To launch the Unit X project an initial briefing was provided by Nadia Belfe from Manchester International Festival. The briefing explained the festival itself and what was required from us in terms of providing ideas for three various briefs which we could select from. The main focus for this project was to create something that could be used within the festival, through combination of ideas along with different courses in order to create a unique idea.
During the briefing it was prominent that there was a lot to choose from in terms of which brief, we as individuals wanted to tackle. Given that, our first challenge was to work out which briefs we wanted to approach. I had an initial excitement for Brief One; Ritual -immersive interiors for hospitalities, that being to design the hospitality spaces for the two glass houses situated within the festival. Our main task during research was to actually define ritual. We then needed to decide on what type of ritual we wanted to be the main focus within our design. Our research at this point was based on mindful eating, way finding through spaces and how obstructions actually slow us down within a dining environment.
This allowed for a solid concept to be created; ‘a celebration of togetherness by opposing Western rituals’. Western dining rituals begin with being seated, orders are then taken, eating takes place and then we leave. With this being the main discovery this formed the research for the project. We wanted to create a mindful environment where the dining process is slowed down. This being done by placing interruptions within the space in order for people to interact with the space in an alternate way. At this point we then started to develop ideas for the glass houses. Initially we focused on Glass House A where a formal dining experience takes place. We had researched on Dezeen into different ways of slowing down eating, which evoked our first idea of using screens in order to divide up the space and allow for navigation into different zones. The initial idea was to have each meal as a separate zone, eg seated for starters and then you move into another zone for mains. However it came to our attention very quickly that this was more of a conceptual idea, as the glass houses have a very quick turn around we needed to take this into account and insure this could be met in relation to our design.
“Our concept is ‘celebration of togetherness by opposing Western rituals’. Western dining rituals are often, seated, ordered, eat and the leave. With this being the main focus we wanted to create a mindful environment where the dining process is slowed down. This being done by placing interruptions within the space in order for people to interact with the space more.”
RESEARCH
After creating a concept we decided to move onto furniture and see how this could relate to a dining experience along with our ritual. The first idea we had was to create hexagon tables and chairs that would be able to stack up against the screens to create an installation within the glass house making it functional and flexible as required. The shape of the hexagons were used as they are able to slot into each other and create a solid wall. Tutorials with You&I were constant where we were able to explain our ideas, we received positive feedback where they pushed our us further into coming up with more playful and exciting ideas, like with the shape of a hexagon. They really liked the form we had picked and how this would become a flexible piece of furniture, however we were sent away to research into how a hexagon could be manipulated in order to create something more engaging, and if this could be translated more towards Glass House B. With Glass House B, our initial point of development and research was of hexagons, we started looking at different heights and levels that we could incorporate within our furniture designs for more of a bar environment.
This research and development led us to the interim crit. Where we explained our main focus points to be of mindful eating and creating a more enjoyable and slower dining experience with the use of screens and furniture being stackable in order to suit the demand. Our main visual at this point was of the hexagons stacked against a wall showing the level of flexibility, along with the sketchup models of the hexagons when on the floor shown in different variations.
We received feedback such as; How to clear the space within Glass House A, Are the screens moveable in order to allow for the space to be cleared? Could we look at Japanese blinds which could pull up with ease? How long would it actually take for the space to be cleared?
PROCESS
The process after the interim crit was mainly to evaluate our existing ideas and see how they could be adapted to make them more functional within the glass houses. Similarly to start looking at Glass House B in more detail as to how the hexagons could be established in a bar environment. During this stage mindful eating was still a key focus within Glass House A.
We came up with a final design for Glass House A where is became a design that was more based on elements bought off the shelf such as tables to seat 7 people. Along with the hexagon detailed screen dividers which split up the space in order to create a dining environment based on navigation and way finding.
A few members of the group started playing on this idea more looking at how a mindful environment could be created. Which led to looking at dome/hive . These images evoke an intimate environment that could be manipulated in order to create a dining experience that is unique. Initially, with this idea in mind a few members of the group decided to take more towards brief 3 and looking at how these could illuminate the square. These hives were designed with the concept of a celebration of togetherness, therefore the design related to that of a wine glass but flipped upside down. This was an element that had the original intention of being outside within the square, with the use of a waterproof material.
In order to carry on moving with the project and the time scales I continued to look at Glass House B. After initial thoughts of looking at hexagons at different levels, I started to look at how the hexagon could actually be manipulated by looking at its form. When sketching the shape out it came to my attention that the hexagon could be divided up into triangles. This would allow for the triangles to be situated at different heights yet still in the shape of a hexagon but with sections removed, allowing for more occupation of the space. This aspect was then named as the ‘jigsaw’, where we then further developed the idea into having alternative arrangements and as to how they could be moved around in order to suit the needs of certain clients. This scheme of furniture holds a very angular and geometric shape, allowing around 60 occupants to comfortably be situated around. Therefore we needed to create furniture to be situated within the surrounding space of the jigsaw, that will be located around the outer edge of the glass house. We then decided to research into organic tables as they contrasted with that of the angular shape of the jigsaw. After deciding and designing organic shaped tables I looked into the arrangement of them and how they would be situated within the surrounding space of the glass house. I developed the designs further in vector works allowing for personal development of the software and learnt how to add textures within 3D objects. As a group we carried on developing our ideas and started to generate visuals of what the glass houses would look like.
