1) In 2012 a major storm affected New York City, named Hurricane Sandy.6 minute video about (Links to an external site.). What surprised you most about this video? Do you feel the city is now better designed to handle a major hurricane, 5 years later?
I heard about the severe damage made by Hurricane Sandy. People who experienced the disaster would always described the problems brought by the storm: the collapse of transportation, the cut down of electricity, even shortage of food.
However, from the video, I found the actual damage the storm caused to this city entity, to the facilities that actually always served the dwellers. And as I know the actual damage it caused to different systems like transportation and electricity, I just realized the actual loss of resources like money and labor which was used to fix or bring back the properly-functioning facilities. And the brief showcase of recovery process, revealed that city is an entity of connected system, and the design of the city infrastructure should be planned in the systematic view of space and time. For example, you have to think about what will this city encounter in the 50 years. What is the change coming?
I don’t know if the city is better designed from my empirical experience. But I did pass by the recovered the tunnel this year, it looked sturdy. But if the climate is getting worse, people do need to worry about the city infrastructure.
2) Visit and explore New York City’s Hurricane Preparation website. http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/em/html/know-your-zone/knowyourzone.html Locate which evacuation zone (1-6) you live within and consider signing up for alerts. What does it feel like to learn what zone you inhabit? How close is the next, nearest zone to your home? Which zone is Parsons located within? Do you feel prepared for a hurricane in NYC? What are you thoughts on this website’s design (is it functional, aesthetic, easy to use etc.)?
My place doesn’t locate in any of the colored zones, so I think where I stay would be much safer if a storm comes. The nearest zone is Zone 6 which is 2 blocks away.
Half of the Parsons campus is located in Zone 6 and half not. But it is pretty dangerous since I know the Hurricane Sandy flooded the new UC building basement.
I feel safe because my home is not in any of the evacuation zone. But I never experienced a hurricane or storm before, maybe I should prepare some clean water and non-perishable food in case of emergency.
I’d say the design of website is okay. Not really well made but pretty informative as it shows different zone and related emergency alert sign-up information. Maybe this website is out of maintenance, the navigation to evacuation center function seems not working. In my opinion, this is not good as you have to always be prepared for emergency so it is critical to do the daily maintenance of something you might use for emergency.
3) The new Whitney Museum of Art is located in Zone 1. Next week we will visit the Whitney Museum learn from Museum staff about building’s ability to adapt to climate change. In preparation, read the following article about the Whitney Museum of Art’s preparation for sea-level rise in New York City. (Links to an external site.). What are three facts that you learned in this article that were the most surprising? What do you think is the most creative aspect of the building’s design? What are two questions you have about the Whitney’s design and preparation for flooding?
Not the most surprising facts, but it is quite a new thing to me to know about the disaster protection of arts in museum. To me, museum is the kind of place that never change, works exhibiting there, show going on and on. I never thought about one day they might be threatened by natural disasters. To a coastal city like New York, it is quite important for architecture to equip with disaster protection solution.
I think the most creative part is it uses a metal door to seal the whole museum in case of floor, but during normal seasons, they can just be lifted up and let out a wide open space which create a sense of neighborhood for the museum and its surroundings. And also, it only need just one person could push and shut the doors!
Questions:
1, Will the art works be transferred out of the museum? Or they will just stay in the storage inside the museum during flood?
2, Is there other design solutions they considered before construction?
4) Begin work on your Systems Map or model, due in two weeks. For this week, start your research on this project. On your LP, name the material you will be mapping/modeling and list 15 of the 20 systems you will include in your final design. Draft your caption about how this material might be produced differently in 50 years because of how planetary systems are changing. The final map or model is due on September 19th. On the 19th post the file or documentation of your project on your LP and PRINT or bring your model to class for critique. Be sure to use your own original drawings/graphics/photography, not clip art.
The subject of my research is LED.
- Semi-conductor materials:
The particular semiconductors used for LED manufacture are gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium phosphide (GaP), or gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP). The different semiconductor materials (called substrates) and different impurities result in different colors of light from the LED.
- Impurities materials: different metal like ZincThis process is called doping.
- phosphors
- steel leads, solder dipped
- gold/ silver compounds
- epoxy
systems:
- LED production process: doping, coating, heating, liquid coating, cutting, waste disposal
- material production process: mining, extracting, transporting
- pollution of production
- potential light pollution caused by LED
- efficiency of LED (good side), long life usage, brighter
- recycle solution
