2070readingreflections

[2070readingreflections]

Reflection 8/14

The readings for this week got me thinking about cases where empathetic design techniques were implemented or neglected. I think empathetic design is especially important during the design and reconstruction of landmarks, prominent statues or monuments, and other architectural displays of heritage, tradition and community. A few years ago, my town was discussing a local landmark that was placed right next to a large middle school's property. The middle school wanted to tear down the building because it was impeding on their land and it took away from the space they could use to build bigger fields. However, this building meant much more to other people in the community than the school could say for themselves. It represented our ancestry and tradition present in our community. While it was not representative of any certain group per say, it did represent a lineage of families and communities that have moved in and out of my town. Many demonstrations took place as the school petitioned town hall to let them remove the building because it was "outdated" and "rarely used." However, this school was built only 15 years ago, and thus is rarely new. Therefore, they couldn't possibly understand the magnitude of history and tradition that are ingrained in the walls of that building. Ultimately, the landmark building was able to maintain its position on the property. Talking about the Jefferson School and Empathetic Design these past few weeks reminded me of that occurrence a few years ago. It reminded that it is important to stay true to your community, regardless of what it may represent. Something that may seem insignificant to one, is extremely significant to another. Hence, it is extremely important to approach design and architecture with an accepting, open mind as to not obstruct the livelihood of individuals ingrained in certain structures, ways of living, and so much more. Design seeps deeper than merely a structure. A design can rearrange the way something is done, it can change habits--both for the better or the worse; the result depends on the empathy and consideration of the designer. This also signaled our intentions in Project 1. When making a Bird House, we had to try our best to understand the audience we were trying to reach. Even though it was meant for birds, which none of us can truly relate to, we were able to conduct as much research as possible until we were sure that our structure would be save and beneficial to its bird inhabitants. For me, this meant incorporating techniques of biomimicry, to resemble the natural habitat that birds are accustomed to living in. Ultimately, design is more than art or creativity, it is empathy, consideration, and understanding. 

[2070readingreflections]

14/4 Reflection

The Vinegar Hill Community serves as yet another reminder of Charlottesvilles troubled history. I’ve previously done some readings about this community and sat in on a talk by Professor Andrew Karhl my first year for my guides training. I think it is important to explain the history of Charlottesvilles racial injustices to tourists and members of the UVa community in order to educate others about the context and history of the space that they inhabit. Uva as a whole was built in an ethical way using the most abusive system in history, and that history extends further into the greater area of Charlottesville. Architecture was used as an oppressive system, and to this day currently still is, but as Professor Cleckley noted in the podcast, we have the ability to heal wounds through the redesign of spaces. After hearing how we can use empathetic design to reshape how we view previously ideologically damaged areas I thought of the Venable Lane Community. Much like Vinegar Hill, the Venable Lane community was an area for Black and Brown folk in Charlottesville founded by Katherin Kitty Foster. This community specifically was for free African Americans and served as a symbol during the times of slavery and was essentially blocked off from site on the lawn by UVa’s architect at the time, Sam White. Members of the Uva community wanted nothing to do with Venable Lane and built an entire building (Old Cabell) just to block it off visually. Years later, Uva decided to build New Cabell. Currently this is where all the language and culture classes are taken and although it was no effort to fix and correct the actions of the University, it is at least a small gesture to empathy and change. 

This ties in heavily with the “Change by Design” reading as it further brings out the process of what it means to shift an atmosphere of a space. Especially with this upcoming project, recognising all the small details in just as important as the large. The Jeffersons School is a crucial part of Charlottesville’s history and will require a ton of empathy during this process. As the reading suggests, putting yourself forward and out of your comfort zone early on is key to reaching for success later. This project scares me. I usually relied on my previous skills in graphic and layout design to propel me through the other exercises, but this one really requires me to sit and think about every move. Although this is incredibly daunting, I am excited as I want to see just how meticulous I can get and allowing myself to research more about the Jeffersons School’s history in order to implement them into my design.

- Léo Zhang 

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The Significance of How We Reconcile with Our Past

History of Jefferson School

For having no background knowledge of Jefferson School before being presented with Project 2, the rich history that this high school offers is inspiring to me in how the growth of our fellow African Americans began with education as a major cornerstone that has helped lead to equality today. Knowing that something so significant to this cause is near us makes me curious how we can do the site justice with design that further branches healing and closes gaps between Charlottesville’s community in these upcoming weeks.

