Final Blog Post

Through this project I learned that people are willing to create community with complete strangers with little help. At the Town Green interactions between people happen all the time; between vendors and consumers, dog walkers, and during events. Our jobs as engineers was to keep this sense of community lasting longer. This how I also learned that community is greatly affected by the physical design of an area. At the beginning of this project I was wondering how community related to engineering. I later realized that the two are a pair. Many public areas are designed the way they to make people feel comfortable and more willing to talk to strangers.

The main reason our project team was functional and successful was because we split into even smaller groups. Although we had already been assigned roles (team leader, media and marketing, and engineering), our team decided to have two or three people on each instrument we were building. Not only that, but the team leaders were always available to help whichever group was falling behind. Another reason our group was functional was because we had such great leaders. They kept us on task, but also let us have our jokes and fun. They were not too over controlling and trusted us to complete whatever job we were given.

 I really liked how the three flowers came out. Our final product fulfilled the goals we set out for it and looked aesthetically pleasing like we had hoped. The number of instruments and size of the drum flower require multiple people to play them. When there are multiple people, they try to make a song and play with each other. The bright colors also attract people without standing out too much at the Town Green and are not overwhelmingly loud. There could be changes made in the construction of the instruments to make them sound more musical, but we did the best we could. Overall I feel that the prototype worked successfully and created community.

Continued Progression

Blog Post #6

The goal for the second full day of building was to get as much of the prototypes completed as possible. This was our last full day of building, so we had to make most of it. In order to do this many of our group members brought supplies from home that were very helpful in construction.

All of us were very busy during this time. Most of the xylophone was put together and spray painted green, the metal drum flower was also sprayed painted and the petals attached, and the drum flower began construction. I was on the drum flower, which we had finally started to build that day. However a group member took the wood home and came back with the pieces already cut into petals and supports. This would help us put everything together faster.

The first pieces we attached to the stem of the flower for the drum, were the supports. A whole was drilled in diagonally so that a screw would cut through both the support and the base. After holes were cut into the wood petals so that the drums would have a place to hang in. While waiting for these holes to be cut, another group member and I spray painted the stem and supports of the flower green. After the holes were cut, four of us went outside to spray paint the petals. We each had one petal to spray paint either blue, pink, orange, or purple.

The most significant progress we made that day was finishing constructing the drums. There was much detail and group effort in the making of these drums after much dispute. I had helped cut the metal of lids of the drum, which had to be cut precisely, then made sure that each drum had its matching petal and lid. The dispute came when discussing how to attach the lids to the drums. We had run out of bolts and screws, so we had to think of another way to connect them. In the end red duct tape was used although some group members argued that the color would show through the paint.

I feel that the upcoming prototype days will be successful. The projects are coming out beautifully and are very colorful. These will attract people and make them curious about the instruments. I also feel that the size of them promote community because it takes more than one person to play them. The aspect that we are lacking the most is the sound quality. Only a musician can make them sound really good and we wanted to incorporate all types of people.

First Full Day of Building

Blog Post #5

The goal of the first full day of building was to make significant construction progress on each instrument. We were each assigned an instrument to work, however, that day it was raining. This meant the we would have to wait to cut any wood until the weather improved or walk down to the engineering classroom.

The most significant progress was done of the xylophone. The previous class the frame of a leaf had been made from two thin sheets of metal. This class it had been attached more permanently and the base was added. The xylophone was the first instrument we could see already taking shape.

The next instrument was the metal drum flower. Instead of maracas, as I previously thought, the petals of the flower would be hit. All of the petals we cut out and two of them we spray painted. In order to attach the petals the wooden stand, metal pieces were cut. They were thicker than petals, an inch wide, and a foot wide. They were also very hard to cut. About three of our members had to spend a good amount of time cut the metal was a hand saw. After they were done I would take the pieces of metal and sand down the edges to make them easier to work with.

As for the drum, there was not much that could be done. Like I mentioned before, it was raining, so we couldn't cut any bigger pieces of wood (the entire drum is made out of wood). Instead the people and I assigned to the drums made a 3-D model of it, then made the outline for the petals on the wood. This would speed up the construction process once we had the opportunity to cut wood.

I felt that much more could have been done, but I can't help the weather. However making the 3-D model did give us a more definite goal to work towards. And I didn't waste my time, I helped the other group members with their instruments. 

Beginning Construction

Blog Post #4

The first official day of building, although it was only one block, was preceded by many big steps in the project. Our design plans were finalized after being altered. Instead of tree we had planned to build, three individual flowers are going to be constructed. Then a list of materials was made from these designs. Although I was still unsure of the specific materials to be used I reminded the group that we were going to paint the flowers. Spray paint of assorted colors was added to the list.

These individual flowers also made it easier to split up into smaller groups. We were each assigned to an instrument. I could choose from the drums, maracas, or xylophone and I chose the drum flower. From here I helped my other teammates make the design for the drums.

