Simple but Functional

Eden Pilbrow

[eden-rosebct]

Updates

The central concept now is based around story-telling, nostalgia and vulnerability. The goal is to start conversations about people that we miss. Through this using the spaces as an emotional cue to reflect. 

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.”-Brene Brown

To do this we plan to collect stories and illustrations. Not only from the anonymous public but from ourselves and our peers as well. The idea is to think of someone you miss and draw out a space/ floor plan to represent the space that person existed in. 

We propose to do this through the distribution and collection of postcards. These postcards will provide a curated data response. Due to challenges from our previous project we established a system to collect raw data that would be more useful for us to interpret and share. 

For this first data collection, we wanted to restrict the type of response we received so as to streamline the creation process. By using the nets and limited lines for writing, this formally restricted people into only including the essentials. We then went on to hand out and collect postcards from Uni peers, Friends, Parents, Lecturers etc. The more diverse stories the better. 

Using Fusion 360 we modeled the current rooms based off the floor plans into models. From here we exported the outlines of the room as a North East isometric view PDF. This was then converted into illustrator and coloured using our scheme of purple and orange. Fusion 360 also allowed us to create the nets for the laser cutter to make the physical models. In partnership with the laser labs technician we were able to adjust the Kerf/ tolerance of the laser. This eliminated the use for glue and proceedingly provides a more efficient construction. 

Ordering NFC tags and sensors our plan is to create a screen based interactive story sharing experience. 

Our plan is to create physical models of the collected rooms and use them as a direct feedback to the user. With this in mind our goal is to collect, model and transcribe at least 50 stories. From here using the sensors, and playing around with the idea of an immediate responsive installation. 

Though plans may change, our main goal is to collect and share stories about the people we miss and the spaces they existed in. 

Possible Directions

As for the direction we want to go in with this data, we have discussed creating a public interactive installation. This is inspired by Joseph Michael’s Auckland Live brief and will involve one of the screens in either the engineering building or Aotea Square. The installation will utilise tactile interaction (with the models) and a reactive screen-based aspect.

The rooms will be distributed around the public area and people are encouraged to bring the models up to a platform in front of the screen. When placed on the platform, the corresponding model will show up on the screen and be able to be interacted with. This, we believe, will be an effective method of sharing the stories we collect and provoking thought about the people we miss. 

We believe this tactile approach will be advantageous as we noted that all of our past testers immediately wanted to play with and take apart the models. Hence, the tactile response is important to the interaction. 

For this interaction, we are prototyping NFC tag reading to distinguish the different rooms- linking the stories with the models. 

Feedback plan

As our narrative is a universal one; the feelings surrounding loss and nostalgia, our audience is the general public. We also want to explore the vulnerability brought about by sharing an intimate story anonymously.

In our testing, we will endeavour to keep that anonymity for our testers. 

A diverse audience is our main goal. Everyone we believe has a story and misses someone or a space. In this case for us, it means that our general audience is anyone; anyone seeking vulnerability and connection.

We propose to continue collecting qualitative data from people, through the use of postcards to anonymously collect curated responses. Note that our qualitative data means we are collecting stories in the form of not only words but also illustration.

This includes testing of the layout of the postcards, the nets and how effective this is for us when interpreting them into 3D models. We will also be testing the responses themselves, any noticeable trends/outliers. Testing how people remember spaces will help further our discovery of connection. 

We decided on this format because the subjectiveness of this topic. Everyone has their own stories and we hope to evoke a personal response that is free from quantitative restraints. 

We will also be testing the output method with some of the people who have submitted stories. This is to ensure that they are comfortable with our interpretation of their drawings and stories in the installation itself. We believe this sort of feedback is important for such a personal topic as we need to respect the vulnerability of those submitting their stories and it will help to make our piece more collaborative. 

This raw story data will be directly used as our main artifact. We are collecting stories of people’s memories of other people and spaces. Directly interpreting the feedback responses to represent our greater narrative.   

