With our initial concept out the window, we had to start from scratch. We had some other less developed ideas to work off, but none of them really worked with the theme we had decided to run with. That theme was security. So we decided it would be easiest to modify the box, the one idea we had with a consistent theme.
We took the idea of the box and expanded it. We thought that perhaps if someone could be inside that box, they wouldn't need a message to understand what it was about. The idea was a little vague though, and after a short discussion we decided the most effect way to explain something is to show you. We needed to contrast to be the known and unknown. This is where the origins of, what I have been referring to at the creepy room. That was it's working title, I don't think it ever had a proper name. If it did, I clearly didn't care for it.
More a less, a person would walk through the middle of this structure and they would experience, first hand, the effects of lightness as form of security. The first dark room was to be filled with intimidating shapes, or things that at least seemed intimidating when shadowed. The second half of the building would be open, and light. It would have the same objects, but the light would render them harmless.
There is a couple of obvious flaws with this idea. The design is ridiculously complicated. It's probably the perfect example of what Gavin Sade was talking about in his lecture. We completely overcomplicated what was meant to be a simple display. I also personally felt the idea was still to literal. Someone might like being in the dark, they might find the objects we placed in there none threatening. There were to many variables. So we cut back, we simplified.
Our final design was as simple as things could get. It still played on the idea of security, but was more along the lines of familiarity. It was a simple wooden frame, one that we would place to the side of one of the already existing paths in the gardens. The idea was that people would be drawn to the frame, that they would pass through them rather than just walking along the dimly lit path. It was the same principle, but scaled down. There was still the presence of light and dark, there was still this idea that you should have to pass through them. With this design, it became a choice. We weren't forcing anyone's hand. Ultimately, that leads to a much better experience. We were contrasting these two points, just not so bluntly.