After the designs for each instrument were complete the group was split into three groups, each with their own goal. One group was sent to clean up the design plans and work on our project website. Another group was sent to buy materials from Home Depot, one media and marketing person, and two engineers.

The last group, which I was in, attended a Keysight presentation/ Q&A session. The two leaders of the group as well as an engineer (me) were given the opportunity to ask about leading a group, working together, and communication. I was given the sketches of my other group members to discuss our design process.

When the other group members came back from Home Depot, we went to go help them carry the supplies back to the classroom to begin construction. On this first day, I helped trace the outlines for the smaller flower petals. It was when we started cutting out the petals from the metal that we realized how sharp the edges were. We considered using gloves, but decided it would be too much of a hassle to get them for every member. Significant progress was made, most notably beginning construction, so taking the time to handle the metal with care was no problem.

Making a Plan

Blog Post #3

After studying the problem (how to create sustainable community) for two days we were told to pick a final prototype design. We had many ideas in mind, all stemming from musical instruments and art after writing a problem statement: 
"We need to create a piece of art that will incite interaction between all users of the Town Green; all ages are welcome and interactions between strangers is the goal, achieved through providing common ground for conversation. This must be done without detriment to the Town Green aesthetic: one of open space and quiet atmosphere. Users are given the opportunity to talk to someone new, but are not required to make this connection".

This problem statement was taken from everybody's individual statement which were then integrated together. Here I emphasized that the product should not affect the calm atmosphere of the Town Green or make the space any less open.
  

When discussing the final prototype design I contributed two ideas. One being benches that are perpendicularly extended from the fountain area into the grass. This way the two areas could be better connected. My second idea was a music "house" or walk in shed where there would be percussive instruments lining the walls.

In the end we decided that musical instruments would be best. It will be a modern art sculpture with the element of nature as well as an instrument, as to blend better with the Town Green. The prototype will look like a tree with drums, bells, and xylophones. 
  

The sketches that we have of the prototype are a bit vague, but I'm sure those who drew them know how to make it work. Having the presentations of the design so far helped to clear up some of my questions. In any case deciding that we were making musical sculptures was a big step in the project. We now have a clear goal to work towards.

Defining the Problem

Blog Post #2

The second day of the project our plans for the day were confined to one block period. Our group met at the end of the day to combine data from observations at the Town Green. We sat at a group of tables and most of us were using some form of technology. 





 





Here we transferred our notes and observations to digital copies onto Google Drive. I read my interview notes out loud as one of my team members typed into a document with the questions written above. Meanwhile other group members color coded a map to show where there was a larger concentration of people on the Town Green.



As a group we also discussed what we saw on the Town Green. We noted that many young children liked to ride their scooters, food trucks were popular, and people usually came for the peace.

We also followed up on a plan from the end of the day of the project, our team name. There were friendly disputes over the official name of the group. Some of the names were more fun, while others pertained to the project. We all agreed the name should be catchy yet relate to the project somehow. One of the options was STEAM Team, an altered version of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) with the added subject of art, our presumed focus of the project. The other was Project ART, with the same art concept, but with an acronym in art. In the end we went with the Project ART.

Project Aesthetic Rejuvenation of the Town Green

At this point, I felt our data was leading us to a clearer picture of the problem. Although we spent a good amount of time choosing our name, the carefully chosen words of each letter of the acronym made sense. Our goal is to add to the Town Green's atmosphere, not alter it or disturb the peace. And we plan to do this in an artistic way which we decided as group is the best way to go.

Project ART

Blog Post #1

The first day of the Community Builder Project, our group, Town Green 3, met for the first time. During our first hours together we did what any other group meeting for the first time would do, we introduced ourselves. The goal of that first day was to get to know each other and what our roles we going to be in the group. 

We all got in a circle, some of us on desks, others in chairs, and introduced ourselves like in the first workshop we did. We each said our name, "kryptonite", and most importantly, our superpower. In this way we all got a brief glimpse of each other's roles and our own. I took this time to remember everyone's names and take the position as engineer in the group (and electric engineer if need be).

Map of Town Green

 Our second goal to accomplish that day was to visit the site and make a map to mark down observations. We did this as a group before going to the Town Green and were assigned a partner and area. Here me and another group member took note of how many people walked by, how many sat down, and their age. We also found a volunteer in the community garden to talk to when finding another group interviewing her. When we got back to school we were each assigned to another time to do observations and interviews at the Town Green with at least one other person. I was partnered with Allegra to go that very day. Here I took some notes, marked the map, and conducted three interviews with her.  

1 of 3 interviews

 I felt very confident that the project would get done on time at the end of that day. We had just gotten the project and were already a third of the way done with interviews. We had also seen our English teacher when doing our observations and she was excited to see us working the project on a Friday afternoon. I hadn't realized it before, but we were progressing quickly. This made me feel that our project would be well put together.

Observations at Town Green