A Sense of Place

The project brief challenges us to create an innovative public furniture element that helps gives the public space a “sense of place” and encourages the community to proudly use the area with the fellow neighbours. The way I tried to encourage the community to use the space was through the use of music, which I have incorporated in my furniture design in the form of simple musical instruments. Music has the ability to bring people together no matter what language they speak, which is why my design concept will encourage the public to proudly use the space with their neighbours, even if they are strangers. In the suburb the site is located in (Lakemba) there are a lot of different people from different backgrounds and from these cultural backgrounds all have music embedded in the culture.

My design features two very simple musical instruments, which are the tubulum (pvc pipe instrument made famous by the Blue Man Group) and congas (a percussive instrument). These two instruments a very easy to play which is perfect for public use because not everyone is a musician. The main way I intend my design to be used is that the public could use my bench design to socialise and have a bit of a jam session with others in the community. The design of the bench itself will suit all types of people and will be very comfortable to sit on due to the height of the bench. The bench is also going to be hollow. This is so that the built in musical instruments can be amplified for a louder and clearer noise.

The bench itself is going to be made from polypropylene, which is suitable because it is impact and wear resistant and also ultraviolet resistant which means it will withstand the outdoor conditions. The way the bench is manufactured is by rotational moulding. Rotational moulding is perfect for the bench because it is completely hollow and the bench could be moulded in a single piece. But there will also be some other manufacturing processes, such as trimming of excess plastic and fitting the pipes for the tubulum.

PEER COMMENTS

Jan Gerardino - http://janraymondgerardino.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/accessible-packaging.html?showComment=1336996280902#c7909054113316553214

Matt Caraig - http://mfredrick.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/accessible-packaging-sandwich-packaging.html?showComment=1336995242194#c8976701204320906275

Dongwook Kim - http://dongkim926.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/pacakging-child-resistant-cap.html?showComment=1337067674591#c783807372402387938

Daming Chen - http://daming-ides1031.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/project-2-packaging-design-to-address.html?showComment=1337066694400#c6701282556756933583

Vivian Ngo - http://vindustriald.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/blog-post.html?showComment=1337068033234#c1657610931889869336

PROJECT 2

Who Killed the Electric Car

'Who Killed the Electric Car' is a documentary which unfolds a complex set of events around the development and demise of the modern electric car. The story stems from California from the early 1990s to 2006.

The narrative begins to unfold with a brief history of the first electric cars created in the early twentieth century. These electric vehicles were killed off nearly 100 years ago as gas/petroleum powered internal combustion engine (ICE) cars became cheaper. The worsening problems of gas/petrol cars are illustrated: smog, high child asthma rates, CO2 emissions and global warming.
The film then commences the story of the modern EV in 1987 when General Motors and the 'SunRaycer', won the World Solar Challenge, a solar electric car race in Australia. General Motor's CEO, Roger Smith challenged the same design team to build a prototype practical electric car which became known as the 'Impact' when announced in 1990. The project expanded to small scale production vehicles with the aim that it would give GM several years lead over any competitor car companies. The movie continues to reveal what the various suspects did to kill the reality of the electric car, and the efforts of EV supporters to save them. Oil companies stood to lose enormous profits if EV sales took off and they colluded with others to kill the electric car.

The film then shows how the Federal Government and oil companies put forward hydrogen fuel cells as a better alternative to gas and battery electric cars. In contrast, interviews with two hydrogen experts gave details why fuel cell vehicles are not likely to be available for another 15-20 years if ever, whereas battery electric technology is available now, has been rapidly improving since the mid 1990s and is cost effective.

Although the EVs of the 1990s were killed off, the film ends by informing the modern environment where the future is being reshaped by the production of new electric and hybrid cars due to gaining an increase in popularity. 

Giving Packaging a New Life/How Its Made: Packaging

The Giving Packaging A New Life and How Its Made episodes outline how certain materials are made, collected, sorted and recycled/reused. These materials include paper/cardboard, tinplate, aluminium, tetrapak, glass and plastic. These videos are a massive insight into the different processes which these material go through so they can be reused.
Recycling is extremely important especially in packaging, because packaging gets thrown out the most. So by recycling materials there will be less waste in our landfills and less waste of raw materials being used.
The Process of recycling tinplate is quite intriguing. Tins can be completly recycled often as desired with out any quality loses. This means that less raw material is used, which is very cost effective and less damaging to the enviroment. The recycled tin also provides about 40% of material in steel production in Germany. The recycled material from tins can also be used to make other products like car bodies or railway lines. This process show that many materials can be recycled to be remade into what it use to be ir something completely different.
As designers we really need to consider how we affect the enviroment with the materials we choose for our designs. Not only will using recyclable materials be environmentally friendly, but it will also be very cost effective. These videos are great for designers, because not only will they teach us about the processes certain materials go through but they also give point out the advantages of recycling and why its important.