Empathetic Design

Showing the history of the ground you stand on shows the progression of your surroundings today. To show this history of the ground you stand on shows that you lack no insecurity because things are different now. To allow transparency is to reconcile with the past. To show this history of the ground you stand on is to be honest with the past. Professor Elgin has a complete understanding of this, and for that I have great admiration of him. I am grateful he joined UVA despite its deep history of injustices against a vital part of his identity - the African American community - and that is, to further this goal of showing and understanding the unspoken history of UVA’s days under the institution of slavery. There is power in telling the other half of our history, even if it’s ugly and vile and the complete opposite of modern sentiments. This is because it is the truth, and in the end all we want is the truth.

[2070readingreflections]

Overlapping Spaces of Empathy

After reading on Vinegar Hill it became clear how important the Jefferson School is as an institution that as the Design Thinking article by Brown states serves “as a system of overlapping spaces rather than a sequence of orderly steps” whereby all members of a community are afforded a space regardless of their race, economic standing, relevance to profits, relevance outside of the human-centered model, or any other demographic distinction. Vinegar Hill’s history as an illicit alcohol market, as a Midway Hospital during the U.S. Civil War for the confederates, as a Midway school for white students, as the Jefferson School for African-American students up until 8th grade, as the Jefferson School that educates African-American students through high school, as the center for commerce for the local, African-American community, as a meeting point for the desegregation movement, as a place of “urban renewal” with the intention of economic and racial segregation, as a tool to engineer a space that displaced African-American who inherently have a stake in their place in favor of economic dominance and “modern” business practices, reflects this system of overlapping spaces that eventually ends with the local, African-American community residing at the forefront of a space that they have been buried under by engineered layers of exclusion. Now, Vinegar Hill’s community must offer a space that merges these layers into one that includes all rightful, indigenous claims to that space and reflects this in its institutional design. 

The Jefferson group brought stakeholders, the African-American community specifically, from residing in the outermost ring of the stakeholder pie into the inner most ring. Even though the African-American community in Charlottesville has a history and inherent stake in their community, the institutions surrounding and determining their success and future did not align with this fact. Through the use of empathic design thinking, these vital stakeholders were brought to their rightful place as members of the inner circle of the stakeholder pie, alongside their white counterparts, as a means to create an institution that caters to all stakeholders rather than dividing stakeholders by importance or relevance using unclear metrics that are riddles with power structures and that aim to erase empathy. The Jefferson school teaches us that the way in which we view stakeholders as various rings of importance, divides members of a community that all have an equal share to the space and to its development must be recognized as such. The way to do so, is to move away from this dart-board like stakeholder diagram with layers of power structures and to create an inclusive, empathic model where stakeholders all reside at the core. Design thinking at its core is about empathy, meaning a consideration to all those (human and non-human) that occupy and make up a certain space or community. As a result, space is required by this fundamental underpinning of design to foster an openness and inclusivity where each distinct member is afforded the ability to develop themselves individually but as a part of a larger community network that supports the equal development of the individual with their relation or place in the larger space in which they reside.  The environment is a stakeholder that has been kept on the periphery and continues to be on the outer ring of the stakeholder map in favor of investors or “partners” of whatever institution is being designed. In fact, institutions do not exist in vacuums, as they reside within the physical environment, implying that as stakeholders they should be at the core of the pie. The reason why the environment, like so many other stakeholders, has been kept on the edges of the pie is because of their importance to economics and the capitalist system where money and the ability to produce is valued over all else. In order to design as design is meant to be, one must reconsider this stakeholder map as one consisting of one central circle that includes everything physical and non-physical relating to the space in which a given institution will reside. 

The IDEO team and their approach to reinvigorating Shimano’s static business model, widened the stakeholder map from one that centers around the higher-end profile of a bike aficionado or an individual with the education and money to afford themselves the opportunity to purchase one of Shimano’s bikes. What about those who do not bike regularly, who are not looking for technical specifications for a mountain bike because they don’t care or aren’t “knowledgeable” about the subject, who cannot afford the high prices, who need a bike as a form of transportation, who see a bike as a product that is completely different from the image that Shimano is projecting onto its customer base and feeding through its product base? IDEO broke down this limited, central stakeholder image that Shimano crafts and feeds, and replaced it with one that is boundless, one that includes the “average” consumer who does not match Shimano’s ideal customer image and may even go against it entirely. IDEO found that the childhood memories associated with a bike are lost when replaced with Shimano’s static customer profile, so they re-integrated this childhood sentiment into the core of their design process going forward. What resulted is a “huge untapped market” that began to unfold itself before IDEO, where a human-centered or empathic approach replaced a static vision set out by Shimano’s claim to their share of the economic pie. The path that lead IDEO to redevelop Shimano’s product base and customer base, is a non-liner one that takes on a number of twists and turns. Each twist and turn offers a new problem and solution, a new set of stakeholders unconsidered previously, until through experimentation and empathy a light is reached at the end of the winding path that shines down on all individuals who are inherent stakeholders in Shimano whether they like it or not. Institutions such as Shimano, occupy spaces mentally and physically that must have an empathic approach to design, not for the sake of driving free-market growth, but for the sake of replacing a static image of humanity with one that is empathic and inclusive of all its residents. 

