reflections

What do you know now that you didn’t know at the beginning of the semester?

I better understand the design process including how much is involved for each part of the process and how long each part takes.  Especially important to remember is that the design and build take up no time at all compared to how long the building will be occupied (hopefully).

What advice would you give someone who would be taking this class?

Collect e-mails and phone numbers on the first day since communication will be a big stumbling block otherwise.  Knowing everyone’s schedule and availability will also help when coordinating times to meet, but this can be done later as long as contact information is known and used.

Reflections for the semester

I learnt quite a lot from this class. I was kind of conversant with the design process and the players involved but I hadn’t had the opportunity to observe from close quarters the interdisciplinary relationships that exist and how they are all connected. This class gave me the opportunity to see how that happens in the real design process. I had never responded to an RFP so it was a new experience but it had plenty learning moments. Making sure that the design fulfils the client’s requirements, is within code, within the client’s budget and is structurally sound. Acting in the capacity of the designer, allowed me to look at my profession not just as an architecture student but as a practicing professional. I gained fresh perspective of what it means to work in the field and how integrated the designer is at every stage of design.

Advice to anybody taking the class is to document the information and details of each week carefully. If possible start to organize the weekly material in preparation for the book. Most of us were not thinking of the book that we had to put together at the end of the semester so toward the end we had some trouble remembering what we had done earlier, the processes, lessons learnt and the roles that we each played. Working with teammates requires planning, time, patience and effort. Planning to make sure that everyone is on the same page and has the same goal in mind. Time to work together on achieving their purpose and meeting their target, collaboration takes time and teammates have to be willing to dedicate time to each other. Patience is required because tolerance for other teammates’ inadequacies will reduce instances of conflict. Each team member must be willing to commit 100% to making sure that the work gets done efficiently and on time.

“What do I know now that I didn't know at the beginning of the semester that I know now?”

            Prior to my involvement with Community Practice, I thought I had a grasp on how the design world operates, (but I was slightly off mark) and how theoretically easy it should be to communicate with other design professionals (again I was slightly off). But the reason I had underestimated these operations is because I simply have not had the interactions and practice to completely understand the process. My biggest take away from this semester, were all those tangent moments in-between the overarching statement of community practice where I began to understand the political structure of how a progressive architecture firm might operate. If I could digest the semester into categories, the most valuable theory I learned was the art of collaboration, and the many forms and scales it happens. There were moments as an individual working on this project; I had to rely on the production or information of another group member, and the inverse of group members relying on me. The understanding of accountability has made a large impact on how collaboration operates.

“What I would suggest for students taking this class”

            Community practice is a great opportunity to work with classmates and build stronger relationships with the BAC community. The class is designed to explore theories of collaboration, as seen in the structure of the class (4 weeks history lecture, 4 weeks design build, 1 week build, 3 week analysis) from beginning to end, this class covers a lot of ground, and attempts to create an entire composition of the design/build process. To get the most out of what this class has to offer, I would recommend staying on top of your punctuality, actively practice the best and most efficient ways to communicate ideas; email/ phone/ sketching/ models/ diagrams.  And to be successful with this class it is crucial to be loyal to your team members, whereas if you are accountable to provide group members with information, it is best to do so in a timely manner. (which is always harder than it sounds)

Reflection

"What do you know now about the design process that you didn't know before? How will you approach your design and collaborative work differently? What was the most interesting/helpful thing you did this semester? What advice do you have for students who take Community Practice in the future?" 

As I reflect upon this semester’s community pilot lab for gateway, I've found that I've learn how to collaborate design ideas when it comes to working with others. In doing so I believe that we as a team have built a great relationship with one another to reach a positive and agreeable end goal. What I did not know, or more or less get to do frequently as a design student is the opportunity to build and the steps needed in approaching this phase. As I continue through my education here at the BAC, I will see collaborative work as a way to further better my design work and have a better understanding how a client/community could affect my design.

My advice for upcoming students who will be taking community practice in the future is to “Communicate!” and lots of it. Whether it is to brainstorm ideas or asking general questions you will never know until you ask. Another advice would be to manage your time well with the work given to you. As a group, you should be able to contribute and collaborate equally. Don’t forget without communication there is no collaborating, its cooperating!