TECH DWG RESUBMIT

PEER COMMENTS

Ricky - http://starocean01.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/project-1.html?showComment=1332750473157#c1354280940256247060

Yvonne - http://z3377160yvonneshaides1031.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/favum-new-kitchen-storage-experience.html?showComment=1332750939763#c5022287665369002294

Jan - http://janraymondgerardino.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/studio-2a-project-1-bioinspired.html?showComment=1332749603520#c5064290957681323381

Daming - http://daming-ides1031.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/project-one-final.html?showComment=1332750022652#c2183590650550487789

Pamela - http://pamablang.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/product-poster.html?showComment=1332750321658#c7961282395423058634

BIOINSPIRED

RATIONALE

For this project I have chosen to design an indoor compost bin that stores organic waste and uses a Bokashi mix to decompose the waste. For my compost bin I have been inspired by the cocoon. A cocoon is a casing spun by silk by many insects such as moths, butterflies and other holometabolous insect larvae. In my design I was inspired by how something goes in a cocoon and comes out different and this act of metamorphosis is what I have incorporated in my design in how the organic waste goes in and comes out as nutrients for your garden. I have also adapted the form of the cocoon into my design. My compost bin is great for indoor use especially for the kitchen. It’s great for the kitchen because the Bokashi mix has the ability to eliminate any odours that is produced, and also so that you wouldn’t have to go far just to dispose of your organic waste. The compost bin is small enough to not be in the way, but it could also be attached to a wall or on the inside of a cabinet door, so it’s out of the way. And this also mimics how cocoons a located on branches, tree trunks or even in small crevices to keep away from predators. The inside of my design has two chambers. The first is for the waste and the Bokashi mix and the second is for the liquid that is produced from the fermentation, which runs down into the second chamber from the first.

The material I have chosen to use in this design is medium-density polyethylene (MDPE). MDPE is completely recyclable. It also has a lot of shock and drop resistance, so it will be able to withstand a lot of abuse. MDPE also won’t react with the fermentation process so it is ideal for my compost bin. The process I have chosen to make the compost bin is rotomolding, because it will be able to achieve the hollow shape that is required in my design and will also reduce the cost of the manufacturing process. 

An Inconvenient Truth

This movie really gets you thinking about the environment and what we are doing to it. The facts stated and the information revealed has shocked many, including myself. Gore used many graphs and statements to show us that global warming does exist, and it is causing many problems for us and the Earth. For example, he had stated in the movie that the top ten hottest years on record have occurred in the past fifteen years. The hottest year was the same year this movie was released, 2005. Also, it was shown that temperature increase is largely dependent on the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere. Gore also talks about how all of the fossil fuels we are taking for granted, and not only is it hurting the environment that we're using them so much, and if we continue our children may not have the same luxury people have today.

 Besides the fact that our atmosphere and environment are being altered, Gore talks about how weather is affected as well. Gore states that hurricanes have become larger and more violent in recent years, giving Katrina as an example. "Remember that it was only a Category 1 hurricane when it hit Florida" he said. But when it passed over The Gulf of Mexico, the very warm waters caused the hurricane to grow rapidly and become more powerful, so when it hit New Orleans, the result was devastating.

Gore also mentions the Kyoto Protocol. These our guidelines that help us reduce the amount of pollution that is caused, and ultimately help reduce global warming. After Gore stated all of his reasoning for why it should be supported world-wide, I too, would agree with him. 

But is everything that Gore said a bit of a stretch? I'm not saying that what he is saying about global warming isn't true, but I feel he does use a bit of propaganda to make viewers agree with him. But, that doesn't mean you shouldn't listen to him, necessarily, because what he's trying to do is going to help us, not hurt us. 

All in all, An Inconvenient Truth is a very important movie that talks about a major issue, global warming. What's happening to our planet is terrible, and it is the cause of our own ignorance. We are taking advantage of all of the resources that we have been given, and if we keep wasting them, they will one day be gone. I knew about global warming and how what we're doing affects our environment, but I had no idea it was on this large of a scale, or that it was happening so quickly.