Going on the bus in Boston is not an exciting experience and waiting for the bus is even worse because you have to wait for long periods of time and there’s absolutely nothing to do.

The Guest Book structure is an interactive sculpture that allows bus riders to express themseleves and helps make time appear to be going faster. 

The Guest Book Structure is a place for people to come and write and express themselves. We believe that everyone has a story, but not necessarily a place to express how they are feeling so this is a perfect way for everyone at the bus stop  to collaborate on something that is also very personal.

Two weeks ago our studio was given the challenge of creating an installations that would make waiting  for the bus a better experience. We had to find a project that could connect the people at the bus and also keep them entertained. We believe that the Guest Book Structure is a great way of doing that. People can come together and write how they are and when you step back you see the structure covered in messages.

Our piece is not only a canvas for people to come and write on but is also a sculpture. The piece encompasses the pole, but also has certain pieces that have hinges allowing you to open and write more personal messages or read them.

 We knew from the beginning that we wanted to make some sort of guest book for people to come and write on, but we went through lots of different ideas before arriving at the final structure. We first started out with the poster holder idea because it would protect the messages from the elements and from being stolen, but we thought it looked literally like a book so we changed to our second idea which was the fortune teller structure. With the fortune teller structure we liked the movement of a fortune teller and the way it folded so we thought about making that the base of the structure. We liked with the fortune teller structure because there could be some hidden messages and you would have to work to find them. This piece, however, we quickly found out was not a possible project in the time frame that we were given and the number of hinges that we would’ve needed to use. After lots of brainstorming, we finally decided on the structure that encompassed the pole. We thought not only did it look really cool and artistic, but it also allowed the opportunity for hidden messages and an easy way for people to express themselves.

Our biggest challenge was the amount of time we were given. We spent a lot of time brainstorming and coming up with new ideas. We could have been more successful if we had arrived at our final structure sooner, allowing us to make small changes and finish fully the final project. We had a hard time figuring out the best way to put the whole project together using hinges and other materials.