References 

Tracey Emin (2014) City Art Sydney: The Distance of Your Heart

http://www.cityartsydney.com.au/artwork/the-distance-of-your-heart

Jacqueline Hagan, Karl Eschbach, Nestor Rodriguez (2008) Center for Migration Studies of New York: U.S. Deportation Policy, Family Separation, and Circular Migration

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2007.00114.x

Michael G. MacLean, Lara E. Embry, Ana Mari Cauce (1999) JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY: HOMELESS ADOLESCENTS’ PATHS TO SEPARATION FROM FAMILY COMPARISON OF FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS, PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT, AND VICTIMISATION

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/%28SICI%291520-6629%28199903%2927%3A2%3C179%3A%3AAID-JCOP5%3E3.0.CO%3B2-S

Olivia Hobman (October, 2017) Auckland Live: Pastel City https://vimeo.com/245585937

Strange Planet (@nathanwpylestrangeplanet) • Instagram photos and videos. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2019, from https://www.instagram.com/p/BuoeuYcgrXA/

Jay Roach (2010) Dinner for Schmucks

Art gallery exhibition : From pillars to posts, Project another country 

Eden Pilbrow (2018) Silo https://eden-rosebct.tumblr.com/post/174988847117/final-moments

Eden Pilbrow (2018) aRcde https://eden-rosebct.tumblr.com/post/179501828607/final-result

https://core-electronics.com.au/tutorials/making-boxes-with-fusion-360-for-laser-cutting-tutorial.html

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Initial beginnings

We’re starting off with the theme of missing people and lost memories. We want to expand on the ideas explored in our Transmedia Narratives project last semester. 

Link to previous project documentation

Link to projected project timeline

Roles this semester

Eden: Head of Design 

(overall look and aesthetic, UX and development of conceptual idea)

Olivia: Head of Engineering 

(coding, physical computing, UX and development of interaction)

Note: These are fluid based roles with the intention of working on both of the main elements together. This cross over effect will strengthen our overall skill set. This is a partnership. 

Goal

Our goal with this project is to encourage vulnerability through storytelling and the sharing of difficult emotions. We want to do this through more active/immediate interaction than our previous project. 

Vision

~50 physical models

Postcards for story sharing and room submission

Screen-based outcome 

Immediate interactive experience 

Mail boxes around the uni/streets 

Potentially adaptable for the AUT Live brief

Potentially going to submit through Laurent for exhibition in New Caledonia

Testing Means

Prototyping our models, interaction methods and postcards

Workshops

Collection of qualitative data to help inform our empathetic path

Inspirations/References

Brene Brown’s studies on shame and vulnerability

Previous inspirations from last semester (see documentation linked above)

Small scale Greek church models in Mykonos 

[liv-hobman-bct]

We’re starting off with the theme of missing people and lost memories. We want to expand on the ideas explored in our Transmedia Narratives project last semester.

Our goal with this project is to encourage vulnerability through storytelling and the sharing of difficult emotions. We want to do this through more active/immediate interaction than our previous project.

We will be conducting workshops to collect stories and room nets from Colab and friends of Colab.

We are currently using Fusion 360 to design the rooms we already have in order to get them cut on acrylic to test our material choice. Though we used Inkscape and Illustrator last semester for modeling the rooms, we opted for Fusion this semester as it is far more intuitive when creating very similar layouts. Since we’re completing ~50 rooms this time round, we felt this choice would cut our workload down considerably. An unforeseen advantage of using Fusion is also that it generates vector drawings of the models that we can use for the illustration/screen-based part of our project, rather than having Eden sketch out each isometric room in Illustrator.

For the interactive section of our project, we hope to create an engaging tactile experience with physical objects affecting the images on a screen. In this case, the audience will place one of the laser cut rooms on a sensor and the corresponding illustration will appear on the screen with its story. We ordered 60 NFC tags off AliExpress and an Arduino RFID reader so as to be able to individually identify each room.

We’re also playing around with the materials and hope to use acrylic in a bright colour for aesthetic and weather-resistant purposes. Today I took a trip to Modern Plastics in Ellerslie to buy some offcuts to test the bright colours with our designs. I got sheets of opaque red and orange and some transparent orange as well.

We’ve modeled (and “sketched”) the original 8 rooms which will be used for graphics on the postcards, and are working on a few more from our previous workshop.

[liv-hobman-bct]

Acrylic and Arduino

This week we tested out laser cutting on our acrylic. The kerf values were a little different for the different material but we ended up finding the sweet spot. As for our aesthetic, we tested out solid red, solid orange, transparent red, transparent orange, transparent neon green, and clear acrylic. Surprisingly, we found that the solid colours looked bland and messy, whereas the transparent colours were much more in line with our aesthetic. Our favourites are transparent orange and transparent red, with clear close behind. 

