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.

Final Presentation Reflection

There were several things I learned before, during, and after the presentation of our final project. One thing specifically is preparation. I am usually nervous when I present and end up stumbling over my words. This time, I wasn’t nervous and felt like I could communicate my thoughts to the audience well. I think a lot of it has to do with the way I prepared. I thought about what I wanted to say prior to the day I presented. I didn’t want to make a script that I could read off of. But rather have some guidelines in my head of points I wanted to make. This helped me a lot because I knew what I wanted to say next, instead of thinking on my feet completely. Another thing I did was spend a lot of time constructing my board prior to the presentation. I felt very confident in my design, as well as my board. I am also in love with my design! I think this definitely helps make a successful presentation – loving the design you present. I was really excited to share my design with everyone. Of course, I do think I can still improve on my communication skills.

Aside from myself, I also learned from other students’ presentations. One thing I learned is that it’s extremely noticeable when people don’t put time and effort in their projects. It shows when they aren’t prepared and looks unprofessional. On a positive note, it also shows when people put everything into their project. While it may take long nights at the studio, it definitely pays off on the final product. Another thing I learned is that speech and communication can make or break a presentation. I think it really helps to have your friends smile at you to help break the ice once you get up to present. Another thing that goes along with being prepared is the set up and layout of the boards. Good organization and the ability to tell a story through the layout is a necessity. People may not be able to make the presentation and just look at your board at a later time. It is important for it to be easily understood by anyone.

Versatile Movement - Final Design for Artist Studio

This is my final designs for the artist studio we had to design. The artist I chose is Joanna Eberts, a student at Rochester Institute of Technology. She does all sorts of art but focuses on illustration. The versatility that she has in her art style inspired me to create my final design around the concept of versatility. I incorporated a strong use of sliding glass panels that I had used in my original thoughts and designs. Because Joanna has such a broad style, using bright colors as well as gray scale in her artwork, I used this as inspiration for my color palette - shades of gray with a green accent color. The space is able to be completely opened up to circulate around the central port of the space - the bathroom. The bathroom walls are the only interior walls in the space. When the sliding glass doors are "closed" the space suddenly becomes more private because the glass is frosted to make it translucent and not completely see thru. I originally designed the sleeping area then modified it slightly after seeing Monticello and Thomas Jefferson's bed. It is designed so that the user can get out of bed on either side depending on what they want to do - slide the doors open on the left to enter the studio, or get out of bed on the right to go to the living, kitchen, or bathroom. The private entrance that I added is located in the bedroom, and is an exterior door.

This is my final board on presentation day.

My final model of the space, structurally.

Hand rendered perspective of lounge looking towards the studio, bathroom and exterior door.
Hand perspective of kitchen and lounge
Hand perspective from lounge looking towards the bathroom and studio through the glass panels
Sketchup perspective from studio looking towards bedroom and kitchen
Sketchup perspective from bedroom looking into studio with sliding doors open and view of ceiling installation

Sketchup perspective from exterior door/bedroom looking towards kitchen
Floor plan of proposed space

Materials: Stone flooring, and bamboo wood for ceiling installation
Precedent images

Me feeling great after presenting!

Artist Loft Process

For this project, we got assigned a space within the Gatewood Studio Arts Building to design an artist loft using the structure of that space. The idea was to include a studio space, sleeping area, kitchen and bathroom for a visiting artist for a period of time. I was given the administrative office as my space to design.

These are drawings of the original space.

Original Floorplan

North Elevation

East Elevation

South Elevation

West Elevation

While researching inspiration, I found some images and designs that really motivated me and got me excited for this project.

David Hotson - Soho Loft

Tang Kawasaki Studio - Morgan Residence

Nandinee Phookan Architects - 217 West 19th Street

I knew I wanted to incorporate sliding glass panels as a main part of my design. I have always thought of myself as a minimalist when it comes to design, so what is more minimalist than translucent glass panels being the key concept in a design?!

These are some of the original perspectives that I had drawn out during my process of designing the space.

Original model that I made.

Vertical Moments of Light

Assignment: In the window space assigned, create 2 moments of light defined space with the material provided (cardboard) and no more than 2 other materials. The system can only use friction to stay in place, and no adhesives. The composition must also relate the the surrounding compositions.

I chose to make a close relation with the windows close to mine. My window is the upper left window in the picture. As a group, we each gave ideas and thoughts about what we would make. We decided to created boxes out of cardboard to make our effect. We lined up the boxes like a puzzle but left some negative space to let light in a make shadows. The boxes also stick out at different depths which helped the light patterns. The light makes different effects depending on the way it is looked at. When looked at from the side, you can see light coming in and casting shadows on the sides of the boxes only, not the negative space. From the front, you mainly see the negative space and the pops of light randomly placed. The light coming from the inside of the building also plays a role by making shadows on the boxes. One other effect I noticed was the effect the sunset had on the cardboard. It let off an orange light that shines through and onto the front panels of the boxes in places.

Ritual

The assignment was to choose a ritualistic object and create two accessories to go with the object. All three objects and their relationships were to be a part of the creation and performance of the ritual.

I chose my ring as my object and protecting it as the ritual. I wanted to create something that would allow me to keep the ring protected and not lost at all times. I created an object that was either one or two depending on where I was. I made, out of wood, a cube-like structure (inspired by a ring box) and a small pouch out of felt fabric that can be removed from the wooden box. If i was at home - not wearing the ring - the box would be a display for the ring. This is a place where I could always keep my ring and know where it is. When i leave to go out, i can remove the pouch and place it in my purse or bag. If i would need to take my ring off while in public for any reason, I could safely put my ring in it and pull the drawstring so it is safe and won't get lost in my bag.

Throughout this project, I learned how truly important it is to form relationships with objects. This is what i found made my project successful - considering all materials and objects involved and creating a relationship between them.