Capturing Process

With Phase Three of the Unity Village project focusing on process, we thought we would share a few of the ways in which the design students are capturing their process. Through a mix of thumbnail floor plans, photography, study models, journal pages, diagrams, sketches, and 3D computer models, the students have highlighted the main components of their designs through the documentation of key elements of their process.

Thumbnail Study by Wesley Shamlian

Photograph of Process Documents by Tracey Wright

Study Model Photograph by Meghan Kaufmann

Sketchbook Process by Young Moon

Bubble Diagram by Kalani Gonzalez

Sketchbook Process by Ino Loloci

SketchUp Screen Capture by Hope Talley

Process Sketch by Charese Allen

Process Sketch by Carlos Smith

Example of Materials Board

Below you will find an example of one possible way to layout a digital materials board for your process booklet. This example includes two pages. The first page would exhibit actual images of material samples that could be arranged to highlight how materials will overlap visually in the space. The second page is presented as a key and provides information about each material such as the name, manufacturer/supplier, color, number, and location (in designed space). This method of presentation allows for the materials to be showcased and easily identified.

Page OnePage Two

Phase Three Process Booklet Requirements

The process booklet for phase three will be reviewed in draft form on Monday April 19th and the final process booklet will be turned in on Friday April 23rd. The process booklet should measure 8.5" x 11" and have a simple binding. The layout of the process booklet is up to you, however the items listed below must be included in the process booklet:

Plans (all plans are to be scaled to 3/16" = 1'-0")

• A Floor Plan with Room Legend (this floor plan should not include moveable furniture, only built-ins)
• A Reflected Ceiling Plan with Lighting Legend
• A Finished Floor Plan with Room Legend (this floor plan should include all proposed furniture)
• A Rendered Floor Plan

Details

• Programming Document
• User Needs Chart
• Casework Details (includes sections, elevations, axonometrics, small models, and supporting photographs)
• Interior Elevation(s) scaled to 3/16" = 1'-0" or larger
• A digital materials board (example will be provided on Friday)
• A document providing specified lighting, fixtures, and furnishings (excel document to be provided)
• Interior Perspectives

Process

• Sketchbook pages (scanned)
• Blog posts relevant to phase three
• Written process timeline
• Thumbnail floor plans
• SketchUp screen captures of process
• Inspirational images
• Reflections on process
• Any other process related information

Designer Strengths

With having a studio filled with talented and creative designers, it was only natural to ask the students to describe their biggest design strength...

"I feel that I was truly blessed with the gift of 'quick ideas/ solutions'." - Clairissa Anderson

"As I have been in IARC for just about two years now, I have really noticed my loving for organization of things." - Haley Preston

"I would have to say my biggest design strength, (or at least I hope,) is my ability to incorporate aesthetic beauty with form and function in my design work." - Jeff Linn

"With all of the research and observation i've done about people in space i think that i could proudly articulate the situations that would occur within particular living spaces." - Wesley Shamlian

"I think that my biggest strength has to be that i am so passionate about what i do. It makes me happy, i couldn't see myself doing anything else." - Tracey Wright

"One would say being knowledgeable in many design software programs such as Revit, AutoCad, ArchiCad to develop my design process would be one of my strength." -Ino Loloci

"My strengths as a designer have to do with the fact that I truly care about the users of the space. I put myself in the position of the clients and what they need or want." - Meghan Kaufmann

"I love making something from nothing and completely putting myself in everything I create." - Kalani Gonzalez

"I wouldn’t consider coming up with a concept a strength rather than thinking outside of the box and looking past cliché themes. " - Kelsey Rhode

"When I start designing a space, I never stop thinking about it." - Cassandra Gustafson

"I am good at being dedicated to long hours with out any rest or days where I don't get to do anything but sit in the studio all the time however it is always rewarding." - David Harrill

"I have a good grasp on perspectives and drawing how you would see something." - Brittany Stiles

"My design strength is that I have two different cultural backgrounds which are Korean and American cultural background. It helps me to understand a particular thing in two ways based on my various cultural background." - Young Moon

"In my presentation of space I enjoy using hand drawing skills to reflect the fullest extent of expression and atmosphere. I find that the user's imagination is engaged in the space more so though hand drawings than by other means." - Carlos Smith

"I feel that I am successful at managing my time and getting everything done correctly and efficiently." -Hope Talley

"I feel that my strengths as a designer lie with graphics and digital rendering." - Hailey Allen

Unity Village Residential Units

Floor 12

1 - David Harrill
2 - Vacant
3 - Vacant
4 - Wesley Shamlian
5 - Veronica Harvey
6 - Felicia Dean
7 - Shane Jones
8 - Kalani Gonzalez

Floor 14

1 - Cassandra Gustafson
2 - Hailey Allen
3 - Haley Preston
4 - Young Moon
5 - Kelsey Rhode
6 - Jeff Linn
7 - Paris Williford
8 - Hope Talley

Floor 15

1 - Meghan Kaufmann
2 - Charese Allen
3 - Ino Loloci
4 - Tracey Wright
5 - Clairissa Anderson
6 - Brittany Stiles
7 - Carlos Smith
8 - Pamela Lilies

phase three : exemplifying commUNITy

With having completed both phase one and phase two in teams, you will be tackling phase three solo. After a short design charrette, you will be randomly assigned a client and a unit space. You will use your creativity and design skills to develop a thoughtful and innovative private living unit inspired by your previous concept for phase two and your client’s lifestyle.

