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Theses and Dissertations

Spring 2015

The Airliner : capturing the essence of experience in

visual form
Justin Gray Bailey
University of Iowa

Copyright 2015 Justin Gray Bailey

This thesis is available at Iowa Research Online: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/1540

Recommended Citation
Bailey, Justin Gray. "The Airliner : capturing the essence of experience in visual form." MA (Master of Arts) thesis, University of Iowa,
2015.
https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.vv6ciqy6

Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd

Part of the Art Practice Commons

 THE AIRLINER:

CAPTURING THE ESSENCE OF EXPERIENCE IN VISUAL FORM

by

Justin Gray Bailey

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the Master of Arts
degree in Art in the
Graduate College of
The University of Iowa

May 2015

Thesis Supervisor: Associate Professor Monica C.G. Correia

 Copyright by

JUSTIN GRAY BAILEY

2015

All Rights Reserved

 Graduate College
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa

CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

____________________________

MASTER’S THESIS

_________________

This is to certify that the Master’s thesis of

Justin Gray Bailey

has been approved by the Examining Committee for

the thesis requirement for the Master of Arts degree
in Art at the May 2015 graduation.

Thesis Committee: ____________________________________________

Monica C.G. Correia

____________________________________________
Daniel Miller

____________________________________________
Steve McGuire
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the faculty in the School of Art and Art History for all

of the work you do to make education possible. In particular, I’d like to thank my mentor,

Professor Monica Correia. Her critique, knowledge and support throughout my time here

at the University of Iowa have helped to push this work and myself to ‘take flight’.

ii
 PUBLIC ABSTRACT

By breaking design down from a whole composed of individual parts, I work to create

user experiences derived from spaces and the objects within them. These spaces and objects are

brought together in their relationship with the human presence. By translating an experience into

a physical environment, I, as a designer, am afforded the opportunity to introduce my own

perception into the minds of others who enter the space.

In working with the idea of creating an experience as visual form, I wanted to create a

space that evoked an experience we don’t get in our everyday lives, a feeling of ascending into

flight. Human designed environments have the ability to transport us from our current

surroundings and into a unique environment that can affect us not just visually, but emotionally

and physically through multiple senses of perception.

iii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ v

Designing and Defining Space............................................................................................ 1
The Airliner ......................................................................................................................... 2
The Façade .......................................................................................................................... 4
The First Floor - Entryway ................................................................................................. 8
The Second Floor – Cloudscape ....................................................................................... 11
The Third Floor ................................................................................................................. 13
The Airliner Chair ............................................................................................................. 15
Concluding Thoughts ........................................................................................................ 19
References ......................................................................................................................... 20

iv
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Current Airliner Facade ................................................................................................ 3

Figure 2: Longren Biplane Image ................................................................................................ 3
Figure 3: Front Elevation ............................................................................................................. 5
Figure 4: North Facing Side Elevation Cross Section ................................................................. 6
Figure 5: Airliner Facade ............................................................................................................. 6
Figure 6: First Floor Plan ............................................................................................................. 8
Figure 7: First Floor Entrance View .......................................................................................... 10
Figure 8: Second Floor............................................................................................................... 11
Figure 9: Second Floor Light Ficture......................................................................................... 12
Figure 10: Third Floor Walkway View...................................................................................... 13
Figure 11: Third Floor View ...................................................................................................... 14
Figure 12: Airliner Chair Prototype ........................................................................................... 16
Figure 13: Detail of Airliner Chair Prototype ............................................................................ 16
Figure 14: Detail of Airliner Chair Assembly Numbering System............................................ 17

v
Designing and Defining Space

Walter Gropius of the Bauhaus spoke of design as having the ability to create a
Gesamtkunstwerk, a total work of art. He interpreted this term as defining a space and
designing every element that would belong to it. 1 This term really defined some of the
0F

most notable works of Modernism. Designers like Gropius, Mies Van Der Rohe and
Frank Lloyd Wright took the care to design all elements of spaces, in order to further
define the feel and essence of their work. Van Der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion or Wright’s
Robie House are masterful examples.

