Design 21: Social Design Network

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Galaxy Systems Kid Playground

Form Couple metal bars that hold the structure in place. Within there are many thin metal lines that allows child to step on and spin around. The whole things was playground is structured asymmetrically which attracts child’s attention and allows child to explore this environment.

Function It provides opportunity for kids to physically interact with the environment and social relations.

Ethic The design become a socialize area for kids; it is not about using the equipment one after one. Within this small tiny structure, child has to overlap onto someone in order to have fun. When facing situation that kids have to share some of their spot, have to allow other passing by them. This design not only provide interesting playground, it is also a small social community for kids at young age.

Cost The system was design to be easily made. It has simple form and high customization which allows schools and local community to purchase this product line.

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The Water-Gate

Form It is a product that allow single person to stop a flood in minutes. It made of polyethylene tarp covered in PVC and can be rolled up and carry by one person.

Function A barrier system allows polyethylene sheet to catch the water as it flows, unfurling and activating the system. One can easily lay down the Water-Gate without have to carry heavy materials to block water.

Ethic Thi...

This is draft #2 with a target issue and users, written in a understandable, logical structure; although I am not ready to say i have a solution yet. This topic is what I am passionate about.

Issue

China, the country that has most population in the world; at same time, there is a huge amount of child population who are abandoned due to diseases, poverty, disability, and social conception. Although China has promote the policy on adoption within country, the ratio of adoption rates and abandon rates is still off of the balance. Currently, most of the abandoned child live under Child Welfare Institutes (CWIs) that only provide the most basic needs, education, and health care. Furthermore, there are many negative perceptions of child live in orphanages within in Chinese culture that has strong psychological affects on those abandoned child. After years when these orphans grow up and become young adult, how are they going to deal with their social and and hierarchical identity? Is there a way that we can increase those child's self-confidence and acceptance of their life experience so they can live a better life?

Facts

• An estimated 100,000 Chinese children are abandoned each year, most of them disabled or girls.
• Chinese policy improved the adoption within countries, yet very little compare to total abandon child population.
• Many child still lives under Child Welfare Institutes (CWIs) which basically function as orphanages.
• Due to high demand of child who doesn't have ho...

Non-Profit Organizations Research

Also-Known-As, Inc.

P.O. Box 6037, FDR Station, New York, NY 10150, United States Tel : 888-467-2183 www.alsoknownas.org

“Also-Known-As” is a non-profit organization that serves adult adoptees’ adoption life. They create bridge between cultures gaps, languages, perception, races, and adoptee’s identity as he/she moves into another family.

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CHINAR (Child Nurture and Relief)

21029 Roaming Shores Terrace, Ashburn, VA 20147, United States Tel : 703- 858-9983 www.chinar.org

CHINAR is a non-profit that working for the psychosocial rehabilitation of orphaned and vulnerable children in conflict areas – irrespective of race, religion culture or gender. They consulting with children in different situation such as war, abandon, and any kind children in need; they enhance their social skill and help them cope with life.

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GiveMeaning

Suite 230A 45 Dunlevy Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia V6A 3A3, Canada Tel : 604-633-1180 www.givemeaning.com

GiveMeaning is a fundraising site emphasizing on creative fundraising ideas and charity donation. Although it does not fall on the topic that I am interest, this could be a helpful organization to understand how organization works.

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Morning Tears

morning tears vzw, Rijkelstraat 33, B-3511 Hasselt (Belgium) Tel : +32 479 208585 www.morningtears.com

It is an organization that helps to care children who have suffered or are suffering heavy emotional pain due to parent...

As a group we presented a previous senior thesis project that was focusing on the environment. Takeshi Seki worked with a not-for-profit-organization called CENYC, their focus has been improving New York City environment for over thirty years now, and they emphasizes the awareness among new Yorkers as their main focus. Takeshi’s approach towards this thesis project was to reduce the carbon dioxide through installing reinforcements for trees so that it could prevent traffic from hitting it, and also providing more green in the city due to the lack of parks we have in New York City.

The strength of this project is to gain awareness of environment in New York City, the benches he designed increases the social engagement in the urban community. However, the concept of reducing carbon dioxide from furniture making is not effective due to the lack of information on materials usage and production. Furthermore, his design in general wasn’t relatively connected to the environment; and as well as the function doesn’t speak for its design. Lastly, Takeshi Seki wasn’t able to adapt his not-for-profit-organization into his final product.

Through analysis of Takeshi Seki’s thesis, we all approved that there are many different ways to approach this issue. One of the ideas we came across was to produce more oxygen by processing photosynthesis without greens or transferring carbon dioxide into oxygen through current technologies. For example, one idea was to have filters i...

TWiST : The Way I see iT Response

1. What is your #1 vision for change that will make it that way? Our global distance becomes shorter as the transportation becomes more advance; the time I spend for the transportation is 1/3 of the time that I spend time stay in my home. I would like to see the transportations become a useful public area. People might join to do certain activates when they are transporting. It is different from going to schools, shopping mall and etc; it is a event and space that happen to be in your traveling time.

2. After your #1 thing happens, how will everyone benefit? The benefit we get is to strengthen our social relationship between other people and our environment. The thing is, our transportations are so advance and quick that people tend to forgot about the experience of traveling. Their lives only exist either in school, home, office and few other locations. Though my vision, I want people to observe and realize the environments that they been though, even it is a place where cars will only stop for 1 minute. It is a very similar experience when you backpack traveling in other countries; the moment when you are on a subway in a strange country could be an unforgettable adventure in life.

3. Give some examples of what you can do to make your vision a reality. To start, it might require a group of people start doing an event. An existing example would be “Improv Everywhere”, it is an online community that had been doing interesting event in public...

I was the coordinator for community art outreach at National Arts Honors Society club in my high school senior year. We did couple art projects that involved student s to participate in the event, the finish works will be shown in public space. Oddly enough that I was assigned as coordinator since I was never an outgoing girl who knows how to talk and deal with people. I joined this club only because everyone else is doing, so it will make our transcript looks good. However, the experience of been able to plan, organize and create art leaded me to design field.

I am now a senior in product design at Parsons. Coming to design school is a turning point in my life. To me, the difference of doing art and design is the difference between living in your own world comfortably and living in an infinite world desperately. Design is not just a desire profession, but it is a process for a higher self-expectations. The excitement of planning and creating new possibility and the risk of challenging the existence are very important when I am doing design. In order to push myself forward, I choose to work hard to achieve my goal; my toughness is just like the cactus growing in desert.

I have confidence in my ability when approach to a new challenge. My strength is to show what I am capable of doing through skill and hard working, and cover up my weakness. At same time, my strength also allows me to avoid what I don’t do well. English had been one of my biggest shortcomings tha...