Deep Dive or Dive Deep

"Fail often in order to succeed sooner..."

 

 

The video called Deep Dive about the design firm IDEO from ABC's Nightline television news broadcast was an inspirational video. I have briefly researched the philosophies of IDEO before watching this video and believe them to have unique and creative ways to solve design problems. I based the concept of my living/learning community on their problem-solving philosophies.

The things and structures that we design tell very specific stories about us, in the language of design, about the history of our time. Based on that understanding and IDEO's multidisciplinary approach to design problem-solving, they have grown beyond product design and space design into a firm that designs and implements ideas to solve global concerns.



International Studies Building

 

The concept for our design is globalism. The term “global” brings to mind many different expressions, such as global thinking, global learners, global experiences, and globalization. Globalism communicates the idea of embracing varied cultures and citizens from all over the world; it epitomizes the ideals of UNCG’s international programs. The concept of globalism also conjures images of the physical globe itself – particularly its spherical form and sloping contours.

When discussing the experience we wanted to create for international students at UNCG, we wanted to ensure that they felt like an integral part of the campus and part of the student body. The site location helps with that goal. Rather than being located on the far corner of campus, the site we are using for the new International Programs building is on the main, thriving thoroughfare of Spring Garden Street, near the entrance of campus. Pedestrian and bike traffic pass by throughout the day, as well as vehicular traffic entering campus from Aycock Ave.

After reviewing the Master Plan for UNCG’s campus, we decided to focus on integrating our building with the existing site. We wanted to leave the existing sloping topography intact as much as possible and to design in concert with the surrounding land. This has been highlighted in previous Master Plans as a goal of the overall campus design. We also wanted to create an active social area for students (international and non-international) to gather and spend time, even in the evening after business hours. This is another attempt to immerse international students in the college experience at UNCG by making it as easy and convenient as possible to socialize with other students.

Towards this goal of immersion, our design concepts incorporate two separate gathering spaces: one is a centralized courtyard with tables and chairs, and the second is a green roof where people can gather in a park-like setting. As well as using earth on the top of the structure to create an exterior event space, we also wanted our design to be surrounded by the earth to insulate it. We are aiming for our design to be as “green” as possible in hopes of meeting the college’s goal for all new buildings of achieving LEED Silver certification.

 

During our design process we have made multiple “sketch models” in order to explore various forms for the structure. Because of the limited size of the site, we decided it would be best to include all the international services in one building, rather than connecting separate adjacent buildings. We have discussed various ways to incorporate natural light into our design – primarily by having a façade largely composed of glass, which is in line with the architectural style of the surrounding buildings. Also in line with existing architecture is our decision to use brick as a predominant construction material.

While we want our building to incorporate stylistic elements that  already exist on campus, we also want it to have a distinctive appearance that distinguishes it from the traditional form of institutional buildings (tall and rectangular with a traditional and formal exterior). Towards this end, we are focusing on design forms that are low to the ground and which incorporate dramatically curving surfaces. Equally important to this design are the voids that help to reinforce the idea of a spherical form which reinforces the idea of a globe.

 

 

http://www.greenhijabi.com/?tag=earth

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Healing-Haven/101991839870052

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 



LLC at The Province-Concept Development

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The parti for my design of the living/learning community at The Province shows circles in varying sizes and straight lines in varying widths and lengths. The colors shown on the parti are representative of the color scheme I intend to use in my design. One element of living that I believe is an integral part of learning and community is  maintaining open, fun, public spaces, so I wanted to be sure to incorporate those in my design. Being pragmatic, however, I am sensitive to designing the space to include secluded, private spaces as well. In an attempt to provide an open floor plan while maintaining private areas such as bathrooms and bedrooms, I chose to use sliding doors throughout the apartment instead of having door swings that interfere with the flow of the room. In fact, there are only two door swings in the whole apartment, at the front door and for a narrow closet. My design morphed to include more scaled circles, and continuing the circularity of the forms, columnar elements. For  example, I chose two columns of appliances and storage for the kitchen instead of a traditional kitchen layout. I also opted to use circular sliding doors to separate the bedrooms from the rest of the apartment that,when closed, add another layer of column-like detail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sliding Doors
 

