Brief
Design a way for residents to imagine Southwark in 2030.
Team-mates
Jumleena Bhagawati, Devin Wang, Weiting Chi, ChiaLin Ma (Jolin)
Date
24/02/23 - 3/03/23 (Week 4)
Welcome to week 4 of Macro UX.
Recap: Previously we had our mid-point review where our concept was analyzed by our project partners and feedback was given accordingly. Out of our three concepts, Concept 3 was the most agreed upon. However, analyzing the feedback we realized that our concept has a few drawbacks.
In week 4 of Macro UX, we decided to focus on addressing the drawbacks and breaking up and scrutinizing our whole concept. We drew a plan for how the next two weeks would progress and decided to stick to a strict timeline. For the current week, along with addressing the drawbacks we wanted to draft a sample for the audio as well as the visual for the immersive installation and test it out during the presentation. The construction for the base design was planned to start from the latter half of week 4, which made us eager to get our hands on the materials such that we could possibly get a head start on building the design.
- Timeline -
- Research -
Our research broadly encompassed drawing inspiration by exploring interactive experience designs of the past. Since the vision is to create an impactful moment through the design, it was very important to observe what aspects are to be focused on during the process that could translate a boring design into an exciting one.
Theatre de Complicité:
Complicité, an international touring theatre company based in London, was founded in 1983 by Annabel Arden, Fiona Gordon, Marcello Magni, and Simon McBurney. The company has won more than 50 awards and toured in over 40 countries. Complicité is known for its collaborative approach to theatre-making through a process known as "devising." Associates from diverse fields come together to create works after extensive research and development. The associates have developed a shared creative language that forms an anchor for the company's explorative work. The focus on a collaborative devising process has resulted in a visually rich stage language that combines physically beautiful performances, tightly choreographed ensemble work, and innovative lighting, sound, and video design. Complicité has produced works across genres and subjects, exploring new ideas and pushing the boundaries of theatre, making it one of the most influential and consistently interesting theatre companies in Britain.
Complicité's theatre-making approach is heavily influenced by L'Ecole Jacques Lecoq's emphasis on developing the imagination, shared languages, and the communicative power of space, image, and body. Instead of solely relying on written text, the ensemble places the communicative potential of the body, space, and gesture before the spoken word. The collaborators in the rehearsal room are chosen for their skill as theatre makers and performers, and for their individuality, which allows for a unique offering to the process. Through this deep preparation, the creative work becomes richer, leading to a moment of inspiration.
Works of Martin Le Lapin:
Charlotte Martin, also known as Martin Le Lapin, is a French illustrator based in London. Her work is inspired by her travels, particularly to Japan, where she draws inspiration from its limited color palette. She enjoys working with bright colors and screen printing to produce tactile work with a handmade feel. Her illustrations include travel guides, maps, prints, and activity packs for all ages. Charlotte is fascinated by the architecture of buildings and often includes cats in her work as a nod to her own pet and her love of felines. She recently illustrated buildings in Paris, Tokyo, New York, and London and plans to add beautiful houses from Amsterdam and Antwerp to her series.
- Design -
While designing the immersive installation we wanted to focus on finding an easily doable yet efficient method that would require us to utilize inexpensive materials to create the prototype. However, when it came to the structure there were a few important things to consider. So for this week, we started with building the immersive installation along with restructuring and simplifying the interactive part of the experience.
Restructuring the immersive experience
The presence of too many components could lead to a confusing experience. In order to simplify we decided that instead of having a separate booth for interaction, maybe we could utilize the walls of the triangular prism structure to use as an interactive board. That way we could bring about a change in the design by not suspending the structure and placing it on the ground we could be avoiding the risk while simplifying the overall experience at the same time. We sketched out a few rendition of how to incorporate the interaction booth into the design of the installation.
Working on the installation
We realized that a long hollow suspended structure with mirrors on the inside would create a nice visual effect. However, we were still questioning wheater it will be structurally feasible and maintain its integrity through hours of use otherwise a few risks might be involved. Also having a suspended structure location was going to be the key. Unless it was going to happen indoors, it would have a lot of limitations.
The reason we wanted it to suspend from the ceiling was that it had a kaleidoscopic structure the further the roof where the light from the projector hits the better the visuals so we could potentially adjust the height depending on each individual. Also in terms of accessibility, it could have good. However, constantly adjusting the height could lead to risks, and the weight of the structure was key to determining what we should possibly do. Deciding to place the structure on the ground could help us avoid risk while also making it easier to install and place in any given scenario. For better visualization have expressed the changes in the diagram below.
Figuring out the measurements for the installation:
for the frame
Materials:
With the idea of suspension in mind, we started our search for super lightweight materials that we could design with. We also wanted it to be cost-effective because it was a life-sized model every material that will go on it used will have to be large, which means more materials will rise the overall cost and weight. Light weight polycarbonate sheets were one of our main options to create the inner walls for the structure. However, we ended up finding and using an even lighter material: recycled protection board (2.4 meters x1.2 metres) to use as walls.
still needed to create a frame to hold the structure in place. Materials used for the frame. diagram
3d Workshop:
Audio and visuals
Audio:
Visual:
Testing
- Presentation -
This week our goal for the midpoint review was to have a solid concept to propose during the presentation as well as come up with a prototype for the first component of the concept: immersive installation. The presentation went as planned, with us elaborating on our idea and leaving with some valuable insights about how we can improve upon our model.
- Evaluation & Feedback -
- Reflection -
Reward system
- Reference-
Debord, G., 1955. Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography. Paris: s.n.
Fiona Shipwright, 2016. KOTTBUSSER TOR: 2008, 2010, 2014 . Berlin
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