Final Videos

Redesigning Nebulizer Medication

Combat Child Trafficking

 Barbie Package

 Sustainable Basketball Shoes

Sustainable Food Labels

Graham Institute Infographic

Engaging Sidewalk

Aquaponic Bookshelf

Reusable Water Filter

Homelessness

  

Water Conservation

Haley and Mike HIV nudge talk.

Our group was Haley and I and our subject was to find a solution to HIV awareness in Sub Saharan Africa and Asia. What we came up with, which was similar to other groups, was a push for education, information, and  availability. We talked about education children about the effects and dangers of HIV and how to prevent them. We need to also overcome a cultural stigma against HIV culture. Many people in these places see HIV talk as taboo and don't address it, when it is a serious problem that needs to be solved. We also talked about having condoms and other information about protection to be easily accessible, and also anonymous incase people don't want to be seen getting the help. When people can easily get help they are more likely to. We also mentioned that maybe we could incorporate mothers preventing their children from getting HIV by getting the mothers and fathers tested. This would give the parents incentive to get tested as to not hurt their children.

Tuberculosis in Developing Countries

Problem: In some communities, some social norms include covering coughs and hiding diseases. Coughing is a symptom of TB, and if not caught early, can kill the host of the disease.

'Nudge' solution: We didn't come up with much of a nudge, but we were thinking of setting up an incognito TB awareness stand that would pass out tissues and kleenex and respiratory masks for individuals suffering from simple coughs or 'colds'. These particular products would hint for them to go seek treatment without directly, specifically mentioning TB, but having a list of illnesses with related symptoms that go along with the product. People in the village/city would be educated, trained and would work at the incognito TB stand (powered by a non profit or for profit organization, or government), and if people need treatment they would go back to the stand and in the back there would be a TB testing area cut off from view where people can get tested. Eventually lines may form to get into the testing area, and people may become more open when talking about this infectious disease, since awareness is key to catching the disease in time before it becomes more likely to kill.

Another idea was to incorporate other information on the 'cover your cough' poster to hint at people to go to the doctors, and that it's okay to display your sickness if you are actually sick, but if you are sick for a certain period of time, to seek out treatment (no matter if it is TB or something else).

Women's Health and Maternal Health in Tanzania with use of nudges by Jacob Smith and Ian Kilpa

Applying knowledge learned from the talk with Bunker Roy and the Barefoot College, applying knowledge of educating the older generations would be a good practice in educating in developing countries, specifically Tanzania.  Culture plays a large part in influencing the health, having to acknowledge practices already in place, but influencing the culture in a positive change.  We suggest nudging with design in using daily aspects of their lives.  We had a problem in addressing these issues most in part because we are not women, through observation and interviews I feel would be the best process before trying to nudge aspects of women's health and maternal health.  Equality of healthcare is the most important.

Immunization & Vaccination: ARIEL & ARIELLE

-Influence families to get immunized by making them aware of the risks/impacts of not getting immunized

·      ~Traveling clinic with free vaccines into schools, vaccinate everyone unless opted out

·      ~Displaying personalized statistics about how many people in small communities have certain illnesses

~

IIIt's hard to come up with nudges in order to influence people to get vaccines since it is such a personal choice, however it affects everyone you come in contact with

MORE PLANTS

We need more plants around Stamps because they are tranquil, relaxing, inspiring, and contribute to better air quality.

The chemistry building is a great example of how trees can be incorporated into architecture. Just walk inside and you will immediately notice the how fresh the air is. 

So relaxing

So inspiring

So tranquil 

School Environment Alteration - Ariel Turjanski

1) Lighten the hallways on both sides of the building. Currently, the dark corridors are very uninspiring and depressing but by lightening them up, through paint and more lighting, it would make the areas less awful to be in.

