Rest Ops
Project Team: JohnTaylor Bachman and Katie Stranix
Rest stops are found at a consistent rhythm both along urban corridors
and across the far reaches of the country’s rural landscape. Their
distribution imposes a geographical meter onto the national landscape
that is unusually irrespective of “urbanity.” They are one of the few
public spaces that have both the physical distribution and programmatic
necessity capable of capturing an immense volume and cross section of
the nation’s demographic. In this way, rest stops have the potential to
become social condensers or platforms for the socialization of disparate
ideals. They present opportunities for both physical interaction and
conversational engagement among people of different backgrounds and
beliefs. The only problem is, most people want to spend as little time
in rest stops as possible. Whether it’s strict travel schedules or
concerns around cleanliness or safety, the majority of travelers share a
“get-in-get-out” mentality when it comes to the rest stop.
How do you encourage interaction and exchange in a transient space? Our
proposal, Rest Ops, identifies shared needs and moments of pause,
however brief, within the typical rest stop experience, and by
consolidating and centralizing these needs and moments, we open them up
to the potential for connection. Sinks and hand dryers are pulled out
from restrooms, drinking fountains are hauled off of the walls and into
the central space, and interactive fountains are introduced to encourage
play and meditation. In these new configurations, water escapes the
captivity of the ceramic wall-mounted fixture and is celebrated as an
essential life-sustaining element, worthy of gathering and ritualistic
engagement. By combining these elements in playful and site-specific
ways, and by focusing on basic, shared human needs and experiences, Rest
Ops encourages casual and necessary face-to-face communication to
unfold between travelers.