So following the final presentation of this design I figured it would be a good chance to reflect on the overall outcomes I have achieved in this design, as well as areas that may have been better done a different way.
The main critical feedback I received for my project was based more on the final presentation choice of 3 panels rather than the concept itself it seemed. I think its an important lesson to take away that despite having nice looking panels, they shouldn't be there if they don't really need to be. I guess what I was aiming for was one detailed panel describing the detail of the design, and two mood boards that more or less set the scene for the project, diagramming some theories that the design is heavily based on. This can be one of the real traps of presentation work, as a lot of time is spent into creating the panel, and often, once it is complete and reflected on, it is hard to not show it despite the now apparent lack of use for it. Maybe this is why we blog? To show those things we put work into that don't make the presentation. Or maybe, this is a part of becoming a real designer, and essentially, being more committed to the idea and project than to the work you put into it. This is definitely something I will have to face in the future and I guess now is a good time to be learning these lessons.
Aside from this, Robert seemed really happy with my outcomes and while Adam had some questions regarding the unobtrusive nature of a potential listeners encountering with the program, I felt I was well justified and happy with my choice of making it a non-aggressive design. The critique went for quite a long time during the question time, but I think this is testament to the detail and thought that was put into this project. I felt not many of the questions I was asked were things that I hadn't already considered and decided upon so that is a good sign to the time and thought I put into this project.
It's an interesting thing to end an architecture degree with the design of an app, however, I am really pleased I had the opportunity to do this. I feel while it is important to have practice at designing buildings, the skills used and learnt in this project as just as applicable to an architectural problem. I would even go as far as saying it really makes us question what design is. By this I am meaning more what part of a project is research, what is reference, which is presentation, and in which part are we actually using our design thinking to problem solve. Looking back on all the class projects, it was easy to see which of these most people had been spending the most time doing, often confusing referencing (in most cases defining a potential technology which no designer was going to ever be able to make - this is why scientists exist) and actually creating systems which use that technology in a unique way that does require a designer to problemsolve and troubleshoot.
As well as all these things, I think the scale of this project was a lot better for the university course structure. Usually we are asked to design 6 story public buildings (which take a team of 20 architects a year to design!). I find this scale really limiting for actual design as I have a strong belief design really lies in the details, and there is just no chance of getting into any detail or creating a cohesive building system even in the 6 weeks or so. That is what I really enjoyed about this project though. The scale was manageable and really enabled me to think hard about the entire project comprehensively. I feel I can really come away from this with something that isn't just beautiful or well diagrammed. I feel this could actually work without a whole lot more design needing to go on. This is a feeling I haven't had when designing buildings in this course and in a way it is actually quite unfulfilling. This may be one of the reasons I am fed up with the scale of architecture and looking to pursue furniture design instead.
I suppose to come full circle with this post, I have found this to be an incredibly engaging and revealing design project. I'm glad we have had the opportunity to do something like this and am really happy that I put the workload I did into it. This has been a really good way to end my degree at QUT.
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