Assignment 5 :Planning for the future

Activity A


Designing Schools For The Future!!


Introduction


To investigate the current issues in our education system, we first need to define the problem by looking at the common issues which arise in the existing environment. This can be done by observing, analysing and using different service tools and techniques such as ethnography to help identify and define common problems. It is my current role as a designer to research, articulate a clear and actionable proposal, and to help define information and deliverables needed to communicate research findings efficiently to the client.

Research methods

First of all I need to identify the people who can shed light on the question? This would be the students, teachers and staff of the school as they are the main subjects who will be interacting and are heavily involved in the environment. At the start of my process I shall take pictures to observe the school and the students and watch how they interact with their existing space.  I look at the relationship the students and staff have with the building and how they customise their current space to the way they circulate and work.  I will also be looking at what existing equipment is used to help the students learn and interact, and how they adapt that with their learning, taking into consideration how much light is sourced in the building. The pictures will also highlight the needs for the management of the school estate to reflect the values and principles of sustainable development. These pictures will be natural and informal looking at how the current students work is involved in the current community, observing how they get to school and what natural habitats are living locally. Is the school the building or the site? The community neighbourhood or the town? Is it scale define or scale free?  Does it make use of the best resources from the whole place it serves?  Does it exploit a wide range of experiences and subjects in different environments? Whether it be in different classes or environments surrounding the school, covering a range of all ages and staff. Even considering how the local community whether it be shops, libraries or surroundings (if any) communicate and engage with the children.

Mind mapping

Throughout the process I shall takes notes, videos, audios and sketches to help me understand how the students interact with the current school and environment surrounding it. 

Brain storming

The next step would be to find out what the students and teachers want in their future school design. With evidence gathered from beyond casual observation, I will look into detail at how the subjects connect with the existing space by brainstorming or mind mapping the different areas and topics which arise from my first findings.  I will also look at different things I as a designer will want to explore by producing a semi- structural questionnaire to follow as a plan, but deviations can occur to follow up interesting comments in more detail. A range of people within the existing school will be questioned, including teachers from different departments, pupils of all ages and parents. I will record and interview these people to gain a holistic approach. Furthermore I shall hold focus groups in which I will collaborate my subjects by placing them in mixed groups. I will use many different approaches of design tools to turn my original interviews from passive conversation to an active situation.  Through this process I shall encourage the groups to co-design and engage with each other as well as use instruments to communicate, be creative and share insights of their own ideas. The instruments they will use be things such as writing, mind maps, story boards, drawings, sketches and mood boards.  By imagining what might be by previewing the service solution, it makes the future feature more tangible by translating them in visual interpretations or representations as it is important to get staff to share their ideas and get involved as early as possible in the design process.

There has been a new design tool introduced by the Architecture and design Scotland called Spark.  It is a web resource which allows pupils, parents and anyone else who is interested in improving schools to have the opportunity to explore other new school designs and communicate their ideas.  This new tool uses images, videos and downloads, where people can access many interesting examples of recent schools of the future. Spark allows users to create a scrapbook of the different elements of the schools that they like.  This scrap book can then be shared with others in a variety of ways, giving people the opportunity to evolve and communicate their ideas towards the sort of future school designs they would like to see.

spark shows examples of new schools

Before getting to the costly development of a new or improved service, fidelity models are used to prototype and test and ideas quickly and cheaply.  The tools used for service prop typing can go in the direction of mainly evocative simulations, but also give a very realistic description by evolving some of the students ideas and making rough prototypes to answer some of the problems that may arise.  This may involve a group of people in role play, making mock ups of the system, acting out scenarios with hand sketched scenes or may be a case where you design touch points for how a new service might look.
  
I will finally go back to the Ethnology, which highlights the differences in what people perceive is done and what they actually do.  This is carried out by observing what people do as well as listen to what they say.  We learn more about their choices and how they perceive and filter their own actions, and as a result we create environments with peoples real emotions and interactions. With the insights that are generated through ethnologic research and involvement of the whole school organization, our information and visual analysis as a designer can be used to communicate the value of the work and show the possibilities it holds for creating something wonderful. Information that is presented in a visually and compelling way is more likely to be intrigued, inspired and engaged. The use of ethnology and knowledge as a designer can have the ability to make others see and believe. 




