A person who enjoys shiny
contemporary interiors that have a demure theme?
A person who loves Harry Potter themed
trains in the springtime?
A person who admires manmade abstract
wooden cats in an urban context?
My client.
The client project was something that
really excited me because I was able to show my design process and style to
someone and gain feedback both positive and negative, and then apply this to my
work. I received a questionnaire that was a catalyst for the research I
would conduct for my client.
I was extremely overwhelmed with all the
ideas that interrelated with all the answers on the questionnaire. I realized
this after I had spent a whole day researching the topic ‘spring’. At this
point I forced myself to move on to the next topic, and set time limits on each
component of the space I design.
From focusing on a minimum number of
topics, simultaneously I tried to intertwine the other topics on the
questionnaire with the main answers I chose to base my research around. I
enjoyed this research element because at the same time, loose designs would
start to form.
I refined my research process by
combining the topics and creating a sentence. Eventually I realized this method
was quite biased. This led me to use a random number generator, where I picked
three random numbers (three words) that formed a topic e.g. contemporary
digital train, metal urban spring. I repeated this six times with four, three
and two word combinations. In the end I decided to use two word combinations
(abstract train, digital urban) as it simplified my research more efficiently.
Additionally, I posed some questions to
the questionnaire, which gave a more diverse perspective.
- - What events occur in spring that does not occur at any other time in the year?
o
(Spring
festivals – Holi, Las Fallas, Cheese Rolling)
- - Where is the earth in relation to the sun during spring?
- - When does spring begin?
o
(Begins
earlier each year, the notion of retreating could be integrated in design,
achieving an abstract look)
- - The main signs of spring?
o
(Cherry
blossoms in Japan, USA and UK)
These are the images that represented my
research:
One of the most intriguing things I found from my research was that spring is not a joyful time. The idea of spring being: ‘April as the cruelest month’ (TS Eliot); ‘starting afresh might be the revival of pain’ (The Guardian); ’Gardens are also good places to sulk’ (Amy Gerstler), I found these perspectives through poems of spring. I had assumed springtime was always a positive time of starting afresh (this is clearly not the case for all). This taught me to analyse ‘labels’ from both positive and negative viewpoints. Knowing that I could create a space relating to this idea, which meant puzzling the viewer was very inspiring.
Another one of my favourite themes was the Spanish ‘Las Fallas’ festival celebrating the spring equinox. This involved the public burning many wooden structures that represented carpenters no longer needing wood to support the candles during the Middle Ages. Eventually the wooden structures evolved to resemble members of the neighbourhood.
Continuing with looking at spring from different cultures’ point of view, I researched into autumn as well, because whilst it is spring in the northern hemisphere, in the southern hemisphere it is autumn.
Instead of looking at metal from its exterior, I decided to look at the actual atom structure of metal, and possibly use the forms of metal in the designs of the space.
In terms of the answers ‘abstract’ and ‘trains’, I rediscovered the futuristic art movement that included artists such as Umberto Boccioni (who I also used in my Modernism project), Giacomo Balla and Ivo Pannaggi. The futurism movement consisted of artists who admired the motion and speed of transport, whilst hailing modern developments.
Further contemporary spring art I found were paintings by David Hockney. The colours he used in his paintings could be potential colour schemes for the space I will create.
Following the topic of ‘contemporary trains’ I researched the fastest and most modern trains of this present day, including: the Shanghai Maglev, the AGV Italo and the Alstom Euroduplex. As well as the exterior of the trains, I researched into the interiors as well (also stated in the questionnaire). However, the interiors were quite generic and resembled the interiors of a plane.
In an urban context, I found a special structure that was used in Helsinki, an urban rollercoaster garden. I felt this fit nicely with the idea of motion in the urban context whilst having an element of spring.
Overall, the research was quite challenging in this project because there were many broad topics to research into and time management with each topic was key. Over the duration of research, I eventually managed to cut down my time for each subject of research.
Hopefully my client will like some of the ideas I will put forward to him/her.