This week we also received the RFID reader and the NFC tags, so I got to work figuring them out. 

I’ve achieved the feat of reading the tags, but I ran into some issues with my serial ports when trying to read the data on processing. Arduino doesn’t seem to want to open the serial port at the same time as processing reads it, but that seems like the objective? This will probably make sense tomorrow, as we did this in year 1. Anyone know how to avoid this issue?

I’m also concerned the reading distance might be too small to allow multiple rooms to fit on the reader at once. We may have to workshop this.

Eden also did a wonderful job of colouring the rooms, which are now basically ready for the screen-based section of our project. Additionally, she designed the postcards for the collection of stories and spaces and handed them out to several colabers. We’ve already recieved some great responses so I’m looking forward to modelling the rooms and reading the stories they relate to. 

[eden-rosebct]

Circa Solar - realign with the nature of time

For emerging practices we were encouraged to look at a technological kick starter of our choice and identify our personal positions, the practice of it within the creative arts and industries, Articulate propositions and highlight alternative and future directions of the said artefact within the said industry. 

Circa Solar. On my initial encounter with Circa Solar, it looked like a fun approach to the concept of time. It sells itself as an alternative clock, based around “the nature of time”. I thought this was an interesting and certainly an aesthetically engaging concept. From a shallow perspective, the whole article on Kickstarter was well-curated, colour coordinated, flashy, clean and had a lot of information from the artefact itself to the philosophy behind it. 

It was my pretentious side that grasped to this idea that “I don’t need numbers for the time, this is way cooler” or “This is more natural for my body rhythms” and other naive thoughts. And the more I read the more caught out I was about how clingy it was. 

We depend on time telling for everything in our culture, it is the main structure of our society. We do everything based around time. The stance they were taking, however, was to change the view of time into the visual concept rather than numerical. 

First, look

The contemporary aesthetic included a lot of cohesive colour work in a bright sunlight yellow, contrasting this with a black and grey accent. This theme was used on all imagery, from photography, design and film. It was obvious they wanted an overall impactful “look” for this product. It did make it look professional and well organised, though when I watched the video I was introduced to the concept with a robotic voice over. It was well informed and to the point and used big words to further drive the importance of their research behind the project. It was clearly a persuasive approach into convincing us that our current reading of time was potentially a “toxic delusion”. 

Though I understood the language they were using, it was a language that would be considered more academic than marketable in my opinion. Their language usage was also concise but ultimately intimidating. It came across as existential and conceptual, rather than whimsical, which I think is a loss, they take themselves too seriously so me to take them seriously.  

They believe this is the solution to the additive “short term thinking” that our current culture is subject to. Using sentences like “if you choose to support solar in this critical moment in time” and overall sense of urgency, the language indicates that their main goal is to enter a new chapter of telling time. I think though, to me, it sounded pretentious. The words and overall approach seemed like an overpromising application. It seemed like they were building up this huge influential project and it would change the world. I was just waiting for a “and much, much more” sentence. 

They separated their explanation from its most simplistic approach to its most complex. I did feel this was effective and worked well for the average viewer, it allowed you to see as little or as much as you want. Chapters are as follows… 

Circa Solar in a sentence 

Circa Solar in a paragraph 

Circa Solar prototype 

Circa Solar in a Story 

Nature of Time 

Nature of being

Toxic Delusions 

Radical Coexistence 

Furthermore risks etc. 

What don’t they say is that this will replace time altogether, but it does seem to have a negative look on the current way of telling time, where that be analog or digital, as far as I know, this is all numerical based rather than visual sundial style. I think there is. the reason why we as people in society graduated from the sundial approach to telling time, to a numerical approach. They also don’t seem to mention anything about sundials and how they were a mix of numerical and visual time telling value. They also seem to compare humans to plant life and the “natural” cycle of light. Funny enough, we aren’t plants, we are people. Time to me at this point is a necessary and essential part of society these days, and it is that way for a reason, which I plan to further investigate. Text, Labels Signs are extremely well curated, it looked like everything was perfectly made to empower their message. It also looks like everything is completely staged and based on theory, rather than practice. I would have loved to see someone use their form of time telling for a week. As I think the biggest concern for people would be being late to things. I know that would certainly concern me. 

((photo))

They had a lot of visual features including, imagery, photography, gifs and video. This was mainly used to show their movement of time. 

Things I would note on.

