Evaluative Statement

When starting the Final Major Project, I was very confused and unsure of what I wanted to do. Looking back at my part work, something that has remained consistent is my passion for the environment; needing to create sustainable and sensitive designs that are catered for its’ surroundings. Linked to this idea, is vernacular architecture. In most of my projects, I’ve used Dubai, UAE as my starting point. To continue with this theme, I looked more into sustainability in the region and that’s how I came up with the idea of sustainable urban farming.

My research had initially started with the designer Mouaz Abouzaid, who is designating urban greenways in Dubai. He intends to design a social space in which nature can thrive, by reclaiming some of the city space. Through this I’ve learnt that there is a dire need for social and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, Looking also at the work of Santiago Calatrava, his approach and ideas to designing are really what nourished my creative thinking. He draws his inspiration from nature and natural form, using a method of reduction, he designs his work eloquently. From here I started to look at different landscapes, flora and fauna and how I could transform these ideas. I see myself using these techniques to develop my work in the future. I also explored these different ideas through drawings and form making. I worked with clay and card to create different structures and experiment new ideas. These helped me to a great extent as working in 3D gave me a good idea of all the things I had to take into consideration, that I previously never thought of. Working with card had also prepared me to work with wood, as I had to use a similar scoring technique to curve it.

One of the main issues I had with my development was when I was feeling stuck with my star shaped design. I was unhappy with the way it looked and thought it was a very stale design. To overcome this I looked at different artists and designers, nature, my surroundings, and every possible thing that could spark an idea. I had to mentally browse through multiple ideas and decided on what would look best aesthetically. Another problem that I was having is with wood that I was using. It was thicker than I hope for and curving by scoring it was causing it to snap. Through a lot of research and experimenting, I overcame this by saturating the wood in water and then scoring it gently. In retrospect, I’m really happy that I kept moving forward although I felt stuck and lost. I structured and planned my work in a way in which I would only have to focus on a small subsection of work. This stopped me from feeling overwhelmed, and stressed when unnecessary. The last 3 weeks of the project is when I decided to put everything together and focus on the big picture. I thought this approach worked well as I can easily feel burnt out or bored by focusing on one task for too long. I worked through the entire process doing most of my reflecting in my sketchbook and also on Moodle. Writing my thoughts down really helped me prioritize what to focus on and take it one step at a time. Analyzing my work and responding allows me to think critically and make improvements to my work. It helps me connect my ideas more effectively.

I have chosen to present most of my work through sketchbook pages and workflow, in the start of the project, my brainstorming and most of my thinking process was done on my notebook. When presenting my final work, I wanted it to be on a clean white background, allowing it to stand out and take the viewers focus. Discussion with my peers have helped me think more deeply on how the work would be viewed and received. It was through crit session that I had decided to add more greenery to my work, which I think helped pull the final model together. If there’s anything I wish I had done differently, It would be to be more experimental with the materials that I had chosen to use. I think breaking out of my shell would have maybe led to a more exciting outcome. I’m thought overall happy with the final outcome of my project.

FMP page 3

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