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A Sign of Academia

         
         
Important project details
       


The construction of a new bioscience school at the Indian Institute of Technology called for a distinctive sign near the main entrance.

The sign needed to withstand India's intense heat and monsoons and be invulnerable to the local wildlife, including invasive monkeys.

Urbdesigner was chosen to develop the concept and develop a final design. Construction in India required international consultation and teamwork between the studio, the sponsor in Texas, and the fabrication team in Madras.

Approach

The traditional visual interpretation of DNA is the twirling double helix and its component repeating letters. After completing prototypes using double-helix and the more contemporary DNA gel sequence, the latter was chosen.

The color gradient on the built sign reflect both the building's blue curtain wall and the gel's patterns. The top of the sign has lighter colored panels to suggest the sky, while the darker lower panels provide a solid blue background for white letters.

The sign's raised white lettering piles upon itself in a mass on the bottom right of the field of panels. Each was crafted by Indian artisans following Urbdesigner's instruction. Each is affixed by a small connector one centimeter above a dark blue metal panel, so as to appear to be floating.

Positioning

The sign is positioned immediately next to a ramp, so as pedestrians approach, the surface of the sign appears to break into pieces as both panels and letters cast shadows upon on another.

Read horizontally, the letters read out the school's name. Considered vertically, the piling effect stacks the letters so they evoke DNA's random lettering.

Installation

As fabrication was begun on site in India, the studio was on call via internet and conference calls, dealing with construction issues day-to-day, until installation was complete.

With the sign's unveiling the new university building was open - ready to teach a new generation of bioscience students.

 
         
Sign evokes DNA gel pattern to reference bioscience focus
 
Recent Signs > University Sign
   
Colors coordinated with building's exterior finish
          Local wildlife mandated the sign be monkey-proof
          385 metal panels overlap to assemble the DNA gel image
          Up close, the overlapping panels reveal shadowed texture
             
 
     
 
Inspiration: DNA Protein Gel
   
 

 

Design: Early overlay studies

 

Design: Mock-up prototype

   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
                           

   
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