-Didn’t show a human interactive experience, even the voice over was obviously robotic. 

-Going backwards not forwards to me

-seems to be more aesthetically based than practical 

-would be cool if it was added to current time telling, with out the numbers it reminds of me of “island time” or “meet me at noon”. Doesn’t work in an urban sense and creates timeliness risk. 

The artefact itself

The artefact itself looks like a typical watch or phone app. With a basic monochromatic shading. The hand of the clock still moves around the circle, however, the sunrise and sunset elements are emphasised with the dark to light shading. There are dots around the screen where the hand can point to, however, I think it is still confusing to read as you can’t tell exactly what time sunrise is. For example, 6 is normally where the 3 hands would be, they have changed around the structure of what area of the clock means what time. 

The way it works is below. 

Similar products

David Beren and Jay Alba (2019)m Life wire: The 10 Best Wake-Up Light Therapy Alarm Clocks of 2019https://www.lifewire.com/best-light-therapy-alarm-clocks-4137028

Sunlight Clock Free 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sunlight-clock-free/id319009777

Day & Night map

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/day-night-map/id741375889

Sunrise Sunset Lite

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sunrise-sunset-lite/id321324581

Daylight Clock

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/daylight-clock/id822702909

Daylight one

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/daylight-one/id995040350

SolarWatch Daylight & Weather

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/solarwatch-daylight-weather/id1191365122

Sol: Sun Clock 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sol-sun-clock/id491537291

Sundial - Solar & Lunar Times

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sundial-solar-lunar-times/id976460540

Daylight

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/daylight/id324528814

Sunny Side Up – Sunrise to sunset, the measures time and robotics

komorebi – Platform for generative sunlight and shadow

https://www.creativeapplications.net/processing/komorebi-platform-for-generative-sunlight-and-shadow/

SUN – Sun’s cycle as an interactive (playful) experience

https://www.creativeapplications.net/js/three-js/sun-suns-cycle-as-an-interactive-playful-experience/

To investigate their concept more I wanted to go back to how time telling came about, which I would assume is by the sun rise and sun set. This was further confirmed for me with a video A brief history of time (keeping). Stephan Hawking also has books on a briefer history of time, even briefer history of time. I did not have time to read his books, but this video seems to sum it up pretty well. For a lot of our lives in the early days, sun and seasons were all the time keeping we ever needed, however with the development of civilisation people needed schedules. 

Egyptians made clocks using shadows and split the day into 12 hours depending on where the shadow lay, this can be referred to a sundial. This concept is increasingly similar to how this watch proposes to operate, using the “shadows” and visual representation of time. I can't help to think, is this not just going backwards? Or maybe that's the point? It’s not exactly a wildly new concept, but maybe it's new in regards to how we live now, and new in the way it reinterprets the past. For nighttime they would 12 of their favourite constellations rise. 12 because Egyptians preferred duodecimal numbers to match lunar or funny enough the number of joints we have on each hand. It took over 3000 years of “clock” making to get to where we are today with our digital and analog clocks.

This Artefact is taking on this idea that we could re connect with the natural light cycles again, removing a minute to minute living. Reading the article again I also understand that they are not trying to change the main form of time telling, more so showing an alternative to living with time. Their purpose is to draw us back to our roots of living. Though I can understand that this would be appealing either aesthetically, or used as a form of a relaxed way to tell time, I do not think it would be practicle as the only source of Time telling and not everyone can afford to be on “island time” sort of sounds like it was made by someone who was always late.

Conclusion todo

What is the argument behind the value proposition or the future scenario?

Evaluation questions

References 

Sundials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI0GqYJha1Q.

Circa Solar - realign with the nature of time

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1289884842/circasolar?ref=discovery&term=technology%20

A Brief History Of Time(keeping) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjSwRwAqQA4.

[eden-rosebct]

Reflection

This research practice and the sculptural outcome was from my initial love of researching and also spatial design. My main goal was to communicate the idea of subjective balance within the spatial design. The intention was to present this in a Maximal state, but using a Minimalist strip down of space as the means to do so. The main use of this project is to be a subjective learning experiment for myself. Considering this, the possibilities of this research benefiting future projects is the main aim, whilst also using what I have learned from this semester and applying it to everyday life.