This theory of design, this Gesamtkunstwerk, can also be looked at in terms of

basic Gestalt Psychology. Gestalt psychology stems from a theory of human perception
that we look at things holistic, that first we see the whole and only after that can we see
the parts that make up the whole. 2 In The Design Way the whole is further examined as a
1F

factor in the design process,

“A good design never exists in isolation. It is always part of a larger whole and is
itself whole. In design, when we say that something is a whole we mean that it is
a complex ensemble of relations, connections, and an underlying unifying force or
principle—that which causes things to stand together—that when taken together
results in emergent qualities. 32F

Relating this to the Bauhaus idea of a Gesamtkunstwerk, the individual parts, each
created for the purpose of this space, work together to make up the entirety of the design.
Even looking outside the design, a designer has to consider the design in the context of its
intended environment or setting and how it functions in that sense of the whole as well.

Using this sense of Gestalt and holism of design, I plan to express the essence of
an experience in a visual form. Through this work I wanted to incorporate space,
furniture, and objects into the human experience. By translating an experience into a
physical environment, I, as a designer, am afforded the opportunity to introduce my own
perception into the minds of others who enter the space.

1
p. 34 (Edwards 2011)
2
p. 68 (Stewart 2008)
3
p. 93 (Nelson and Stolterman 2012)
1
 In working with the idea of creating an experience as visual form, I wanted to
create an escape for people. I wanted to create a space that became transformative and
took us out of our current surroundings and into a unique environment that can affect us
not just visually, but emotionally and physically through multiple senses of perception.

Thinking further into the applications of a space such as this, a restaurant is one
such space where this idea could be explored. The aesthetic of a restaurant can relate to
our senses through sight, touch, smell, taste and even sound. The nature of commercial
design allows more freedoms so far as design goes, and a restaurant is a temporary setting
for us as we dine, perfect for creating a sense of experience, which can be done through
visual form as well as cuisine.

The Airliner

The concept restaurant I have designed stemmed from a redesign of a current

Iowa City restaurant, The Airliner. Creating a new interior and facade for the existing
space I started with a search for inspiration—what was going to be the experience of
going to this restaurant? What would the dining atmosphere be? What would it provide
that is not already found in the city?

Eventually I found myself wrapped up in the restaurant’s current name and logo,
The Airliner. The logo was a small sketch of an early bi-plane, it can be seen on the
awning of the building in Figure 1. I was so drawn to the sense of adventure this created
for me. Aesthetically, I was drawn to the craft of the plane as well, looking into further
imagery like the Longren Biplane in Figure 2 helped to inform the design of the façade
and many interior elements. The feeling of flight when it was new, and how open the
planes were, I can’t imagine the thrill of what it must have felt like.

2
Figure 1: Current Airliner Façade

Figure 2: Longren Biplane Image for reference

https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/cool-things-longren-s-biplane/10107

3
 I find that one of the biggest reminders that I am alive and human to be when I go
outdoors and feel a breeze. It’s a fascinating experience and I imagine this to be
something like what flight must feel like for a bird. For centuries we’ve dreamed about
taking flight in all civilizations. The thought of transcending our normal realm, the ability
to escape and rise above the normal human life seems so appealing to so many of us. I
wanted to take that feeling and bring it into objects that we can surround ourselves with.
An open space that made you feel light and transported. Next came the chair, then other
objects to follow.

The current design of the space didn’t reflect any of this feeling that I had when I
thought about the name, it was fairly indistinguishable from typical suburban sports bars.
However the given space had a lot of potential to be unique due to its tall, long and
slender dimensions, twenty feet wide, eighty-six feet front to rear and thirty-six feet tall.

The chance to create this feeling of adventure and exploration seemed perfect for
the small, Mid-western town. Just across the street from the location is Iowa’s Old
Capitol building, a landmark in the city and icon of The University of Iowa. This idea
that the whole is the sum of its parts, it also extends into the greater scheme of things, and
we must take into account that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts—we don’t
design in a vacuum. 4 It seemed appropriate to build on the sense of adventure in such
3F

proximity to a large university with a student body full of the dreams and expectations
that accompany higher education.