- Nicholas Karam 

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4/14- The Duality of Place & Emotive Design

This week’s pieces struck a chord in me as I was not only able to  empathize with my ancestors who lived through the blatant acts of racism, but I also understood the duality of place. What I mean by “duality of place” are the different feelings that are evoked by a specific building or the layout of a built environment. I deeply resonated with Professor Cleckley’s statement in “Empathy Tours” when he described the emotion he experienced while walking past the Serpentine Walls where black bodies were once in bondage on the other side, both hidden and oppressed. There is a deep emotional factor that comes with experiencing UVA and walking down the Rotunda steps which were constructed by an enslaved laborer. What’s more, the placement of Old Cable was strategically placed to block out the view of the newly freed African-American community on the other side. The built architecture of UVA was not meant for the purpose of black mobility, stability, or advancement. The podcast highlighted the power of empathetic design and how re-envisioning structures can become a gateway to conversation. I was intrigued by Professor Cleckley’s notion that people experience and interact with spaces differently, but come together and conversate about those feelings. A person of color may walk past a space and experience discomfort, while a white person may very well understand why that person feels that way, but they cannot relate to that specific lived reality. Additionally, I appreciated the comment from Professor Jalane Schmidt who during the tour, replaced the word “slave” auction with “human,” to establish humanistic perspective and evaluation. Therefore, within design, there is a sense of spatial justice and reconciliation of past events. Creating pathways for innovation and the redevelopment of empathy is the epithet of connecting people with design. 

I appreciated the “E.M.P.A.T.H.Y” article as the author conceptualizes and analyzes the key aspects of understanding and connecting with one another through space. Echoed by Professor Cleckley in the podcast, E: eye contact, M: muscles of facial expression, P: posture, A: affect, T: tone of voice, H: hearing the whole patient, and Y: your response. The statement “hearing the whole patient” resonated with me because the client’s needs should be the focus with any space, service, or plan. Incorporating elements of medical empathy into projects relating to Vinegar Hill and African-American history exhibitions, allow people from all backgrounds with an opportunity to learn and experience the spaces that they are in. This leads me into the piece, “Vinegar Hill: 1963.” I was familiar with the history of Vinegar Hill and the plight of the black community there. Vinegar Hill is a prime example of corporate entitlement and greed with the intentional disregard for the wellbeing of minority communities. To see images of the once bustling city center now demolished for “urban renewal” is devastating. The emotions captured during and after the process of urban renewal should be included in future designs. The emotive effect of place, race, and history converge during the process of providing spatial justice to the black community. 

Lastly, I also enjoyed the article “Design thinking is more about style” as the author discusses the importance of human-centered design and vision. The 2004 bike example emphasized the notion of functionality and practicality from the buyer’s perspective. Is the bike better off with the gadgets or would a more cost-effective, simplistic model suffice? I found the three spaces of innovation interesting as desirable and viability must intersect with feasibility in order to create design. In all, I will take these lessons and emotive points into the way marking design for the final project, which relies emphatic thought and conceptualization. 

-Lauren Cochran 

[2070readingreflections]

4/14- The Duality of Place & Emotive Design

This week’s pieces struck a chord in me as I was not only able to  empathize with my ancestors who lived through the blatant acts of racism, but I also understood the duality of place. What I mean by “duality of place” are the different feelings that are evoked by a specific building or the layout of a built environment. I deeply resonated with Professor Cleckley’s statement in “Empathy Tours” when he described the emotion he experienced while walking past the Serpentine Walls where black bodies were once in bondage on the other side, both hidden and oppressed. There is a deep emotional factor that comes with experiencing UVA and walking down the Rotunda steps which were constructed by an enslaved laborer. What’s more, the placement of Old Cable was strategically placed to block out the view of the newly freed African-American community on the other side. The built architecture of UVA was not meant for the purpose of black mobility, stability, or advancement. The podcast highlighted the power of empathetic design and how re-envisioning structures can become a gateway to conversation. I was intrigued by Professor Cleckley’s notion that people experience and interact with spaces differently, but come together and conversate about those feelings. A person of color may walk past a space and experience discomfort, while a white person may very well understand why that person feels that way, but they cannot relate to that specific lived reality. Additionally, I appreciated the comment from Professor Jalane Schmidt who during the tour, replaced the word “slave” auction with “human,” to establish humanistic perspective and evaluation. Therefore, within design, there is a sense of spatial justice and reconciliation of past events. Creating pathways for innovation and the redevelopment of empathy is the epithet of connecting people with design. 