2) Make an area for collaboration. Currently, the school is divided up (you can't even get to the other half unless you go upstairs and across) and it leads to a lack of communication between artists. Since we all have great ideas, having a space in order to bring us together would expand our horizons and make the students of the art school feel less isolated. The area can be made by closing off the center outside space and instead making a place for more tables and display areas for our artwork.

3)  Protecting artwork by placing clips on the walls in order to display paper works of art. After spending as much as 40 hours working on a drawing or painting, students shouldn't feel discouraged to hang their work up in fear of it being destroyed. By playing clips on the wall similar to clipboard clips, the work wouldn't be punctured by pins. On top of this, a wall of sliding class, similar to the sliding glass protecting the map on the upstairs wall of the building, would add another layer of protection to the art. 

4) Creating enclosed storage spaces for the storage of artwork by professors while they are grading the works of art. Currently, the system of leaving pieces on exposed shelves leaves a lot of time where the pieces are unattended and can be altered, destroyed or stolen by other students that have class in those studios. Giving each instructor a space to place the art while they are grading would reduce the amount of damage the students work suffers during the grading process. 

A & D Building Issues

Our team has a problem with the fact that there's no central collaboration areas and a space to feel comfortable. We also would like a more legitimate food court in the building, to draw students in. We had an idea to create a glass overhang to separate the courtyard into an open room so students could work together in a natural environment, closed from the elements in the winter. In the summer, glass panels would be replaced with screens to create a 'porch' environment. Here, there could be some sort of food court possibly. Plant beds would be placed in the interior part of the courtyard to keep it natural and inviting. This way, the courtyard's space could be utilized and be kept as an 'outdoor' environment for events in the summer as well as an indoor space in the winter. Designers (landscape architects and architects, etc) should be hired to understand the space and configure it to fit the well being of students.


Posted by Eli Stirling and Anna  Stasek

A&D Building Suggestions

Our suggestions are simple and few.

1. Remove all display cases and tacked up artwork on the corridor walls opposite the couches in the East side of the building. Instead this space should be kept open and unimpeded for classes to use for critiques. This would let passers by observe the work and critical processes of classes and open up class culture to be more welcoming of outside suggestion and criticism. Building confidence, a thick skin, and a curious participatory attitude are necessary and fruitful for art and design students.

2. Reorganize all studio management and open them up for all student use during non-class time, regardless of what classes they are enrolled in. Remove card only access, allow non-class projects, make students be trained on ALL machinery and let them be used. Keep studios open to student access after hours for use even if power-tools and oversight are shut down for the night. Have trained student shop managers in work-study to allow greater open hours. This creative openness would foster an environment where people are encouraged to be creative and try new processes, exposing them to new skills and better work. In addition, fire all shop managers who are resistant to change and have proven themselves to be fearfully unhelpful with student concerns and changing times. The excuse the administration uses for there not being enough space in the studios for openness to student use is utter bullshit and all the students know it. Clearly it is easier to manage and mitigates risk, but it hurts student potential and creates a stifling atmosphere unbecoming of an institution founded around creativity.

3. The courtyard is useless. Fill it in with open collaboration space preserving the natural light via skylights.

Arielle, Jacob, and Connor Art School Proposal

We would like to create an open learning environment that fosters innovation and creativity.  Opening the walls, closing the court yard space similar to what has been done at the Dana building to create year round use and a social center for the school.  More studio space prompting collaboration among art students and non art students.

What are the best practices we have learned from animals in building our environment?

Biomimicry - Taking inspiration from nature to solve human problems

Why do we need tools and shelter?

Animals and organisms found in nature protect themselves from predators and environmental circumstances by adapting physical and chemical features.  

The Anasazi built their homes underground, much like ants found in the same regions. No trees can be found in these Southwestern areas, and the only resources to build with is the Earth's soil itself, so people in this region find inspiration from the animals around them, which are ants and termites. The great pueblos the Anasazi built mimic the structure of termite and ant hills, with particular chambers for different purposes. Both Anasazi and ants/termites utilize specific underground set-ups/ventilation systems to make natural air-conditioning.

