feature

08.12

08.12

IEEE-USA’s Hole in 1s and 0s Part of Cool Mini Golf Course

By Chris McManes

During the multiple heat waves that have overcome Washington, D.C., this summer, the National Building Museum has been one of the coolest places in town. And not just because of its air conditioning.

The Museum moved way up on the coolness scale with its first miniature golf course. The unique, 12-hole ensemble has been a big hit, particularly with families and couples looking for some cool fun.

“Interest from the public has been fantastic,” Building Museum Curator Sarah Leavitt said.

The exhibition opened on Independence Day and runs through Labor Day. The holes were created by some of the Washington area’s top architects, construction firms, urban planners and designers. More than 25,000 people are expected to play.

See for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vycr2pi1uUk, and click here for more information.

Unlike exhibits at most museums, this one encourages active participation. “Absolutely,” Leavitt said.

“Hole in 1s and 0s”

IEEE-USA is sponsoring the second hole and partnered with GrizForm Design Architects and Potomac Construction Services to have the hole designed and built.

IEEE-USA staff met with Griz Dwight and three members of his staff on 11 June and it was agreed that the hole should represent the inside of a mobile device, e.g., a smartphone or tablet computer.

IEEE-USA Managing Director Chris Brantley came up with the name, “Hole in 1s and 0s,” which calls to mind binary code, the phenomenon that all functions of a computer are governed by ones and zeroes.

“Bringing together the varied influences of our team and sponsors, the design of ‘Hole in 1s and 0s’ is a celebration of technology and the inner workings of the contemporary digital device,” GrizForm Design’s Justin Ware said in an email. “From the exterior it appears as a simple closed form; however, once inhabited, it presents the inner workings as a miniature golf hole to be experienced as an intimate and personal experience.”

The inside walls of the design represent circuit boards, and you have three options for “sending your text,” “completing your call” or “going online.” You can stay on the green — which is actually gray — or you can choose either of two side tracks to reach the par-2 hole.

You can even use your putter like a pool cue, you know, the way Chevy Chase did in the classic 1980 movie “Caddyshack.” The fewer strokes you take to sink your putt, the faster your connection.

Raising Public Awareness of Engineering

IEEE-USA chose to participate primarily because of the opportunity to help raise public awareness of engineering, particularly in IEEE’s fields of interest. Media coverage has been excellent.

“Hole in 1s and 0s” was featured on the Washington FOX 5 Morning News on 16 July. IEEE-USA’s portion of the video begins at about the 2:45 mark: http://www.myfoxdc.com/video?clipId=7506732&autoStart=true .

Engineering awareness can also be advanced by those who use their mobile device to scan a QR code on IEEE-USA’s hole. The code links to a Web site featuring things like engineering schools, careers and lesson plans, as well as how engineers use their creativity to solve problems and shape the world in which we live.

FOX 5 reporter Holly Morris, who knows much more about engineering than most broadcast journalists, graduated from Duke University with a degree in civil and environmental engineering. She likes the concept behind IEEE-USA’s hole.

“I think, first and foremost, to say, ‘hey, you’re looking at the inside of your iPhone or the inside of your iPad or your MacBook or whatever it may be — your laptop computer’ — that really makes it pertinent to today, and I think that grabs kids right away because we have these amazing devices that we hold but we don’t necessarily understand how they work, and so to get to see inside that — life-size — I think is pretty fascinating,” Morris said.

She continued by discussing the hole’s interpretation of high-speed data processing:

“And then to see how the flow of information or the flow of making the connection can happen in different ways and, depending on which way you choose, determines how fast that happens. So how fast my call goes through, how fast my Web search comes through, it makes it tangible for a young person, and it makes it visual for a young person to kind of understand not only the basics of it, but also the complexity of it. Because it’s so simple on one side but it’s so complex on the other.

“And so, to help start to make that make sense to a young person is really a valuable lesson.”

From Vision to Reality

The miniature golf exhibit was largely the brainchild of Cathy Crane Frankel, the Building Museum’s vice president for exhibitions and collections.

“Then she brought it up with some senior staff folks and everybody got pretty excited about it,” Leavitt said. “As far as I know … the turnaround was really fast.”

Leavitt was charged with researching mini golf’s history and searching the Museum’s holdings for photos and objects related to the game. On the neatest things she came across was an old highway sign advertising “Tom Thumb Golf,” a patented miniature golf course that originated in the late 1920s on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Here are some of mini golf “Fun Facts” Building Museum players can read between holes:

Miniature golf can be traced to the “Ladies Putting Club” in 1867 in St. Andrews, Scotland.
The first U.S. course was on a private estate in Pinehurst, N.C., in 1916.
Chattanooga hosted the first miniature golf tournament in 1930.
By 1931, the United States had about 25,000 courses. That number has dwindled to around 5,000 today.
George W. Bush and his wife Laura’s first date in 1977 was a game of mini golf.

Fun for Everyone

IEEE-USA’s hole has been well received by players, who, upon completion of their round, can vote for their favorite. One of the most popular holes is STUDIOS Architecture’s interpretation of Canal Park, a project they designed and is now being constructed in southeast Washington, D.C. A jury of design experts will decide which hole wins “Best in Show.”

For all of FOX 5’s mini golf segments, including one on Canal Park, go to http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/19032623/play-mini-golf-inside-the-national-building-museum

The mini golf exhibition has been so successful, it might return next summer.

“We’re really happy, and I think people have been happy to play here,” Leavitt said. “I’ve walked through the course during the day and everyone seems like they’re having fun. Hopefully they’re thinking a little bit about the built environment or about architecture and design while they’re in there.

“Probably they’re mostly just having fun, and that’s cool, too.”

Meet the Hole in 1s and 0s Designer, Builder and Host

GrizForm Design Architects of Washington, D.C., is an award-winning architecture firm specializing in hospitality projects. They push the boundaries of design and approach each project without preconceived ideas. GrizForm was founded in 2003 with an understanding of the construction world, a belief in good design and a desire to improve our built environment.

Potomac Construction Services of Bethesda, Md., is a full-service general contracting firm specializing in the restaurant and retail market sector. It combines its passion for customer service and knowledge and experience in the industry to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

The National Building Museum, located in Washington, D.C., is America’s leading cultural institution dedicated to advancing the quality of the built environment by educating people about its impact on their lives. Through its exhibitions, educational programs, online content and publications, the Museum has become a vital forum for the exchange of ideas and information about the world people build for themselves.