Traces of broken glass and soot remind Salt Lake City of the four-alarm fire that swallowed the dance club DV8 on Jan. 23. This week, the empty lot served as a fitting place for architecture students to present their visions of time and consumerism in Salt Lake City through artistic installations, U professor Mimi Locher said.
Students took two weeks to move from conceptualizing their projects to finishing the installations, which presented their visions of Salt Lake City and how downtown buildings define and create people’s experiences. Some groups’ projects grappled with the intersection of topics such as faith, sustainability and the life of structures in the downtown area.
Students were required to create at least 85 percent of their installations from found, recyclable or salvaged materials, and the groups could not spend more than $120 throughout the process of construction.
“This was an opportunity for students to think about how they can make positive changes in their communities,” said Locher, an assistant professor in the College of Architecture. “I hope this small-scale project helps them realize they can enact these theories when they start their careers.”
Using materials such as newspapers, plastic wrap, wooden crates, televisions and concrete, the groups demonstrated different ways the city is evolving and accommodating change.
“Salt Lake City is in the midst of a transition to becoming a more eco-friendly city,” said Heather Watson, a first-year architecture student. “For our group, it was about trying to find a balance between fulfilling our needs and doing as little damage to the environment as possible.”
Watson and her group created an installation that addressed the issue of consumerism and the toxic by-products that come as a result.
With wooden panels donated from shipping factories, the group created a small room that housed a swing representing the balance people should find between consuming and conserving. Across from the swing was an armchair with an exhaust pipe directing dry ice fog into the face of whomever sat in the chair. Watson said the message was about how toxicity is connected to conveniences such as driving instead of walking.
Students also addressed the afterlives of the pieces.
“What happens to building projects after it’s complete is something we’re just beginning to think about in the profession,” Locher said. “We’re realizing we have to take responsibility for our buildings and their futures.”
The intent of the projects was to draw people in so they could experience and interact with the topics students were addressing, Locher said.
“It’s great that they’ve taken what appears to be destruction and turned it into symbols of change,” said John Schaefer, a Salt Lake City resident. “It takes these kinds of art projects to bring awareness.”