Think Inside the Box

The front of a cereal box has been removed to reveal a miniature room. The room features a white cardboard couch, hand-drawn bookshelf, and wire chandelier.

Transform a box into a unique space inspired by Siah Armajani!

We want to see your creations! Share on social media @hirshhorn with #HirshhornInsideOut.

Time: 45–60 minutes
Skill Level: Advanced
Topic: Building and Design

LOOK CLOSELY

Look closely. What do you see? Describe the materials, space, and what’s inside.

Two wooden chairs sit on a rectangular piece of cardboard. The chairs face a wooden “picture window” piece with three rows of eight windows.

Siah Armajani, Picture Window with Two Chairs, 1974-1975. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of the Artist in Honor of James T. Demetrion, 1994. 

Take a look at the artwork from a different angle. What do you notice now? How do you think this was made?

Another angle of Armajani’s work shows an oblique view of two wooden chairs sitting on a rectangular piece of cardboard. The chairs face a wooden “picture window” which makes up an entire wall.

Siah Armajani, Picture Window with Two Chairs, 1974-1975. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of the Artist in Honor of James T. Demetrion, 1994.

This artwork, which is called Picture Window with Two Chairs, by the artist Siah Armajani, was made using wood, paint, and cardboard. Notice how the picture window creates the feeling of a room, even though all other sides are open. Two empty chairs sit facing each other. This sculpture is very small, sized like a doll house, at 5 ⅜ inches long, 8 inches wide, and 6 ⅝ inches high—about the size of a bunch of bananas.

Do you have ideas that you are passionate about and want to share with people? Meet Artist Siah Armajani. Armajani (1939–2020) was born in Tehran, Iran, and was part of a very educated family. He immigrated to the United States when he was 19 years old and studied philosophy and art at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where his uncle was a professor.

Armajani began making artwork in the late 1950s. He made many different types of art including sculpture and collage, and is best known for his large-scale public art and architecture projects such as the major Irene Hixon Whitney bridge in Minneapolis. He used math, science, and technology to express ideas that he did not feel could be adequately expressed using paint and canvas. From 1974 to1975, Armajani worked on a “Building” series which included more than a thousand small-scale structures focused on creating houses with open space. Picture Window with two Chairs is part of the “Building” series.

See other works by Siah Armajani in the Hirshhorn collection.

MAKE IT!

Taking inspiration from artist Siah Armajani’s sculpture Picture Window with two Chairs, create your own architectural sculpture.

  1. Hunt for a box. Look for a recycled box, like an old food container or shoe box. Think about how the box’s size impacts the type of space you want to create. For our model project, we chose a cereal box which has a structure that is both cozy and tall.
    Tall side of a cereal box with a large smiley face design. The background is orange with dark curvy lines. The eyes have heart pupils and the open mouth smile displays a red tongue.
  2. Gather your materials. You’ll need:
    • Scissors
    • Sturdy materials such as cardboard or popsicle sticks. Cardboard tubes or inserts from shipping boxes can create great furniture and architectural details.
    • Kinetic, bendy materials such as wire, pipe cleaners, straws, or string. Kinetic means that something is “of or relating to motion.” Kinetic art is art that moves!
    • Materials to help hold it all together, such as tape or glue
      Arrangement of scissors, cardboard, wire, tape, straws, and dry spaghetti.
  1. Explore your materials. Can they stand on their own? Can you alter them by folding or bending? How can attaching two or more materials together create new possibilities for your structure?
    Display of a cardboard tube with two straws standing up inside and a rectangular cardboard insert holding up three pieces of dry spaghetti.
  2. Make a plan! Grab some paper and drawing materials, and sketch your ideas. What type of space do you want to create? Think about different ideas for transforming your box with the materials you’ve chosen.  Note: Younger children (under six) may do best skipping this step and continuing to explore materials and build their structure.
    A color sketch outlines a room in black. A floor rug and wall hanging are colored green. A swirly, mustard yellow chandelier hangs from the ceiling.
  3. Transform your box. Think about how to want to display the space you create. Use your scissors to create an opening for viewing. For our model project we chose to cut off the front of our box. Look back at Picture Window with Two Chairs and notice how open Armajani chose to keep his work.
    Empty cereal box with one tall end removed, revealing the box inside.
  4. Construct your space and its contents. Use your materials to alter or add to your box. For our model project, we cut and glued popsicle sticks to a piece of cardboard to make a couch, glued broken spaghetti pieces to straws to make a ladder, and bent and hung wire from a cut rubber band to create a hanging sculpture.
    A box with one side removed displays some materials including two straws standing like ladders against one side, a cardboard “couch” and a twisted wire suspended by a rubber band.
  5. Decorate! You might use markers, paint, or other decorative materials to enhance your space or its contents. For our model project, we chose to draw directly onto the box surface with markers. Continue constructing and transforming until you are happy with your creation. Younger artists may want to play with their creation. Add in minifigures or toy animals to encourage pretend play.
    A hand holding a marker draws details inside the box. A brown bookshelf is drawn on the left. On the right, a circle filled with green and blue water-like lines.
  6. Title your work! We titled our project Pandora’s Oasis. Our title is a play on the ancient Greek myth of Pandora’s Box, a tragedy in which Pandora’s curiosity overwhelms her and she opens a forbidden box. After you finish your project, check out the myth with an adult to learn how Pandora’s story ends.
    The front of a cereal box has been removed to reveal a miniature room. The room features a white cardboard couch, hand-drawn bookshelf, and wire chandelier.