Activity B


5 book in which i will read over the summer are 


1.Dr K Fishers pedagogy in space


2. semiotics ( can't remember the title or author my boyfriend has it, but will post it up when i find out)


3. Ethnology: the fundament ethnical problems, the primary ethical groups A.H. Kene


4. Visual communication: from theory to practise by Jonathan Baldwin ( 'hurry on 4 left in stock' amazon

5. Understanding aesthetics ( can't remember the author my boyfriend has it )








5 things i will do to my blog are


1. Change the layout to make it easier to read


2. Write more about my subject and set out a portfolio 


3. Make time even if it's just 15 min to write about things i find that are relevant to my course or design studies.


4. Look into my proposal and think about it more, how can i develop it further or improve it?


5. change the structure and update my personal information, also connect with out followers a lot more.








 5 people i will connect with over summer


1. My friends dad who is a successfull architect.


2  Email design companies for placements.


3. I shall contact other universities for a an exchange in semester 2 next year.


4.  Twitter people from the university to ask what their course involves


5. Twitter  the exectutive for education, to progress my findings for my proposal. 

Interviews but not as we know them

In assignment 4 we had to interview four different people and ask them a question in which we had picked from the selection given.  The question i picked was what object do people treasure the most and why? So wanted to do was ask different people from different backgrounds and whom work in different worlds to find out all the different answers that they come up with.

soo first i brainstormed the question to find out the different ares the topic covers and different thing i wanted to find out.


The first person I interviewed was called Steven Woodhead a 23 year old student
Is a distant acquaintance i know through friends whom i have probably spoke to three times briefly at parties.

Me:What item do you own and most treasure?
Woody: My study bible

Me: Why?
Woody: It brings me lots of joy from memories of when i used to use it. ( i am not a christian)

Me:What does your study bible contain?
Woody: Messages from people in which i loved who wrote to me including my first love.

Me:Do you still yous your diary?
Woody: No i am not a christian.

soo i asked questions as  i was slightly confused is to what his study bible it was?

Me: Sorry can u explain to me what exactly the study bible is, i am slightly confused is it a study book which u wrote messages in the blank pages or a diary in which u kept?
Woody: No just study tips and and explainations from passages in the bible, the blank pages in the front and back have the messages on them.
It was an SU camp, scripture union, A christian camp in which we got to do lots of activities and learn about stuff in the bible. i met my first love at the camp, we got liking each other and she wrote messages to me.

Me: Awe i understand now, i used to go to christian camp, loved it

Then we started to discuss and compare all the different activities each of us took part in at the camp. Water slides and classes we used to attend.

Me; where do you keep your diary currently?
Woody: I still have it displayed in my room with the letters tucked into it. which i sometimes still look at.

Me: was it the experience and memories that the diary hold that u like to reflect on and treasure?
Woody: Yeah it was a happy time in my life when i had no cares and pressures that i have now.
Woody: Oh i never even thought of my camera, the first thing must have been more important to me.


To summarise woody's most treasurable thing was a diary which held lots of memories and notes from the people that he loved.  It was the memories he treasured in the diary the most and the diary was just held them together. Also the fact that that was a happy time in his life and it seemed to enjoy telling about activities he done when taking part in the camp. He also mentioned that he still has it displayed on his wall, which is interesting as it shows that that time in is life was a time which held a major influence over him.
 What was strange was that i also went to Christian camp and after much discussion we found out we went to the same camps when we were younger. To explain camp was a great way to meet people especially people who were religious like ourself at the time. ( not now) You got to meet people from different background and were into the same believes as you. You would go away for period of around 3 weeks and take part in lots of different fun activities, mainly outdoor sports and sing lots. As we spoke it reminded me of that time and i also agreed that it was a great influence in my life and a enjoyable  memorable time. He mentioned his first love a lot as she was the one he had most letter from, but agreed it was more the time and memories in which he held at that time which ment the most to him.

Also the fact that he thought of his camera after the interview was interesting as i know he does photography and his camera is something that means a lot to him. ( just from fb as he has a lot of his work displayed on it.



The second person i interviewed was Vanya Zaczek a 33 year old Carrier advisor from Dundee

Me:What item do you own and most treasure?
Vanya: My photos

Me: Why are these picture treasurable to you?
Vanya: they hold and treasure my memories.

Me: What do your pictures contain?
Vanya: Pictures of my friends and family and memories of the different times in my life we spent together.

Me: where do you keep your pictures?
Vanya: some are displayed on my walls at home and others on my facebook.

