Sustainable Design Project
Outdoor chill spot
My original thoughts on the project were very mixed. I thought about the difficulties that would come from the project, but I also thought about how nice it would be to have a quiet and relaxing place to go to and how to make that happen. I knew there were so many things that could have gone wrong and to be honest I was not thrilled with all of the ideas my group and I had come up with. Now it is a beautiful outdoor space that my group and I are very proud of. I showed a lot of perspective by pushing past my negativity and putting my all into this project. This reminded me of my mask project, I didn’t show a lot of perspectives while working on it I kinda left everything to the last second and didn’t put in my best work. In this project, I did quite the opposite.
I believe the field trips and guest speakers were highly useful resources to revert back to during our personal projects. Being able to ask professionals questions before we got in too far with the projects was amazing. I walked away asking several questions about a budget and how to keep the whole project organized. My groups' project ended up being very low budget and mostly organized, but I still loved having the advice. I believe I showed a lot of independent research.
Sustainable design to me is something that adapts to human needs and wants but also reduces the impact that we have on everything around us. It helps us not only focusing on ourselves but the people that come after us and how our decisions will affect the way they will live. I think a sustainable design is a necessary thing in the modern world just because of how out of hand our decisions have gotten. We need to start focusing on the seven generation rule.
The interviews lead me to believe that students and staff liked the school but thought it was lacking a certain lightness. They needed nature in this school, so I thought that the outdoor space was perfect for this project. Several students told me they didn’t like certain classrooms because they were dark and depressing. I thought that the outdoor space would be light and relaxing to give into what they thought was necessary. I worked with another person and we got to the root of the issue the student and staff were having. I showed collaboration by communicating with the people that were affected.
My group and I took advantage of this freedom by creating a beautiful outdoor space we are very proud of. We really used this freedom to work hard and finish strong so we could really put our mark on our campus. I was proud of our design but I am also proud of how we improvised when things had to change. We really worked with what we had and put in the work it needed. In this project when something needed to change we made it happen and worked on a new plan of action.
I mostly just help out where I was needed and worked on the stairs. I helped clear out all of the dead foliage in our space and cleaned out dead trees. I helped clear out dirt to makes the structure of the stairs and stomp down the dirt. I wish I would have done something more independently but I was glad to help my team whenever I could. In this project, I was mostly refining my space and thinking about how I can make it better.
The skill I grew most in is communication. I don’t usually state my opinions about a project so it was really nice to be in a small group that I was comfortable around. I could speak up when I didn’t agree with someone's idea in a kind and informed way. It was really nice to feel like I was talking to people instead of being talked at. I think a lot of the success comes from a good communication and a very creative and caring group. I lacked this in my projection unit by not communicating with my partner and expecting my partner to know what I was thinking.
An area of growth for me is initiative. I did not do any independent work, I mostly helped my team and the people around my area. I would work with the people that needed an extra hand. I, however, showed a lot of adaptabilities and tried my best. I did not show this in my happiness project, I lacked the drive to go out and film. In this instance, I adapted to the work I needed to do.
Another group needed some of our space so we moved over. We wanted to work in a larger space but the other team needed it at the time so we thought out a new plan and worked to the best of our ability. We worked around the problem and left them some space. I used a lot of problem-solving in this instance. I really showed this by coming up with a plan and pitching it to my team as well as listening to there critics to the project.
We had a hard time finishing the top steps of the first staircase. We never quite finished the top steps even though we really tried to make it look really good. It was a bit of a struggle to figure out how to structure the steps and use a good method to help with erosion. In this part of the project I talked to my group about it and they ended up going to Kurt for help and finding a good solution to the problem.
I thought success would look like a semi-decent spot that no one would really notice but know success looks like a very well put together outdoor chill spot. I originally I was not expecting too much from this project and thought it would mostly be a cleaning job on campus. In the end, my idea of a success was finishing the project and being very proud of what I accomplished. Innovation was one thing I used a lot in this, I followed through and corrected the problems when they were not completely out of hand.
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I would tell a future student to work with a small team that is very productive. They should be in a team of people they are comfortable and not too distracting. You need to get your work down and don’t abuse the freedom the teachers are giving us.