Stever House Re-Imagined
Housing Services provides students with more than just a place to live. Campus housing should be comfortable, welcoming, inclusive, restful ... and also inspiring. So each year, Housing Services partners with Carnegie Mellon's Marketing and Communications design team to rebrand one of its residence halls or apartments. This year Stever House was on the docket and the result has been awe-inspiring to anyone who has had the chance to see it.
The extensive art installation celebrates a longstanding Carnegie Mellon tradition, Buggy and Sweepstakes, as well as Stever House hallmarks, namely that Stever House was the first L.E.E.D. certified residence hall in the country, and that the cactus is Stever's recently adopted emblem.
As Jordan Bush, CMU Senior Graphic Designer and designer for the Stever House Re-imagined project, shared: “Nothing else embodies CMU better than Buggy as it combines so many disciplines: athletics, engineering, and design. That should be celebrated.” And celebrate Buggy he did!
This main focus of the installation - a large-scale vinyl graphic - depicts three aspects of buggy: what a team looks like, what a buggy looks like, and what race day looks like.
- The Team: shows the schematics of the driver and the measurements designers take to ensure that the buggy is custom built for an individual
- The Buggy: depicts the evolution of what the buggy has looked like over time
- The Race Day: It all happens at Spring Carnival, so the designer incorporated imagery to represent the four elements that make up the event: Carnival, the booths of Midway, the Sweepstakes race, and the Mobot finals.
Additionally, the wall shares a famous quote from the inaugural race day: “It’s a conglomeration of rain barrels with bicycle wheels, four wheeled orange crates, and three wheeled ash cans.” The side of the mural lists the best race times, dating back to 1923, with chalkboard vinyl to write in new records. Buggy shopping list features lots of technical items, but also “coffee,” “more coffee,” and “dog food for Scotty.”
A Buggy Book wall (photographed above) displays Buggy Books dating back to 1965, with space on the end to add in books for the years to come.
Stever Re-Imagined Event
On Wednesday, September 27, Stever residents came out for a tasty taco bar and to hear lead designer Jordan Bush talk about the different aspects of the installation.
Thanks to all who contributed to this exciting project!