Me; Do you still look at the pictures?
Vanya: yeah they bring me joy from the memories i cherish.

Me: so are you a very family oriented person?
Vanya: Yeah family and friends mean a lot to me and i like to spend lot's of time with them.

Me: Is it the Different times and memories that the pictures hold that you reflect on and treasure?
VAnya: Yeah most of my pictures contain memories, past and present of our happy times that we have spent together.


To summaries Vanya is a very family orinated person, much like woody it is the memories from times that she treasured from people whom she loves and obviously hold major influence in her life.  She also mentioned that she still has them displayed on her walls at home or on facebook, which she can look at and reflect back on.


The Third person i am going to interview is Christopher grub a 31 year old gaming student from Fife.

 Me:what item do you most treasure in your life?
 Chris: My Xbox

Me: why do you treasure your x box the most?
Chris: Because it is interactive and immersion. its a changing path that you find time goes by without you knowing it. You could be sitting on it for hours  and feel it only be 5 mins, time goes bye without you knowing it. in achieving goals puzzles and affective outcome also in controlling the situation.

Me: What type of games does your x box contain?
Chris: Grand Theft Auto, lots of games involving theft guns and blowing up people

Me:Do you currently use it and if so how often?
Chris: yeah at weekends

Me:Where is it situated?
Chris: In the living room

Me: Is it because it is a thing that you can use to escape from?
Chris: yeah it is something u can use to escape from everyday life, much like reading a book or watching movie it puts you in a different place. Also it is the social aspect of it when playing with friends.

To summarise Christopher's treasured possession is more materialistic object that a memory. He mentions that it is like immersion, the state of consciousness where an awareness of physical self is diminished being engrossed in the environment the game provides.  He also described it as being like a movie or reading a book, but the difference is he is controlling the situation.
In difference to the first two people i interviewed who's where something that held memories from the past Christopher's treasured possession  was an amens to an end rather than and end to an end, is was something in which he still engages with and uses it currently as a tool to do 'something and 'achieve goals'.

Deja Vu

The German sculpture Manfred Pernice a solo exhibitionist is coming to Dundee over the weekend with his typically 'unmonumental' work that has been described to look at lot like architecture!  He likes to reflect on the relationship between human stories of place and time. The venue it the exhibition will be held in will be the DCA.
Just something i found as i read through the skinny should be interesting
i recon it may be a date :)

Design Safari

Last week me and a few of my classmates went to London for 4 days to attend an event called Ecobuild http://www.ecobuild.co.uk/.  It is an exhibition that happens every year which gives businesses and company's the chance to advertise their new developed products which relate to sustainable design.  This was a great opportunity for us as interior design students to find out and have a better understanding of what products would fit in best for our design.

For assignment 3c This trip was a perfect opportunity to use as our primary site, a place where we were unfamiliar with and therefore felt uncomfortable in.  The London underground, the line which we travelled the most was DLR. This was mainly a lot of business people traveled on this line, this made you feel kind of out of depth, as i looked closely no one really communicated with each other, people didn't even look in your general direction, it seemed everyone was living in their own bubble and all that was going through their  mind is what they had to do that day or anything work related.

If u observe the picture everyone is either reading the paper or keeping themselves quite reserved. Everyone seems in such a rush and runs everywhere even tho the trains run every 2 Min's.  First of all you felt slightly lost as you were not sure where u were going and had to work it out on the map ( example above) where as everyone else seemed like they knew exactly where they were going and second of all you felt slightly different as everyone was dressed in formal wear, the colours worn were mostly grey, black or white, we were near enough the only ones dressed in casual clothes.
It made us feel slightly intimidated and maybe an armature to in their world, maybe even that u are getting in the their road.  A lot of questions run through your head at the time. Do i stand or sit? it may get busy and it may be hard to get off.  What do i do if i can't reach the rail to steady myself? How do you get across extremely busy carriages when the doors open on the other side of where you are currently standing. Do you apologises if you brush against someone? it is harder than is looks!!

refresh my attitude

Today is Friday and we had our usual design studies lecture at 10.00am as we do every Friday morning, but today's was different. A girl called Lauren Currie  AKA ( red jotter) gave us a chat on how she communicated and created a service design through the public voice to assist social and culture change.

As much i love Johnathan Baldwins lectures i felt myself being totally engaged in what she had to say.  what she was saying in comparising to the tasks that we are given make total sense.  As much as i enjoy the tasks i felt before that they were not really relevant to what i am currently studying, which is interior design.    

