The First Tunnel in Orbit!

THE ORIGINATORS WIN THE SPACE RACE WITH RECENT LAUNCH AT THE MAKERY, NYC!

Enticed by talk of rocket ships and outer space, we eagerly met with the good folks at the Makery on the hottest day of the summer in a generic office in midtown Manhattan. The Makery offered an irresistible mission statement: “an educational makers space for Inventors of all ages to explore the joys of creating.” We were there to discuss (or was it to invent?) an exciting and ambitious new project (ah, the joy of creating) that, believe it or not, would end up launching us into orbit!

They had a big “ask” and knew their meager budget may not be enough to get them to the moon and back. However, their determination and shoe-string approach appealed to our Originators sensibility and we decided that “money was not the object” and we committed to the project for a fraction of its cost. We loved their way with creativity, what they stood for, how they saw their role in the community and how shameless their ambitions were. They were Originators.

Their nondescript room was a vanilla-shell: about 20’ long and narrow, barely 8’wide with a ceiling over 11’. It had extrusions and protrusions, bumps and indentations, doorways and duct work.

Makery co-founder Hsing Wei and NYC-based architect, and Makery champion, Ben Rosenblum generously shared their ideas…transforming this very bland office space we were sitting in, into a truly interactive spaceship. (Honestly, they had us at “Hello!”) Describing their vision with arms flailing in support, the challenge was irresistible, their goal was clear and simple: “…whoever entered the space had to completely believe they entered another reality…that they were in a spaceship.”
(We were sold!)

Sitting there, we sized up the space and not long after, Debra, a “fabric whisperer” from way back, had a eureka moment and saw that we could squeeze one of our SeeShell Tunnels snugly into the room and it would spring open, fitting flush to the walls and forming the gentle curves that give it that soft, inviting look. The Tunnel would completely cover the room, enveloping the dull office and masking the ugliness “…in one fell swoop!”

Once the shell was set in place, Debra, Hsing and Ben went about the detail work that would really “sell” the spaceship.
As the photos attest, it’s clear that the Originators won the space race and, with the Makery, were launched into orbit!

originally posted July, 2019