Hotel - All In One Brand

Briefing:

• Design and develop an Absurd Device/Gadget/SmartObject for the first "Absurd Hotel" to be opened in Japan.
• This will be a partnership between Kenya Hara (原 研哉) and Kenji Kawakami (川上 賢司).
• The hotel will also have a Gift Shop where some of the absurd inventions can be purchased by the guests.Due Week 11

Constraints

• In groups of 2.
• Book at least 1 Office Hours session for feedback.
• Follow the shared visual language and the given CMF of the brand.
• No Logos or Marks.
• Besides the "Absurd Thinking" choose 1 more absurd aspect to include:
  • Absurd Form
  • Absurd Function
  • Absurd Interaction

Deliverable #1

• [x] A blog post with the Ideation Process and something physical that illustrates the idea. Due Week 8

Deliverable #2

• [x] A blog post that illustrates the process of creating your invention with a minimum of 2 prototypes.
• [x] A blog with CMF, Details and Break-parts(with material annotation) of your creation.
• [x] A timeline and steps to refine, finish, and document your creation.Due Week 10 </aside>

Ideation Process

Michelle and I met up to talk all things hotel, starting with listing things that annoy us about hotel life. Here’s a list of things we considered:

There were a few ideas that arose from this session, including a keycard with additional illumination abilities, a riff on chocolates on pillows, custom trays for custom (possibly kinky) items. The one that’s stolen our imagination firstly is a bathrobe with a mechanical curtain on the rear for those pesky moments you need to use the bathroom while wearing a long robe.

<aside> 💡 Other ideas/textile objects in a hotel

→ slippers

→ pyjamas

→ curtain with holders for aroma diffusers?

→ bedding with pockets for snacks[

→ towels

→ bathmat that is also a pair of slippers

→ headboard

→ sensory deprivation pillows

</aside>

Here’s a prototype of the action we could use to lift the robe.

Secondary Ideation

After talking through what the workload split might be like with a textile/soft goods, we decided to do something firmer so we both had a good shot at learning something new and equally valuable. Off we set to ideating again, coming up with this new problem statement:

The problem with hotel buffet breakfasts is that often when you get up to get more food, the server prematurely takes your plate with that piece of egg you were looking forward to finishing. How might we create a device that secures your plate from grabby waitstaff and communicates that you’re not ready to part with your partially eaten food?

A notebook sketch of some ideas considered

The most humorous method we thought would be to use a car steering wheel lock. As an object it’s commonplace but also has a very specific use case and is recognisable to car thieves and plate thieves alike. Our next step was to procure one so we can break it down to see how we can recreate or appropriate for our selfish eating needs.

<aside> 💡 Shopping List

Ikaufen Cars Steering Wheel Lock, Vehicle Anti-Theft Security Lock with Adjustable Length Clamp Double Hook Locks, Fit for Cars, Trucks, Vans, and SUVs, Yellow

Frosted Acrylic Round Tube

1 in. x 3 in. Random Length S4S Oak Hardwood Boards

3/8 in. x 36 in. Aluminum Round Rod

</aside>

<aside> 💡

Pedro’s Aluminium Picks

→ 5052 for flats and bars

→ 6061 for round stock

</aside>

<aside> 💡 Things to consider

White Porcelain

</aside>

Fabrication Exploration

Eventually we settled on using a mix of wood and aluminium so that it would be easier to machine and look finished, matching the Muji aesthetic much closer. The wood also makes it possible to have a different profile on the clamp portion of the design, making it more universal in terms of compatible plates.

Mechanism + Wood Prototype