Similarly, the Korowai people of New Guinea build scaffolds in the trees to form tree houses and their inspiration comes from the animals around them, namely monkeys who also build their homes in the trees. Their ecosystem is wet and tree-dens, offering a different lens of inspiration for the residents to base their houses from in comparison to the dry region the Anasazi gain inspiration from.

In the medical world, bio-mimicry saves lives. A skin graft technology based off of the spiny head of an intestinal parasite holds to skin three times stronger than surgical tapes. This allows for the skin to grow back without any movement disrupting recovery time.

Many other fields utilize animal functions to improve technology, such as birds inspiring flight in the form of airplanes. Not only does the obvious structure of flying animals provide insight to humans for flight, but upon further inspection their molecular skeletal structure gives engineers and designers something to work with when creating lighter materials for flying machines, cars and even submarines. This is similar to the structure of the strong honeycomb, formed by bees to house their babies, contain honey and support their living structure. Engineers use the honeycomb to create lighter and stronger materials in skyscrapers.

Robotics are also a big field where biomimicry is a necessity. Without the structure of the animal brain as a model, artificial intelligence would be unheard of and robots like the wildcat (shown below) wouldn't exist without the knowledge of the structure of actual cats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auywGtQq5J0

Communal architecture vs modern which one is more sustainable?

Communal architecture was defined by Pietro Belluschi as " a communal art, not produced by a few intellectuals or specialists but by the spontaneous continuing activity of a whole people with a common heritage, acting under a community of experience." Communal architecture is usually seen in developing or third world countries. It is based around the idea that community members come together to combat their need for shelter and protection by building into their natural surroundings. Communal architecture is sustainable because people use local materials and design housing structures depending on their climate, topography, and cultural activity. Some examples of communal architecture include the Anastazi of Mesa Verde, and the Senegal mud houses.

Modern architecture is typically identified by its use of geometric structures, simplicity and lack of excess decorations. Although people continue develop sustainable design in modern architecture, for the most part modern architecture is not sustainable because it is designed for a profit and for people to want to live there not like communal architecture where the native people use the resources and materials that they have at their disposal to enhance their culture and way of life.

Reading Comparison

Me and Mike compared the two readings this week so find their similarities and differences. What we found was they they both had an overall topic of how people used their resources. Both authors created a discussion over how indigenous people used their natural resources in their homes.  Collapse talked about how the people of Easter Island misused their resources by deforesting the entire island and using many of their resources to create giant statues as idols to their Gods. Architecture talked about how people used vernacular architecture to successfully create homes in their environments. It talks about people making their cities out of the sides of mountains to help protect their people and to define their territory. Both pieces also talk about how we have evolved over time, and how we have changed from a more basic society to a more complex one. Collapse however takes a more pessimistic look at society and looks at more what people did wrong to eventually cause the collapse of their society. Collapse also talks about many other reasons besides resources why societies collapse such as trade partners and weather. Architecture tends to take a more positive look at society and talks more about how people used vernacular architecture in a positive way to advance their society.

5 factors that lead to past societies collapse Sarah Renken and Jacob Smith

5 factors that lead to past societies collapse

Climate Change

-long term change, weather conditions, drought which led to famine.

Timing couldn’t have been worse for the group of colonists who came ashore on Roanoke Island in 1587, attempting to establish the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Along with the usual hardships of starting a new society on the edge of the wilderness, the colonists were confronted with the region’s worst drought in 700 years, which caused mass starvation and aggravated tense relations with Native Americans. By 1590, the ill-fated settlers had vanished with little trace. Roanoke’s collapse in the face of harsh climate puts it in distinguished company.