From this we created our final presentation to pitch to the clients at MIF headquarters. Our pitch consisted of hexagons and triangles for furniture within B, cocoon structures as intimate pods. Tables for Glass House A bought off the shelf, bespoke stacking hexagon chairs. However, it was indicated that these were likely to be costly in relation to budget. The cocoons were discussed and debated at length – certainly the strongest element of the proposal.’ We received positive feedback where the clients expressed as to whether the hives could be incorporated in Glass House B and be resolved more, floating at a greater height. The question for these would be ‘who constructs them?’. These were perceived as having a potential legacy use in MIF’s new home. Overall as a group we thought that the pitch went well in terms of expressing our design ideas and the feedback was positive and gave us positive criticism as how to develop in terms of creating more solid and resolved ideas.
I then took time to reflect on the work we had created, allowing me to look at the work again with a fresh set of eyes. During reflection it came to my attention that it was vital to look at resolving the hive design in order to see how they would actually work and be included within our design, as this was the ‘strongest’ concept, similarly creating strong visuals that showed our designs and that looked at the decoration of the glass houses in terms of how the colour scheme could be incorporated within our design. I looked into how the pod/cocoon structure could be manipulated from the existing measurements in order to make them more suitable for Glass House B. I resolved this by altering the measurements of the hives which allowed me to feedback to Sarah(who was in control of this detailing) enabling me to create visualisations of the hives in relation to Glass House B.
During this project I have been challenged to take on a high workload in order to provide a strong outcome of work for the group, through visualisations. Vectorworks allowed me to create visuals and sections from plans showing our designed elements within the Glass houses. Within the project I focused on the jigsaw design, looking at the alternative arrangements of the design in order to make the design flexible and suitable for different clients. After focusing on this aspect and resolving a design I used vectorworks to make this element 3D. This project has allowed my skills of Vectorworks to develop massively. I have learnt how to create 3D elements, such as the organic tables. Also how to add textures to elements creating a more realistic visualisations. This will help me in the future as I now have the ability to use vectorworks at a good level. This is something I wish to continue developing in order to create even stronger visuals and plans. This group project has also taught me how to take control (alongside Sarah) and become a team leader in group work. Presentations within this group has been significant in terms of showing off our ideas to the clients. Myself and Sarah took it upon ourselves to speak within these pitches as we had been present within the whole project and therefore had made most of the decisions for the group. This speaking has given me confidence in talking about my own ideas and the reasoning behind these ideas which will help me in the future in pitches where I will be able to talk about my ideas in a mature manner.
REFLECTION
Overall as a group we really struggled with the attendance of all group members. After discussing our initial ideas with the group as a whole (still no 3D member) we made a decision about the direction we wanted our project to take. After the first few meetings it became evident that not all group members were committed to the project and therefore the attendance of other members dropped. This really impacted the group and resulted in me and Sarah being the main driving force for the whole project. Therefore we had to take matters into our own hands and make final decisions on the elements we wanted to design which were the hives and the jigsaw design within Glass House B. Credit should be given to members of the group when they did actually turn up. For example certain members experimented with model making of the hives looking at different structures and making really interesting conceptual models which allowed us to understand the form of the Hives better in order to make them less conceptual. Other members of the group did come up with their own design schemes but after group discussions these did not seem to be relevant along side the chosen concept.
As a group, one element I wish we developed further was the final design of Glass House A. Over the course of the project it became clear that our design for Glass House B was a much stronger design and therefore as a group decided to focus our time and efforts on that design rather than on both of the glass houses.
Towards the end of this project I began to enjoy it and understood that it actually is easier having less members within the group as a few of us were able to make the decisions and therefore create a scheme that was strong and answered the brief well. Working alongside Sarah has reinforced the importance of detailing within elements which is an element I have needed to focus on in order for me to understand my design better, which I believe is something I have successfully achieved in this project. However regarding the rest of the group, if there was more people contributing it would be a more realistic exercise as it would be in industry, where we would have potentially been able to create a more complex and unique scheme that pushed the boundaries.
To conclude this project, I do believe that we have created a strong concept and design that has shown that we didn’t necessarily need other members from different disciplines in order to create a strong scheme, as the lack of attendance has pushed me outside of my comfort zone and made me create aspects I wouldn’t have usually done such as furniture design, which is an aspect that will help me in the future in terms of designing elements to fit within spaces I design.
Comments