Studio 2: Bridge 5 – Inspirational Toolkit

Questions:

 

Think about your audience — we are the community of learners and each or us is co-responsible for our individual and group learning process. What would you like to share with others?

This class is a means to explore how we as designers impact the space around us, and what are role is when it comes to designing this space. It gave me a horde of knowledge about what it means to design said spaces, and how public spaces specifically impact a community and what a designers role is with regards to it. Constructing 3D models of these spaces and developing successful 2D interactive infographics and maps is a skill that is developed through this class. Being able to identify problems in existing systems, and redesigning them to reach efficiency is one of the core concepts I learnt through this class.

 

Think about connections and crossing paths: how can your diverse inspirations be put in dialogue? What are the main themes present in your kit? What are possible directions to explore?

The main theme in my kit is understanding the concept public spaces and how they impact a community, with a focus on how these public spaces impact the community’s economy. One aspect that I’ve explored is how tourism impacts the community, and how it can be made efficient so that it benefits the local and the environment. Often locals don’t see any benefits from tourism because of ‘tourism leakage’ so a possible dialogue to explore is how designers can help redirect the flow of income back to the locals.

 

Think about the notion of “constructed environments”: what is your take on this notion?

I think a constructed environment is any man-made space. It can be an actual physical space, or a conceptual metaphorical one. For example, a constructed physical environment can be something as a big as a city, to something as tiny as the setting of a desk; while a conceptual metaphorical environment can be our clothing to abstract ideas like social constructs like our notions of beauty. These environments are created by conscious and sub-conscious thought, and are products of a lot of deliberation.

 

Think about the nearest future: what is it that you have learned and how are you planning to use your skills/knowledge acquired?

I learned a lot about various research methods when answering a research question. One method that particularly resonated with me was ethnographic research. I conducted a lot of interviews, and inserted myself within the environment that I was exploring. This method of research was particularly enlightening and something that really deepened my understanding of the subject. This is a skill that I plan to use in the future.

 

Think about failures and mistakes: we all make them. How can we also learn from them?

One thing that I wasn’t very successful at was time management. A lot of the projects were done very last minute, and I didn’t get the chance to get feedback from the community on my paper like I wanted. This is something I can definitely improve on.

 

Think about good practices: what in your learning/working process was really effective and should become your habit?

Ethnographic research was really effective, and so was referring to scholarly articles. They broadened the scope of my research and made it more insightful. Furthermore, I prepared a lot of drafts before writing the actual paper. This was particularly helpful in producing a finished and polished paper, and something that should definitely be made a habit.

 

Be specific: what specifically are you better at? What specifically have you learned? Reflect on the starting point (January) and the end point (May). It is an important skill to be able to assess one’s progress.

At the beginning of the semester I was scared of making actual 3D models since I didn’t have a lot of experience with them. But with the first group bridge project, by the help of my teammates I was able to get over that fear, and they taught me how to construct such models. Furthermore, I wasn’t very skilled at writing such long research papers, but over the course of this semester, through different practise papers, I was able to successfully write one by May.

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