But Lauren made me realise that i need to make my ides more open and get involve in different things.  As what i study doesn't just involve designing a space, it is about relating to peoples needs and wants and listening to them.  

'it is not how well you can draw it is about how well you can communicate your message'

as Visualisation is a powerful way to communicate to people.

Before i felt myself slightly lazy on and didn't really blog as much as i should, and was also aware of this.  Today i have decided that things will change. Today i am going to start communicating through my blog and the connection that i have.  I shall talk more about the stuff that i am involved in and projects i am working on. Document everything and be more organised, so that i can find things.  

As i looked around i noticed something extraordinary.  As i felt myself engaged in Lauren's lecture i noticed everyone else was, people were writing constantly, more people were asking questions and at the end she was given large all rounder of an applause.   

So the first thing i have did when i left the lecture was buy a new diary, one that i can write in, not just to keep my life organised but to reflect on my day to day experiences. 

Assignment 2: what image means                                                                 

                                                                                  

These three images were the images carefully selected by the group. After thought i would pos them up of Facebook as there are not many people i really know on Facebook or speak to often, i left a comment below if anyone would be able to look as these three images and tell me what they think is going on in them. I never placed them in any particular order and just let the power of social networking commence.
To my suprise many people got involved. I found that different people showed different results. Some people would group the 3 images together, and give a story or some deep meaning behind them, other would tell a story for each image where as some people just simply said one phrase to connect the pictures together.  Here are some of the examples i was given.

 'As time passed and the days became shorter, the oranges, reds and copper reminisent of autumn slowly gave way to the icy chill of winter air and the bleakness of the snow that now covered everything in its path.'

Colder and colder, the little leaf started to curl and wriggle, such a strange sensation! How much longer should he lay upon the fluffy hills? Hours, days, perhaps even weeks would go by, how long had it been already? Then, laughter as he saw shapes moving towards him. "oh what a beautiful leaf" he heard them say! Soon he was scooped up into a warm gloved hand, oh it was so warm and toasty! "Lets frame it and put it above the fireplace" Ah, forever warm and forever red, thought the little red leaf! He knew now more than ever, that this time, it really was going to be okay...

 had started to snow, and it hadnt stopped for ours. The snow covered the brutal land with beautiful twinkling powder, softening the jagged sticks sticking up from its hilly pores. With each flake the landscape became a little more welcoming. I stared through the glass and sighed, and reached for my dads old coat.

The little leaf had heard of this fluffy white powder that coated the land ever so gently but never in its whole life had it seen such grace! It had clung on and turned into a beautiful fire red leaf, but the little leaf was loosing its grip. Redder and redder did he get, more and more did the wind howl. Then... weightlessness, drifing, ever so gently did he dance and ever so gently did it land on the sparkly, fluffy powder, OH it was cold!

he leaf clung on for dear life, hoping and praying that the harsh winter wind wouldnt claim it. Tighter and tighter, it clung ever so fierce to the barren branches. Then, as the wind settled, the little leaf turned golden red. The little leaf let out an ever so contented sigh - it was going to be okay

.

TIME LEAVES FOOTPRINTS....

Most people spoke about time moving on and a brief insight to the seasons. so we thought as a group we would play on this and a add a picture of a sunset and the word four. Here is what we came up with.

Old age and death

clocks- times running out in life

snow - long lonely road

leaves- new chapter

water - peace

Clocks-Racing against time
Leaves -Warmth
Snow - What lies ahead?
Beach - Tranquility

four seasons

Changes in time

                                                                                                  live life before your time runs out and it's too late

                                                                          timing is everything

                                                                                                   Time out

                                                                                                   four seasons

i noticed the majority of people mentioned the four seasons, or something to do with time moving on. also i noticed the older people would speak about running out of time, which is mabey something they are reflecting on themselves.

An alternative to walls

Soo currently we have been given a new project for this semester and the brief wasto design an urban hub for a company Called SEPA. The ideas i have came up with are Earth, fire, water and wind, the natural four elements of the world

I found a quote here

'' The four elements are the building bricks of the universe. many believe that they are also part of basic structures themselves'

In my design i shall relate everything  to these natural elements including materials.
Soo i was thinking what can i relate to air and came across this interesting sculpture called a Hypoosurface wall. Hyposurface has come up with a wall that can react to sound and movement as well as spell out words, make pictures etc

not sure if it is very sustainable, but pretty cool none the less.