4
p. 94 (Nelson and Stolterman 2012)
4
The Façade

Figure 3: Front Elevation

5
Figure 4: North Facing Side Elevation Cross Section

Figure 5: Airliner Façade, 3Ds Max Rendering

6
 The plane in flight translated into the physical aesthetic and essence of the space.
The path of ascending flight was drawn into how visitors progressed from the main
entryway all the way to the third floor dining space as well as the shape of the new façade
(seen in figures 3 and 5). The new building façade extends into the roof structure as part
of a framework which travels a path with a gentle slope, creating a point of accent at the
top, front of the building and then lowers in creating the roof. The shape of the slop
follows the ascending and descending curves of planes as they take off and land, with the
intention of taking the eye of the viewer outside the building and slowly drawing it
upward to the accent of the curve (Figure 4).

The façade is made up of a two layer metal framework that uses beams and cable
to connect the two faces. On the front of the building the interior layer of the façade is a
flat, vertical plane, while the exterior layer is stretched and pulled to create the focal
curve, which extends into the roof. At this point of transition the interior layer becomes a
horizontal, flat plane, which creates the ceiling of the third floor. Both layers are glass
clad in hopes of trapping the air between to create insulation from the outdoor element.

Leaving the façade structure uncovered and using glazing throughout open up the
entire space up to a flood of natural light in the front of the building as well as on the
third floor. This effect also gives lends itself to the sense of openness which is so integral
to the design of early planes. The consistent use of class also provides a view, which
overlooks the historical aspects of Iowa City, particularly as visitors travel up and around
the main staircase.

The main entryways are no exception to the combination of metal framework and
glass. Within the façade, the outer layer of the structure is offset from the ground by 10’
on the bottom southern half to create a shallow awning and entryway to the restaurant.
Through there, visitors pass into the middle of the façade structure to a second door
created to keep the cold of Iowa’s winters out of the bottom floor (Figure 6).

7
The First Floor - Entryway

Figure 6: First Floor Plan

8
 The materials and design elements of the early planes and gliders transformed into
the physical elements required of the space ranging from architectural elements such as
stairs and floors to the chairs placed at each table.

Gestalt theory played a key role in dividing the interior into functional
components. Always keeping the whole in mind, visual relationships between
architectural elements and necessary objects were created.

Dominant, subdominant, and subordinate relationships were established within

the space and played a key role in organization. Dominant, being the largest visual
element, and demanding most attention, became the main staircase and elevator shaft, as
they are the key to navigating the space. Subdominant objects, which compliment the
dominant elements in nature, were realized as entryways to new levels such as the
mezzanine dining are and the third floor walkway. Subordinate elements, which are
dependent on other two, creates visual interest and movement with as the axes of the
stairs moving up and around the space, connecting the verticality of the elevator shaft to
the multiple level. 5 4F

“Unity is the visual glue that holds everything together. You know that you have
achieved it when all the visual relationships in the design are organized in such an
exquisite dependent relationship that every element supports and strengthens
every other element and any minor change would upset the perfect balance and
tension. 6
5F

As these visual relationships are formed, so is the path that connects the interior space.
Movement along the path from the front door up the stairs to the other levels creates a
flow, bringing visitors upwards and further immersed into the experience being set up
before them. By creating the vertical elevator shaft as a dominant visual element in the
space, the eye is immediately brought upward upon entering, and can even travel along
the flow of the subordinate stairs to the other levels of the restaurant. The ascending path
is immediately visual this way even though other elements are present.

It is important to note that the main stairway and elevator unit is offset so that it is
closer to the southern wall of the building. In doing this, the northern side of the first

5
p. 50 (Hannah 2002)
6
p. 56 (Hannah 2002)
9
floor (also where the point of entry is located) is given more negative space, and a visual
break from the demanding network of lines that make up the space’s structure. The
negative space is meant to create a space that feels more natural and comfortable for
visitors just entering the space, so that they are not too immediately confronted by
structure and potentially overwhelmed (seen in figures 6 and 7).