Reflection

What do you know now that you didn't at the beginning of the semester?

I did not know the process of how a design project is built. I was unaware of the fact who has the most crucial role and how much of a role each player has to participate in. Going into this and finding out that each one of us will be taking on a role and will have to work together to come up with a solution to any problem we might have, I wasn't sure how it was going to work because many of us don't know anything about building construction, codes, government regulatory. We had to work together and the biggest component of figuring out the solution was by communicating.

What advice would you give to someone taking this class?

My advice that I would give to someone taking this class is to communicate. Communication is the biggest factor to this class. Without it you wont get anything done. Do you research for the role because your team depends on you to know the information and make sure you can teach your classmate about your role because they will do the same. This is a design team and as designer we work together through out the entire project from start to finish so contribute the amount of work everyone else is doing.

Mock up!

In class last week, we heard from the Design Team what their answer to the Client's RFP was. As Jeff, Humza, and Jayne were explaining it, we moved into the hallway to better understand how the installation might work...which is when it dawned on us...wouldn't it be easier to understand and figure out how this thing would work if we built a mock-up? So, everyone went in different directions getting materials, and 20 minutes later, we started. An hour later, we had a full-scale mockup in place. We learned a lot about how to do it better the next time - constructionally and practically, but also theoretically - what are we trying to say with this thing?

Stay tuned...the 3rd floor hallway is about to be transformed...

Jeff explains the design team's concept; Yen [the client] listens intently...

Humza, Jeff, and Jayne install the paper, while Ariella and Yen discuss next steps....

Bold Colors

Cheap Recycle Materials

small scale structures

texture - fabric

go cardboard

duct tape

These are just some examples of what can be done with duct tape. This is from an annual competition known as the duct tape prom where the winners gets a $3000 college scholarship.  This is one example of cheap materials with colorful and creative results.

Role Playing

What is your role?

What challenges do you anticipate facing in this role, either personally, or as you work with the group?

Client:

As the Client, my role is to work with the designer and developers to create/design a common end goal. In working alongside these designers I hope to have my “design checklist” completes to my specifications. I am very interested in making our flagship building (The Boston Architectural College-320 Newbury street) a more usable, welcoming, and supportive for those who visit, teach, work, and of course, go to school there. As we go into a series of the design/build phases I imagine having the design completed as I have requested in a timely manner and on budget. My end goal is to be able to get more students and staff member visiting the third floor and viewing the Glassman award cases.

Challenges:

Some challenges I believe I will face being in this role is having a completed design required but staying within my budget. I personally believe I will have to face negotiating with the designers to not push specific ideas I want to achieve. Another challenge would be not completing on time as we only have the few many weeks to design, build, and present.

My role as the designer and challenges

My role as a designer

As the designer, my role is to interpret the client’s requirements into a specific design scheme, to supervise the construction of the building to ensure that the building conforms to the drawings. As the designer I also have to keep the client updated on the progress of work and to advise where and when necessary. I have to ensure that the design fulfills the Clients brief, meets the Design Standards required by the Country/Area where the building is being constructed, meets the budget and ensure that the building can be constructed, used and maintained safely. The designer’s role is not at all restricted to the technical there is more responsibility often without the corresponding authority and control. As the leader of the design team I am required to infuse the team with a common vision and to motivate them to do their best work. As such, this requires dedication and passion, and a strong belief that I can lead the effort.

Possible challenges

 Possible challenges I foresee or anticipate with this role are relating to budget, code restrictions and time. As the designer whatever I design has to be within the client’s budget, ensuring that the entire project doesn’t go above budget is essential but at this time I have no idea what the budget is. The code restrictions as to where we can build and what constraints exist will influence the designer’s creativity. The biggest challenge however is the time factor, with just 8 weeks to design, build, install, observe and dismantle the team will be hard-pressed to deliver this project in a timely manner. It would test how well the members of the design team are able to cooperate and collaborate with each other.

Role Playing

What is your role?

My role is a builder. A builder is someone who a company brings into do a project from start to finish. They are involved in the construction process.

What challenges do you anticipate facing in this role, either personally, or as you work with the group?

