Sky Garden
Below is my University Of Auckland "Sky Garden" assignment, This was a group assignment and took 4 people to complete. I will show the process and outline which areas I took part in to complete the project .
This project was broken down into 2 assignments throughout the semester.
Assignment 1 :
In groups, students will carry out a Design for Conservation (D4C) project focusing on Tāmaki Makaurau's City Centre. Each week, groups will go through a different stage of the D4C methodology and will pitch a concept proposal for their selected Design Challenge.
Why?
Working on a real design problem is the most effective way for you to learn, experience, and apply the methods and tools used to design solutions for environmental goals.
Assignment 2 :
In groups, students will refine their Design for Conservation (D4C) concept, addressing feedback from external stakeholders and peers. Students will refine their concept and plan for impact, then submit the second iteration of their D4C project.
The final submission must include:
Report, Poster and 2-3 Hero shots
Assignment 1
In the very start of the design process, we as a group selected the Design Challenge to help business and commercial areas. We came to this by using the Sustainable Development Goals visible on the right. We chose number 11, Sustainable cities and Communities.
Research phase
I then looked into the main problems around Business and commercial areas, which was the fact that in Senior Living Communities, there are no Rooftop gardens. Rooftop gardens can enhance the quality of life for seniors in assisted living facilities and retirement communities. These spaces can provide a peaceful retreat for relaxation, socialising, and light physical activity.
Once we had the main problem idea, I started breaking down the problem and finding possible research areas. Below was the work I did to find the solution to our design problem.
So after all the research was carried out the idea was set to design rooftop gardens for seniors, businesses, schools and communities. Make them accessible, green, and beneficial for well-being, connections, and the environment.
Ideation Phase
Early in the Ideation Phase, our concept revolved around transforming rooftops into lush rooftop gardens.
We realised as a group that each rooftop presents unique challenges and layouts. This hit a heavy pause on our whole assignment because our idea was completely crushed by this main problem.
I then came up with the idea to turn modern furniture into environmentally friendly, pleasing furniture.
And so the idea changed from designing rooftop gardens for seniors, businesses, schools and communities. Make them accessible, green, and beneficial for well-being, connections, and the environment. To Design towards craft lush, environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing furniture, catering to the needs of modern society.
Concepts
I then drew sketches of the idea we had in mind, Our idea was to redesign modern furniture, so as a group, we thought of redesigning multiple types of furniture to create one. I then drew a design of a table that also acts as a seat.
Developments
To further explain the design, we constructed the product out of wood so that all you need to do to grow grass is add soil. There was some concern about what to do if it became overrun, but since we are putting our design in senior citizens, businesses, schools, and communities, this is not a problem. Common gardens would be sufficient to trim and mend the overgrown grass.
This model was created by our teammate.
who then went on to add the grass to give the full effect.
Assignment 2
This is the final stage of the assignment. As a group, our main focus was to create a laser cut 3D model, refine the hero shots more and create the poster and report.
Laser Cutting
In the design lab, our teammate laser cut all the components, put them together, and created the 3D model after making the laser cuts on Adobe Illustrator.
Hero shots
After we had the 3D model it was time to create the hero shots. I created all the hero shots and exploded views for the Hero shots creating them in Blender 3D and Procreate.
Since I had the design for the product from the laser cutting and the previous 3d Model our teammate did I redesigned it using the same design we previously had. Once I created the model I added textures which were the wood and grass. I then took a few snapshots as the final Hero shots.
Hero shot 1
Hero shot 2
Hero shot 3
Hero shot 4
This process was very challenging and very rewarding. I went through a couple of bumps along the way, I've been using Blender 3D for all of my previous projects so I could find solutions and got there in the end.
Exploded View
Once I created the final rendered hero shot I exploded each part of the design so you could see all the individual parts it takes to create the product.
I exported this image and imported it to Procreate where I wrote all the parts and their reasoning to being added to the product.
Hero shot scene
I first added a plane and grass texture to the scene and then placed my model into the scene. I then went to Sketch Fab to get models of buildings and people, added them both into the environment and then used Google to find a background of the sky and appropriate buildings, which I then combined to create the final design.
Report
As a group, we all got together and created the final report for the assignment.
