Design 21: Social Design Network

I think there is a direct design intersection between the physical form and the function of this radio. It works like a radio except that the housing invokes feelings of nostalgia and comfort. By using a natural wood material for the entire piece, the interaction between the user and the object completely changes.

Decomposing a Thesis

Group Member:

Jennifer Riggi, Sumin Nam, Herng Fuu Richard Yeh

Title of the Thesis:

Share Station by Tao Lin¬

Summary of Project:

Workstation that encourages interaction between Asian American parents and their children. It is supposed to improve language barriers and help strengthen family bonds.

Problems:

A lot of solutions were created from assumptions. There is not enough evidence on the board to convince us that the product serves its function.

He tries to tackle too many problems at once instead of stating one problem and one solution. He mentions female suicide, gaps between children and parents, randomly placed recycling information, and the actual furniture has major physical construction issues.

We found that the desk was abnormally huge and probably most Asian American families could not comfortably fit it in their residence. Also it only seats two people when most families have more than one parent and sibling. We were not convinced that this piece of furniture and its specific function as a workstation had any relevance to the mission statement.

Also none of the stated issues that the non for profit stood for directly related to the mission statement.

We were also weary that the product needed to be for Asian American families exclusively. The problem statement could apply to most families regardless of their culture.

Positives:

We felt that the form of the furniture was interesting and unique.

We also decided that it cou...

Tessera Decomposition Christian John

Group members: Lee Winfield, Shintaro Monden, Michael Tsang NFP: INEE (Inter Agency Network for Education in Emergencies), IRC (international Rescue Committee

Problem Help Iraqi children with trauma caused by the violence they were exposed to, war casualties and fleeing their homes.

Christian’s solution Design a puzzle game made out of ceramics where the parts carry family member’s names to start up a conversation between the family elders and other relatives and the young children suffering from trauma.

Our take

As a group, we appreciated the effort to try to create a sense of family and community by opening up the conversation between the different age groups. However, we feel that the game is not challenging enough for all age groups and would get boring after played various times. We accept it as an ‘ice breaker’, a first attempt to start a conversation and play an enjoyable game in harsh conditions. At the same time, we feel that its benefits are very short term ones and would not assist the children in their lives as a whole.

Christian chose ceramics for the game pieces as it is a rather cheap, natural resource found in the middle east. However, we doubt the actual local manufacturing of this game in the local community. We also are concerned with the usage of the game pieces as weapon due to their weight, fragility and sharpness.

The usage of local ornamentation is an important part of the design. We agree with Ch...

Imagine the place where you spend most of your time each day. where is it? - School

Imagine it as you most want it to be.

1.What is your #1 vision for change that will make it that way? To make our school a place where students can interact to each other regardless of majors. In my opinion, the way the school spaces out each mojor in different buildings is not sufficient for the interaction between students in different majors.

1. After your #1 thing happens, how will everyone benefit? Students will be able to hang out more often and share the information about what they are studying in their major. I think this interaction will give students a more wider point of view on design study.
2. Give some example of what you can do (on your own/with a group) to make your vision a reality. Design social places like a cafeteria or small campas that students form different majors can easily access.

Imagine your neighborhod the way you most want it to be.

1.What is your #1 vision for change that will make it that way? To make my neighborhod a more secure place at night time so that people can walk around even after sunset.

1. After your #1 thing happens, how will your neighborhood benefit? People don't feel fear of being robbed or anything while they are out at night time.
2. Give some example of what you can do (on your own/with a group) to make your vision a reality. Put more street lumps to light up streets. Have policemen patrol more often to prevent crimes.

Imagine your country the ...

Problem Identified: New Yorkers are ignorant of what to do with food waste.

Tae-Yun Kim’s Solution: A composting unit for elementary school cafeterias.

Non-Profit Group: Lower East Side Ecology Center

Strengths: Project follows the goals of the non-profit. Good intentions.

Negatives: Shape does not indicate it’s purpose. Time issue is unresolved. Not energy efficient. Oblivious to NYC spacial limitations. Board is incomplete. Peek holes are too small.

Our Solution: Integrate the process into the curriculum. Make the composting unit individual sized. Make it fun!

The Design: Loading caps have magnifying lens dual functionality. Body material is soft to the touch. Black material absorbs natural light to facilitate decomposition. You can twist and roll the compod to mix the food waste inside. The side viewing window allows the composter to document progress.

Problem Identified: New Yorkers are ignorant of what to do with food waste.

Tae-Yun Kim’s Solution: A composting unit for elementary school cafeterias.

Non-Profit Group: Lower East Side Ecology Center

Strengths: Project follows the goals of the non-profit. Good intentions.

Negatives: Shape does not indicate it’s purpose. Time issue is unresolved. Not energy efficient. Oblivious to NYC spacial limitations. Board is incomplete. Peek holes are too small.

Our Solution: Integrate the process into the curriculum. Make the composting unit individual sized. Make it fun!

