Bench
Opportunity: Material Exploration, Construction
Challenge: Bench Design
Role: Designer - 3-member Group Project (USC School of Architecture)
Challenge: Redefine a bench design that challenges the interaction between 2 users with different needs.
Process: I collaborated with 2 other designers on concept through construction for this 2-week long project. We went through a process of studying users and their needs, creating Lo-Fi sketches for initial concept, creating small mock-ups, and creating the completed construction of our design.
Solution: Our solution was a "Mobile Park Bench" that could be transported to different urban settings to add a piece of nature into the urban environment. Our design enabled various use cases - for users that want to sit and work, users that want to relax on a lounge-shaped seat, and users that want to play and climb over the grass section.
Car Wash Facade
Opportunity: Material Exploration, Construction
Challenge: Redefine a Facade Material
Role: Solo Designer (USC School of Architecture)
Challenge: Redefine a facade material that is made out of everyday material.
Process: I went through a material exploration - testing different materials to better understand their qualities and constraints. Once I picked a desired material I explored how it could be transformed into units and studied the quality of its aggregation.
Solution: My solution was to use watering hoes that I cut up and manipulated to create tear-shaped units. I then aggregated the units to create a field of materials that could be used as facade material for a car wash. The functionality of the material field was to capture rain water through its cup shape and transport it to a localized container for recycling and potentially be used at the car wash.
Wood Installation
Opportunity: Material Exploration, Construction
Challenge: Create an installation out of 32 2x6 wood blocks that are only cut 5 times
Role: Solo Designer (USC School of Architecture)
Challenge: Our design challenge was to create an installation out of 2x6 wood blocks. The constraints were that we could only cut each block only 5 times total and connect the pieces only through the joint systems created by the cuts. In addition, no adhesives or nails could be used for the connection of units.
Process: I went through a material exploration - testing different cuts and joint systems to learn the most efficient cut pattern that resulted to the most aesthetically rich solution.
Solution: My solution was to first cut the blocks into 3 thinner pieces. I then made 2 simple 2" cuts, slightly wider than the thickness of the wood pieces, into either ends of the block. I then slid the thin pieces into each other in such a way that they locked into each other but were loose enough that could slightly rotate. As a result the units rotated along their axis and created a field of units with a spatial quality.
Conclusion: I received an award for best design solution among the participating class.