Design Development

As before, you will create a programming document for the unit noting all spaces to be included along with the user’s needs and wants. Prior to designing the space, conduct a search for a collection of standard for residential interiors and post these standards on your blog. Share any interesting information that you find with classmates.

Along with the above documents you will draft a floor plan complete with room legend. You are to use either hand drafting techniques or a computer drafting program. No basic SketchUp floor plans will be accepted. In addition to the floor plan you will create and turn in the following:

• A finished floor plan with legend
• A reflected ceiling plan with lighting legend
• Casework details (includes sections, elevations, and axonometric)
• A set of specifications (includes materials, lighting, fixtures, and furnishings)

Models

With having experimented with a variety of models throughout the semester, you will again be using your model-making skills to create a series of high-quality process models to reveal the ways in which your concept development influences the architecture of the space. Use this opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned from the previous models both in construction techniques and visual appeal. Take the time to talk to fellow classmates about their techniques and model-making processes. You are to have at least 3 key elements modeled for class on Monday April 12^th. The success of the models will be based heavily on care and craft.

Renderings and Materials

In conjunction with the above requirements, you will further present the unit you are designing through a series of perspectives, interior elevations, and a rendered floor plan. These perspectives should capture the human experience and highlight the main design elements of the space. The interior elevations should be used to show how the spaces connect to one another and connect to the occupants while the rendered floor plan will further emphasize flooring materials and spatial connections. Take risks with your presentation of these drawings…try new things…push yourself to expand your skills!

Process Work…

As was the case with previous work, your process explorations should be captured in digital form and continually documented on your blog with at least three posts per week. Continue with the strong tradition of capturing this work along the way rather than waiting until the night before any deadlines.

Along with this continuous process documentation on your blog, you will be creating a process booklet for phase three. This booklet should contain all idea generations, sketches, snap shots of process models, reflections, inspirations, and any other information important to illustrating your process. This booklet should be bound and turned in with your project on Wednesday, April 21^st.

Final Documentation…

Requirements for final documentation will be discussed well in advance of the project deadlines. However, you should keep in mind that you final documentation should take digital form and work to capture appropriate images during the course of the semester to make this process as painless as possible. Your final grade will not be posted until complete documentation has been submitted following all guidelines and requirements.

Important Dates…

4|5 . introduce phase three

4|9 . desk crits

4|14 . small group crits

4|16 . desk crits

4|19 . phase three draft due

4|21 . phase three final presentation

WEEK 11

M 4|5

W 4|7 phase two feedback

F 4|9 research paper proofreading due

WEEK 12

M 4|12 process models due

W 4|14

F 4|16 research paper final due

WEEK 13

M 4|19 phase three draft due

W 4|21 phase three final presentation

Design Charrette

On Monday April 5th, the design students took advantage of the beautiful weather and participated in a 2 hour long charrette in the courtyard of the EUC. The students worked diligently within their 'pen pal' groups to design a residential floor layout for Unity Village. The challenge was to include 8 units with a square footage between 850 to 900 sq ft. Using both design skills and geometry skills the students worked to develop a series of functional floor plans. After two rounds of voting, a winner was decided upon...

Photographs by Stephanie Brooker

...the winning team was pen pal group 3, which includes Kalani Gonzalez, Veronica Harvey, and Tracey Wright. There plan, pictured below, included a series of curved walls to accent the entrances to the units along with a curved seating/lounge area directly adjacent to the elevators.

greetings from atlanta

...and the longest escalator ever with the perfect scale figure at the bottom.

I've heard through the grapevine [email] that some [or is it all?] of you would like an extension on Phase Two.  Stephanie and I've spoken and agreed that more time couldn't hurt.  So here's the deal:

For Monday [March 29], we expect you to have a complete draft version of your slides.  We will review these with you so that you can make any needed improvements prior to Wednesday [March 31], when all final presentation requirements are due.   You will also present this day.

Until then, keep up the hard work!

Final presentation requirements for Phase Two: involving/evolving community

For the final presentation of Phase Two of Unity Village you are to compose a digital presentation to turn in on Monday, March 29th. This presentation should be created using a combination of graphics programs and adobe PDF. The final presentation should be a slideshow consisting of six slides or less. You will write a script for this presentation and are permitted to use no more than three sentences per slide, or no more than 70 words per slide. For the presentation, you will read directly from your script (no improvising). This will challenge you to focus on the most important elements of the design.


You will also turn in a hard copy of these slides in booklet form printed on 8 ½ “ x 11” paper and bound with the other teams in your neighborhood. For these booklets, remember to consider a cover page, contents page, and organization style.