I appreciated the “E.M.P.A.T.H.Y” article as the author conceptualizes and analyzes the key aspects of understanding and connecting with one another through space. Echoed by Professor Cleckley in the podcast, E: eye contact, M: muscles of facial expression, P: posture, A: affect, T: tone of voice, H: hearing the whole patient, and Y: your response. The statement “hearing the whole patient” resonated with me because the client’s needs should be the focus with any space, service, or plan. Incorporating elements of medical empathy into projects relating to Vinegar Hill and African-American history exhibitions, allow people from all backgrounds with an opportunity to learn and experience the spaces that they are in. This leads me into the piece, “Vinegar Hill: 1963.” I was familiar with the history of Vinegar Hill and the plight of the black community there. Vinegar Hill is a prime example of corporate entitlement and greed with the intentional disregard for the wellbeing of minority communities. To see images of the once bustling city center now demolished for “urban renewal” is devastating. The emotions captured during and after the process of urban renewal should be included in future designs. The emotive effect of place, race, and history converge during the process of providing spatial justice to the black community. 

Lastly, I also enjoyed the article “Design thinking is more about style” as the author discusses the importance of human-centered design and vision. The 2004 bike example emphasized the notion of functionality and practicality from the buyer’s perspective. Is the bike better off with the gadgets or would a more cost-effective, simplistic model suffice? I found the three spaces of innovation interesting as desirable and viability must intersect with feasibility in order to create design. In all, I will take these lessons and emotive points into the way marking design for the final project, which relies emphatic thought and conceptualization. 

-Lauren Cochran 

[2070readingreflections]

Readings for 4/14

I really enjoyed learning more about empathy in the readings for this week. Almost all of the readings touched on the importance, history, and definition of empathy: a crucial skill in nearly all careers. When reading “A Concept Analysis of Empathy” (Wiseman), I was surprised to learn how broad the general perception of empathy was, yet the importance of defining the antecedents, consequences, components, requirements, and defining attributes of this concept. Before reading this, I did not know that such a complex analysis had been done about the concept of empathy, and simply thought the word had a simple, agreed-upon definition. I was also interested to learn the specific difference between sympathy and empathy that this reading offered: that sympathy implied feeling sorry for someone as if we were in their position, while empathy instead implied a deeper understanding of how they, as a different person, are feeling in this position. 

Further, I was intrigued by the importance of communicating non-verbal empathy, as suggested by the acronym given in the Kraft-Todd article. This reading was absolutely right in speculating that we are taught verbal cues of empathy much more than nonverbal: although the authors’ main focus was on teaching empathy in the nursing field, I recalled instances of even early childhood, when teachers and parents would teach children empathy in what they said, rather than the nonverbal behavior highlighted here. I was also surprised that nonverbal cues make as much of a difference as they do: since the patient (or receiver) often reacts to these cues subconsciously, I suspected they were less critical to one’s display of empathy, but the statistics given in this reading of patient’s reactions based on their clinician’s posture or tone show otherwise.

I was also interested to hear Professor Cleckley discuss the same acronym in the Empathy Tours podcast! Professor Cleckley’s mention of including empathy in design as well as the importance of teaching it to his architecture students proved to me that empathy is crucial to have in every field (design, architecture, business, etc) and not just fields like nursing where one must directly interact with their client.  I was also interested to hear Professor Cleckley discuss how he teaches his students empathy through teaching them to look at different perspectives in design, and how design itself can also convey empathy. In thinking about empathy and design, I immediately thought of the pictures of outdoor furniture in public spaces we saw in lecture that were so anti-empathetic towards the homeless. These photos were so upsetting for me to see at the time, and really emphasized to me how important it was to include empathy in design.

Finally, looking forward to Project 2, I was interested to hear about the history of Vinegar Hill, as well as see the photographs of daily life that existed there for African American residents. Because I spend so much time at UVA, it really opened my eyes to such a rich aspect of the Charlottesville area that I don’t even think about in my day-to-day activities, although it existed so close to home for me. Although I did not know about the Jefferson school before these readings, it now strikes me as a rich historical destination for so many Charlottesville residents. I am so excited to be working on a design for such a significant landmark in the local community, and plan on using what I have learned about empathy from these readings in my future designs.

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Reflection for 4/14

Designing a space for its various users sounds straightforward- maybe have a couple handicap ramps, a bench, something like that. But to put the space into context, to understand its history and the people who have experienced it, is something that sadly a lot of urban designers probably don’t consider. A lot of times empathy is described as “imagining yourself in someone else’s shoes” and while that gets the point across of imagining you are someone else, I think it’s important to imagine literally stepping into their shoes, their body, and moving through the world. Seeing the statues that I may just walk by without thinking about as troubling because of the person, and as a result their values, that is honored here. Being stopped by steps that have no hand railing, and therefore I’m nervous to climb them. When Charlottesville decided that the Vinegar Hill neighborhood wasn’t important to them and decided to kick the residents out for their program of “urban renewal”, this legacy lives on as African Americans walk through the city. Creating spaces where everyone can feel comfortable and move comfortably, where history is properly acknowledged, where the past and present stakeholders of a space are consulted, is important to preserving troubled histories while still moving forward in the right direction.