The biggest challenge that I see is that we have limited amount of time, not enough budget and my role being changed after 4 weeks into the project. Another  difficulty that I might face is that all the team member have there own interpretation of the site.

role playing exercise week 1

My role is the government/regulator.  My job is to make sure the object constructed and method of construction obeys any codes, laws and rules.  I can make design suggestions, but not enforce changes unless they violate a code law or rule. This could create conflicts due to rule restrictions of others ideas or personal frustrations at seeing bad design ideas that I don't have the authority to reject or change. 

Personally my biggest challenge is going to be the International Building Code.  I'm already familiar with ADA regulations and rules for school policy are fairly straight forward.  But I'm not familiar enough with the IBC to know all potential conflicts and the language is confusing since I'm not familiar with all the terms and categories it keeps referencing and the online version isn't easy to skim since it only shows a small section at a time and you need to go backward to pick a different section.  The school also has many copies of the book, but they are only for reference within the library so can't be brought onsite for easy reference.

Week 5

-How does the Builders Make decisions?

-During the design/build process when are they Leaders vs. Followers?

-What do they influence?

After receiving the plans and drawing from the Designer(s), a builder is responsible for overseeing everything from lot acquisition and excavation to quality control of the finished materials used in the project. The builders will make decisions according to drawing plans and specification/requirements given by the designers.

 I find that this is where they become a follower to avoid risks of extending project time or going over budget and losing their own money.  Their overall goal is to take on the project and make money. They become leaders in this phase through the construction of the project itself and any effective changes that have been suggested or offered to the designers.

They are responsible for ordering materials and making sure all suppliers are paid. Builders also have full responsibility for all phases of the project and its integrity. All of their projects must pass codes and building inspections. In addition, contractors should be able to identify and estimate the quantity of materials needed to complete a job, and accurately estimate how long a job will take to complete and what it will cost.

Community Perspective

How does Community Make decisions? When are they Leaders vs. Followers? What do they influence?

(In the United States) The community has the right to congregation. Decisions are made by social hierarchy in the form of collaboration with local government.  Town meetings are an opportunity for individuals to express ideas on current town issues in hope of resolution.  How this Information is spread, is through local news sources, such as newspapers or televised broadcasting, this ultimately notifies all members of the community in hopes of positive or negative affirmation against design proposals.

                                At the initial onset of a design concept the community individuals have the largest voice and power of a projects fate. Concepts can be rejected or accepted, altered and modified to accommodate the user and community needs as voiced. There does however come a deadline where the community expresses a final decision, this moment is where community then follows the project phase to verify the promises a project is required to deliver.

                                Leading up to the actual construction phase, collaboration with community members and designers can heavily influence large scale projects to improve the standard of living amongst a community. If the community influence, is to remain conservative and introverted then the design should reflect the community’s wishes. The designer should understand the voice of a community and design with the addressed needs rather than against.

Assignment A-5

A Client/Developer makes a decisions after looking at many factors. There role is very important to everyone who is working on the project. Basically they are investing there money and thinking about long term profit.

Basically the main decision that the client has to make is weather or not if this project is worth it and weather or not will he make money off of this.

So suppose if the builder or architect who ever comes to the client and say to them that they will be running short on money or will not finish on time and the project is going to be delayed, the client will not appreciate that because the main goal of the client is to make money not to lose money so then he/she will have to make a very wisely decision to figure out the best possible solution to spend as much less as possible.

What a client is really looking for is money and drive to lead people, authority and leadership, power, fame, accountability and responsibility all of these things are what influence him/her.

WEEK 5: Gov't/Regulatory - From the eyes of a Building Inspector

How does the role you’ve researched make decisions?

Gov’t/Regulatory (Building Inspector):  they have to be:

Active Listener — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Quality Control Analysis — Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.

Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

When during the design/build process are they the leaders vs followers?

Building inspectors are independent leader or part of a team –  they spend considerable time inspecting construction worksites, alone or as part of a team. Some inspectors may have to climb ladders or crawl in tight spaces!

What is/are their area[s] of influences?

Building inspectors ensure that new construction, changes, or repairs comply with local and national building codes and ordinances, zoning regulations, and contract specifications.

engineer

The engineer makes decisions based on his/her learning and the needs of the project.  A good engineer is also creative to come up with new ideas/alternatives.  Some types of designs or methods of support require creativity.