Collapse of essential trading partners

Loss of trading partners can lead to collapse when a societies livelihood depends on trade.Trade was one of the most important aspects in the Roman Empire.  Trade routes were across the Mediterranean and Black Seas, roads were also built leading to and from Rome.  The Roman navy patrolled the Seas protecting from Pirates.  When the Roman empire collapsed, roads were left unkept, and the seas were unpatrolled leading to an increase in Pirating, causing trade to stop with the what was left of the roman empire.  

Hostile Neighbors

Hostile Neighbors contribute to the fall of past societies.  Societies are less likely to hold off hostile neighbors when they are weakened by another reason.  For example, when Ancient Rome was weakened by several factors (environmental reasons etc.) and was inevitably taken over by the Barbarians because of their vulnerability.  Previously, they were able to protect themselves because they were strong.

Environmental Problems

Includes: erosion, soil problems, deforestation, habitat destruction, water management, overhunting, overfishing, effects of introduced species on native species population growth.

Farming: supplying enough food to keep a society viable.  

Not innovating technology, causing a heavy reliance on trade

Failure to Adapt to Environmental Issues

If societies fail to adapt to the way their environment is responding to them, they will ultimately collapse because their environment cannot support unsustainable behavior forever.

Example: Mayan collapse was due to population increase, exhaustion of soils and forests, and drought.  Although, Mayan civilisation disintegrated largely because its leaders, while capable of empire building, failed to recognise and respond to societal challenges that included a damaged environment, shrinking natural resource base and changing climate.

Arielle and Connor What caused Easter Island to Collapse?

Collapse of Easter Island

Why did Easter Island Collapse?

·      Depletion of resources (deforestation)

·      Lack of trading partners

·      Political, social, religious factors

The collapse of Easter Island is heavily due to its isolated geographical location. The closest landmass to Easter Island was Chile, which was 2,300 miles to the east, and the Pitcairn Islands, which were 1,300 miles to the west. Due to the extreme distances between Easter Island and the mainland they did not have consistent trading partners. This caused them to exhaust their resources before they could be naturally renewed. The citizens of the island, the Rapanui, carved large statues known as Moai, out of stone to represent their ancestral deities. They cut down trees to clear pathways to move the Moai around the island. They also used the trees as logs to push the statues.  This then caused the soil to erode and they could no longer grow crops for food. This deforestation also led to a decline in native bird populations, which the Rapanui used as a food source.  The Rapanui became angry with their leaders and blamed their ancestors for what they thought was a curse on their civilization. They began knocking over the Moai statues as a sign of rebellion. The final Moai statue was knocked down in 1840.

Staying warm/cool before modern air conditioning

Staying warm/cool before modern air conditioning

Korea

     Ondol--

           -Ondols utilize a wood fire furnace outside homes to draw heat into subfloor channels

           -Masonry flooring maintained warmth for extended periods

           -Chimneys on exterior of homes allowed for drafts to consistently draw heat 

                under the entirety of a building

           -Burned predominantly biomass

           -Cultural prevalence of sitting on the floor in Korea 

Windcatchers

           -Tall towers and walls create drafts in buildings below by creating drafts

           -Creates much air circulation in the buildings in hot climates

           -Sometimes air is drawn underground to allow for the thermal mass of the earth to cool it

           -Used to cool water reservoirs as well

           -Tall construction has added benefit of increased shade at ground level

           -Earthen construction's low specific heat and high thermal mass maintains temperature well

           -Used minimal windows that are shaded or face away from sunlight

Adobe Construction

           -Utilizes thermal mass of adobe construction to maintain cool temperatures through the day time

           -Recessed windows limit direct light indoors

           -Thick roofs warm/cool slowly, allowing the cooling effect of the night to persist through day

NYSE

           -the New York Stock Exchange had first modern air conditioning system installed in 1902

           -Ran off of exhaust steam from other building systems

Ian Kilpa

David Brusstar

       

Societies in the Past: What We Learn from Success and Failure Stories?

In this class, we discuss two pieces of literature: "Architecture without Architects" and Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed."