Autonomous: My Design Process

For a project we've had since the beginning of the semester, we had to somehow document out design process. I chose to document it professionally in the form of a book, rather than doing something that would take up more space that I couldn't easily carry around if i needed it for show.

A Step by Step Production

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A guide to my design and the steps I took to get there.

Exploration

This is the first step to my design process. Analyzing the assignment and getting out all my thoughts. I typically do this in my head and make little notes or bullet points like i showed here. When I get down all my thoughts, I can later edit them and take out the bad and keep the good. Also by doing this, I can really let my thoughts flow and transform. For this project, I knew I wanted to design some sort of hotel or residency. I started out with this and thinking about who might stay there and where it would be located. I eventually came up with the idea that I wanted to make a residency condominium with apartment space. This complex would be for young professionals in a big city.

Produce

In this step, I take a final idea I had from exploration and brainstorm it. I produce more ideas and expand them to further develop the topic of interest. I considered what the residents would need, as well as what they might want. They need things like work space, parking, laundry, and anything else a professional might need. They may want things for relaxation such as a pool, spa, gym, etc. and also a restaurant in the complex and maybe a rooftop deck and courtyard.

Organize

Next, I take my thoughts from produce and organize them by deciding what I definitely want to include in the space. Some of these are pool, spa, gym, outdoor space, roof space, restaurant, bar, conference/meeting area, and a coffee shop. Another thing I noted is my final decision to have the top floors be for the condos, a few middle floors for any apartments, and the bottom floor be for the public spaces.

Inspiration

Now that I knew what I wanted to do, it was time to do research and find inspiration. Here, I showed a few things that I specifically did research on, roof top decks and courtyards. I really liked the use of fire pits that are shown in both of these inspiration photos.

Experiment

This is one of the most important stages in my process. I like to draw thumbnails to transfer my ideas from words to drawings. Through this, I can experiment with my different ideas to see what works and what doesn't work. I experimented with what would happen if i put the pool on the roof as opposed to in the courtyard. And experimented with the same two spaces for the lounge and fire pit.

Edit

Next, I look at my thumbnails and decide what I liked and what worked for my design concept. I decided that the pool would be better on the roof because there is the most sunlight up there/ The courtyard would be best for the lounge and fire pit because the walls would not only block the wind from blowing out the fire, but also they would keep the warmth in. Having the lounge in the courtyard, it can be easily accessed by many different parts of the complex.

Present

My next step is to make a final showing of my idea. This can come in many formats - here, I showed it in perspective drawings of a few spaces. The space shown here would be the courtyard lounge. With warm colors and several fire pits to complete the look, this space is great for young professionals as a place to relax from a long day at work.

Here is the rooftop pool and bar. Another space that would be a great amenity for young professionals and focuses around the concept of relaxation. A rooftop space like this is unique and luxurious, especially with a full bar included.

This is a glimpse at the restaurant with a dance floor and stage.

Finally, the coffee shop which looks out into the courtyard with access so a resident can take their coffee and sit out by the fire pit.