Museums

  In the eighteenth session we talked about museums. There are so many factors that should be considered in designing museums. The amount of sunlight in is very crucial. Preserving artwork or historical objects are the main responsibility of museums. So all design must be in a way to fulfill this task.

 Also, we watched a movie about Holocaust museum. That museum was very interesting. I interested in getting more information about it. So I searched for some more videos about that museum. 

                                                  Fig 1. Holocaust Museum

  I found architecture and the way that all things were displayed very attractive. You can talk with people who survived from those days in the museum. You can listen to some recorded voice to get information. Also, the idea that people can light some candles in the second floor as memorial of all holocaust victims was very interesting too.

                                                        Fig 2.

                                           Fig 3. Hall of remembrance in Holocaust museum

  Museums used to be passive places. In the past they mostly just displayed objects, but these kinds of museums that get visitors involved in the design and objects are very intriguing. These kinds of museums can attract different kinds of people from around the world. 



References

Fig 1. Retrieved from http://turkeymacedonia.word press.com/2010/05/26/macedonian-jews-erect-world-class-holocaust-museum/

Fig 2. Retrieved from http://www.mccullagh.org/image/1ds-1/chelmno-holocaust.html

Prison design

  My classmates had a lecture on human response to institutional environment in this session. They created interesting game for us to play. They put some pictures of different spaces like colleges, prisons or hospitals and we were supposed to guess that each picture is college or prison or …... The shocking part was pictures of prisons. None of us could guess that pictures like this can be a prison.

                                            Fig 1. Halden Fengel prison

  The belief that prison is a place of rehabilitation is common nowadays. Hence, prison design also must develop this idea. In the past prisons where places for punishment. It is still the same in so many prisons.

                                          Fig 2.

 

  The fact is that all people born innocent in this world, but some become criminal or thief because of the situation that they have in their life. I believe that there is reason for everything that is happening in this world. Maybe if we were in their place we would become the same kind of person, criminal or thief. Hence, we must give prisoners as human being a second chance to rebuild their life. 

                                          Fig 3. Danish state prison

   Prison can be a place to give them opportunity to discover their weaknesses and try to solve them. It could be a place to help them find their talent and built their confidence to be prepared for social life after prison.

  Receiving sunlight, having place to do exercise, having access to internet, being able to improve their knowledge and skills all would be beneficial.

  Furthermore I can say human friendly prison design can benefit staff of the prison too. They spend most of their time in building with no sunlight and awful design. Therefore, it can develop quality of life for both groups.

References

Fig 1. Retrieved from http://thegraffik.co.cc/halden-fengel-prison-rethinks-prison-design.htm

Fig 2. Retrieved from http://afghanistan.foreignpolicyblogs.com/tag/bagram-prison/

Fig 3. Retrieved from http://thegraffik.co.cc/halden-fengel-prison-rethinks-prison-design.htm

Infection

  In this session we talked about infection in healthcare facilities. All materials for flooring and furnishings that are used in the healthcare facilities must consider possibility of spreading infection as the main issue. Chairs cushions must be moisture barrier to prevent absorbing bacteria. Humid surfaces are prone to spreading bacteria, so all furnishings must be designed in a way that does not keep humidity. 

                                            Fig 1. MRSA bacteria under magnification

   It was very interesting for me that using carpet for flooring are better in preventing of spreading bacteria in healthcare environment than other kinds of flooring. It is because of anti-microbial additive that are added to carpets, also carpet can keep contamination until it be removed by appropriate cleaning.

                                                    Fig 2. carpet

   Reducing the rate of infection at hospitals by proper cleaning and make use of some materials like copper which is naturally anti-bacterial can change the image of hospitals as frightening places. Hospital as a place full of bacteria, you go there with a simple illness but come out with so many. This is the connotation of hospital for me. Even as a visitor in hospital I always afraid of getting infected. Being sure that every where is clean and there is no risk of getting infected in the hospital can reduce the level of stress for patients, staff and visitors. 

References

Fig 1. Retrieved from http://historyofmrsa.com/photos-of-mrsa.php

Fig 2. Retrieved from http://www.cribcandy.com/flooring

Healthcare Environmnet

  In the sixteenth session of the class my friend and I had a presentation of human response to healthcare environment. I mostly focus on the aspects of health care design like light, furnishings and art work.
  As I read in different resources the main factor that should be considered in designing a healthcare environment is stress. All design elements must be in purpose of reducing stress. Patients and staff in hospitals both have stress, so the design must help them to overcome this stress. Having view of nature receiving sunlight, make use of appropriate artwork and comfortable furnishings all can be beneficial in decreasing stress. 

 Fig 1. Patient Room. Cohen Children's Medical Center of NY. Francis Cauffman Architects. Watercolor

  It was very interesting for me when I came up with the fact that in the past hospitals and prisons were very similar to each other. They both had the same kind of buildings. But today there are two different kinds of places. But still both are places for healing, one mentally and the other physically.

  The fact is that human being’s health related to both psyche and flesh. A healthy person must have healthy mind and body. So in designing a healthcare environment not only high technologic facilities must be included, providing relaxing and positive environment should be considered too.

