design thinking

Design thinking is about getting away from “small” design and moving toward community-oriented “big” design. “Small” design is fashionable products that are interesting and perhaps desirable, whereas “big” design encompasses a system.

The Unity Village project is all about design thinking. It is a community project, therefore, it seems only appropriate that the community would be involved in the design. This is being accomplished through in-depth research about the user groups. Within each design decision, each user group is considered. Each space, floor, and the building as a whole is thought about as being a system- in this case, a community.

Design thinking will inform my decisions in the future as well. I have realized how important it is to not sit in a room as a designer and design a room for a consumer, but to instead involve the end user(s) in the process if at all possible. This aids in asking the right questions and finding the right answers. The people in the situation naturally have a good idea of what works or what is missing in a space. Their questions lead to bigger questions that need to be answered by the designer.

Makeshift Shelter : Process

The first major project assigned in studio this semester was to built a makeshift shelter of found materials. This required us to go out and find materials, sketch and write about our ideas, and finally to put our materials and ideas together to create a shelter. Each group was given a individual activity that most of us do every day. The group I was assigned to was to build our shelter on the idea of snacking.

Upon receiving the assignment, we were excited and overwhelmed. Each of us had so many great ideas, and yet we had no idea where to start. The most logical place for me to start is sketching. Along with sketching, I write. The writing helps to clarify anything that may not be able to be conveyed in drawing. It is once I start writing about my ideas that I begin to realize what works and what does not- what is feasible and what is absurd. Writing helps me to think things out- it slows down my thoughts so that I am more methodical. When I reach something that I cannot find words for, I draw. Even small sketches and a few short words help to organize an idea greatly.

These sketches and words come together in my sketchbook along with inspiring images pulled from websites and magazines. Sometimes these images are an example of what I would like to happen in a space, and sometimes I just like the vibe of the image and so I include it. One of the inspiration images I used is of a wall made of water bottles. I had come up with the idea to use water bottles after having seen them somewhere else. Finding the image and putting it in my sketchbook helped convey the idea to the other members of my group. I felt that the contribution of this idea was important- as it was tightly linked to the idea of snacking.

I believe that within our group our roles were very much equal. Each of us worked on each aspect of the project. On the first evening, Carlos Smith and I went out to find materials, while Veronica Harvey and Haley Preston gathered water bottles. We collectively designed and built the structure as well as contributed drawings and images. While I usually find that within groups it is best to allocate different jobs to different individuals, this arrangement worked very well for this particular group on this particular project. I do not think it could have gone smoother any other way.

I was very pleased with the outcome of this project, both for my group’s shelter and those of other groups. I only wish that on our shelter the water bottles could have been used as we had intended, which would have involved having many more of them. We collectively made the decision after talking with Stephanie that it would be best if the plastic bottles could be recycled after use, especially since we got many of them from recycling. This meant that they could not be glued together. Cutting the bottles and sliding them together proved more difficult, time consuming, and unsteady than we had imagined, resulting in us deciding to use the water bottles in a different way than originally intended. I still believe that they had a very interesting impact on the shelter.

During this project I felt that I was very strong in seeing the potential in found objects. I used my strength and love of photography to document as much of the process as I could and these images can be found on my blog. I also was able to use my strength of figuring out the best way to assemble things, which helped in the building of the shelter.

I will remember this project as being very fun to do and also as a good design exercise. We so often forget to work with what is available to us and instead opt for new things. In trying to design a sustainable environment, however, the most “green” things are those that have been repurposed (instead of being disposed of- not something new). Also, repurposed materials add distinct, unique character. The limitations on the number of materials helped us all to realize that “less is more.” Before the limitation was given to us, our ideas and thoughts were scattered, but upon receiving the limitation, we found it much easier to organize our thoughts and know what to do. Therefore, the limitation was not a limitation at all, but rather an aid- which is perhaps the most important thing to learn and remember.

Neighborhoods&Communities

Communities and neighborhoods go hand-in-hand. A neighborhood is typically geographically defined. A community is the people brought together not only geographically but by common ties. Within a neighborhood, there are often regulations that promote uniformity and cleanliness. Some neighborhoods are loosely formed, while other are "gated communities." Affluent neighborhoods tend to have better schools, resources, and safer environments than less affluent neighborhoods.

People often measure their self worth on that of others in their neighborhood- though they may not necessarily have community ties to them other than living within the same vicinity. If most residents exhibit a certain behavior, then members of that community- especially children growing up within the community- are likely to exhibit the same behavior. When people are proud of their neighborhood, they take care of it.

The boundaries and contents of neighborhoods are often changing due to zoning. Zoning prevents anything from being built just anywhere. While the community may not necessarily have a say in what is allowed and what is not, meetings of community members are often held to discuss these matters. Residents should have a say in what is built within their neighborhood.

PUD housing schemes are very popular in today's society. They allow more house for less money. These houses are often built very close together to cut down on supplies and maximize the economical return to the owner of the land. These are the houses we see built so quickly and cheaply, all with the same vinyl-siding clad homogenous look. Studies have shown that many owners of these cookie cutter homes are not fully happy with them, however they seemed the greatest value because the houses have more square feet for less money. Our society promotes conformity- thus home owners associations exist. While these associations may keep neighborhoods looking nice and neat, they may hinder creativity and expression through the appearance of one's home. There have been movements to create sustainable communities- in which the homes may be built of more sustainable materials and a portion of the land is dedicated to farming and/or left in its natural state.

consider:process:design::project1:makeshift shelter::experience

A person enters the Gatewood Studio Arts Building lobby, coming upon a small village of makeshift shelters. One among them is dedicated to snacking. Noticing one shelter is dedicated to snacking, he curiously enters it, seeking food. He notices how well built it is of materials that seem totally random. He does not realize four young designers carefully chose each piece and how each piece serves a very specific function. This person is more interested in the food to snack on. Once he has stuffed food in his mouth and he is no longer feeling hungry, he begins to notice how intricate and interesting the structure he is standing in is. He notices how craftily it is constructed. He notices how unexpected materials serve unexpected purposes- coming together to create this makeshift shelter. He feels inspired by this ingenuity. He thinks of how so many people throughout this world are not even able to have this or anything close to it. Another person enters the small space, forcing the two people to interact. He tells this new acquaintance of his thoughts and discoveries while in this makeshift shelter- which has given both food to eat and food for thought.

consider:process:design::project1:makeshift shelter

The first project of the semester for my Environmental Design class is a fun one- just what I, and probably everyone else, needed to get back into the swing of things after hibernating over winter break.

This project mandates that in a small group we design a makeshift shelter from found objects. Each group has a different focus. The group I am in, consisting of Haley Preston, Carlos Smith, Veronica Harvey, and I are to focus on snacking. While brainstorming, we of course all got very hungry- or maybe we just worked up an appetite from ravenously gathering materials.

While thinking about this project, we came across the idea to make the focus of our snacking shelter on healthy snacking. It's not set in stone yet, but it's a pretty cool idea. We're thinking of having fresh, healthy foods growing in the shelter as well as possibly a compost with worms- repurposed from Veronica's sustainability event held last semester.

To begin moving toward this, I have done some research on a couple of websites, gathered from the book Eat Where You Live by Lou Bendrick, which was read last semester as well as part of a sustainability book fair held by our class. While browsing containergardeningtips.com, I was amazed at just how many things you can grow in potted plants- especially fruits and veggies. It really made me want to take advantage of the one larger porch that I have off of my apartment- only I have a brown thumb (the opposite of a green thumb).

I am excited to see what direction this project is going to take next!