Monday, 8 October 2012

New project: Future Life

Project Brief;
Devise a project that addresses the problem of waste by 'harvesting and (re)using resources such as:

Materials eg waste from skips and construction sites
food waste eg from supermarkets
space
time
water

Design a structure, and/or systems on your site that is/are able to occupy different spaces and fulfil different needs at different times.

and/or

Design a structure or other element within the built environment that can be easily disassembled, reconfigured, removed and remade to meet changing functional requirements and helps to eliminate waste.

The key words for this project are- Gleaning, harvesting and recovering.

verb (used with object)

to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.

to gather (grain or the like) after the reapers or regular gatherers.

to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly.

verb (used without object)

to collect or gather anything little by little or slowly.

to gather what is left by reapers.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English glenen < Old French glener < Late Latin glennāre ≪ Celtic

The concept of gleaning refers to the gathering of crops left over after the harvest, or coat cast off from mining. Products like these, considered economically unviable, were considered fair game for people to collect themselves. The small scale 'harvesting' or cast-off resources allowed them to be brought back to use, rather than wasted. The concept can equally be applied to the present day.

Gleaning can be seen as small scale, often creative solution to the problem of waste created by large-scale production. That waste can take on many guises, from scarce material to food; from time to space. Many material, spacial and human resources can be gathered rather than left to waste.

Design traditionally operates within mainstream commercial activity where inefficient production often creates waste. But it can equally well operate at the margins, occupying gaps on the fringes of established markets, where commercial activity isn't considered viable. Waste, in this context can be seen as a resource or a material for production.

St Catherine's hospice shops

Last year, we took on a project to re brand and re design a new scheme to be rolled out onto 11 local charity shops. I was lucky enough to be one of those chosen to have their designs implemented into the shops. Our first project this year was to produce a video showing the progress through one of our previous projects so i based mine on St Catherine's.

Monday, 24 September 2012

Boogazine Proposal

I have put together a PowerPoint video presentation to highlight the key ideas for my boogazine and which areas i would like to look into. I will be presenting this video to my tutor to get his views on my proposal.

(video can be viewed in full screen mode)

Sunday, 16 September 2012

Unique Cafes! honours project

So, I've mentioned the idea of having a cafe at the base of the water tower for my honours project, but that's all I've said so far, just a cafe. I don't want this to be any old cafe, similar to all the rest, i want it to be THE place to be, the place people are talking about and recommending to others. So, i've started looking into unique cafes....

The Book Club, London -something a little bit different

"Its hard to define this venue, as it offers customers so much variety, but essentially, The Book Club is a café by day, and a platform for art, literature, philosophy, design and music by night.

Popular with trendy twenty something’s, this café provides punters with quality snacks in a bright and airy environment, and slightly more culture with your croissant than the typical coffee shops.

Described by The Independent as ‘currently, the venue for hip literary events’, The Book Club also offers speed dating, life drawing classes, and live music from Faris Badwan of Indie band, The Horrors in January alone. So if any of this appeals, then make sure you check it out. " It also has a book room, pool room and a ping pong table.

source - http://london.myvillage.com/article/londons-unique-cafes

Interior design by Shai Akram http://www.shaiakram.co.uk/

I love this visual of the interior, so simple but effective.

Candy Cakes, London - for those with a sweet tooth!

From each and every cake to the interior of the cafe, this place is so colourful and vibrant making it hard for customers not want to call in! With three 'Candy Cake stations' in London its hard to miss out!

Magnificent pop up van at Hamleys!

It's busy atmosphere and vibrant design inspired a visiting artist...

When I visited Dubai when i was younger, we went to Cafe Ceramique. Here, not only can you enjoy a wonderful lunch but at the same time paint your own ceramic pot! What more can you ask for? great fun for everyone!

http://www.cafeceramique.ae/home.html

Urban Station, Coffee Shop offices-for those on the go

This coffee shop charges by the hour, which includes free drinks, free WIFI, and even conference rooms for your convenience. Maybe it is just another internet cafe, but it's individual layout and improved payment scheme makes it just that bit better than the rest.

urban station

Whilst researching this topic i came across Cafe Bravo in Berlin. This has JUST the type of glass extension i would love to have on my cafe. Because it has a mirror style quality to it, it reflects the buildings surroundings which is a really nice touch, and look how beautiful it looks at night! Really inspiring...

