Dealing with Design School

Under calmer conditions.

cristinadelrosario — Thu, 07 May 2009 06:13:55 +0000

School’s out! :D

The final project was incredibly demanding, so I haven’t had the chance to write about it over here. But our team tumble log should be a really entertaining read! Megan, Kim, or I would update the tumble log every time something eventful (or funny) happened while the bar was being built. It has all our mess ups and triumphs, but mostly we like to show pictures of us messing around. :P

24 foot bar in progress. Built in David’s warehouse.

What I loved about this project: This project was about inclusive design- design that can be used by all people, to the greatest extent possible. Can you imagine a bartender in a wheelchair? Or a bartender with only one arm? Preposterous, right?! It took a lot of discussion for our class to realize that it is only the environment that prevents someone from performing a task. If an environment is designed well, people of varying conditions should be able to work well within it. It isn’t one’s disability that is disabling, rather it is the design of the workspace that keeps a task from being performed easily and keeps a person from working efficiently.

Another wonderful thing we learned was that inclusive design does not have to be ugly! or obvious! It can be hidden behind the veil of beauty, and novel experiences. Our design strategy was to elegantly integrate technology, aesthetics, and human factors to allow for the most inclusive, yet still appealing, bar design possible.

These are her wise words.

cristinadelrosario — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:27:46 +0000

Words by Margaret Oscar. Poster by Fabian Barral.

Noah’s Arc

cristinadelrosario — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 07:36:45 +0000

It’s being built. Our class left Prof’s warehouse/shop past 3 am. Fun Times. Pictures of our progress to follow.

This just might work.

cristinadelrosario — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 03:51:53 +0000

Kim and Megan went to Prof’s shop today off campus to work on our full-scale model. They’ve been troupers! I had to be left behind in school to give a tour of Tech to some people from my high school in the Philippines. So I did my work today in sketches. We needed a way for the bartenders to grab clean glasses, put aside dirty ones, and throw away small trash items like napkins, straws, lemons, etc. that can’t be thrown into the dump sink.

I’m really excited! I think that this project is going to work nicely in the real world, even though it’s completely crazy.

When your computer crashes…

cristinadelrosario — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:51:01 +0000

Are you all right?

cristinadelrosario — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:51:23 +0000

Even if we have a one week extension on our project, our group decided that we’re going to stick to the old deadline – just to make sure that we’re giving ourselves enough time for unforseen setbacks. Also so we can make sure our presentation is tight (- as Smart Design told us this was incredibly important.) We planned to buy materials for our full scale model today, and start building on Friday.

But Professor said: Before you start building, you should first make sure that you know every little detail of your environment. That way, you’re not figuring things out while you’re building in the shop.

True true. Plans changed! Now, we’re going to figure out EVERYTHING, and make a little chipboard version of a Rockwell Group-esque model for Friday. So that next week, we’re just going to be referencing the scaled model, and not discovering unpleasant surprises while we’re building.

Lose sketches –> Super detailed sketches –> 10th(?) scale sketch model –> Full-scale model –> Beautiful 10th scale model :P

On another note, I wish my computer hadn’t crashed, so I could actually try using Professor’s Wacom tablet. -_-” Poop.

So the Jetsons walk into a bar…

cristinadelrosario — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:21:47 +0000

Goal: Safer, Easier, More Efficient

Crazy bar idea! Tons of things to fix still, but here are the general features:

from behind the bar

Digital interactive countertop. Think Minority Report. The bar tender can pull out menus for customers, and keep up with tabs without having to turn around. Customers also use the contertop to get the bartender’s attention by performing a hand gesture over the bar, which makes the counter glow. The counter’s light intensity will help the bartender recognize in what order customers gestured, so they can be served accordingly. Naturally, it will also be acting as a fancy light show – tons of fun when you’re drunk, I bet.

Drinks from the sky. Pressing the glasses down on the ‘push coasters’ release the liquid from the wells at the top. Same with ice (those tubes are ice chutes.) This allows the bar tender to prepare two drinks at once. A push coaster glows when its corresponding drink is running low. The wells also come down from the ceiling to replace empty bottles.

Dump sinks are following you. With these tilted surfaces under the counter which are connected to the drain system, bar tenders can empty glasses anywhere along the bar.

Multi-level counter tops. Customers in wheelchairs can order drinks comfortably. It is disguised as a stylistic element. Trendy.

Sliding refrigerator doors. Doors won’t disrupt the path of the bartender.

I’m off to design some sick-crazy bar environments! I wish I could hop on a plane to NY and go to Material Connexion right about now. Aw yeah.

Anything but clothes!

cristinadelrosario — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:12:36 +0000

Have you ever been to one of these parties? I made Joy’s outfit for Kev’s birthday. We’d like to thank the Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times. Also, the violet cloth I was supposed to use as the sling in my last project. :-P I think the back of the dress is gorgeous. (But I don’t have any pictures of it!)

“Models don’t smile.”

Isn’t she lovely? :-)

Up in space.

cristinadelrosario — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:22:26 +0000

We presented our concepts for our bar today. The goal of this entire project is to make the workspace safer, easier, and more efficient for the bartender. I am so happy, but still really surprised at the response to our concepts. I told my gropmates: “Let’s solve these problems in a crazy way! We need to go way out there! If it’s too much, we can always dumb it down.” Funny enough, our classmates enjoyed our crazy, high-tech, solutions. I think it’s the high-end nature of bars that is allowing us to go in this direction. It’s allowing “crazy” to be a bit more real. It’s holding people back from saying “That’s a preposterous idea!”

Professor said we have to make sure the outcome is beautiful. The technology and the built environment have to integrate elegantly. We, somehow, have to come up with a Karim Rashid-ish design!

Oh, and I get Professor’s Wacom tablet for the weekend! :-D

We tried to make a garden.

cristinadelrosario — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:09:17 +0000

I guess the College of Architecture is really doing its job of scaring us shitless. Cana, an Architecture student and my housemate, is as scared as I am about how effortlessly we are destroying the world. Perhaps it is the College’s constant focus on sustainability, and its integration into almost all our projects. Even when sustainability is not the end goal, we find ourselves asking: What is the environmental impact of this design? Undoubtedly, designers of the built environment have an enormous hand in the destruction/preservation of the natural environment.

This semester, Cana and I started a recycling program in the International House. We are so lucky to have amazing people living here who are just as conscientious, and willing to help.

Every dorm room in the house is equipped with one trashcan and one recycling bin. Because the rooms are so small, these two bins are simply stacked on top of each other to save space. This makes it possible to collect trash, but not recyclables. Recycling is also extremely inconvenient because the collection bins are outside in the back parking lot.

We asked some residents to “loan” their recycling bins that were stacked under their trashcans. We put these in the elevator rooms of the second and third floors in the middle of the house. And, do they get filled up quickly! Usually, it’s the two of us emptying out the bins twice a week, but we’ve recently asked people if they could help us out when they see the bins are full. GO TEAM! Haha. :P

Thanks to SustainableParty.com for our signage!

“WE RECYCLE.” cardboard, plastic bags, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, paper. yay.