Figure 7: First Floor Entrance View, 3DS Max Rendering

The architectural components of the building, such as the main stair and elevator
shaft mentioned, as well as the floor structure on each level, were all uniquely designed
in order to follow the idea of the experience through visual form. For example the stairs
use a system of lines and planes with planes as the dominant surface for the step and lines
supporting below and diagonally underneath to connect. The use of planes and lines helps
to create a sense of positive and negative space that relates to the use of the plane as
positive, dominant form that helps to lead the eye upward to the next. These lines then
connect upward to the railing in locations where a wall or surface is not available to
connect to. By focusing detail on the small connections, the individual parts become
intertwined as parts of the whole.

The levels of flooring are very similar to the structure of the stairs, the floor is
seen as a horizontal plane form which rests on a system of lines which repeats itself to

10
create a trussing structure which also leaves open, negative space to enhance the sense of
openness in such a narrow, long space.

Also located on the first floor is a small bar (figure 7), a handicapped accessible
restroom as well as the restaurant’s kitchen, which has access to the rear alley of the
building (East). The kitchen area also has it’s own stairway that can allows wait staff to
get to the second and third floors.

The Second Floor – Cloudscape

Figure 8: Second Floor, 3DS Max Rendering

The second floor is the first dining space of the restaurant. Unlike the entryway of
the first floor and the third floor, this space does not receive as much natural lighting.
Therefore, it was necessary to create ambient lighting. This became an opportunity to
create a more intimate setting, where after moving upward and into the space, patrons
could relax in a more calming space (Figure 8). The second floor can seat up to eighty-
eight using a mixture of four person and two person table sizes.

11
 In order to not let the second floor get lost to the dominant element of the western,
front half of the building, it needed a subordinate visual element to create movement in
the back, eastern half of the second floor. This created an opportunity to work with
lighting as a visual element and the result became the defining feature of the floor, the
Cloudscape of lights which suspends from the trussing lines of the ceiling to create
ambient lighting and visual movement by using separate, staggered heights for each light
extending back into the space (Figure 9).

The Cloudscape lights grew from the desire to add some softness to the hard
linear forms that make up most of the restaurant design. Combining soft curves and
lighting presented an opportunity to make the serene and intimate space I wanted for the
second floor dining space. The space they are placed in has informed their shape and
scale; each light’s length and width is a square two feet by two feet, coordinating to the
cellular trussing of the ceiling they are suspended from. The lights as an installation
element adopt attributes of clouds in the implied movement they give to the space as well
as the clustering, color and feeling of expansion as the form bubbles outward.

Figure 9: Second Floor Light Fixture Detail, 3DS Max Rendering

12
 The Third Floor—The Mezzanine, Elevated Walkway and Dining in Open Space

Moving upward to the third floor of the restaurant, patrons will find two options.
Stairs can be followed into the third floor dining space, or followed to a small mezzanine
space that sits just inside the façade structure. The mezzanine seating is a small,
specialized location that can only seat twelve, but creates the most unique dining
experience throughout the restaurant (Figure 10).

Figure 10: Third Floor Walkway View From Dining Area to Mezzanine, 3DS Max Rendering

13
Figure 11: Third Floor View From Mezzanine Dining, 3DS Max Rendering

This small, 158 square foot area rests on a metal structure that supports a glass-
clad floor. The goal is to create open space that relies solely on the use of line to create
visual form. Line is present here in the façade, the floor underneath, the tables and chairs
and the railings surrounding the space. This effect it meant to highlight the negative space
by subdividing it into sections. I want to create the feeling of openness, but with a
comfort that everything is still supported, much how I imagine it might have felt to be in
the air in one of the early 19th century planes.

The open feeling was continued through to the larger dining area of the third
floor. As visitors walk up the stairs or exit the elevator on this floor, they have to pass
across an elevated walkway that spans twenty-one feet across an open area of the floor to
reach the dining area. This walkway, like the mezzanine, is on supported structure that
uses glass sheeting to create the floor surface. The path relies on the negative space on
either side as well as above to heighten the sense of escape and adventure through the use
of interior elements (Figure 11).

