Field Trip #3

!!DESIGN IN OUR LIVES!!

     Design is all around us.  It can be architectural, fashion, culinary or interior design and they all have an importance to human life.  How we live is based on what is around us and many ideas that were formed around us had to be designed.  On our third trip to the Moma, I had a task to find four pieces that have high function and low function.  This is related to ergonomics, which is the study of functionality.  Functionality to each of us can vary in lifestyle, opinion or idea because we all have different lives and different styles of living.  How we use an item can be different to all of us and we were able to see this in the Moma.  

Samuel Cabot Cochran

Benjamin Wheeler Howes

"Grow" 2005

Thin-film photovoltaics, piezoelectric generators, screenprinted conductive ink encapsulated in ETFE fluropolymer lamination, stainless steel, nylon, neoprene rubber, copper wire, and aluminum.  

     Seeing this wall with this nylon covered "thing" (which I thought in my head) didn't seem useful at all.  I just passed by this piece many times and didn't notice what was so useful init.  I took the chance to discover this pieces ability in the world.  This is a hybrid-energy device that was inspired by ivy.  The "leave" are panes the generate solar power and their fluttering movement generate wind power.  It's also made of recycled materials.  In other words if energy is needed, we can get energy generated from this piece by wind generation and solar panel generation.  Without harming the enviorment we can create energy.  This has high functionality in life if we ever have a black out or need a means of energy in a situation in which we can't get electrical power.  

Martin Ruiz de Azua

"Basic House" 1999

Polyester 

     This is a peculiar piece that is very intriguing.  I first noticed the colour and its shape.  Being called house I didn't find no home in here nor protection, but I was incorrect.  Azua was very creative in this piece.  It's a home on the go or for the homeless.  It can be folded up and packed up and used more than once.  This large square bag is incredible.  An example in which I can use this is during holiday.  Maybe in a cold enviorment, lets say we're going on an expedition in one of the mountains in Iceland.  This "Basic House" is able to be folded into a small square plastic and we are able to carry more on us than a tent if we had one.  It also keeps heat in for  warmth.  This can be also used for the homeless during the winter for there protection of cold.  

Tomas Gabzdil Libertiny

"The Honeycomb Vase "Made by Bees" 2006

Beeswax

     This piece to me is interesting but not sufficient enough for me in everyday use.  Libertiny uses the bees in order to make 3D replicas of objects for prints.  In order to do this you must have the shape inside of the honey comb and wait a while for it to be made.  Even though it's environmentally friendly the process of doing this is too long as suppose to the use of our hands.

Ido Bruno

Arthur Brutter

"EPT: Earthquake Proof Table" 2010

Steel, bind birch and plywood

     This is one marvelous table.  A table has many uses and has high functionality.  Bruno was very thoughtful of this table.  Growing up in New York we don't practice many earthquake drills but in other places around the world do so.  These places have high percentages of earthquakes and one of these places is California.  This table can protect many children.  While other tables can just break on the person underneath the table, this table provides an endurance of weight and can't be easily crushed as the others.

     To me all these pieces that are shown are useful but some more than others.  I determined which one would be more useful to me and in first place it's the "Grow".  Being more green provides a healthy life for our planet and for ourselves.  In second place comes "EPT: Earthquake Proof Table".  The protection of our future generation is very important and we wouldn't want to lose someone from a natural disaster.  A life saved is very worthy and this table could just do that.  "The Honeycomb Vase "Made by Bees" and "House" don't have such use in my life. Printing out objects in real life wouldn't matter to me because I don't design any products nor do I need product models.  It would be very useful to others such as creators of these product models.  "House" is useful for a holiday in Iceland but I don't have any plans to go to Iceland or camping soon.  It's useful for the homeless but I'm not homeless either. All these pieces have good uses but how functional they are is up to the buyer and that is how I learned about ergonomics.