Personally, I found this to be an increasingly challenging idea, as we normally tend to focus on the ambient effect of an environment, rather than the structural balance itself.  Further, this idea is confirmed by Evans and Mccoy (1998) “We know much more about the effects of ambient environmental conditions on human health than we do about how buildings affect our health. Though this was a subjective study, I think these ideas can challenge how people think about spaces, that balance is subjective.

Team, lack thereof

This project, I think, much like any other would benefit from a team. Looking back now and reflecting, the limitations were greatly increased when choosing to not have a team. The effectiveness of working alone did mean I had independence and full control over decision making. It was also self-directed, I got to be apart of the entire process, not just in my one skill set. In this case, I was challenged with the engineering side rather than just sticking to the design side. I think that shows through the work, neither in a positive or negative way. Having a team would’ve benefited the project as I think it would have challenged my ideas more, as well as the operational side being split up could have produced a much higher quality product. I think also having a team is a great source of motivation when done right. 

Overall I am glad I did this project on my own, but if I were to do it again, a team would have done the idea more justice as it would provide a comparative point of views. Creating a richer and more dynamic experience. 

How it was received

I was unable to attend the open studio due to family events. However, from what I heard from my peers there are some assumptions I could make. Peers did say it looked “see-through” and that they “didn’t notice it at first”. I was when I turned the light on they got the full experience. This worked in my favour because I wanted to look like something unnoticeable, clear but complex. I think though, I would have better-taken advantage of the open studio being a user testing event if I had a second go.

Physical Outcome 

The concept is based around a disorientating and deconstructed aesthetic. Using a clear acrylic to model and recreate a subjectively designed workspace split into layers from its raw Minimal to Maximal layer. I think ultimately my goal was completed. The illusional state of clarity, reflection and separation represented the maximal layer the way I wanted it to aesthetically. The stripped down deconstruction and literal presence of clarity was how I wanted to approach the minimal side. Overall the concept of both of them working together to create balance was achieved from my point of view.  

I would have wanted the parts of the model to connect together perfectly rather than with glue, the glue didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to in the end. However pushing past that, I think the overall model helps you overlook that aspect. 

Though there was a lot of research involved, the outcome was a sculptural interpretation, which is what I set out to do. I think this if this were done again could be greatly improved with an interactive aspect.  If the acrylic would light up with LED around the edges and the scratches, then people could press a button wired to an Arduino and light up certain aspects of the model. I think also including more sensory aspects instead of just visual would have been more effective, perhaps sound, taste and touch also. For example, making the minimal clean and smooth, and maximal More textured when lit up. The research, however, will be used I think not only in everyday life but also in future studies as a basis of understanding. 

Overall, I think my process was more or less straight forward. I think I kept myself well organised and on task. There will always be things that I want to change and do differently.  

[eden-rosebct]

Balance

The main model is the concept based around a disorientating and deconstructed aesthetic. Using a clear acrylic to model and recreate a subjectively designed workspace split into layers from its raw Minimal to Maximal layer. This ultimately embodies the research and the testing took place throughout this semester. Its purpose is to abstractly interpret and communicate ideas around Minimalism, Maximalism and how these contribute to the larger theme of Balance. The objective was to create this as a physical interpretation and to present it at the open studio. The outcome was a clear glued acrylic model and posters made to communicate the topic in a descriptive but simple form. I decided to focus purely on the spatial design aspects, not so much using architectural integrity, this is first and for most, a spatial design experiment, subjectively comparing minimalism and maximalism to define balance for myself. Otherwise, it felt it would have constricted the main outcome and I would have had to compromise for an idea that wasn’t the main theme. 

[eden-rosebct]

Workspace A

I needed to reduce this space to its purest, most functional state. This is including a reduction to essential structure. (walls, windows, enclosed, doors, foundation, workspace table). As I was looking at this all I realised that the only really necessary space needed for work is one room with one desk that is enclosed. This split model will be made of few parts but will embrace the literal presence of the purely functional in its purest form. Separating the layer not only shows the elements purest states but also incorporates maximalist ideas around illusion and disorientation.

This floor space is to represent the necessary room in which I would need to functionally do work, this separated layer is most essential. I found that from assessing spaces I need what I like to call “open privacy”. Looking back to my readings around feng shui, it makes conscious sense to me to have a wall behind the desk, it provides a sense of privacy for work. In Orleans with no wall behind the desk, it was harder to confidently do work and iterate, maybe in fear of someone looking over the desk. Furthermore, the desk has to be in an optimal position to look at what is coming. The optimal position is working straight on to the door or the opening, it provides a sense of confidence and control.  