In the Change By Design reading, there were a lot of things that struck me as the kind of work environment I hope to join once I graduate. The descriptions of rooms with whiteboards and post it notes and polaroid pictures and rapid prototypes, I love the idea of being able to go to work each day and explore in this way. Reading about how important it is for groups to really be in the same room to work together and come up with great ideas made me realize how sad I am that our final project for this class won’t take place together, and that all of the people working in these design fields are now trying to still be just as innovative, but only interacting with each other through video calls. Thinking about this lost prescribed innovation makes me hope that because of quarantining creating some crazy constraints, that some awesome designs can come out of it. I also liked the concept of all of us is smarter than any of us, teams as important beings in the structure of a company, or leaving behind hierarchies in corporations to ensure CEOs can think like designers and vice versa. I liked the discussion of, there doesn’t need to be wacky things in the office or crazy color schemes, it just needs to be an environment where people feel safe enough to risk, to try and fail. Learning from failure is a topic that I feel like everyone throws around but it is so, so true. Especially in a field like design thinking where with each failure you learn something new, about your customer, about your materials, about your team, about anything. It’s something you didn’t know that now you can apply to design something powerful. Every problem is a design problem- I think I’m starting to see that now, that really anything can be solved or at least helped through design thinking with enough time and energy put into it. 

-Mallory

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4/14

I think this chapter by Tim Brown has to be my favorite reading so far. It is amazing to me that the book was published in 2009 yet a decade later most companies are still trying to transition into design thinking or agile teams. “Fail early to succeed sooner” makes so much sense and is critical from a design perspective, but even so, many teams are still failing to consider designers as essential decision makers… at least from my experience as a designer on a software team. I love the emphasis on “smart teams” and the distinction between multidisciplinary teams and interdisciplinary teams. The collective ownership aspect of a truly interdisciplinary team really stood out to me and will definitely be something I value in future teams. It was funny to read the part where he says “I haven’t yet heard of a remote collaboration tool that can substitute for the give and take of sharing ideas in real time”... I wonder how he feels now given that remote collaboration is the only option. I have found tools like Mural (mural.co) to mimic that brainstorming aspect well digitally. 

As a Charlottesville local, I have passed by The Jefferson School dozens of times. However, I never knew their history until three years ago. I am excited for this opportunity to recognize the significance of the community further. - Alara

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4/9

Looking back on the projects, I think my favorite has been the recipe process diagram and my least favorite was the collage. Having the variety in projects allowed me to solidify my approach as a designer and I became more aware of my style and preferences. I think I have a lot of growth ahead for more abstract design and I am looking forward to challenging myself in that space. The bird house project definitely allowed for a little bit of everything, and I appreciated seeing the balance of it all coming together.

As for the readings, I love the idea behind Play Mountain. Noguchi has the idea that children didn’t need instructions to play and really shouldn’t have them at all. I found it interesting that Noguchi called this “non-directive play” where to me that is just how children naturally act. Is it really “play” if it is directed? I have seen kids make a game out of a cardboard box and be just as entertained from their imagination. I think many recent playgrounds have been inspired by Noguchi’s empathetic design idea. Recently over spring break I visited Chicago and noticed how one of their newer parks included a variety of experiences but was accessible for all! -Alara

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April 9th Reflection

Creating something that exists in this world, rather than sit in a rich person's house. This was Noguchi's ideals for his designs and it stems from a place of empathy. His designs are incredibly intricate in the way that they are simple. Learning more about Noguchi's life has given me more insight in the way that the artist approaches his ideas. Unfortunately for a lot of artists, inspiration comes from the traumatic or not so pleasant memories or areas of their lives. This is essentially where the idea of Play Mountain came from. This naturally broke my heart, but at the same time was amazing to see how one can channel their experiences and pain to create something beautiful. This paired with his persistence to find someone to believe in his project truly indicates how empathy lies not only within a person, but also in the projects. 

Noguchi’s internal journey regarding his art works and designs is something that I find incredibly interesting. He started with this idea of creating utopian playgrounds but retracted from this style after his experience in Poston. This experience is something that I as an artist cannot 100% related to, but in some capacity understand. There are certain experiences in an artist's life that crushes your passion in regards to your project. This pain and trauma is reflected in the work you create, as seen within Tortured Earth. There is, however, always a light at the end of the tunnel and Noguchi used this experience to create something new. Taking a step back allows designers to have a fresh look on different styles and even allows you to look at your previous projects from different perspectives. This is just a part of a designer's life. Noguchi’s empathy came from his experience and passion, and although he suffered a lot through his life, he channeled this pain to create beautiful designs through a positive light. 