The third floor dining is slightly smaller than the second floor space. It seats
sixty-four people, using the same system of tables with the middle two rows of tables and
seating having the ability to adjust to accommodate larger groups. One of the separating

14
factors between the second and third floor dining is that the third floor looks above to the
rafter lattice as opposed to the ceiling on the second floor. The roof being a glass-clad
structure also allows for natural light to flood the third floor during daylight hours.

Ambient lighting is also in place on the third floor in the form of wall fixtures that
span the entire length of the third floor walls on both the north and south sides. The
fixtures are a tetrahedron structure that stretches into the space from the wall,
increasingly so as they recede into the space.

The Airliner Chair

Once the problems of laying out the space how people navigated it had been
solved, then came the chance to show how people used it through functional objects.
Both dining areas use furniture designed uniquely for The Airliner’s interior. The first
piece created in the series is the dining chair. The chair became such an integral piece to
add to the restaurant, particularly in working to create the sense of a Gesamtkunstwerk.
Chairs have such a unique ability to create a relationship with people in spaces.

Figure 12: Airliner Chair Prototype

15
Figure 13: Detail of Airliner Chair Prototype

Figure 14: Detail of Airliner Chair Assembly Numbering System

16
 As said by Anne Massey in her book Chair, “Because the chair is so closely
associated with the body and with performing particular roles, it has been adopted by
modern architects to represent their aesthetic credo. It is the essence of the designer,
represented in three dimensions, often using innovative technology and construction”. 7 6F

This statement does so well in capturing my mindset as a designer at the time I was
creating the chair for The Airliner. I wanted to explore the same ideas I was using for the
overall interior, but without creating a miniature of the space, making an object that could
work well within the interior but also stand on its own.

Anne goes more in depth on the use of chairs in interiors by architects,

“Modern architects conventionally designed furniture for their own buildings.

Perhaps this was to ensure complete control over the interior space, to order and
arrange the inhabitants within. […] In ideal representations of these interiors,
whether architectural perspectives or public relations photographs, ‘the chairs . . .
often serve as “stand-ins” – or rather “sit-ins” – for human beings, representing
“abstracts” of the bodies which are presumably intended to use and inhabit
them.” 8
7F

This in mind, it is understood that the chair, out of all of the restaurants furniture,
becomes a very integral part of the overall design and is an asset to establishing the needs
and expression of the space. It is an object to be looked at in terms of composing visual
relationships as well as a composition in and of itself that relays a specific message to
users in a much different way than can be seen in ascending stairs or gazing on a façade.

The chair grew from a methodology very similar to the rest of the space,
translated into terms stemming from the function it must provide. It was no exception to
the airplane inspiration, creating the essence of an experience in visual and physical form
but in an object rather than a space. The rules for this design remain similar—much like
the rest of the space—the thought for the chair was to build on the plane’s systems of
lines and surfaces, most evident in the wings, as seen earlier in Figure 2. Chairs, as well,
follow a similar pattern of line and surface, so it evolved from the underlying structural
connection; the lines would be used to create support for the surface, which would create
the seat and back.

7 p. 53 (Massey 2011)
8
p. 56 (Massey 2011)
17
 As the general form began to take shape a two-dimensional plane stood in for the
surface, bending at an angle to create the seat and back. This angled two dimensional
plane needed to be located at a height comfortable for users and use dimensions that were
ergonomic. The problem to be solved became the structure of the lines, how much was
necessary and where would they be located within the unit.

The shape of bi-planes provided some guidance in placement of line framework.

My interpretation of the body of the airplane is a widening progression that created an
outer structure from lines. I used that for legs of the chair, moving lines to account for the
human body as needed. I also wanted to bring in visual movement to the frame, helping
to lead the eye through the framework in addition to highlighting all the necessary lines.

As the design of the chair progressed, it became easier to imagine building as a

physical prototype, as an object that could exist outside of the interior concept for The
Airliner. Several prototypes have been made to configure the tangible problems to solve
in creating an object that has to support the weight of a person. The materials it was to be
made in were drawn directly from early aircraft: metal, wood and canvas. The canvas
would provide the seat and back surface referencing back to how it was stretched over a
wooden framework in early gliders to form the surface area of wings. Metal and wood
would be the linear structure supporting the canvas.

