This project is an exploration of how the relationship between design objects and their various users can be communicated to and perceived by contrasting audiences. Specifically, we were interested in the juxtaposition that arose from the V&A’s curatorial decision to pair our selected object, the architectural spikes, with a braille tactile paving block, presenting two similar pieces of design infrastructure that communicate their specific functions to their intended users, yet are easily ignored by those who do not rely on them or can ‘decode’ them (both within London’s urban landscape and the context of the exhibition). These ideas of contrast and communication drove our explorations, as we translated the physical spikes into digital 3D models and then once more into a physical product catalogue of stainless steel defensive architecture, all produced by the same manufacturer of the original spikes, Kent Stainless. Visually, the catalogue is a fetishized representation of these products, but offers an alternative tactile reading experience as well, through overlaying braille messaging on pages. Running your fingers over the pages reveals contrasting positions to these gleaming steel products, formed during the #AntiHomelessSpikes outcry in 2014.
