charese.allen: uv critique : neighborhood c

[PART ONE]

Reviewing the Unity Village projects, I was pleased to see a range of solutions to the design challenges associated with the project. The neighborhood I evaluated was Neighborhood C.

Clairissa and Carlos designed the ground floor. Their main inspiration was the jellyfish and the organic, integrated lines associated with it. A major strength within their design was that they integrated all elements in a seamless way. They thought outside the box and did not get stuck in what a typical workout area looks like. With the idea of compression and release, I would challenge them to make the contrast between more areas more dramatic. I would also ask how the spaces meet the needs of all the users. How did you come up with the concept and how does that relate to the function of the space and the intended users. Overall, I think the final product will be very creative and unique.

Cassandra and Hailey Allen designed the first floor around the idea of chaos and order. The vibrant colors created an energetic feel and unified the space. However, using green on every wall became a bit monotonous and boring. Perhaps using different colors or variations of green to add a bit of differentiation between rooms on the floor.

The second floor was designed by Veronica, Wes, and Hailey Preston, with a concept of oasis : release. The open floor plan and circulation paths worked well with the concept, allowing free movement through the floor in all directions. Merging interior and exterior through the greenhouse was also a great way to increase the open feel. Some possible improvements are different seating arrangements or seating sizes to encourage social interaction. The forms in the space now do not seem to serve that function well. I would also utilize a recurring graphic to unify the space more than it is now. The images in the visual presentation were well rendered, but many of them were too small to be seen clearly. In the future it would be helpful to have the images larger for the audience.

[PART TWO]

Our design of the first floor in unity village as developed greatly from the beginning of the project. We did a good job of integrating new and old elements and starting to use old objects in new ways. This idea of new interpretations of old elements could be developed and pushed further throughout the entire space to make a bolder statement. The design was successful in creating an inviting environment that made users feel at ease and at home. In the future I would approach the inspiration-finding stage differently. I was just looking for images of vintage and new patterns, rooms, etc. It would have been more helpful for me to take the idea of old and new and abstract it to come up with a wider variety of ideas. I would have also trusted my crazy (out of the box) ideas from the beginning. For example with the large columns as old legs, which is an idea I got from Marcel Wanders. I considered using this in the beginning but thought it was too farfetched. This project has taught me a lot about my design process and how to start developing a concept and a subsequent design. In the future, I will be able to successfully abstract an idea to yield a strong concept that guides my design decisions. I will also start by thinking outside the box and voicing all my crazy ideas. From this I can tone down the ideas if necessary, but still have an interesting, creative design.