  For example good patient’s room gives them the chance to be able to have control over their room. Having control over temperature and access to internet could make patients more satisfied. Positive distraction is a critical part of hospital design, there must be something that distracts patients from focusing on their illness. Furthermore using art works in a way that patients can see them from their bed would be beneficial. They should have a chance to choose art work that they want to see. All these can help healing process.

Fig 2.Patient Room. Long Island Jewish Health System. P.Chow Architect. Watercolor

Art is something that enriches our life, so it is good to use it in all aspects of life.

                                       

Fig 3. Main Lobby. Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. Perkins + Will. Watercolor

References

Fig 1, 2, 3. Retrieved from http://artanddesignstudio.com/architectural-illustration-healthcare-12.html

 

Future schools

   In this session we talked about educational environment. As we all know there are different types of schools like private, public, art school or military school and so many others. Also, each country has its own rules for education.

                                                 Fig 1.

 But beside all these, the intriguing part of the class was the You Tube video that was about a robot which was teaching instead of a teacher in a class.  I think that in future it is possible to have robots as teachers or maybe there will be no teacher at all. Now online education is become common in universities, so maybe in the near future schools become online too. It is possible that in the future there will be no school, no university, no books, and no students.

                                                 Fig 2.

  Maybe by the use of technology the world without school, school as a traditional term will be possible. I myself will be so happy to live in the world without school. Learning but not in the traditional way, having a lecturer and students who are just listening, will be no more exist. Learning without stress and choosing your own style of learning. Possibility for individuals to learn in their own pace. Don’t you think it would be so exciting?

Reference

Fig 1, 2. Retrieved from http://www.richard-wilkinson.com/2009/06/04/the-future-of-education/

Anxiety

   In the thirteenth and fifteenth sessions of the class one of our classmate who is working on dormitory design for her thesis had a lecture of anxiety in educational environment.

  Dormitories are places that should be designed in a way that give students relax feeling after so much stress at college.  But most of the time dormitories design does not fulfill this task. Design of the rooms with no private section for individuals increase the level of stress. Also, lack of enough storage can have negative impact on students.

  I myself never have had an experience of living in dormitory. But whenever I went to my friend’s room at dorm I wondered how they can live there. Living with different people with various lifestyle and characteristics is hard. Some were organized and some were messy it is hard to adapt yourself with others.

                                            Fig 1. messy dorm bedroom

   I think make use of proper furnishings and trying to provide private space for each student in their room can improve their quietly of life. Using adjustable furnishing will able students to change decoration and personalize it in a way that they like. Also, providing enough storage can reduce their stress.

                                           Fig 2. Enough storage

   I believe that all people need a place that can be called room for loneliness. It is a place for people to think, to pray and to be able to spend time with themselves. Providing this kind of places in dormitories could help students to refresh their mind. Hence, they can work more efficiently. Don’t you think it is a good idea?

                                                Fig 3. Room for loneliness

References

Fig 1. Retrieved from http://funiculifunicula.wordpress.com/2007/11/07/
swarthmore-dorms-willets/

Fig 2.  Retrieved from http://designstyleguide.net/community
/blog/dorm-room-design/

Fig 3. Retrieved from http://www.flickriver.com/photos/tags/
cmwdbw/interesting/

Home

  In the twelfth session of the class my friend and I had a presentation about residential environment. I mostly focused on cultural differences and meaning of home. When I was looking for resources for my presentation I had a hard time finding general characteristic of American homes. It is related to the fact that America has many subcultures and all these affected the form of homes in America. 

                                            Fig 1.

  As I realized in my research, one of the most important characteristics of American homes is individuality, which is the significant factor in American culture. Individuality in home design refers to considering internal privacy at homes and specialization of function which means that each room has its own function. Whereas in other cultures they may use one room for variety of functions. Also there is no sign of religion concern in American homes. You cannot find any special characteristic that is based on the religion.

 Then I searched for Iranian home architecture. Iranian people are introverted and this characteristic transferred to their architecture.  It may comes from Iranian mysticism that is mostly concentrates on the inner self than the material world. The key factor In Iranian traditional homes was privacy. Privacy from the outside and in inside.

                                           Fig 2. Traditional Iranian house in Kashan

  In order to achieve this goal, architectures divided house in two sections: inner and outer. The inner part devoted to the members of the family who lived there and the outer part devoted to the guests and strangers who are invited or visited. Also concern of religion can be seen in some parts of the design like using different doorknockers for men and women that made different kinds of sounds.

                                           Fig 3. Inside Iranian traditional house

  In general, architecture and especially home design are influenced by culture and so it has variety. What is so common between people around the world, without concerning their cultures and religion, is their attachment to their homes. It is the strong feeling that may remain with us even after leaving the place.

                                           Fig 4.

   I experience it myself nowadays. I just left my home three months ago and now everyday when I wake up I still have the image of my old bedroom in my mind. It takes me some time to remember where I am and recognize the new bedroom that now I live in. Finally the question is as a designer, how can we make use of this strong feeling of human toward a space? How can we design a place or space with feelings?

References

Fig 1. Retrieved from http://www.haynsworthrealty.com

Fig 2. Retrieved from http://www.simoontravel.com

Fig 3. Retrieved from  http://www.travelpod.com/photos/6/Iran/Kashan.html

Fig 4. Retrieved from http://www.homeinsurancefacts.com/