quinlyn bright's digital portfolio
Project Description
Project Rollout and Initial Feelings:
The Sustainable Design Project began with students watching the documentary “The 11th Hour.” The focus of this film was on climate change, how it happened, and how to fix it. A few days after that, we went on field trips to gain inspiration. These went to places around Durango devoted to being sustainable, such as Fort Lewis and the Twin Buttes development. Next was the empathy design thinking, going through empathy interviews and observations to generate needs and values for the community. Those were then collected and turned into How Might We’s where we wonder about possible solutions to create what people need and want. From there, we did rapid fire prototyping and created as many ideas as possible to stimulate creativity and look at lots of possibilities. From there, we created concept posters explaining ideas in groups, then looked at all of the concept posters and chose groups. I did not really care for this project at the start. Sustainable design, while something I care about, is not something I am deeply passionate about, and coming up with original ideas is something I struggle with. I also didn’t have a clear view of how the project was going to play out. This included groups, ideas, building of ideas. Not knowing what was really happening caused my anxiety to spike, which also made me not want to complete the project.
Field Trips and Guest Speakers:
The field trips and guest speakers helped inspire the project and create a concept of what we might aim for in our minds. One thing that I hadn’t thought of from one of the field trips was the minimal use of harmful materials. I had not thought about the fact that sometimes the harmful materials are the material you have to use. I remember when we were on the field trip to Twin Buttes, Todd Swanson was describing how he uses a certain type of concrete that he wishes he didn’t have to use, but he only has certain budgets from his clients so he sometimes has to use it for stability. It was interesting to be reminded that sometimes you can only be as sustainable as you can be.
Sustainable Design:
Based on what I’ve learned throughout this project, I believe that sustainable design is design centered around the needs of people and of the space it inhabits. Sustainable design does not utilize, or utilizes minimally, materials that are harmful or finite. Of course, most resources are technically finite, but some will run out sooner than others and cannot be reproduced or recreated. While addressing the needs of people, sustainable design should also draw on the most efficient energy and materials available.
Outdoor/Final Prototype Description
Empathy:
The grade completed empathy interviews and observations at the beginning of the project so that we could have a clear view of what the needs and values of the Animas community were. I was, unfortunately, ill during this segment of the project, so I was unable to complete these interviews, but I was able to see what others drew from their interviews and observations. Some themes were present in most interviews, such as nature, quiet space, and comfort. These helped my group because we wanted to combine these things, but also have something that we and other students would have the opportunity to build and cultivate. Gardening can be a therapeutic experience, and creating a space for that where people can also have fun and relax was important to us, and clearly something the school would like to see.
Ideation:
I do not believe that I took great advantage of the ideation phase where we did nothing but have ideas. I was not very passionate and did not have many ideas that I felt were really worth anything or practical. I spent a large amount of the ideation time simply staring at my paper, willing ideas to come but having none. I ended up choosing our prototype idea because a friend had a similar idea in an earlier phase of the ideation process and I liked her idea, and having none of my own, joining her made the most sense. I wish that I had taken greater advantage of this process, but I’m not sure how I could have done that with an empty mind.
Prototyping:
Unfortunately, my group was unable to complete our prototype within the time limit of the project due to one of our key materials not arriving when they were meant to. We did, however, manage to create many other parts of our goal. The dome would mean little if there was nothing inside of it. We managed to create six garden beds that will go around the edges of the dome, as well as four tire beds that are dug into the ground. We have vertical beds that will eventually be hung from a pole that is in the center of our dome, as well as a bench that will go against a wall near the door and doubles as a cabinet to hold any and all tools necessary for the greenhouse. The bench is 4’ x 1’ x 2’, and has two doors, multiple shelves and hooks, and feet that will be buried in the ground for greater stability. The bench was the piece I physically contributed the most to, but I designed everything listed and oversaw creation of much of it to ensure that it would all work and fit in the dome without problems.
Project Reflection
Frododome Tour
Design Sketches
Frododome Final Floor Plan Prototype