The K6 telephone kiosk is “iconic and cherished in the public conscious-ness” (English Heritage 2011). “Button B” and the idea of a public telephone box in the age of mobile ubiquity are both obsolete. This project raises questions about the sustainability of a design icon after it ceases to have an economic use. Alternative uses for the kiosk include; locking the door, letting it rot, installing a defibrillator or a book exchange.
Viewed in this way the series of images provides a metaphor for changing economic times. Sometimes the story is inside the box and sometimes you need to step outside the box. Does technology render iconic design obsolete? Is design aligned with purpose or can it be timeless?
Each image shows an aspect of obsolescence, re-use, or preservation. The iconic design with a lock seems to say to us that the design is locked in to a previous time.