 

 



 

Program Plan for Living/Learning Community at The Province

 

 

 

 

This is the first programming document that I have ever put together, as such, I realize that mine is a paired down version of a professional document. I approached the document by first coming up with a concept for the LLC. I prepared a statement, including purpose and goals, about the LLC and built the rest of the program plan around my initial idea of the type of LLC of which my space is a part. I then analyzed each room, its expected level of privacy, and required functionality vs desired amenities. I then considered the activities that occur within each room and, based on the activities study and amenities study, developed a furniture plan. I produced an adjacency matrix from which I developed a bubble diagram of the space. The programming document helped me to really consider the activities that take place in each room of a dwelling.

 

 

 

 

 

Living Room Research

 

 

 

 

In preparation for a future assignment, our class was divided into groups and each was assigned a domestic space contained within a typical home. Each group researched their space and wrote about their findings. My group consisted of Beth Lowder and myself and our space was the living room.

 

 

Beth and I approached this assignment by researching the history of the living room. We discovered that the activities common to the living room changed cyclically throughout history, but it always maintained its importance within the home.In our research we noticed how important the fireplace (hearth) was to the home. We discussed how interesting it is that, even in climates where they are unnecessary, many homes still maintain a fireplace. We also how the kitchen could be considered the modern hearth in an interior space in which the kitchen and living room are in an open floor plan.

 

 

Beth and I compiled our information and illustrated our points with many historical images. This exercise broadened my ideas about what a living room is and the psychological aspects of it that we still carry today.

 

 



Cultural Self-Portrait

 

 

 

 

To start this semester, our studio class was  assigned a cultural self-portrait. We were encouraged to research our family history and interpret it in our self-portrait. The end result was an introspective look at how the people and events of our family history shape our view of the world. I am fortunate to have a great deal of information about my family history, as many people in my family have intense interests in genealogy.

 

 

I chose to create a three-dimensional self-portrait that addresses my past and the things that created the person I am, and embraces my future and the people I will help to shape. I also acknowledged my family's strong English background,as well as my German ancestry that culminated in the long-standing place my family has in South Carolina history.


My three-dimensional self-portrait is a shadow exploration,created by cutting paper and strategically layering it to reveal my face. Behind my shadow portrait are pictures of my family and ancestors, showing the people who came before me. In front of my self-portrait are layered pictures of my children, representing family continuum.The entire portrait is attached to a base that has copies of paintings of ancestral homes in Charleston, SC and a copy of an excerpt from my great-great-great-grandmother's diary.


When I completed my cultural self-portrait I analyzed it to see if I could discern my general design aesthetic from both its content and its presentation, and I concluded that I could. In terms of design and based on my cultural self-portrait, I concluded that my design aesthetic is edgy traditional that is deeply rooted in history.


 

 

 

 

 

 

The Future of Modern Living

 

 

 

The purposes of human interior spaces have changed throughout history depending on our perception of the expected functionality of a space and the intended message of what we communicate through our homes' interiors. The performance we expect from our home interiors is cyclical and we think we discover a new way of thinking about home interiors, only to realize that our new revelation has been discovered and discarded many times in the past.With the idea of the cyclicality of how we use our homes, it is nearly impossible to define a singular direction in which modern living will develop and change in the next twenty years.

 

However, as land and other resources become more scarce and there is a continued movement toward resource conservation, a direction in which modern living will develop is interior spaces becoming more multi-functional which will force innovations in space utilization and materials. I also see that there is the potential for modern living spaces to become more colloquial as designers and builders choose sustainable, regional materials that could lead to the development of very specific and varied architectural vernaculars. Additionally, technology will play a huge role in the development of technical materials that will help reduce our consumption of natural resources.

 

As with the first human-constructed structure, architects and designers have begun to base their designs around available, regional resources and have begun to more closely consider organic, natural systems in their designs in an attempt at creating a more balanced and sustainable way of connecting a homes' inhabitants to their surroundings.