SDPS Synthesis April 7, 2009
Posted by sl1814 in : Uncategorized , add a commentReading – Galison, War Against the Center
Tool For Thought – The IDEO Way
I chose Galison and IDEO because they embody both ends of a spectrum upon which I situate my past work and what I hope to accomplish in the future. The relationship between information and the physical planning and layout of space – the intersection of the built and mediated environments – is one I find endlessly fascinating, and the Galison reading captures how a statistical reality could overly-determine the layout and design of a physical reality, and it illuminates precisely why my interests as a designer have focused upon information ecologies. The IDEO way inspires my thinking and process in considering how to design around information while keeping its impact on the built environment in mind. It not only builds a structure around the design process that allows for an inductive approach to solving design problems, but emphasizes the need for building in addition to thinking, or more importantly as a tool for thinking.
These two areas inspire me to look for meaningful pieces of information that dramatically impact one’s experience of and relation to physical space – an issue that takes central focus in two projects I’m working on this semester for Design for Unicef and Networked Objects respectively.
Experience Mapping April 6, 2009
Posted by cdh263 in : Outside inspiration , add a commentCynthia Hilmoe
Someone had told me last December to map user experience to help me clarify what I was going to make for my Thesis Project. I had in mind a system of toys, apparel, do-it-yourself kits and an online portal to help encourage kids to connect with Mother Nature. I got it: You need to map or anticipate user experience, but what did that really mean? I hadn’t seen any good examples at ITP (that’s not to say there is no good experience mapping/planning going on), only heard this advice.
An outside critic at Thesis Class referred me to two great articles. I recommend them to anyone who is interested in experience mapping and modeling as techniques used in service design projects. The first presents a model-based procedure for transitioning from analyzing precedents to synthesizing a preferred state or design. The second article provides a universal framework for analyzing and describing a product/service experience cycle. Digital copies are hard to find. Look in the ACM Digital Library from here.
Dubberly, Hugh and Shelley Evenson, May/June 2008, Interactive Magazine, The Experience Cycle
Dubberly, Hugh and Shelley Evenson, RIck Robinson, March 2008, The Analysis-Synthesis Bridge Model
Cynthia’s 1:1 Prep: A Few Thoughts April 6, 2009
Posted by cdh263 in : Assignments , add a commentWith a thesis project that is essentially a service design exercise, I have been using weekly diagrams and readings to clarify and organize an abundance of research related to strengthening the connection between children and nature.
Probably most meaningful to me so far, though, were the articles that defined service design and discussed analytical techniques used in the service design discipline. Sylvia Harris’ Presbyterian Hospital and Rachel Abrams’ Queens Museum case studies helped bring that info into context. They showed how stories can be crafted from the process of gathering information, then interpreting and representing it.
Somehow or another, I’ll be crafting my own story from children’s reaction to props I have made as part of project representation along with research into the the diminished role of nature in our lives today, play and pedagogical theory (situational meaning, contextual learning, inquiry-based learning), game design (boredom thresholds and ambiguity, e.g.), etc.
Because my design works a lot with edges or boundaries — pushing children just beyond their comfort zones to connect with Mother Nature — the universal constructs that Kevin Lynch presents could be helpful. Since I intend to start my design where the children are, one way I might think of this could be to represent these states as his….
* paths, the streets, sidewalks, trails, and other channels in which people travel;
* edges, perceived boundaries such as walls, buildings, and shorelines;
* districts, relatively large sections of the city distinguished by some identity or character;
* nodes, focal points, intersections or loci; and
* landmarks, readily identifiable objects which serve as reference points
….Then pull the children towards a different state with my project; beyond their ordinary, everyday experience.
Week 10: Services stories, part 2 March 31, 2009
Posted by rda1 in : 10_Storytelling , add a commentWoah, today was a roller coaster ride of design methods, field exercises and card games. All towards summarizing Laura Kurgan‘s Million Dollar Blocks case study and figuring out what design discovery and definition becomes through the IDEO…and the Brian Eno lenses. Between now and next week, you are invited to post your reflections on one reading and one diagram/visual model/tool for thinking that you’re working from for our 1:1 chats in week 11 and 12. News from Postopolis from me, seminar summaries from this week’s crew – thank you Nahana, Nobu, Sara – and last week’s – thank you Kristin and Madi. And Ari, add that Metropolis gem to the blogroll? Have a good week.
Week 9: Representing service stories March 31, 2009
Posted by rda1 in : 9_ServiceDesignVocab , add a commentWe were delighted to welcome Sylvia Harris to class this week, now we’re back at base after fieldtrips and Spring Break. Sylvia, one of the best known, most inspiring information designers for public institutions around, took us through the monumentally complex, vast wayfinding project she undertook with the team at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in uptown Manhattan. Not only were the project goals ambitious and worthwhile, and the outcomes effective and transformative, Sylvia’s presentation of the unfolding process was another key take-away for the class this week. We’ll discuss more about designers as storytellers in week 10.Meantime, Kristin and Madi are invited to share their write-up of the exercise they gave the class that reflected on our reading of Peter Galison’s War Against the Center. Not urban scale, nor specifically about designing services, but definitely a scrutinizing look at the relationship between strategy and its physical manifestations: a suburb-shaped morphology of Cold War paranoia. See also Dolores Hayden’s fantastic “A Field Guide to Sprawl” for a full photographic, deliciously awful glossary of what Galison describes.