You are what you wear/ buy/ sit on/ sleep on and talk to!!!

So in this assignment we were assigned  a partner, someone who we didn't know from our lectures, someone from another course and who we probably have never spoke to.  We both had to exchange pictures of growing up recent pictures and older pictures, without discussing anything about the pictures. Furthermore we had to study and analyse them, make a judgement on what interests they have, tastes and may be influences in their life's from the pictures given.

I was assignment  to a boy who studies graphic design called Gavin Borthwick and here are the pictures he gave me

From this this is what i came up with!!

Taste:
Gavin looks quite athletic due to his build, This suggest he likes to keep himself fit and healthy by attending the gym and eating well. It also appears from some of the pictures that he enjoys to participate and interested in a variety of different sports as in one pictures looks like he is playing rugby this picture he chose to show also may mean he plays it often and is a passion of his.
His favourite colour may be blue or red as items of clothing seemed to appear in a lot of his pictures-excluding the school uniform.

I recon he is a bit of a lads lad enjoys time with friends and is quite outgoing, mabey a bit of a womaniser due to the fact he has some pictures of woman in their underwear right across from his bed, and above his study desk placed at eye level. ( then again what young lads dn't have pics of women)

Influences: Due to the fact i have assumed he plays rugby i recon influences in his life may be people like Johhny Wilkinson or Richie Veron but thats just an assumption
There seem to be a couple of pictures of him and his brother ,which suggest they have a close relationship.

Also situated directly above his bed there is a flag shaped Banner with the New jersey nets basket ball team and below, The Dallas cowboys an American football Team.
This is on vocal point as you directly walk into the room which suggests it is major influence to in his life.

Posessions: His dress sense seems too be quite casual but sporty when younger, but as he has gotten older he has developed his own style ( liking the tartan scarf ) He likes to show of his physic and is mabey a little bit of a poser with his tight t shirts and prob owns a few in many different colours, overall not a bad thing just likes to take pride in his apperance.


Environment: Due to the minimal design in the space in his room it appears he lives away from home, in student Accommodation. Generally a tidy space with not much colour, adding his own personal touches with the posters and influences in his life which he personalises the space with. His desk is slightly messy, with things scattered, but this does not necessary make him an unorganised person, but the many different items suggest he focuses on different things at the same time ( if that makes sense)

After this we met up and exchange thoughts on our analysis, apparently i was pretty much accurate other than the fact that the American football team was an influence in his life as it was a banner only for show, which i found rather strange!! may be it was just a gift from someone who means something to him i never thought to ask at the time.
He also laughed ta the fact i said he was may be a bit of a womaniser and poser, but openly admitted it


Soo here are an example the picture i sent Gavin!!

and this is what he came up with 

Definate party and social animal!

Loves to interact with people even from an early age.
A very family orientated person as it looks like your having a great time baking with your sister or other family member.
The Image of you and your friends sitting down watching tv, shows that you perhaps enjoy a socialising pre drink before going out in town or suchlike.

I assume you enjoy to travel as one of your photos looks like a summer trip in another country.
Certainly loves to dance (especially in the pole picture haha). I get the impression that when your either sober or have a drink in you, you still like to let loose and have a great time.
Your old school photo continuous my perception that you love to socialise and take care in friends.
I also feel that you are not quiet and shy. Your interaction with classmates identify you enjoy team building and are not afraid to take lead.

Dramatic changes in your hair colour shows you have a good style and definitely not afraid of any dynamic style changes.
Your dress sense has changed from your younger photos to the more recent ones. The plain coloured clothes from your childhood photo has a contrasting image to your recent, more adventurous and trendy clothing. Your trilby hat strengthens my point too.

Most of it was Near abouts right but i feel i could have mabey sent him some better pictures about things that influence me and my activities and interests and he said he struggled from the material i gave him.  The only thing that he said that wasn't at all right was that the i may have been some sort of class captain or leader in a group at school, which i dn't recall that i was, altho i am a very well known person at home and know a lot of people.  You could mabey even say i was a connector.  Also he assumed the girl was my sister, but in fact i am an only child and she is my little cousin, but we are very close.

I really enjoyed this assignment it was something different and good to exchange and reflect on what they other person said about you. I also tried to reflect back on the book snoop and look beyond what was in front of me.