Bathroom B

The B part of this first layer is the bathroom, a necessity of course. It is placed further away from the main workspace, this is so the distraction of its use doesn’t infiltrate and overstimulate. There are symbols as electricity and plumbing, its not essential to my project for everything to be fully exact, the idea just needs to come across. X is to represent power and O is to represent plumbing.

Co-work space C

Floor C is where things are more luxury based, like an added workspace and my own kitchen unit. This is more so based off unnecessary luxuries, an overabundance of space. The other option for a workspace, provide room for collaboration and guests.

Misc 

The maximalist angle that's separated, represents a sense of chaos and complexity. This include s elements like an extra room, kitchen, more storage, foliage, work boards, tools, also some more “unnecessary” elements like a skylight etc. Most of all this C and Misc is to juxtapose and complicate model A. Adding in elements are not purely essential but adds some complexity and stimulation to space. It also adds to the overall outcome of the models aesthetic. My design is disorientating and has an illusion about it. The model itself due to its separation is stripped down to its barest minimal form, the floor A to Misc building up the scale.

If I were to do this again I would do it in a way that was more interactive. I would have wanted to split the model and create more defining attributes that embody Balance. I can see that the outcome was simple, but I would have wanted to make it more impactful. I had the idea after open studio to have it so the acrylic would light up with LED around the edges and the scratches, then people could press a button wired to an Arduino and light up certain aspects of the model. I think also including more sensory aspects instead of just visual would have been more effective, perhaps sound, taste and touch also. For example, making the minimal clean and smooth, and maximal More textured when lit up.

[eden-rosebct]

[eden-rosebct]

[eden-rosebct]

Foam

I then took what I knew from my prototypes and sketched up the final room together, then annotated what should be separated from the minimal and maximal. I decided at this point that the pure minimalistic state was just the floor, then I could build it up in maximal layers. The bare essentials would be one floor, its walls and a table. 

The first test didn’t actually go as planned. Though I had measured out the 3mm tolerance correctly, when I scaled it down I failed to realise that the tabs would still need to be scaled to 3mm because of the thickness of the MDF. I decided then I should test it again but with just one wall connector (shown above), and I did this cut to full-scale size. It fit perfectly after that. Now that I had the tactic down I moved on to modelling the rest of the components. 

I got the full-scale draft cut out of MDF and practised putting it together with a lot of tape against a window in an attempt to separate the layers. Though this needed a lot of support it 

From here I drew up the final draft that would be used to cut the acrylic on illustrator. I was thankful that I tested out the fit before I got it cut, otherwise, it would’ve been a huge waste of money and time. Moving on I got all the acrylic cut easily and started making the model. I was thinking about supports and had a look in Gordon Harris and they had metal rods that were perfect, I could have done with a thicker more stable metal, however budget wise I chose a cheaper but still strong option. 

Using acrylic glue I went on to form the structure. I got laser cut holes cut into the corners of the flooring on the model. Separating the layers into the Main office A, Bathroom B and Co-work room C. From there I had to sand down the snug laser cut holes because I got them cut a bit to snug for the poles. This, of course, led to some breaks because I placed the holes to close to the edge where they wouldn’t be able to support the weight of the acrylic. Learning from that mistake I had to fix it, I didn’t want to waste money to re-cut everything so I brainstormed ways to fix it.

I settled on cutting additional reinforcements from the scrap acrylic from previous cuts. I made long rectangles with the same hole cut for each corner, I then got two cuts for each hole. This added an additional 6mm thickness to the corners. After sanding down the holes again not only did the reinforcements create more strength but they covered up the bases nicely (as you can see below) I also used square cut out with holes and glued them onto the edges that would be in the middle of the frame so I could use fishing wire to hold everything up. If I were to do this again I definitely would have done everything to not use acrylic glue and would have made everything so it would snap together. The glue came out rather obvious and messy, so I would avoid that if I had the chance to do it again. 

Using a mix of acrylic glue, fishing wire and electrical tape the model was standing. I kept the film on top on the acrylic for as long as possible to reduce fingerprints also. This model turned out looking a lot like my drawn up the model on illustrator. I used the illustrator form not only to help with the physical fabrication but also with the end design I eventually used for my main poster. 

