Published 30-09-2015
Keywords
- Architecture,
- Architects,
- Interior Design,
- Interior Designers,
- Space
- Floor Plans,
- 3D Design,
- Two Dimensional Language,
- 2D Language,
- Design Studio,
- Materials - 3D Design,
- Experience Based Learning,
- Material Exploration,
- Design Strategies,
- Space Design,
- Construction - Design,
- Making Thinking – Crafting Education ...More
How to Cite
Abstract
How Temporary Space Can Create Permanent Knowledge
20 students; 1 instructor; 12,722 ft2 (1182m2) of industrial shrink wrap plastic, 3,156 feet (962m) of rope; 5 days and one question, “What kind of space can we design and make using a material we know nothing about?” The Shrink Happening was a workshop where 20 Interior Architecture students from Hochschule Rhein Main (HSRM) and Professor Jeffrey Haase from The Ohio State University asked that questions. This paper will document the events, processes, structure and results of this intense one week workshop where a small group of students were involved in a large scale “happening.”
The problem statement:
Architects and Interior Designers have an insurmountable problem within the process of design. Our language consists of two-dimensional explanations about three-dimensional events. These two dimensional language are drawings, consisting mostly of floor plans, sections, elevations and perspectives. In addition, our ability to educate is stifled by the dynamic difference in scale that exists between this language and the environments they represent. We often explore designs at 1/50th to 1/100th their actual size. Our design ideas of experiencing a space are about being on the inside looking out, but our representation and curricular techniques are always placing us on the outside looking in. This knowledge gap puts a huge burden on young designers and their educators. We stress trial and error as a process towards knowing and problem solving, yet we never really try at full scale.
The solution:
Conduct a curriculum activity that requires students of design to distance themselves from the familiar representation process of a typical studio setting and undertake the risk of idea exploration at real scale. Things like gravity, material limits, cost restraints, marketing, labor, political conditions and near impossible timelines are all part of a designer’s problem solving process. This activity culminated in a workshop where a structure was created to maximize the student’s ability to work in teams, have an individual stake in the design decisions,