Environment Studio I Fall 2023
Oct 25, 2023
Meta-cognitive regulation: Mapping the course schedule to your own personal schedule
To start, I organized a general schedule that shows where I should be for each week. It is a straightforward way to visualize the timeline of the project so I can have a direction to reference to.
Looking at my own schedule this semester, there isn’t ample time each day for longer periods of work sessions; Nevertheless, I can establish shorter sessions throughout the day that focus on different parts of the process, breaking the project down to smaller, more accessible parts that would be more achievable, efficient, while exploring all the aspects of process.
Oct 31, 2023
Hybrid spaces reflection: What other types of environments are becoming hybrid?
In collaboration with Gensler, Alibaba has envisioned a physical retail concept inspired by its popular e-commerce platform — Taobao, leading the way in innovative retail experiences. The store concept reflects the extensive range of products available on Taobao’s website. The store layout is designed with a focus on guiding shoppers to spend ample time exploring. Throughout the store, digital elements are seamlessly integrated to craft an immersive customer journey that blends the physical and digital experience with the personalized interactions and customized choices.
I think this hybridization of the retail environment definitely creates a stronger sense of engagement and belonging, as more people are seeking meaningful experiences when they do go to a retail environment when online shopping becomes more and more accessible and efficient. Retail brands need arrive at an intersection where commerce, play, and exploration flows with each other — they need to rethink how to engage and connect with customers in the physical environments. With this hybridization of digital interactions, brands can establish great opportunities for customers to be entertained.
Nov 7, 2023
Designer role reflection: How is the role of an architect and an environments designer different? Be specific when talking about projects, skillsets, tools, approaches, etc.
Architects primarily concentrate on the development of structures, which involves expertise in structural engineering and technical mapping of the space. They represent the fundamental anatomy. Environmental designers focus on creating relationships between the people using the space and the space itself. They decided how the space will be presented and interacted, adding content on top of the fundamental anatomy architects have established. Environmental designers are also not limited to creating spaces within a structure, they work on a broader range of projects, from large scale interactions to small scale interactions that involves multiple dimensions of design, including visual, audio, haptic elements. Furthermore, environmental designers can work off from what architects have built or start an ideation and hand it to architects — the process or workflow is interchangeable depending on the project. For instance, for our exhibition project, we as environmental designers are working off from an existing space that is created by architects with fixed boundaries. Nevertheless, we are able to include different elements that would create a narrative to the space, and give it a meaning, a story. By implementing elements such as immersive technologies and a directed flow to the space, we are sculpting the space for better interaction and engagement. As a designer, I highlight the experiences of people from the start to their exits.
Nov 21, 2023
Meta-Cognitive Experience: What motivates you? What distracts you? What keeps you engaged?
Motivations
For this project I am very motivated by the vision I have in mind in terms of delivering the immersive story to the visitors. Yayoi Kusama’s work is very iconic and explorative already, so the challenge was to craft a story regardless around people’s existing expectations and thoughts of Yayoi Kusama’s work and what they think the exhibition will present.
A large part of my motivation also comes from my peers, where we bounce off from each others work and how much time and effort we spend into this project. Personally, I work in a process where I tend to achieve my desired result early on compared to the way some of my peers work. Being around them motivates me to take my project into further iterations and see if anything can be refined further.
Distractions
I would say a small struggle and distraction I had early on was to bring every element of the exhibition into a complete story where the flow is straightforward to the visitors. Oftentimes I would come up with ideas such as certain interactions, but it might not be easy to fit that into the “grand scheme of things”. An example of this would be the interactive wall of my exhibition. On its own, it is an engaging way for the visitors to experience the artist’s process, but if everything around this interactive piece is static and focuses on visual presentations, how would people know how to participate in this part of the journey?
Another distraction I had was my preoccupied thoughts about the limitations of the physical space. Before we were given the scopes of the physical space, I was planning at a much larger scale, since a lot of Yayoi Kusama’s works are large, immersive installations. Worrying and arrowing my focus on the physical constraints to much deviates from what can be done and incorporated in the space. Instead of viewing these physical elements as constraints, I later on saw them as opportunities for meaningful ways of communication that fits the scope of the project and audience.
Engagement
Throughout the project, I have maintained a constant level of engagement because I was passionate about representing someone else’s work and design for an iconic individual and their works. I think it is easy and natural for designers to design things that fit their aesthetics, which I think can also be a distraction. For this project, it proposes the challenge of balancing our own creative decisions, the client’s context, and the artist’s voice, all of them combining seamlessly to create a hybrid immersive experience for visitors at Miller ICA. This holistic goal contributes to my level of engagement throughout my design process.