[eden-rosebct]

Sketching

After sketching I went on to cut out the floor plan with foam board to try get a physical size and feel for it. I started with thinking about what my ideal workspace would be, I thought maybe one room would be enough however I also realised if this was my idea space, I would ideally like an open plan but two room workspace. This, of course, is if I had all the money in the world. 

Once I had a physical size of the model prototyped I went on to recreate this in illustrator and Fusion 360. Fusion was mainly used to try grasp an understanding of proportions in regards to walls, windows and doors. I thought I would dress up it up with details but due to limitations of time and skill set, I decided I should focus on its simplest form and work hard on making that right first before I start adding anything else in.

I then used illustrator to visualise it again and to also start creating the drafts for the MDF prototypes. Very similar to my transmedia project @lostandfoundspaces, I created a net-like base for the design. Allowing a tolerance on the tabs so that the material would fit together, in this case, I wanted to use 2mm and 3mm acrylic. The reason why I wanted to use MDF first was that I was affordable and also I could make it have the same tolerance as future acrylic I would be using.  This helped me form something more accurate and I could troubleshoot early on.

First, however, I wanted to make some models out of foam board. Using leftover scraps from the lab I created a few different variations of the room. One with the room full together and not separated and another scaffolding look to it.  Overall I decided that for that separated look I wanted to go for a scaffold approach. This to me also communicated ideas around the construction of spaces which I felt was important to the story behind my research. 

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The inspiration behind the outcome mainly came from Pinterest or Designsperation. These images are where the main idea of separation and acrylic models came from. I liked the deconstructed aesthetic and the complicated simplicity of the overall outcomes. 

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Physical model

I started by looking into inspiration from Pinterest and Designsperation. Both of which are useful websites where you see other peoples work for inspiration. I found a lot of these deconstructed approaches to spatial design and architecture, I thought this would be an interesting way to interpret the project because it means that each layer can hold meaning. As well as the separated aesthetic helped separate ideas of minimalism and maximalism whilst also embracing the idea of them being combined to form balance. 

Furthermore, I started sketching up concept ideas. I started on the idea of doing three separate models, one for minimalism, one for maximalism and one for balance. Then I moved on to the idea that they should combine, I thought about separating the walls and details from each other. Through this sketching process however I did end up developing an ideal balanced workspace for myself, I then decided to think about it in parts, what made these things maximal, and what made them minimal. The minimal approach I decided should be the extreme, a completely stripped down version, the base floor on its own. Maximal I thought can then be any layers that are added until it forms a whole sculpture.

I then went on to developing physical prototypes and using Fusion 360 to develop these ideas further. It helped to visualise the concept in a 3D and tangible way. It allowed me to see function and movement which turned out would be essential. I seemed to fall on the idea of the separated layers and then I was thinking about how to give this illusion of perhaps floating to create that merging effect. I looked back on the physical scaffold I made and realised it would be a perfect literal deconstruction. Bringing ideas of construction sites which I feel links in perfectly with my approach with spatial design.

Through this process, there was a lot of iteration in the design. I started working with MDF laser cut prototypes. I decided that I wanted the end result to be laser cut acrylic because it is clear and it offers this idea of the unnoticeable noticeable. Practising the fit of the wall and floors using the same 3mm width for MDF as I would with acrylic helped me troubleshoot issues in the early stages. I made templates in Adobe Illustrator to create these models.  

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Draft drawing prototype

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Conceptual prototyping

So I have been modelling in fusion an ideal workspace. I have mocked it up and prototyped it physically also. Now that I have decided that splitting the layers into minimal and maximal might be the best way to approach this I have been sketching and re sketching measurements and ideas. Looking at the space I have created now I think splitting up the aspects and characterises is key for each layer. I used my glossary of minimalism and maximalism to inform this and wrote notes as to what elements were essential or indulgent subjectively. 

Minimalist aspects 

Under-stimulating, 

Reduction, 

Silence, 

Simple, 

Purely 

Functional 

Order

Essentialist 

Pure

Organised 

Embraces “literal presence” 

For the minimalist layer, I need to reduce this space to its purest, most functional state. This is including a reduction to essential structure. (walls, windows, enclosed, doors, foundation, workspace table). As I was looking at this all I realised that the only really necessary space needed for work is one room with one desk that is enclosed. This split model ( now what I will refer to as split model A ) Will be made of few parts, will embrace the literal presence of the purely functional in its purest form. Separating the layer not only shows the elements purest states but also incorporates maximalist ideas around illusion and disorientation. 

