A participatory door

On highway, 2010.

Scriptopolis has given many insights into the wonderful innovations and the extraordinary multiplicity of a simple door. It is a means to interlink and distinguish two spaces : inside and outside, here and there, free circulation and reserved access. A door is as much an architectural fold allowing traffic regulation as a potential hold to reach new horizons. To do so, one often adds several graphic prothesis to a door in order to specify its precise capacity of action: we invite the scriptopolian to make her way in our archives to grasp, from one door to another, the great variation of such equipments.
What is this specimen made of? What does it invite to do? This clever graphic component enables humans to indicate whether a place is “clean” or “not clean”. This small addition is first an hygiene indicator, it displays information about the state of the room behind the door. Second, it is also a judgment device intended for all potential users of these restrooms in an highway service station. They can avoid a bad surprise by not opening the door. Finally, it is an aid to action: faced with the displayed judgment on the door, everyone can choose among the diverse available doors and decide to go through the doorstep or not. Here is the proposal of this specimen: a door turned into a lieutenant of participatory democracy.