The Cater Wooler
September 11th, 2012 By Joseph
Current mechanisms - Different mechanisms present different engineering challenges
In Catching Fire, by Richard Wrangham, the camp fire became one of the initial focuses of group social structure as prehistoric man learnt to cook food. This mean that one could no longer gain instant satisfaction from eating, but had to wait through preparation for the group. If we zoom mankind forward somewhere in the order of a million years, we notice the modern phenomenon of the water cooler moment. Considered the social focus of the office where people connect and exchange ideas.
This design is an attempt to explore communication on two levels through creating a mess. Firstly, that individuals want to share experiences with others and that strange phenomenon are in themselves talking points. Secondly, based on the work by Pat Healey which essentially states communication is a special circumstance of miscommunication, this project is using confusion to lead to a stronger discourse.
The first idea is to make the office water cooler the talking point of conversation rather than just the facilitator. This will be achieved through altering the tap mechanism so that when a tap is pulled, water comes out of the opposite nozzle. To enhance the messy evidence of the phenomenon, a disruptive grill will be placed in the drip tray. To stimulate conversation, the opposite nature of the tap mechanism will be on a ten minute timer, this only working once the cooler has been left for a while. Other than that, the device seems like a regular cooler. This will make it difficult to reproduce phenomenon. The only way the phenomenon can be mutually observed is if two people plan to leave and regroup at the cooler.
The second element is to give a name plate for maintenance and refills which is actually the number of a near by office which has also had one of the water coolers installed. There water cooler has the number of the original office too. It is therefore hoped that the miscommunication that will follow between offices will inspire more interaction between individuals and groups.