I have decided to focus purely on the spatial design aspects, not so much using architectural integrity, this is first and for most a spatial design experiment, subjectively comparing minimalism and maximalism to define balance.  

Maximalist aspects 

Over-stimulating 

Complex

Luxurious 

Noise

Over Abundance

Chaos 

Indulgent 

Juxtaposition 

Disorientating 

Illusion 

This part B will be the maximalist angle. Just by adding this other layer thats separated it represents a sense of organised chaos and complexity. I want to use colours also ideally to show certain aspects to be more overstimulating. This might include elements like an extra room, kitchen, more storage, foliage, work boards, tools, also some more “unnecessary” elements like a sky light etc. Most of all this model B is to juxtapose and complicate model A. Adding in elements are are not purely essential but adds some complexity and stimulation to the space. 

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Completely Subjective

I found that this topic is actually incredibly subjective. There are a myriad of variables that can determin the balance in the space you are in. Whether that be your up bringing, home life, health, diet, sleep etc. This led me to that subjective conclusion. I think that for this to work I had to test my theory on myself, test where I found balance within a space. 

So for the last few weeks a few iterations have happened. I have gone around and assessed 3 spaces to test our my theory of a balanced space. I look notes on characteristics using my research to inform me. 

The main things I have learned so far in this testing process is that I am actually unable to define maximalism and minimalism easily. I think overall I am discovering the difference between the superficial uses of the terms (the aesthetic uses) and the true meaning behind them. By assessing their extremes and their superficial aesthetic in one I think these concepts are more intertwined than what I originally thought. 

I am also learning about where I work most productively, so far it is spaces with background noise as I feel this creates a sense of privacy where you can discuss and work. High ceilings, plants and windows also is what I am find helps me stay focused and inspired. I have noticed the noise in these spaces plays a huge role, if it is so silent I tend to feel more exposed and less likely to speak freely, if the space is to loud than it over whelming and distracting. I have also found I don’t mind a closed off space, as long as there is something contributing such as large windows and high ceilings to help release a constrained feeling. Too much open space I find overtly distracting and give me a straight up headache when I am trying to complete work.

I am also learning that perhaps balance isn’t meant to be defined, there are so many variants effecting this testing that results will have to be a purely subjective assumption. 

From here I have been prototyping spaces that represent balance to me. Using what I learnt from research and my personal assessments of spaces I have learnt key attributes that determine whether a space is balance for me or not.

So i started to draw up more plans of my ideal work space and how I would make it subjectivly balanced. 

-I need a sense of privacy, in this sense a wall behind me or a slightly closed off space is great for this.

-However I do not want to feel claustriphobic, so open windows and taller ceiling help with a sense of lightness and openess. 

-I need organised storage for the chaos.

-I need a work space to facilitate creative chaos. 

-I need a space to take a break and re group. 

-I need tools around me that are fully accessable

-I need a somewhat confined but not closed off space. 

Below are some of my interations and prototypes. 

This one above was what I intially thought I wanted to go for, 3 layers, each representing something different. Balance, maximalism, minimalism. This was to compare and contrast the new ideas and represent a medium group also. However the more I made (see below models) The more i realised that minimalism and maximalism are not conflicting ideas fully. It would make more sense to create one maximal and one minimal that combine to make a full balanced space. This is also goes along with my theories as well, that one needs the other to be balanced. 

So i started to draw up more plans of my ideal work space and how I would make it subjectivly balanced. I found that functionality was key in the attributes however abundance of space and tools and things would be a huge influence. I need things of some signifcance around me for inspiration. I think this is due to the fact that if in a space you have nothing of significance then you lack some sort of empathetic stimulation or reminder of sorts. 

Once I had drawn up a basic design I look notes as to what I think work and what I think doesn’t. I also added in the resoning behind certain attributes so that I can entertwine my balance idea further and actually inpliment it into a result. 

The next step is to draw it up in fusion to test the combination of the rooms, physically make the basics of the rooms out of cardboard and then create a net plan on illistrator to get laser cut into a protoype. Then I will assess that prototype and further make ajustments. 

I also think the final result should be laser cut in accrylic so people can see through it fully. I think also this helps show the larger idea that these attribute are not something you normally take notice of, or you might not even realise they influence your workspace or any space for that matter. But it’s still there.