Elisabeth Seidel

For my in-situ research on entrance situations, I chose a variety of bars in south Cologne late on in the evening. The atmosphere there fascinated me and I realised they all had the same kind of out-of-focus light scenario.

Red and blue predominated. I sought out doors provided with lighting and that led me to the emergency exits. There were a few types of emergency exits amongst them in which I was particularly interested, those on aircraft for instance. These often entail a contradictory set of requirements. They have to be capable of being intuitively opened in stress situations and yet the opening mechanism is so complex that not everyone will be able to operate it.

The opening process occurs in two stages: first open the cover, then lift and release the handle. My interest was additionally aroused by emergency exits in buildings, of which there a number of different kinds: emergency exit devices for private dwellings and classrooms in schools, and the anti-panic doors installed in hospitals and public authority buildings. It must be possible in the process for every such door and device to be opened unimpeded by people of the most differing of heights.

How does that work? The doors have a lock and a fitting. Both of them are required to release the door as soon as the crossbar on the inside face is depressed.

I worked with 3D images for my first prototype. My aim was to develop a handle that captures the blurred atmosphere, a bit like watching a 3D movie without 3D spectacles. I replicated this shape in three different colours and placed them in a slightly offset configuration. The human eye is no longer able to get a purchase on them as a result.

The criteria the first materials needed to fulfil were: translucency, stackability, chromatic variance and affordability. I opted for hobby glass and foil for the first two trials. Following several 2D experiments, I created a succession of layers in building my first handle. I used acrylic glass for the final prototype. It needed to be round so I bent the material with the aid of the heat from a kiln. I started on a number of fundamental tests: the material was ground, bonded together and edge-milled.

I bought fluorescent plexiglass in pink and blue for my first final specimen. I formed it into a circle by first drilling it with an edge drilling machine and then grinding the edge glue with a plane. This caused it to become not only round but also smooth. I then ground and polished it with 240-, 400- and 600-grit emery paper.

It transpired that neon plexiglass ceases to be neon-coloured once its edges have been removed. I therefore used a greater amount of neon-coloured plexiglass and less of an opaque pink and blue colour for my second and final version. The edges were cut at an angle of 45 degrees, then ground and polished. Both prototypes were subsequently heated in the kiln and bent into the right shape with the aid of a die. This had to be done quickly as the handle could no longer be deformed within three seconds of leaving the kiln.

Whereas Otl Aicher adopted a very functional approach and looked upon a functional, utility-driven form stripped of any unnecessary ballast as the sine qua non, I would like to provide something very contrasting with my blueprint. Severity and asceticism do not figure in my work.