Research and Discussions

September 28th, 2012, 4:07 pm

 

Today’s class critique brought some discussion within the group about how we can develop our ideas and take them further. A few days ago, we congregated downtown and examined how the current street furniture (benches, bus stops, etc) was being used/not used by passersby. We also took note of the materials used; for example, benches and seats are made of metal, which can be cleaned easily but could heat up in the summer and be too cold to sit on in the winter.

An idea was mentioned of implementing a foldable seat to a lamp post, which would not only save room on the sidewalk, but it would be multi-functional. While researching on the web, we found a closely related project by Jerusalem-based designer Adi Kalina, who created a seating area with an overhead light, used for the outdoors (photo above).

Upon completing our online research for the day, we agreed upon a few things to keep in mind while we narrow our final idea: It should be aesthetically pleasing, eco-friendly, cost- friendly, space saving, and possibly multi-functional.

 

 

Tweet

The Starting Process

September 25th, 2012, 5:37 pm

Need ‘Bus Stop Panel’ ?

 

A group consisting of five members: Mohammad Tasfique Rahman (Rafi), Sehrish Kamal, Rosina Riccardo, Sajid Ehsan and Portia Crosswell has been formed to create an innovative product for the downtown area (city of Windsor). Our goal is to come up with a plan for a green technology/product that can be implemented in the downtown area. We have decided to keep an open mind and work constructively together in order to develop the most ideal green-product for our project called Sidewalk Furniture Design.

The group made a brief tour in the downtown street to look around at the current setting of the area. After careful evaluation, we have decided to work on the sidewalk furniture set up at the downtown street. Although we are still in the thinking process of coming up with a concrete feasible plan, we have already made a number of plans to work on in order to reach our goal. Some of our plans include a recreation of the current areas’ bus stops, as well as to implement some “tuck away” furniture that could be placed around Windsor’s downtown. Below is the list of things we thought about working on:

1. Bus Stop Panel – design bus stop shelter for waiting passengers’ comfort
2. Mist (Spraying) System – to refresh people walking in the streets (summer)
3. Seating Space – not enough available so we can put them in areas where needed
4. Decoration – each street can be decorated with a theme of it’s neighbourhood to give it a lively feeling. Plant more trees and flowers.
5. Smoking Designated Area – an umbrella type device fitted in certain locations that suck in the smoke (new product to reduce pollution)
6. Garbage Collection Container – not enough available so we can put them in areas where needed (new design)
7. Advertisement for awareness – this is the main issue for point number 4, 5 and 6 which shows how as a community we are committed to make the environment as much eco friendly as possible

 

Tweet