Grading Criteria:
Accuracy
Craft, Care and Quality
Visual Composition
Written Content
Follows Prompt
Creative Risk

Collection of items to turn in:
Digital copy of slide show (six slides max)
Digital copy of script (420 words max)
Bound Neighborhood booklet including all team slides
¼” Floor Model

What does design thinking mean to you?

“Design thinking is about getting away from 'small' design and moving toward community-oriented 'big' design. 'Small' design is fashionable products that are interesting and perhaps desirable, whereas 'big' design encompasses a system.” – Cassandra Gustafson

“Design thinking is everything from research, diagrams,sketches, models, precedents, inspiration, programming...” – Tracey Wright

“Design thinking is problem solving.” – Meghan Kaufman

“Design thinking honestly means quite a bit to me. For years I have been saying that the world’s most valuable resource and final frontier is the creative thought processes of the human mind.” – Jeff Linn

“How I relate design thinking, use and implement it in the future will be based on my design experiences and processes. Design processes are trial and error, which lead to beneficial designs and answers.” – Felicia Dean

“Design should also not just involve the designer. The people that would be using a space or the related demographic should be incorporated into design decisions and to find the needs that must be met.” – Hailey Allen

new extra-credit opportunity

Ashley and Suzanne L. are planning an early dinner and discussion for Gateway residents to talk about their experience living in the community.  They are seeking  4 or 5 volunteers who can help set up and serve dinner, be note-takers during discussion, and take photographs from 3:30 to 5:30 next Monday, March 22.  

If you choose to participate, you will receive 20 points of extra credit on your video assignment grade.  Volunteers will be chosen and awarded on a first-come, first serve basis.  So...if you're interested email Ashley right away at aewarrin [at] uncg.edu!

Reading Chapter 6: Ideation

In helping to better understand concept development, you are to read Chapter 6 titled Ideation in Shaping Interior Space by Roberto J. Rengel. Make notes throughout the reading to aid in developing the concepts for the floors of Unity Village and post these to your blogs prior to class on Friday.

involving + evolving small teams

Neighborhood A:

Ground Floor | Meghan, Tracey

1st Floor | Pamela, Paris, Shane

2nd Floor | Brittany, Hope, Young

Neighborhood B:

Ground Floor | David, Ino

1st Floor | Charese, Kalani, Kelsey

2nd Floor | Felicia, Jeff

Neighborhood C:

Ground Floor | Carlos, Clairissa

1st Floor | Cassandra, Hailey A

2nd Floor | Haley P, Veronica, Wes

phase two : commUNITY : involving + evolving

model by Edgar Cabrera + Shannon Ryan

Congratulations! You have completed phase one of Unity Village. Utilizing the information and models you have generated it is now time to tackle the design development of the community floors. Working in groups of two or three, you will now develop a holistic design for either the ground, first, or second floor.

IT’S ALL A PROCESS

As was the case with project one, your design process is an extremely important part of this phase. As such you should strive to record all stages of your work via daily entries (3-5 posts a week) with photos and drawings on your blog. Committing to document the process daily will help us recognize the amount of work you are putting into the project and prevent you from having the headache of gathering your thoughts the night before the deadline.

SMELLS LIKE DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

In this phase you will develop the following (at a minimum):

FOR FRIDAY, 3|19

- A solid concept statement and collage of supporting images/precedents

- Collection of standards for specific interior spaces

- A series of sketches

FOR MONDAY, 3|22

- A table showing how user needs are met in the interior and exterior spaces of the floor

- A series of interior perspectives illustrating the human experience

- A dimensioned floor plan

FOR FRIDAY, 3|26

- A reflected ceiling plan

- A digital materials board for the floor

- A rendered floor plan

MODEL CITIZENS

As part of your design development you will add to the large model shell you created in phase one to showcase the decisions you make in phase two. In addition, the digital model produced in phase one should be further developed to reflect the design of phase two and as such should contain the addition of the following layers:

o Interior walls

o Doors

o Furniture

o Interior Details

o People

Work smart. Be sure to utilize your digital and physical models in completing the various design development objectives. Be certain, however, to manipulate your digital model in such a way that it reflects your skills in hand and digital rendering.

FINAL DOCUMENTATION

Requirements for final documentation will be discussed well in advance of the project deadlines. However, you should keep in mind that you final documentation should take digital form and work to capture appropriate images during the course of the semester to make this process as painless as possible. Your final grade will not be posted until complete documentation has been submitted following all guidelines and requirements.

WEEK 8

M 3|15 introduction of phase two

W 3|17

F 3|19

WEEK 9

M 3|22 small group critiques

W 3|24

F 3|26

WEEK 10

M 3|29 phase two final presentations

PHOTO:SHOP

I've found that a good place to begin a project like this one to compile images that speak to the qualities you are seeking. Check out these inspiration boards courtesy of Style Me Pretty as...well...inspiration! While these are geared around weddings, you can see how they begin to paint a picture of qualities that could easily be translated into an interior environment.

Don't forget to record these early stages of your design process on your blog. They are just as important as the final results.