As designers we have to work consciously not just keeping end users in mind, but also the various implications our project has on the environment. How sustainable are we being? The use of recyclable or natural materials is one way to go. While working on our 7 in 7 prototypes, how many of us bought new materials versus repurposing found objects? The High Line is an example of a repurposed…
Watching Crip Camp and the excerpt fom Examined Life has given me such a great insight on how the disabled are perceived by society (ableist mindset sees people with disabilities, and how this perception in turn affects the disabled. For example, in Examined Life, Sunaura Taylor talks about how people are usually uncomfortable when she picks up her coffee mug with her mouth. This is something she can do to…
Last week, I wrote my blog post right after my midterm presentation and said that I had a rough idea on which aspects I want to focus on during the 7 in 7 week. This isn’t true anymore. Though I’d be exploring some of what I had in mind, the past week has given me both time and opportunity to mull over, review and reflect on the feedback I got…
My research inquiry for Major Studio 1 is: I am studying how people interact with, and are influenced by, plants and foliage in their everyday lives in New York City, so that I can highlight the indispensable, dynamic relationship between the two. I am quite unsure as to what my final product or artifact is going to be. During the 7 in 7 week, I have a rough idea of which…
Who we learn with makes such a big impact on ‘what’ we learn. For example, in this class: Design for this Century Recitation, week after week we read the prescribed content individually, reflect on it (again individually) and come together to discuss our thoughts and opinions. At the end of every class, what we gain is not only from the readings, but we also absorb different perspectives and thoughts, a…
View my WIP manifesto here. These are my mindmaps that I used as the foundation for my manifesto.
The Creative and the Technical: In high school, I made the unconventional choice of studying the sciences with art. This nurtured my natural inclination for mathematics and science, and introduced me to traditional rendering skills with different media. In India, pure science and engineering are considered ‘professional’ streams while art and design are generally looked down upon. I was often asked how art would benefit me as a science student…
In Leverage Points, Donella Meadow clearly outlines and explains with a range of relatable examples what the 12 ways, in increasing order of effectiveness, are to intervene in a system. With reference to stocks or states of a particular system, she talks about the dynamic between the inflows (stock increasing) and outflows (stock reducing). She also mentions instances when it is easier, more important, and hence better off to physically…
In a world where all humans are increasingly dependent on machines to tell us what to do, where to go, how much to pay, and so on, it is time for us to pause and question the same machines that have begun to define our very existence. Who is behind the machine? How much do they know about me? To what extent am I being tracked? One of the creepiest…
Sturken and Cartwright’s Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture largely reminds of John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, a book that I read a few years ago. Berger’ talks about how seeing comes before words. This indicates how visual representations always have a greater claim over verbal or written representations. What is seen is usually put into words in an attempt to describe it, but during the process some…
