Peer Review 5

Peer Review-Simplicity Studios

For our last crit we reviewed group 21, the Simplicity Studios . In this rotation they were doing the weaving workshop in which they learnt how to use the program Rhinoceros 4.0, which allowed them to create weave like patterns on structures that could potentially be used for their hotels. They were to create two hotels on rhino and upload them in secondlife so that they could make a movie that captured their ideas for the hotel and showed the hotel in context with its environment.

For their utopian hotel, they had a weaved structure in the shape of a flattened dome that mostly stretched and stood in water, which means the different spaces and rooms were latched to the roof of the dome, almost like hammocks. They explained that with this particular hotel they were exploring the idea of seclusion, having an enclosed utopian environment in a dystopian surrounding. So essentially the hotel will be closed off from the rest of the world, a get away from the chaotic and disintegrating environment.

However for their dystopian hotel their ideas were quite different. They coincided words like fragmentation, distortion and turmoil with dystopia and so these were the stepping stones to their Hotel. Their dystopian Hotel was a reflection of the chaotic surrounding. They wanted it to resemble this sense of the world falling apart and collapsing in on itself and so they made their hotel in a series of fragmented pieces that reached into the sky. Even though it looked daunting and overwhelming from the exterior, the view from the interior looking up into the sky was rather comforting. Inside, you were surrounded by these constant fragmented patterns, engulfed by the ordered chaos, and as you looked up you could see a clear ring of the sky, which made the high rise walls within, worth taking in.

Their movie, incorporating both hotels with their applied media surfaces, was quite successful. They had captured the surrounding environment in relation to the hotels rather well. It clearly showed how the interior and exterior of the hotels differed, simply because of the environment you were viewing the exterior from. We also found the effect of the moving sky with the constantly morphing clouds very successful, and when asked how they had achieved it, they explained that it was simply a preset option on secondlife.

With both their hotels, their understanding and capable skills of using rhino were evident, however we felt that it would have been a more comprehensive project if they had showed us their weaving process on rhino, i.e what inspired them and what let them to their final designs.  It would have been helpful if they had showed us a systematic development of their ideas in the workshop, i.e. their progress from the first day of the workshop to the last, for their crit lacked an overall idea/philosophy that would tie both hotels.

Peer Review - des.

Team des. had continued to develop there design philosophy (mentioned in their earlier review) about how there is no set definition to just 'What is a Utopia? What is Dystopia? Their presented models and diagrams showed a continuity in their design process; a development from the previous workshops, but there intentions  and ideas were not conveyed thoroughly during the review process.

Their design concept was to create an environment to which a visitor or guest to their individual hotels, could experience something new, something different, something unique every time. des. stated that their is an incorporation of elements that create a juxtaposition between the thematic scheme and the physical form of the hotel designs: where the Utopian themed hotel would incorporate their dystopian-style plant room and vice-versa.

The group, in their final workshop, became faced with the concept of "realism"; to create a design that was both imaginative and practical. The team challenged this idea of "realism" by focusing mainly on the physical layout of their individual hotel elements; the stairs and the plant room. Their decision was to take the plant room design as the focal point for the city-based hotel, the main entrance, underground, into the hotel. By experiencing the atmosphere created by the plant room area initially, a guests interpretation of the interior design would greatly influence what message they take away from the exterior (facade). Their plant room models of MDF and Perspex with string intertwined and tangled string conveyed a more chaotic sensibility, to further this juxtaposition between elements. An additional model was created using Rhino. A 3D model detailing a plant room that was imagined to be made from a light-transmitting material. This acceptance of light plays a significant role in the design concept of this second plant room. The use of light, the emphasis on openness and the representation of  a physical form that closely resembles a type of tensile structure, are atmospheric qualities usually associated with the concept of a utopia; of a land indicative of freedom and light.

Team des.'s design concept has not changed much over the course of the final two workshops since their previous review. Instead there has been a greater focus on developing their design ideas further to better convey both spatial sensibilities; utopia and dystopia. Their design has been focused primarily around the concept of creating an overall juxtaposition, not only between the two hotels but between each of the hotels individual interiors and exteriors. Though Team des. was not able to complete their presentation due to some of their presentation elements being incomplete, they managed to provide a sufficient discussion of their design philosophy.