⇧⇧ Unfinished Design Project, or the area where it would have been located ⇧⇧
For the sustainable design project we were given the task of creating a sustainable structure or project that would benefit the school and students/teachers. Initially, I thought this would be a very fun project. It started out very fun, but as it continued, it became very stressful and frustrating. As we worked, I realized that we hadn’t been completely prepared for the project. Our group needed to fund raise, and we had been taught how set up a fundraiser or go fund me page. This slowed us down a lot, and was one of the main problems we faced. The field trips at the beginning of the project were fun. We got to see and experience the ways that people and organisations use different materials and spaces in order to create sustainable systems. The guest speakers helped us understand how sustainable design works, and how we could effectively use those skills to create a useful and functional project. On the turtle lake field trip, we learned about how they made the most of the small amount of space they had to work with. Sustainable design is the process of creating a stable, reliable, useful system or structure that can be used continuously. We had to design a project that could benefit the school and students/staff. In addition to being useful, it had to be created using sustainable materials, and continue to be sustainable after the building was finished. Sustainability means maintaining the same low levels of operation constantly.
At the beginning of the project, we were asked to perform “empathy interviews” with other students and staff. We used these interviews to learn what people wanted/needed out of school. In our interviews, we found that lots of our peers valued thing such as music and art, as well as calm and relaxation. In our original project idea, we incorporated the elements of music, art and, aesthetics, relaxing, and outdoor areas. We designed a stage area for musicians to play, that doubled as a place for students to relax and possibly have class outdoors. The stage would have been decorated with a large mural painted by a student, to incorporate art into the space. Our design process was long. We started with a completely different idea than what turned out to be our final product.Our first idea was to build only a shade over the already existing stage. This changed to incorporate the mural element. I am thankful that we got to brainstorm and prototype for such a long time, it gave us time to come up with lots of really amazing ideas and create prototypes for each one, even though we didn’t have the resources to complete our ideas. To begin prototyping, we drew out all of our ideas, and kept changing and altering until we had designs that were compatible with each other.From there we build a physical 3d model using popsicle sticks and hot glue. We sketched a mini mural to go with it. I used Ggoogle Sketchup to make a 3d drawing model of our final idea. This, along with some drawings and the popsicle stick model was displayed at exhibition when we presented our ideas.
I think that during this project I grew mostly with collaboration, although some would love to disagree with me. I had to work with other people and collaborate to create a final product that looked somewhat good. I could use some growth with effective communication, but I’m not the only one. Arguing and being stubborn when it isn’t needed is going to get you nowhere, especially when arguing with people who are just as stubborn and don’t want to say that they are wrong. During this project, we faced a challenge with getting the materials that we needed in order to build our project. When we couldn’t get our materials, we had no way to move forward, so we were told that our project was going to be cancelled. From there we had to change our project and now had less time to build it. We were also unable to get the materials that we needed. At the beginning of the project, I though that success would be completing the original project idea we had started with. At this point, success would be making a final product with the very limited time and resources we were given. I guess success now would be making some building materials bippity bop themselves into existence. Some advice I have for students about to start the sustainable design project, arguing with some teachers is absolutely pointless. I learned that no matter how much work you think you are doing, if a teacher thinks you are slacking or not working, apparently you are slacking or not working. No amount of proof is going to convince them otherwise. My best advice for this? Work as hard as you possibly can and create a better project than they ever could with the given timespan and materials. When they say you can’t, turn round and say “watch me”. The best motivation to succeed is the fact that you will be able to look at someone who said that you couldn’t do it and be able to say “I told you so”.
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