One last post! Today is the last signature meeting! Last post I reflected on my signature project, both the good and the bad. This time I'm thinking about the future. I don't think I will continue this blog, but I am defiantly going stay interested in small space living as I think it's important and enviable for the future if we want succeed as a species. Something in the future could be taking this model and not only creating a physical model, but also an actually apartment. That would allow an even better understanding of how the space would work and if it would be feasible. I think some other things to think about could be not only creating an apartment for a family, but places like dorms and hotels, which have people cycling in and out at a pretty regular pace. That would be a creative way to rework the dorms. Another things small space living could influence involve the economics of the residents (rent, transportation, furniture), mindful living (people would be forced to choose what was important to them), environment (hopefully residents will become more mindful consumers and buy less), and more family time (families would be motivated to spend more time together or outside in community spaces if their home is small). In the end, there are multiple applications and implications of this project and hopefully I, and others, will get the opportunity to explore them more! I would also just like to say a huge thank you to all that have helped me this year from Ms. Slaughter, to my sister/family, Mr. Calos, and my parents! Thank you so much!
My signature presentation: docs.google.com/presentation/d/1j9Yh8MEhJI1WeDjGtxGV_SvB-zxJ8JB75KW5iiXx3y4/edit#slide=id.p
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Last Friday was the day that my signature project was presented. That was the culmination of my work over the year and now it's time to reflect. I think there were things that were good and things that I could have improved. Some things that were good included my design and preparation for the presentation. I think that I worked hard on creating that design with picking the different pieces of furniture and working on their placement. I also think that I worked hard on my presentation. I created a slideshow and tried to follow Mr. Calos' ideas of keeping the slides minimal so the focus remained on what I was saying. I tried to make the graphics big and the words few. I also created a short screencast to get a more 3-dimensional feeling and used a metaphor to assist my explanation that there is always space if you look for it. There were also things I would have liked to improve. Although I made the choice not to include windows and walls in my model, I think it could be beneficial if I included them for a more accurate evaluation of the space for the people potentially living in it. Also, I think it would have been cool if I had more time to create an in-person model of my design that was tangible. That would allow people to better understand my design and I feel like it would allow me to see things that were not on the computer. Overall I was pleased with what I was able to create, however there is always room for more.
Screencast: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rI1BobhpxT82-FPqpxhivpUd8sIOb4dy Over the weekend I have been working to create my slide show for the final presentation. So far I am working on the beginning part at remembering what I did at the start and answering questions like why did I want to do this project and what got me interested in the topic and things like that. Here is an example of something I wrote for my first slide notes:
During the next part of my project I worked on creating a loft that would serve as a second bedroom for my sister's second child. I wanted this loft to also serve as a possible guest room after the child grows up and leaves for college, therefore the bed would be a full or queen. Also, there are small shelves and drawers for all the needs of the child. Another thing I would have to consider is how the child would get up to the loft, so it seemed like a ladder would be the best option as that takes up the least amount of room and can be moved around depending of the needs of the family. Another thing I started working on is my slide presentation for the project. I am first considering why I started this project and want my goals were. I wanted to create a space that was small but livable for a family of four as that is the most economic and sustainable. I think that I could have tried to factor more environmental pieces in but I did not have much time left.
When I was working on my model, I focused on the door way to make it more accessible for my sister's family when the walk in. So the first thing I considered was having a shoe rack so people wouldn't track mud in and to have hooks so people could hang their coats or things they needed. While I was working on this I noticed that the Sketch Up program was acting kind of slow so I stopped for that session. Something I had forgotten about the program was that sometimes if the model becomes too big, the program slows down and it take more time to process commands. Although it is not going to stop my ability of making my design a model, it will make my progress more time costly.
As I continue to work, I focused on the kitchen because that was one of the most important parts of the house in addition to the living space. Originally, I had the kitchen close to the bedrooms but as the model developed, that made the kitchen to feel too cramped, and the goal was to make it accessible and open. The kitchen is in between the guest/second bathroom and white storage units. (By having closed storage units plush against the wall, there is more space to store things without feeling cluttered or that the space feels too busy). Something else that was also thought about was the island separating the kitchen and living space. That island not only serves as a dining room table but also as storage and an open divider to separate the space and give the illusion of multiple rooms. Also an open office space now occupies what would have been the kitchen area. This gives the adults a place to work without feeling distracted, but also not completely cut off from the action.
What gave me inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I76HkaamjkI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCZk6EuTMjk So far I have been working mainly on the bathroom by the master's and child's bedrooms. Some things I have had to consider along the way is that there need to be doors between rooms as that is something I had sometimes forgotten to do, and that placement of the doors, or furniture around the doors also adds to the appeal or difficulty of creating a layout. As I continue to worked I also started working on the child's bedroom. While creating this room, I changed the layout of rooms to better fit the area around the bathroom and master bedroom. Something I also had to consider was how many things are going into this room, since the space is considerably small, yet there is need for sleeping, clothing, and studying all in the same space. Looking forward, I look to work on the kitchen next, and plan on moving to a more open and spacious location.
I was planning to do some work over break, but like in my last blog post I got stuck because of my software. After meeting with my mentor and Ms. Buinicky I was able to come to a solution. Ms. Buinicky helped me download the new Sketchup program so I could continue on my project! Since then I have just been watching videos and looking at other people's models to draw inspiration. Some that I really liked were the Ikea square meter challenges, where the creators were trying to fit a hypothetical family of four in a small apartment, similar to what I am trying to do. They thought of using space in ways I hadn't thought of. Some examples are using the space over the desk, and having moveable couches to make a living room multifunctional. To see more of their ideas I will also include some links that I thought were particularly inspiring.
Kids' room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZqIrsKiir4 Living room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I76HkaamjkI Bedroom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaNw5oqSZt4 Over the course of this week, my main goal was to develop a master bedroom since that is the main aspect of a house in my opinion and one of the most important elements in my sister's. As I created the room, I was thinking that I wanted to be able to look at different elements of the room such such as the the furniture and compare it to the empty room. To do that though I would need to create different elements of my signature model, and so I did that with the layers tool on SketchUp. Instead of just writing about it, I thought I would also make a short screencast showing you how it was done. In addition, I wanted there to be a lot of space for my sister and her husband to store things, so I included space next to their open closet, underneath their bed, and under their side tables. While the design seems simplistic I thought it would be better than having the space be more cluttered as open space gives the illusion more space.
Screencast: drive.google.com/file/d/1zz69tIxuVMMQ6nNWy9tfGRHyzOeUcCsG/view |
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May 2018
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