La Patisseries De Reves- for a futuristic experience!

"Owned by pastry master Phillipe Conticini, La Patisserie des Raves is incredibly innovative in its approach to displaying its goods. Each of the pasty goodies are displayed under a temperature controlled glass bell on a round podium in the center. When a customer orders any of the sweets, one of the staff returns with it directly from the kitchen."

http://www.lapatisseriedesreves.com/

As Ormskirk is known for it's gingerbread, my cafe could give visitors the oportunity to decorate their own gingerbread man when they come in. Another nice way to like in with the area.

More research to follow!...

Friday, 7 September 2012

Boutique hotel designs

Otherwise known as 'design' or 'lifestyle' hotels, boutique hotels have a number of individual or themed rooms. For this reason they are often smaller. Hotel Madera in Hong Kong have some really uniquely designed rooms making it quite an exclusive place to stay in...

And some other fascinating boutique hotel rooms....

Honours project - more ideas

I want the Water Tower to be something different, something that people will travel to to visit. A place to meet friends or family or somewhere you would visit often.
To do this it needs to be something that Ormskirk doesn't already have, something a bit different. It must be designed in a way that makes it a pleasant and comfortable place to visit, making you want to come again. The activities put on, or whatever i plan to use the site as, must be enjoyable and affordable to make people want to use it more often.

So, the building has five floors, with the top one being the tank. I plan to have the staircase on the outside of the building creating more room inside. Some ideas are;

Floor five- (the tank) CINEMA ROOM/CAMERA OBSCURA. This room is completely dark and so would make a great cinema room. It would only house between 15 and 20 chairs so would only be very small. The screen would be on one of the shorter walls. This would be suitable for school visits; they could either use the screen to watch films, plays or educational videos. Otherwise it could be used for the children to come and learn about the tower, its history and the area.

Alternatively, The tank could house a camera obscura. There is one of these in Edinburgh. You can see live moving images of Edinburgh projected onto a viewing table through a giant periscope. The images are fantastic and you can see for miles. This would also be another way for people ( visitors and school pupils) to learn about the area and also have an unforgettable unique experience! It would also be a good way of bringing larger groups to the tower.

The view on the dish at camera obscura Edinburgh.

Floor Four- a 'classroom' or room to benefit the room above. I think if the camera obscura was to be used for educational student visits it would benefit from an additional room below with tables and chairs for example, more info on the area, maybe like a mini exhibition as the camera obscura room would only be used in pitch black so couldnt house information in there.

Floor three- 'CLASSES' ROOM. Ormskirk has several gyms which hold a number of classes each week but there are some classes that are less common, these could be held here. This would be a great way of gaining regular visitors and and also giving jobs to people who want to hold classes. Some ideas for classes are;

Baby music classes. These classes are loved by babies and toddlers. They get to play with other children and join in with percussion instruments. It also gives parents a chance to meet on another.
Art and craft classes. Possibly a new project each week, this would allow art lovers to meet up and share their hobby.
Language classes. Quite self explanatory really! Once or twice weekly courses in certain languages.
cookery classes. Get professional tutorials in one off recipes to recreate a special dining in experience. The only problem is this would require a kitchen. An alternative would be cake decorating.
Music lessons.
New and/or unique fitness classes for men and women. The likes of zumba, aerial yoga, kickboxing, spinning or mixed martial arts.

baby music classes

Aerial yoga

Floor two.....ideas to come! still none...

Floor one- SHOP. This will be a shop selling local produce only. Locally grown or made food. Works of local artists or things made in classes...

Ground floor- possibly a CAFE. As i mentioned in a previous blog post there is space for a glass extension outside. This would provide the cafe with a larger seating area and would bring the outside surroundings in. Depending on available space, there could be a small gardening area. Locals or school children could help out with the maintenance of the garden and plants could be planted in memory of others, which might be nice with it being close to the hospital. Going back to the water theme, another idea is to have toys or activities outside that when played with, produced a water flow over the glass extension. It is just a small reminder of the building's history.