Reflecting on Feedback

I made a lot of revisions in response to the individual feedback I received from the preliminary presentation three weeks ago. As a result of this, I ended up switching my planned course for the project in a significant way, and as such I had not fleshed out as many details as perhaps I should have.

In my last blog post, I reflected upon the importance of the process, rather than the product. This newfound understanding and desired focus on the project was my new main sticking point, but I inadequately considered how this process is a research which informs the final product, more so than a physical practice. This was the primary critique I received in the presentation to the Honors Committee members this past week.

I need to come up with a novel synthesis of my researched materials, which isn’t just the result, or the process, but a novel finding at which I can aim this research. I must ask, what is my design project doing that is innovative?

A suggestion was to execute a parametric design study. This would mean that I would establish a set of parameters which I tweak throughout a design process in order to find optimal configurations. An idea I had after the presentation, discussing the outcome with my peers was to look at ways in which a piece can be designed for deconstruction, rather than destruction. Maybe a chair could be designed to assemble only with standardized wooden pegs and disassemble to the smallest volume possible. I could find this design via such an approach as a parametric study.

Another suggestion was to look for ways in which Japanese Joinery has not been typically applied. We know Japanese Joinery is useful for structure, but what is a way in which its characteristics might find a new use or understanding? Perhaps with further research into the applications of Japanese Joinery I could find such an application for which it would be suited yet novel.

Overall, the feedback was very helpful in steering my project toward a productive direction. After both of these feedback sessions, I feel like my project is on a course for successful execution.