The workshop WS#6 Eva-Maria Heinrich / Bringing the Abstract to Life – Beyond Data Visualisation at the International Design Week was all about pushing my prototype beyond pixels and printouts. Instead of presenting Austria’s daily land consumption as another chart, I set out to build a physical prototype – a 1.13 m² “slice” of ground that stands in for every hectare consumed in a single day. Here’s a rundown of my process, why a hands-on prototype matters, and the production hurdles I encountered along the way.
Why Prototype Matters in Multi-Sensory Data Visualization
Many of my previous posts have explored the theory behind multi-sensory data visualization – how tactile textures, sounds, or spatial arrangements can make numbers resonate more deeply. This time, I wanted to prototype those ideas in a tangible form. By crafting a small landscape that viewers can actually touch, I could test whether the physicality adds insight that a static infographic simply can’t. In other words, this wasn’t a polished art piece – it was a work-in-progress prototype intended to reveal both the strengths and limitations of turning data into material.
Concept: A 1.13 m² “Plot” of Daily Land Use
At a scale of 1:10 000, 1 cm² on my board represents 1 hectare in the real world. To capture Austria’s daily land conversion, the board measures 1.13 m² total, divided into:
- 52 % concrete (fully sealed surfaces like roads and buildings)
- 12 % gravel (partially sealed areas such as construction zones)
- 36 % grass (green spaces cut off from natural ecosystems)
When laid out side by side, these materials form a unified plane that still reveals stark textural differences up close. Walking viewers through each zone gets them thinking: “That gray slab isn’t just a shape – it’s every driveway and parking lot paved over today.”
From Sketch to First Prototype
Mapping Out the Layout
I began by sketching on paper, dividing a 1 m × 1.13 m rectangle into proportional zones. Once I had rough percentages, I exported the grid to Illustrator to generate precise outlines. Printing a full-scale template and taping it to plywood helped me trace clean boundaries for concrete, gravel, and grass sections.
Gathering & Testing Materials
- Concrete mix: I bought a small bag of ready-to-mix putty. My first batch was too smooth, so I added extra pebbles I got on the street to add some texture.
- Gravel: I grabbed some gravel from a construction site. Putting it basically one by one on the surface, I glued them down with normal glue.
- Grass: I had a few ideas for grass but because of time constraint I settled on a doormat I found at the hardware store, knowing I could swap in live grass later.
Building the First Iteration
- Base Preparation: I glued two sheets of thin carton together (hoping for the best).
- Concrete Section: Mixing putty and gravel, I poured it cup by cup each time mixing it again and again.
- Gravel Section: I sprinkled gravel by hand, and gently pressed it in place.
- Grass Section: Cutting the doormat to form was very easy and I just glued it down.
What I learned in the process
Prototyping isn’t a linear path, and my first iteration had plenty of hiccups.
Mainly finding the right material and then finding good substitutes because of the time frame. Then of course finding the right mix for the putty and putting it on the surface.
By the end of the week, the prototype still had a few chips of gravel out of place and some cracks and color difference in the putty, but those imperfections felt authentic – almost like the real world, where land-use boundaries aren’t always neat and tidy.
Why This Prototype Matters
- Tactile Immersion: Viewers can kneel down and feel the roughness of gravel next to the coldness of the putty. That sensorial contrast sparks a more intuitive understanding of how land is consumed.
- Immediate Comparisons: Instead of reading “52 %” on a slide, people see the massive concrete patch in context – ranking it against gravel and grass sizes without needing numbers to guide their eyes.
- Hands-On Research: As a prototype, it’s a learning tool more than a final exhibit. The bumps in production taught me about material properties – knowledge I’ll carry into my next prototype. Each mis-cut or adhesive spill revealed potential adjustments for future iterations.
Final Thoughts
Prototyping this 1.13 m² piece of ground forced me to embrace trial and error. Every spilled drop of glue and cracked chunk of putty helped me understand how to translate data into material form. The end result isn’t a museum-ready installation – it’s a functional prototype that still has rough edges. But those imperfections are part of its story: they remind me (and future viewers) that real-world data isn’t always clean, and neither is the crafting process that brings it to life. Already, this initial version has sparked new ideas for my thesis – especially around combining tactile and auditory layers.