This idea of thinking internally extends to the Berger reading. Berger provides an analysis of design stating that many designs start with simple questions. We need to ask ourselves these questions in order to fully understand and approach design from all angles. After reflecting on my previous works I asked myself several questions and tried to move backwards in terms of my own designs. Why did I think isometric design was a good idea? Was it because I thought it was cleaner? More intricate? Or because I was comfortable? My sister always used to tell me that an artists work is always clearer if you let it sit for a while. As a result you can separate your internal feelings about the work and view it later once you’ve gathered more experiences and perspectives that can ultimately impact the taste of your work. Looking back I made some interesting design choices, some that I am happy with, but others that I regret. I think that this is a good thing. If i am not all the way happy with my past work it just means that I am improving and am holding myself to a slightly higher standard with each project. Like Noguchi and his different projects, I am allowing my experiences to affect the way I approach them. 

 -Léo Zhang

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Reflection 4/9

The powerful podcast on Nogochi’s life and work has made me realize the intrinsic creativity that a child holds and how abstraction can further or refresh the creativity of a person when it is put upon themselves. Sadly, during Nogochi’s time this idea was not realized and therefore he found his projects unsupported for the majority of his life. The thing that amazes me about Nogochi is his persistent advocating, optimism, and confidence in his playground designs after so many years. These traits bled into different parts of his life - from his rejection of failure with his playground designs to his optimism that he could make a difference with humane design in Japanese concentration camps, Nogochi is admirable not for his success of Nogochi coffee tables and fawning socialite sculptures, but for his failures.

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Reflection 4/9

I found the article about the Noguchi table to be profoundly interesting and eye opening. Whenever I watch movies, I am always the person to pick out the cut errors or sly details placed in a scene that convey a deeper, more significant meaning. Therefore, I was especially interested in the meaning of the Noguchi table when placed in films. The ability of a simple object to represent a point of inspiration and sophisticated industrial designs is one of the greatest elements of the design world. Something so simple can mean much more than it appears to at the surface. What was once a piece of furniture has now become a larger symbol of the design world, something that only informed and aware artists are able to pick up on. I feel proud to understand this Noguchi table as more than merely a surface, but a symbolic connotation of design. 

The use of symbols definitely surfaces multiple times throughout this article. Seemingly, Noguchi relies on such symbols as a model for inspiration and depth to apply to his work. Such as Play Mountain, which he writes “was [his] response based upon memory of [his] own unhappy childhood.” The mountain may appear as just a beautiful landscape to some, but to him it reflects a deeper meaning--a meaning he applies to his work and design. This idea further exemplifies the limitless nature of art. It has a different meaning to everyone, and the aspects of life artists employ as inspiration are very unique to the individual artist. 

Noguchi’s journey was also an aspect of the article that I found to be especially inspirational. He started with nothing, but employed his networking skills to bring him to the next step. Presumably, he was very dedicated to his work and design, and therefore never gave up. This is definitely a truth to live by. He shot for the stars and dedicated significant effort to get there. This illustrates to any aspiring designers, like myself, that there is no limit on what you can accomplish. It truly made me believe that taking a class like this is the first step to grander work in the design world.

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Design as a tool to actualize the individual self

Land and the Polaroid teaches us that each stage of the ideation process offers distinct problems that require empathy in order to approach these problems with the appropriate mindset. It struck me when the why stage of the problem solving process was related to seeing and understanding from the perspective as a young child instead having that innocent fresh eye reside outside of yourself. This speaks to the fact that the idea of progress and maturity is defined as one that separates the adult-self from the child-self, so as to make these stages two separate individuals. As a result, this distancing from the “child-self” is meant to erase the child-like innocence and curiosity that resides within each one of us to craft our inner voice and to develop our personal truths. This erasure of the child-like, inner voice is replaced with the demands that ensue and are enforced upon individuals through the designed institutions that aim to build our character into a static definition of what it means to be human or to be a successful adult that contributes to society in the manner in which it demands. A re-awakening of the child-self is necessary to see problems and solutions that our adult eye is blind to, as it will create an open space within one-self to develop and question one’s surroundings that align with empathy instead of a knife-like intellectual dissection. Essentially, this is implying that to be a successful empath one must re-ignite this childhood innocence, not naivety, that allows one to see the world in their own terms to the extent that the inner voice becomes a tool of empathy and creation rather than one of intellect and destruction. This idea of creation and empathy are aligned at the very heart of what it means to design and be a designer. Should one be able to awaken their inner, child’s voice they will be able to see the vacuums of empathy that have been built up around us in both physical and non-physically designed systems and places. Seeing these vacuums of empathy is what allows one to design from a place of empathy, which is the very definition of design that many modern institutions have ignored, and to create improved systems of living for all, not just humans, that foster the open, inclusive spaces needed to maintain this childhood voice rather than serving to erase it with the adult-self. 