The Design: Loading caps have magnifying lens dual functionality. Body material is soft to the touch. Black material absorbs natural light to facilitate decomposition. You can twist and roll the compod to mix the food waste inside. The side viewing window allows the composter to document progress.

The product I chose that I really admire is Hidaeki Matsui’s Clean Up from the class of 2006. His whole meaning of using soap as a metaphor for “cleaning up” the landmines in Cambodia that were remnants of war is really poetic. At the same time, the entire concept is so simple, yet so beautiful. The product creates this connection with people that are using it to a nation that could be, for that particular person, across the world. He changes the meaning of doing an everyday activity and makes it into something that helps a nation through performing this simple activity that we all grow up doing: bathing.

I don’t really have suggestions for improvements necessarily, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the product be translated into multiple versions. For example, if it were to come out in a liquid soap that still used the same local ingredients and materials that were contained in the bar soap from Cambodia. It could possibly come in a sustainable container that could be biodegradable or recycled.

Solari: Access to a sustainable food system at The New School.

Sophia Dubrovina worked with the New School, a non-profit group, to address the following problems:

• The unhealthy eating habits of students at the New School (possibly because they do not have time).
• The lack of access to a sustainable food system at New School.
• The lack of environmental awareness.

Her solution to the problem was to provide access to healthy food (a sustainable food system) on campus on the green roof of 65 5th avenue through a mobile cart. Local farmers that sell their produce in the Union Square Farmer’s Market would supply the food on the cart. This would not only encourage healthier eating habits in the student body, but also allow the students to support organic farming, a sustainable food system that nourishes the earth. Also, the environmentally friendly cart advocates sustainable practices at the New School.

Although addressing a very real, and big problem not only for the student body but also in the world, we found some weaknesses in the design. There were many questions which our group had, that we felt were not answered, or clearly addressed in the design.

• Where is the electric source for the juicer?
• Where does the water to wash the produce come from?
• What is the size of the cart? Can it accommodate the student body?
• Who is the vendor? Does this provide student work-study?
• Unclear whether the produce being sold is free or not. If so, is the school paying for it? Who is fi...

Group members: Areum Joo, Emily Kim, Hironao Kato, Nicole Kung

Project: Recoup Student: Jiyeoung Lim Problem: E-waste Irresponsible consumption and unsustainable product life cycle Mission: to lengthen lifespan of mobile phones NFP: Collective Good

Strengths

• The concept pinpoints a specific area of e-waste (cell phones)
• Reuse, reduce, recycle
• Designed to fit the general mass market

Weaknesses

• Solution ➢ Over complicated ➢ Very expensive to develop as an actual product ➢ Requires a redundant amount of transportation resource ➢ Cell phones are of incredibly high technology Parts are likely to be outdated by the time it reaches the manufacturers ➢ Not appealing to for-profit companies
• Material ➢ Wood: issues with durability, sustainability, and conductivity. What happens to the plastic shells of used cell phones? ➢ Circuit board unlikely to be reused

Proposed idea

• Problem with　current project ➢ Too expensive and difficult to manufacture ➢ Does not actually solve the issue regarding e-waste ➢ The design feasibility is questionable

We recognize that Jiyeong’s main goal was to create an alternative use of e-waste. To help actualize her vision, we have broadened our scope to all types of circuit boards in addition to cell phones. Currently we have very limited resources to safely dispose of circuit boards, therefore we propose to up-cycle the e-waste into architectural material. With this solution, we hope to develop various means of tran...

Group members: Areum Joo, Emily Kim, Hironao Kato, Nicole Kung

Project: Recoup Student: Jiyeoung Lim Problem: E-waste Irresponsible consumption and unsustainable product life cycle Mission: to lengthen lifespan of mobile phones NFP: Collective Good

Strengths

• The concept pinpoints a specific area of e-waste (cell phones)
• Reuse, reduce, recycle
• Designed to fit the general mass market

Weaknesses

• Solution ➢ Over complicated ➢ Very expensive to develop as an actual product ➢ Requires a redundant amount of transportation resource ➢ Cell phones are of incredibly high technology Parts are likely to be outdated by the time it reaches the manufacturers ➢ Not appealing to for-profit companies
• Material ➢ Wood: issues with durability, sustainability, and conductivity. What happens to the plastic shells of used cell phones? ➢ Circuit board unlikely to be reused

Proposed idea

• Problem with　current project ➢ Too expensive and difficult to manufacture ➢ Does not actually solve the issue regarding e-waste ➢ The design feasibility is questionable

We recognize that Jiyeong’s main goal was to create an alternative use of e-waste. To help actualize her vision, we have broadened our scope to all types of circuit boards in addition to cell phones. Currently we have very limited resources to safely dispose of circuit boards, therefore we propose to up-cycle the e-waste into architectural material. With this solution, we hope to develop various means of tran...