Individual Project Crit Feed back: Midterm Review

After crits with four people here are the main input I received on my watering shelf. It attempts to bring organic gardening into the urban apartment environment by using gray water. 

• Materiality: consider plastic ( although plastic and water may be something to consider) Also consider the possibility of using stainless steal. 
• Focus on vertical space, not ceiling space
• consider the shape as it evolves, circle formations? Think outside of the linear box
• remove the back piece, perhaps add mesh eliminate so that plants can have support as they grow upwards. ( support system)
• Focus on what plants this is built for. Don't try to make it universal, instead tell the user what it can grow and why they need that.
• tell user where this goes, does it hang or does it attach to the back of a cabinet? if it can go anywhere people will automatically be like, " where can i put this?"
• if it goes on wall it may compete with photos and paintings
• research hot pot is grown hydroponically and with lighting, does hydroponic make more sense than soil? less mess? can things like potatoes be grown in water? Research!
• grow lights - incorporate in design. Use electric light to grow
• Consider plants growing downward
• think of how to design so that size of plant as it grows can be accommodated
• look up bouroullec brothers, French designers
• consider reusing grey water
• Study Project (Basin bath, set amount of water to use, tilted seat within basin bath, water filters back to bottom, goes outward to water surrounding plants that in turn provide a screen for the basin bath. 
• consider making the top a funnel instead of so linear, maybe the experience of watering becomes meaningful - maybe the water showers on the plants. Rain?
• move design out of the shower, into main spaces
• Instead of tray concept consider a spicket at base?
• consider how you can let users know how much water to give plants?(perhaps the angle of the water holding area dictates which plants get more water)
• look up Re-Bath project

MIdterm Group Presentation: Raw Space Food

Watering Shelf : making gardening feasible in tight spaces

My concept for a watering shelf is currently in this stage. The idea is to pour water in the top holding area. From this area it can seep down to the plants rooted in soil. Below the soul will be some meshing ( not fully developed) to keep soil from being washed down. As the water filters through the excess will be caught in trays that can be removed. One of the issues is that when you dump water trays out water continues to seep out. But this would have two trays so that excess gets caught. The plants could sit in this unit without being removed, which can cause damage. The product could also have lighting built into it. I am envisioning this as a sleek lightweight product that could even be light enough to hang on the back of a cabinet or attach to a window sill, using vertical space. I imagine this as a small garden unit that could be in any kitchen. 

Midterm Design Board

Apartment Organic gardening 

Rethinking home gardens for small spaces

Project 2: Dehydrating our "Space Food

Our "space food" concept was to create a nutritious blend of food that caters to the speed driven modern society. The goal is to provide people with a meal that can be eaten anywhere on the go, thus encouraging the most efficient life style. 

PROCESS

1. we blended together a mixture of raw foods including: Apple, Garbanzo beans, carrots, cranberries, sunflower seeds, Almond, and rasins

2. We diced the foods up and then placed them into a blender with 1/2 cup water

3. Then we took the food and spread it evenly on paper in the multi tray dehydrator

4.We dried the "space food" for about 30 hours 

SPACE FOOD RAW.

Apple.. Garbanzo bean. Carrot. Cranberry. Sunflower seed. Almond. Raisin 

Insta Food for space age efficency

 Goal:Eliminate time eating, Maximize productivity

Break free of the time wasting cycle of the production and consumption of food. Eat a card, food in its most efficient form.

Problem statement:In modern society we waste countless hours preparing and eating foods. Our relationship to food no longer matters the way it did in the days of family dinners. We need nutrition, not enjoyment. We need food in forms that can be consumed anywhere without effecting our productivity.

 Questions: How can we gain nutrition in the simplest most efficient form?

Process Experiments : My Shower Herb Garden

After playing with the concept of creating a "shower greenhouse" I moved my small herb garden from my kitchen window sill to my shower. I have set up one light and am currently growing Parsley, Lime Thyme, Lavender, and Dark Leaf Oregano. They have been in the shower for almost two weeks are are surviving fine. They are being watered with shower water.

concept models 

These are some of my first model concepts as I begin to play with 3D. Although I think the idea of a shower greenhouse is interesting I also think a lot of people will struggle with the concept of mixing the shower environment with eatable food, especially due to the bathroom having germs. Therefore my project has branched out into the kitchen but first I tried to target exactly what the issues are with gardening indoors in urban apartments. 

Issues with indoor urban apartment gardens:

• mess associated with soil and water during watering plants
• having to take plants out of containers to be watered
• gardens taking up much needed space
• people forgetting to water plants

I am interested in creating a product that addresses these issues and tries to make gardening in tight spaces easy and more desirable. I came up with the idea of a self sufficient gardening unit that could use the dead space in the kitchen. Perhaps this could take up the form of a garden shelf that can hang on the backs of kitchen cabinets. ? i think that a product could be very small and still very effective. 

I'm really interesting in how an urban garden can become a part of apartment living without using important space. This means exploring vertical space instead of floor space. This canvas plant hanger is interesting, however the drainage makes it an outdoor product. 

New York City urban Vegetable Garden: self watering containers

I have been reading a blog daily for about three weeks called "Urban Organic Gardener". It chronicles a New York City vegetable garden that utilizes self watering containers. very interesting. check it out

http://www.urbanorganicgardener.com