The linear structure of the legs posed a different problem to solve, how to
assemble them easily while retaining the angles and movement that occur in the original
design. The solution came in the form of material combinations. First the left and right
profiles were united to create two sidepieces, along with connecting crossbeams linking
the two profiles. I looked for materials that could provide stability in addition to slight
flexibility for the subtle, widening angles as the chair builds upwards; the resulting
combination was a sandwiching of steel sheet metal and quarter-inch plywood. Steel was
placed on the outside profiles with two layers of one-quarter inch plywood encased inside
another steel piece. Computer numerical control (CNC) technology was incorporated to
make production easier—used to plasma cut 18 gauge mild steel sheets and to laser cut
plywood in the side profiles and linking bars. The individual pieces are assembled
together using riveting screw posts placed at linear intersections and short intervals, also

18
referencing to the use of rivets in airplane construction dating back to the Second World
War.

The final version of the Airliner Chair is able to pack flat. The five front-facing
cross bars can be removed with a flat head screw driver allowing the side profile pieces to
collapse with the canvas held between. The cross bars use an icon driven numbering
system to indicate their placement on the chair when assembling as well. A system of
dashes at their centers relays the number of the bar, relating to its height and position on
the chair. Additionally, in the final version of the chair the sheet metal has been powder
coated white, preserving it as a material and also highlighting the use of line as it has
been matched with the darkened, burned edges of the laser cut plywood. The powder
coating also allows for variations on the color of the frame in production, which could be
a great way to involve the chair in more dynamic spatial compositions.

Concluding Reflection

The Airliner, as an established business in Iowa City, IA was not involved in this
redesign concept. As a designer, it’s an incredible opportunity to be able to have the
freedom of design without regard to expense or client needs, I am able to focus only on
the feel of the space and what it expresses. I want to acknowledge that I have some
understanding that the design, if fully executed to create a functional space would have
some necessary changes. These might occur after consulting city code requirements;
client needs and wants as well as structural engineering needs. Ordinarily, an interior
design project such as this would involve a client, and that this project, done solely by me
with no client to speak of, becomes my interpretation as a designer-artist. 9 I have had full
8F

control of the design with no client input and in some ways have acted as an artist, with
the intention of expressing my own interest through the design.

This project as a whole encompasses a wide range of ideas that are pertinent to
me as a designer, and playing that role it’s necessary to understand what we bring to the
world when we design and create. This interior redesign, while it covered a range of

9
p. 47 (Nelson and Stolterman 2012)
19
topics, at its core was an expression of understanding space and the place of the human
within it. “Design is the area of human experience, skill and knowledge which is
concerned with man’s ability to mould his environment to suit his material and spiritual
needs”. 10 We have a very unique position in relation to the rest of our planet in how we
9F

carve out and establish our surroundings and civilization. Design always has been, and
likely always will be part of our nature.

“At the most basic level, we as human beings are compelled to design—it is our
calling as agents of free well, who through design intelligence, can act with
design will. As humans with design will, we are impelled to create new meaning,
new forms, and new realities.” 11
10F

I want to, as a designer, affect change in our surroundings. I think design is an

element of our world that can dramatically change our physical and emotional status in
the world and that if we have the ability to alter that for the better then it should be taken
advantage of.

10
p. 63 (Edwards 2011)
11
p. 13 (Nelson and Stolterman 2012)
20
 REFERENCES

Edwards, Clive. Interior Design: A Critical Introduction. New York City, New York:
Berg, 2011.
Hannah, Gail Greet. Elements of Design: Rowena Reed Kostellow and the Structure of
Visual Relationships. New York City, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2002.
Massey, Anne. Chair. London: Reaktion Books Ltd., 2011.
Nelson, Harold G., and Erik Stolterman. The Design Way: Intentional Change in an
Unpredictable World. Cambridge , Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2012.
Stewart, Mary. Launching the Imagination: A Comprehensive Guide to Basic Design.
New York City, New York: McGraw-Hill , 2008.

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