The Second Brainstorming, part 2

Time flies fast, it's already the 6th week of term.

What we will be doing is to continue our structure; the futuristic underground refugee camp, from last week. Afterwards, we will be presenting our design to the whole class.

The "roof" of the camp

  

While some of us were working on the ground floor of the camp, the rest of us which includes me; were doing the "roof"/top part of the structure.

I quoted "roof" because it isn't a literal roof. It refers to the barren land where the camp is built underground of it.

In order for the base to support the top part of the structure, we had to use twine strings and masking tape to make sure the roof is attached onto the rest of the structure.

A lift is placed onto the square box

         We cut a square box in order to place our lift, which is the only way of entering the camp.

Adding the ladders and making sure the door was cut properly

    Meanwhile, members who were working on the ground floor of the camp, were adding a ladder
and making sure the base structure is alright.

                                     


Once done modifying the camp itself, we proceed to make the equipment of the camp.

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Placing the "trees"

Finished placing the trees

Solar panels is an important element for self-sufficiency, as they're a source of renewable energy; by absorbing sun's rays to generate electricity.
They're very reliable compared to other sources of electricity generators, they have no moving parts which adds to the stealth ability of it, they also have a long life span averaging 25 years because of slow degradation. The only downsides to it is that, it only can generate during the day and it does not produce as much energy as other generators.

These solar panels illustrated on the photo are
camouflaged as trees.
Camouflaging it, is crucial as,we do not want the base to be exposed and attacked as a result.







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Making of living quarters 

Each living quarter is big enough to be able to accommodate hundreds of people.

To be able to accommodate hundreds of people is important as an incident (example, a racial war) will create a lot of victims seeking refuge.

Final product of living quarters

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Making chairs for the greenhouse & canteen         

 A greenhouse is needed for self-sufficiency too, as they're a source of basic needs; food and medicine.



Greenhouses also functions as a temperature and humidity control, this is to prevent excess heat.

Making of the greenhouse                                      

The greenhouse & canteen

Since the underground and the camp is an enclosed area, it will be poorly ventilated.
Greenhouses will improve the air circulation by carbon dioxide and oxygen replacement, providing fresh air.


















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An office

An office that provides refugee services,
managing funding, managing
official documents and keeping track of refugees. Works as an security post too.







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A closer view

Top view of final product

Final product

Once done with the equipment planned for the camp, we're finally done with the design!

Just as we were done with the design; without delay, we're all asked to present. It feels like our lecturer was waiting for us finish.

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                                                      Onward to other people's works!

Group's idea at underground at Egypt 

The concept of underground at Egypt

I personally feel that this group's idea is the best, both practicality or aesthetically.

One of the reasons why I like it is because the structure is able fly and relocate, which is a silly, yet cool idea; it impresses and amuses me.

It is evident that the concept is pretty well thought out as it touches the topics that is needed. For example, the self-sufficiency of the building.

With more time and resources given, the structure will look even nicer.









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I like the modern architectural style of this building. The white strings formed into a ball and tied around the building; it resembles atoms. By using wires to make a frame and then using garbage bag to illustrate the exterior of the building, along with the atom/DNA-liked objects hovering the building, they managed to captured the scientific design.

A group take on a scientific building

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A simple church

The church is made up of simple boxes and a single diagonal roof, along with a simple church symbol onto of it. It is easy to grasp the concept of the building, however it lacks details and critical thinking of what architecture is. For example, the building could have been better done with windows and more apparent doors, and since church are normally for lively religious people, the background should have demonstrated or decorated with lively holy elements. Without a simple church symbol, this building would have seen as a haven or a storage that is inhabitable.

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 I assume that this design is trying to demonstrate the tropical design of a shelter. However, this design reflect badly, as it only shows the frame and have insufficient and necessary details.

The building lacks a proper shelter, a roof, even by using crumpled paper, or sliced paper, it will actually be enough to show a simple tropical roof (which actually would use big leaves). To add on, they did not use enough sticks to use as a support for the building, as it looks too fragile and the frame weak.

Hence, this project have more rooms for improvisation.








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Japanese style modern building

It is evident they have done planning and added details into the structure.
The roof is properly shown, the doors are modern, attached with solar panels and nicely demonstrated as doors.
However, this architecture has very improper design specifications. For example, the doors are big enough to fit more than the width of the building, which look awkward and seems like a cabinet/wardrobe with a rooftop.

Hence, if they have thought it through, they might have make a bigger building with  windows, etc.                                                                                            









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Other classes work maybe? (it's in the back of the class)

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The presentations went smoothly, except there was an awkward silence during a group presentation.
By doing more practice beforehand presentation, or having rehearsals, any group can do better and avoid any awkward silence as it shows lack of preparation, and confidence.

Finally, this concludes our activity.

 

The Second Brainstorming

During the 5th week of the term, a new activity was scheduled of us in class. The lecturer briefed 

us on the new brainstorming activity but this time we need to build the design ourselves from the 

concept we have formed later on.