Free Fresh Kills Site Tours March 20, 2009
Posted by gsk240 in : 3_Public space, 4_ServiceDesign, 8_Fieldtrip, Outside inspiration, Uncategorized , add a commentI found out from someone who works for the landscape architecture office Field Operations that that NYC Parks Department gives free tours of the Fresh Kills site in Staten Island. I found this exciting because I have an odd fascination with Staten Island (and its free ferry).
You just sign up ahead of time. They pick you up from the station the day of the tour. I’m going on Saturday, April 4 in the afternoon if anyone wants to join me!
Week 8: Fieldtrip March 10, 2009
Posted by rda1 in : 8_Fieldtrip , 1 comment so farIn week 8, we’re on our way back to Queens Museum to look at Robert Moses’ astounding 1:1200 Panorama of the five boroughs of New York.
Meantime we’ve been paying attention to conclusions from the Idea07 conference about what emerges at the intersection of info space/urban place: Networks are everything, patterns are there to be recognized, we’re constantly seeking connections, the more we live online, the more we crave to regain our senses. Taking my cue, that’s enough blog posts for one day…
Week 6-7: The cartographic detour March 10, 2009
Posted by rda1 in : 6_DesignAsUrbanIntervention, 7_Place+Space , add a commentIn week 7 (Place+Space), Don Shillingburg from Peter Walker+Partners, the architects working on the 911 memorial, ran a fantastic masterclass, as a guest speaker.
His question: How do you set design parameters for public projects when inherently the outcomes will be co-created, open-ended?
He calls this exercise Best Square Wins, and yes, you had to be there.
Jonathan and Karla also took us through the info visualization classic, Snow’s cholera maps, and introduced us to Kevin Lynch’s mapping grammar. Sure, Lynch’s chapter on the elements of the city in Image of the City (1960) is about ‘reading’ city space but this toolset leads us to representations of other things – surprisingly enough, including services – we’ll return to this in week 9.
Weeks 5-6: Design as urban intervention March 10, 2009
Posted by rda1 in : 5_LegibleIntangibles, 6_DesignAsUrbanIntervention , add a commentOver the last few weeks, we’ve focused on services at the urban scale, seeing the city as a medium, a place that situates our experience of complex information flow.
In weeks 5-6, comparing Simmel’s 1903 essay, The Metropolis and Mental Life, with William Mitchell’s opening chapter from his 1998 City of Bits was our way in: We were struck that Mitchell, in striving to predict the impact of digital information on our encounters in architectural space, came off as more dated than Simmel’s observations from a hundred years ago. But we still like his binary framework.
And as you read Simmel’s characterization of the urban creature, you glimpse where all your preconceptions about city dwellers – that we’re jaded, blasé, over-fastidious (Yelp, foodie blogs, anyone?) and unfriendly to tourists – come from.
The DT’s Public Space Potluck March 18! March 6, 2009
Posted by rda1 in : Outside inspiration , 1 comment so farMark your calendars!The next Public Space Potluck is set for Wednesday, March 18, at 6:30pm under the palm trees at the World Financial Center Wintergarden. This location is a “public-private” space, going along with the theme of our upcoming Design Trust Council event “Public Space / Private Money,” a discussion on how public spaces funded by private investments can retain a public identity. The Wintergarden is surely a wonderful asset to the public, but is it really a public space?
From Wintergarden manager Brookfield Properties:
“…The world-renowned Winter Garden is a spectacular 10-story enclosed glass atrium featuring an enormous indoor sanctuary with a cascading marble semicircular staircase, fashioned of Italian marble, leading to a grove of sixteen 45-foot palm trees. . . . the Winter Garden is a celebrated venue for performances, site-specific installations, premieres and commissioned works – year-round and free to the public. Over 40 restaurants, major brand and specialty retailers and business services make shopping and dining an unforgettable experience.” (emphasis by the Design Trust)
Inspired by Design Trust Board Member Zach McKown, who hosted a dinner on the Brooklyn Bridge last summer, the Design Trust staff has organized a series of potluck dinners in public spaces in New York City. Dinners were held in Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, on the Staten Island Ferry, and most recently at the DT office to celebrate the inauguration of President Obama, with an accompanying ping-pong tournament.
Please write to rsvp@designtrust.org if you plan to attend.
We look forward to seeing you there!
The DT Staff
Design Trust for Public Space
338 West 39th Street, 10th Floor
New York City 10018
t: 212-695-2432 x13
f: 212-695-6101