Stepping back from your work and most importantly from yourself, is a powerful form of reflection that builds character. The pressures to advance and progress makes stepping back a disruptive process, but one that is needed to break habits that repeatedly inject old ways of doing into new ones, providing for a static view over a dynamic one. The fact that as we age we experience increasing demands that suck up our time, not affording us the time to take a step back. I argue that falling into the habits enforced and expected from us by our society’s demands is living a sedated life where blind faith replaces reflection and erodes any severance from the status quo. Of course this is hard to break, as it is much easier to fall into these habits as life’s demands become overwhelming in their totality, that stepping back to ask why makes us feel as though we are being left behind by the rest of society. Everyone is forced to be on the same time-schedule day to day and across one’s life that stepping back makes you a deviant, one who is unable, when in fact, we each have our own constructs of time that foster what it means for us to develop and build our character in a way that supports our creativity and growth. We must learn to welcome friction rather than to erase and run away from it. This will help to develop empathy at the forefront of the human experience. 

This empath-based human experience is beautifully actualized by Noguchi with his play mountain playground that revives the child-self. Play mountain consists of step pyramids, each step having different heights and being asymmetrical. He used the idea of play as the primer for a purposeful approach to space that teaches us to be more mindful of space and how it works. It comes with no instructions and no rules on how to play with the mountain, which provides a new landscape to allow children to develop and imagine other realities. I love how the playground resembles a mountain emerging from the land, implying a rooted connectedness with land all the while providing the malleability that has been shunned for so long to develop one’s own constructs out of a given space. This makes space into something highly individual and rooted in one’s internal experience and further posits it as an actualization in the physical world of this internal reality that must be kept at the heart of the child-self and must be allowed to develop into the physical world. Noguchi’s personal exile and isolation in his childhood, as most vanguard designers experience, motivated by his vision of mount Fuji from his childhood that bleeds from his inner voice into every physical space that he enters as he grows into an adult. This personal image is powerful in its idea to relate the sense of self to the sense of belonging and place that seems so distant from us, but is in fact an illusion that does not live in a far off horizon but resides in the crevices of our hearts. Space is a mitigation between the self and actualizing the self in the physical world, and as discussed earlier with the concept of erasure and status quo, the self does not have a place if it does not align with what is dictated as the self by current systems of living. As a result, a sense of belonging is erased by the static conceptions of self that have been built up all around us and have been revered and respected as feats of design innovation. In fact, this design, even though it should not be called as such, distances the individual self from the physical world when the individual self does not have a place in the physical world, de- personalizing space. At the forefront of what is needed to progress ourselves and our universal connectedness is a re-personalization of space that allows the individual self to actualize into the physical world by creating open, malleable spaces (which they inherently are as everything created comes from earth) that allow one to craft his own experience within the land, much like the act of reaping and sewing.  

- Nicholas Karam 

[2070readingreflections]

Reflection for 4/9

Though I had learned about the internment of Japanese Americans before, I didn’t know that Noguchi was involved in the design of the camps. It’s heartbreaking to learn that he wanted to try something new with this space, something utopian and nice for those interned, and this never came to fruition. While it doesn’t surprise me that the government didn’t care what conditions the Japanese were living in during World War II, I had no idea that there was ever any consideration to create camps that weren’t inhumanely designed. Once again, I’m considering how even the cruelest of places and items have to be designed by someone, and I realize how much responsibility we as designers have. You could design a prison to be a place where someone loses their sense of self and any sense of humanity, or a place where people can hold onto their identity and grow while serving their time. Someone had to design the electric chair. That person is responsible for the deaths of so many. It’s unfathomable to me right now to design anything that could be used for such evil purposes but I’m sure it happens every day. 

Sadly, I think there is something about Noguchi’s predicament of always being in between two populations and trusted by neither of them that creates an element of genius. In this position you see the needs of both sides as you are a member of both of them, but because you’re alienated, your mind goes to creating something that a universal population could like, not just one side. Seeing the way that people interact with his Play Mountain park goes to show how universally he understood children, and in the same way, people. Playgrounds could be made safely without using the traditional models, all you had to do was get your forever understanding of a playground as a colorful plastic structure with a slide out of your head, and there are endless opportunities. Non-directive play is powerful! It means that from the youngest of ages children are encouraged to imagine how they want to play, rather than just going down a slide because they’re told it’s fun. 

