Introduction
It’s easy to forget about yourself when all we do is take care of others.
Bridge 1 carries the theme of “CARE”, a project based on growing our understanding of our own necessities in order to keep a healthy physical, psychological, and spiritual lifestyle. We focused on designing something for ourselves, something that could remind us about self-care and aid us from the hectic journey we live as a freshman. 
Throughout the development of my ideas, different design and models changed, yet, the constant was to create something where I could actually fit on it, either go inside or be surrounded by it. It was important for me to design a place where I could feel protected and grounded. I knew I wanted to improve my inner peace and spirituality through meditation, therefore, I had to design a tranquil space, something that could make me forget what was on the outside and made me focus on what 
was on the inside.
There were two ways I could fit on my designed space, either sitting or lying down, I wanted both. My initial research consisted of looking up different yoga salons or meditational chairs, yet, none of them “encapsulated” the person in it. Therefore, I started to research different tent designs and even kids’ bedrooms where I found various designs of the canopy’s on the “princess-inspired” beds section. That was the moment where my research and initial sketches took place, I didn’t have a specific design yet but I knew I had to start to work on my base and shape of the space, so I did.
Process
At first, I was aiming at creating a circular space, more like a cone, inspired on a canopy. I was trying to use wire in order to give that pointy finish look and drilled multiple thin wires in order to make a wider and more resistant one, yet it was VERY unstable. Then I thought of creating this cone shape with cardboard, yet making a round wall with a point finish would’ve taken me a lot of time and probably had to invest in special cardboard, one that didn’t bend easily.
For instance, I got carried away and was thinking of making a little cardboard house with a little door and window, but at that point was simply forgetting the aim of this project, and most importantly the purpose of it; a place I could meditate in. I was almost about to change my design and just focus on making a recycled pouch where I could sit and meditate on until my “AHA” moment happened.
I was walking at night, going back to my dorm and talking the same route I take every day. From nowhere, besides this small street shop, there were several cardboards aligned ready to be thrown out. As I approached it, the only man who was also grabbing cardboards asked me if I was sleeping on them that night, and honestly, that was a huge reminder of how fortunate I am to have a roof over my head. Having multiple cardboards and 2 rolls of industrial masking tape I started to join the pieces. I made sure that the height was enough for a person to sit or lay comfortably and everything came together naturally, creating a hexagonal volume until I was faced with the problem of “where could I buy enough cloth to cover all of my structure.” There was no cloth on blick nither staples and my friend (fashion major) that went to Brooklyn in order to buy some cloth said everything was too expensive. I ended up buying 2 sets of bedspreads at target and the colors that they had were perfect: light blue and ocean blue, it gave me a sense of peacefulness and were big enough to cover the inside and outside of my structure by using staples.
Conclusion
My experience in grading myself was a very thoughtful and contemplative activity, even a little bit uncomfortable as I had to face the question of “did I put my whole effort on it?” Nonetheless, the different categories of grading helped me see physically, on what things I am good at and on things that I have to work on. On the “Contemplative Practice,” I believe I exceed on the calmness, patience, and compassion I had on this project as I remained calm throughout adversities and was able to practice grounding and sensitivity for myself and for others when thinking about the design of my project. On the other hand, I could’ve been a little more focused on my planing and maybe design my space in a more structural and mathematical way, in order to make it more stable and durable. On the “Studio Habits Of Mind”, my skills on persistence, envision, listening, communicating, exploring and understanding the arts community were of high performance. This is because I spend a lot of time researching different types of designs in order to have a clear vision of my project and purpose. I improved my skills in listening and communicating when I presented my work and also while reflecting upon the works of my peers. Also, when trying to decide the composition of my design and noticing different points of view from my flatmates and my space and materiality teacher who was the person who taught me how to use a drill in order to create a thicker wire. On another note, I may have missed the research on the environment where I was going to place my structure, I planned it to go on top of the spare bed I have on my room, yet if my third roommate comes, it wouldn’t work on the floor because it doesn’t have a base, and by being made out of cardboard also limits the places where I could use it such as an outside environment.
For future assigments I would like to remain calm when faced with adversities and also start to plan with anticipation as I know I would get carried away on my research. I could also do a test of materials in order to make sure which material would suit my purpose the best. I would like to do some more research on the environment of where I would put future structures and also the context of the materials or shape of the design, to prevent any wrong appropriation and be aware of the different meanings my designs could convey to other people. I say this because I thought blue would transmit calmness to everyone, yet, on the presentation, I noticed how one of the simplest components of my work such as the color of the cloth could make people feel completely different being surrounded by blue, such such as fear (relating it with waves) or nostalgia.
Overall, I think this project helped me grow, the fact that this assignment was to make an object for ourselves, for me, worked as a constant reminder of how caring about myself is not a selfish action, I’ll pursue that mindset.