Each group was assigned a random topic to work on; we were given a country and architecture to design.
Our team picked up refugee camp in America, in the future. Every group was given a choice to re-pick if they're not satisfied with their topic.

My group decided to stick to our topic and decided to work on it right away. We scoured the internet 

on our smartphones to learn and research about refugee camps and the American setting.

After a while, we discussed our findings and began to share ideas regarding the design of the

project. We wrote down things we need to take note of and viable ideas on a piece of mahjong

paper. After much a long deliberation, we decided that we can proceed on drawing the concept of the

camp. The drawing of the concept did not take long as our ideas were very simple.

drawing of concept

The refugee camp is built underground to prevent outsiders and unauthorized people from
finding it. It is self-efficient. There is a greenhouse for food and medicines, a water filtration

system, humidity control machines and solar panels to generate energy. The solar panels on top

of the bunker are spread out and camouflaged as trees. In other words, the refugee camp works

like a modern-day bunker. To enter or leave the bunker, refugees have to take the lift. However,

refugees cannot enter or leave the camp freely as the underground bunker cover will be easier

exposed.

Cutting cardboard needed for the building

Once done with the drawing, we proceeded to build a 3D concept of the refugee camp with satay

sticks, garbage bags, cardboard boxes, and twine ropes. The process of building the design was

enjoyable, though the limited materials that we can use was a little frustrating.

The lesson was over before we could finish our design. At the end, it looked like other groups 

were not done yet with theirs as well. We were told to leave our buildings at the back of the 

classroom, continue the following week and get ready for a short presentation about the design.

Thoughts about SOTA, School of the Arts, Singapore

Last Wednesday, 5th of August, our creative thinking class lecturer instructed us to go out and find any piece of architecture that caught our attention most. Walking along, we spotted the School of the Arts Building situated along Prinsep street. My groupmates and I all decided to use the building as our subject. I went in the SOTA building for the school activity, and here are my thoughts about its architecture.

The School Of the Arts

Heavy vegetation and wooden walls

The School of the Arts, Singapore building resembles an ecosystem.

This is evident as we can see the bark-like structure on the lower walls and heavy vegetation.

 Closer view of lower walls

Looking up

It is quite practical to form the SOTA building this way as it promotes green acts and clean air. The vegetation allows more production of oxygen and effectively lessening the amount of carbon dioxide in the air.

                                                     

A few steps inside the building, I feel like I am taking a walk in a rainforest.
A key element in the architecture of the SOTA building is its walls made entirely of wood. The walls are in easily recognizable geometric shapes - mainly triangles. Geometric shapes suggest structure and order while organization and efficiency embodies what a school should be. Angled surfaces opposed the smoothly painted vertical surfaces.

Space created by ceiling

              Once inside, I notice that the ceiling is very high up – more or less 3 floors in height.
                                The lobby gives off a strong sense of freedom and space.

Tiles

As for the interior of the building, the tiles have monochromatic colours, black and white, which gives a perception of a dramatic, cleaner and more spacious or wider area. Occasionally, silver linings can be found running through them. The open space may double as a gallery to showcase the productions the school has to flaunt. Black is a colour that gives off an aura of elegance, mystery, and formality. On the other hand, the contrasting white shows cleanliness, simplicity, and a minimalism approach.





In conclusion, I feel that this architecture is well designed and constructed. I especially love the feeling of how organized and elegant the building is.

Brainstorming

Shelling out of Ideas

Last week’s activity was to brainstorm on a design specifically heavily influenced by snails. Groups were formed by Ms.Tan Ai Khim, our lecturer for the class, before we all settled into our places.

What we're briefed about

Ms.Tan Ai Khim gave all of us students a brief description of what we were supposed to do 

and to accomplish within the time allotted.

Research going on

As one big group, we all shared and discussed the idea that each of us had in mind.
We also used our smart phones to rummage through the internet for references and possible inspirations for our design.

Sharing of ideas

After each one of us has done their part of coming up with designs, this is when the “shelling of ideas” or the brainstorming begins.

We went through our list of ideas and decided on which one we found to be the most interesting and visually appealing.

To my right

I had quick look around the room. All teams were very engaged in the project.

To my left

Towards my left, I can see the adjacent group’s leader building on others’ idea and making sure all the members are contributing.

Mind mapping time

When we were finally done free-associating, we created a mindmap to further develop the 

chosen idea for the project.

After we have all agreed on and were satisfied with the design, the time to draw the concept

came afterwards.

Final product

Our product was a portable phone charger that comes with a speaker and a flashlight. We worked on this concept until the end of the class.

Waiting for the class to end

With a few minutes left before the end of the class, the lecturer informed us on what we need to do the following week. We are expected to present our concept during the next meeting. After we were done with the concept art, classes have ended. We made final adjustments while we packed up and prepared to leave the room.