[2070readingreflections]

Reflection for 4/9

Reflecting on my previous works for this class, I am very proud of the improvement I have made since the first exercise. In my first exercise, I started with a basic sketch and transferred it to illustrator with limited knowledge of what to do to make it effective and aesthetically pleasing. As a result, I made few changes from my drafts to my final submission and had not adopted the design mindset of consistently looking for ways to improve and change previous works.

 I would say that my second and third exercises were definitely an improvement from the first on a few accounts. I had a better understanding of illustrator, for one, but I took a more “design-thinking” approach of looking around me for sources of creativity (finally settling on, for example, a framework of an Instagram post for my second exercise). I had setbacks on these exercises, for sure, including that I had uploaded my pictures for exercise 2 into illustrator incorrectly, which resulted in half of them being deleted when I attempted to save the project as a PDF. Because I had used so many photos, I was forced to spend more hours on my first draft despite my frustration.

 After I had spent so much effort on getting to this point, it was difficult for me to force myself to make major changes to my design. What am most proud of, however, is asking for help on my future designs. By trying different versions of drafts and asking for an unbiased perspective on my work (in office hours), I was able to consistently improve my ideas from my first mockup to my final. 

 Finally, I loved project 1 because it combined all of the thinking processes and strategies I had learned from every previous design into one. Combining all of these parts was challenging yet exciting for me, and for the first time I actually really considered empathy in my design choice. This new element proved surprisingly important in tying my whole piece together, as well as formulating a personal connection to my designs. Throughout this project, I cared much more about my designs (and endangered birds) than I could have predicted because of this development.

 I also wanted to touch on the readings for this week as I look to the next project. I found the Why, What if, and How (Berger) Reading very moving and encouraging. Hearing about how so many well-known successful products simply started from an idea… and even before that, a question… was fascinating and encouraging for me. In my next project (and beyond) I would ideally want to improve upon my “What if” skills. I have discovered the importance of the “how” throughout this class, and the proposal of many prototypes before a final product. However, I still withhold too much faith in my first idea and usually move straight from the “why” to the “how.” In my future designs, I hope to explore more of what this reading discussed in the middle stage: including “thinking wrong,” trying “smart combinations,” and letting questions “incubate” before creating my design.

[2070readingreflections]

4/9- The Authenticity of Innovative Questioning

I was intrigued by the ambiguity and authenticity of design presented in Noguchi's Play Mountain. In 1944, Noguchi created a working model of his childhood nostalgia and thoughts related to personhood to enhance the “invisible” playground design. The idea of “moving thoughts” as a way of connecting with human emotion is masterful. I also found it interesting how Noguchi’s model was presented without the addition of instructions and rules. Thus, giving individuals the autonomy to determine and personalize their own experience. The ability to mold and shape design into something that is transferable to the common individual allows for deeper interpersonal connection and enriched experiences. Additionally, the sheer amount of imagination presented in Noguchi’s work escapes flatlands and encourages the audience to consider a realm of possibilities for the space. Noguchi's questioning of how a playground can look, feel, and function like, allowed him to achieve a high level of innovation.  Looking forward to the final project, I plan to incorporate Noguchi’s concept of transferable design, workable parts, and experiences to challenge stakeholders to understand the importance of empathy. 

I enjoyed Berger’s article “A More Beautiful Question” as he narrates the extraordinary power and capacity of innovative questioning. Berger emphasizes that questions, in essence, are the gateway to future success and innovation. Questions spark curiosity once spoken and discussed among a group of people. After grappling with the initial question, visions of ingenuity and eventually, progress can be achieved. I appreciated Berger’s notion of inward thinking and realization. The process of “stepping backward” and analyzing the aspects of a particular situation is valuable. The steps of challenging assumptions, gaining deeper understanding, and looking at a problem through contextual inquiry, present individuals with an opportunity to expand their wheelhouse. Likewise, I especially resonated with the idea of taking ownership in one’s question and process of inquiry. Recognizing the value of drafting and redrafting individual questions in order to develop succinct solutions enables designers to grow. I argue that questions transform and constantly push the boundaries of design. Throughout this course, I made connections between the fallacies of design and planning. Questions such as, “how can design transform spaces without altering functionality and quality” crossed my mind. At the time, I did not recognize that my inquiry into the design process actually informed my work and made my future projects stronger. The constant use of questioning in order to come to terms with one's surroundings or in this case, new skill, stimulates intellectual growth and fosters knowledge. In this case, questioning is the backbone of design and serves as an inspiration for the “why.” Further, once the “why” aspect of design is realized, the “how” and the “what if” are given a platform to expand.

-Lauren Cochran