We found some old lecture theatre table tops in a bike shed at Ormond College and immediately knew that they had to be turned into the communal tables in the new cafe we were designing for the Junior Common Rooms.  

The idea that inspired us to fish these desktops out of the dust is one of re-establishing the resident's connection to the college and their own place in the college's history. The act of gazing upon and touching the carved names and drawings (and perhaps slyly adding their own 'marks') creates a direct lineage between the present and the past. The former students were no doubt breaking the rules by carving into the tables and there is something to be said for current students having the ability to carry on this tradition, or at least to recognise that while former students may have grown up in a different century, many were probably 'rascals' just like them. 

That's why we didn't place them under glass or on the wall as an artefact. Although some students are adding their own pieces to the tables, we don't really see this as a problem,

as the original graffiti was never drawn with the intention of becoming a museum artefact. Hopefully over time the students will grow to respect the 'graffiti' and may approach their own scrawled traces with increasing consideration.  

Great photos (again) by Jesse Marlow.