Week-1

An image I made before this semester

Week-2

Reflection on guest speaker’s presentations

I was intrigued by both of our guest speakers’ talks. The Design and Space talk by Jeongki Lim was very inspiring as I had never seen space from a designer’s perspective.
About the prompts, if I was to develop an entirely new societal and economic system, I would first research the pros and cons of existing ones, conduct surveys of large demographic groups, and then do a test run of the new system, exactly like user experience research. Lastly, I believe the role of a designer is to solve complex problems creatively and provide an easier way of living to people of different backgrounds and needs. Without proper research and analysis of the data, a design can never be complete.

 

Week-3

A photo of the sky

“Remember sundown and the giving away to night”

Walk to a Park – Union Square

Week-4/5

Sketch Affirmation

“Live every day to the fullest, don’t worry about what others will say.”

Week-6

Reflecting on Guest Presentations

Ulrich’s talk on psychogeometry and red lines opened up my eyes about the hidden and racist urban policies. I had no clue that my credit card application or housing loan could get rejected simply based on where I live. To answer Ulrich’s question, I would play a game of hide and seek on my journey to treasures or museums. I believe people with better network and resources will be able to hide better and have a higher chance of winning it.

To answer Anette’s question, watches take a place in my memory. Each watch is different as they are made up of different materials, some have different method of production, different styles, different occasions, and different movements. Watches often have a hidden definition and it also tells us about a person’s personality.

 

Week-7

Museum Visit – MoMA

 

Week-8

Art looking back at us

Listened to Drifting by Jimi Hendrix

 

Week-9

Museum Journey

Week-10

Reflecting on Guest Lecture

1) In New York you can see small shrubs and weeds growing on small patch of soil, flock of birds navigating through buildings, famous NYC rats going through everything, and insects in parks. We can see insects in soil, leaves, on some vegetables in farmers market, and I believe that even with so much human interference, nature can find its way through almost anything. These pockets of nature are inspiring as we can learn from their resilience and design objects which can solve complex problems.

 

2) I try to live like earth day is everyday. I switch off lights and appliances when they are not required, use sustainable and reusable materials. For earth day 2021, I will plant a sapling as I believe that sapling can grow into a tree and have a long-term impact.

 

Week-11

Finding a Spot to Interact with Spring – Central Park

https://www.google.com/maps?q=loc:40.7811,-73.9678

 

Week-12

Revisiting the Spot – Central Park

 

Reflection

• My knowledge of Urban Design and Landscape has increased thanks to this course and now whenever I’m walking in NYC, I look at things with different perspective.
• The most interesting and surprising talk of this course was Mark Randall’s beekeeping talk. It was interesting to see how Mark adopted this practice, made it into a business, and how beekeeping changed him as a designer.
• Again, Mark Randall’s beekeeping talk inspired me a lot as I never expected that an activity like beekeeping can have such impact.
• New York is an amazing city and I have been here before the pandemic. Things have changed a lot since and it was interesting to see how the city has changed. Throughout the course of this semester, the weather changed, clothing changed, people changed, museums changed, and things have started to open as more people are getting vaccinated. It was a breathtaking experience to be part of this change as I witnessed the rebirth of a city and an experience that I will never forget in my life.
• After this course, I plan to connect more with nature and the city.