The engineers status (leader/follower) is different on different projects.  They can be a leader during the design and build phases if they have a strong input in the design. However, they aren't always brought in before a final design is reached.  Even if engineers aren't brought in earlier, they can still have a strong influence by making suggestions.  If the engineer isn't creative and only negates designs that won't work or if the architect won't listen to critisism (it must be done this way, so make it work!) then the engineers role is greatly diminished and they are more follower than leader during the whole process.

The engineers influence changes just like their status.  They can influence the whole design, certain areas of the design, or just the hidden structure.  They can influence shape, materials, and layout depending on where supports need to go, how much support is needed, and how much support different shapes and materials provide.

Week Four reading responses

Team formation is about creating one cohesive whole out of a couple of different fragments. People have to simultaneously deal with a couple of processes at the same time, getting to know each other, figuring out the structure and hierarchy of the group and what the framework of operation is going to be. It is important for the team to have a mission statement that clearly define what they are about and how the plan to achieve their goals and ambitions. It allows the team member to focus their energies and shills and attention toward one uniform purpose.

The organization of teams is essential to how the team will work and function and should be clearly spelt out from the onset. Having a clearly defined structure and allocation of tasks and duties will help to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in project delivery where everyone is assigned duties according to their areas of strength. When team formation goes well the members move from a group of individual to a team with one mission and a unified purpose.

Designers are always working in and with groups; project teams, studios, staff, committees and a host of others. The ultimate goal of the design team is to deliver a successful project to the client in a timely and satisfactory manner. I believe it’s in this that the design face unique challenges. Design teams struggle to develop successful products that meet or surpass the user/client’s needs, figure out what they want and how best to deliver it to them. Yet team member bring with them different values, perspectives and interests that cause them to see different things as important/urgent. Although the diversity of skills is key to developing the product, the different perspectives cause difficulties when the team is still deciding on what it is that users really need and what it is they should make. Sometimes the framework for what criterion meets the user requirements and how to achieve it becomes a point of contention. The design team has to come to agreement on what, who, when and where, and their failure to do that jeopardizes successful delivery of the project. Learning the art of negotiation is vital to a successful team project.

Week 4, Team Formation

Week 4, Team Formation:

Chapter 3 of the Students Guide to Successful project Teams if focused on the philosophy of team formation. The Chapter poses many questions in response to group projects and, clarifies social structures to maximize project efficiency. The best way to unify a group is through the process of creating a group mission statement, a statement that dignifies the goals and projection of the group accomplishments. Mission Statements should only take a few minutes to devise but always serve as a reminder for the group as to whom they exist to be. An open dialogue between members is crucial for making these statements happen.

                  Communication is a practice that all individuals should be proficient in. The medium in which this occurs might range from images, word documents, narration, or telephone conversation. Technology is also a big role in the efficiency of team formatting in how it allows for communication to occur regardless of proximity to one another.  It is important to maintain social contact to share innovations or achievements with team members, but its also more so important to share bad news, this could alter the forecast of a design group, and all members are entitled to any agenda changes. The ultimate goal in providing communication is to stay focused and maximize efficiency.

What unique challenges do design teams face?

A design team may encounter a variety of challenges throughout the time spent together. Some of the largest challenges may actually range from- operational formatting in the social structure of a design team, to more basic needs such as communication and organization.  Although these challenges may seem common, they often yield minimal efforts to resolve. As for a unique challenge that may bestow upon a design team might intact be an external force. Perhaps a unique or strange occurrence that was not originally planned for ultimately begins to cause pressures within a design group.  

Week 4

Team Formation – William A. Kahn

     A team as Merriam Webster defines it is a group of people who work together but I believe a group in itself does not necessarily represent a team. Teams normally have members with complementary skills and generate synergy through a coordinated effort, this allows each member to maximize his/her strengths and minimize his/her weaknesses. Team members should learn to help one another, help other team members realize their true potential, and create an environment that allows everyone to go beyond their limitations.

     Within the reading, the author talks about a mission statement and how it is a “destination”. He then proceed to explain that many of us arrived at this destination because we perform to get the passing grade and that we should work together to reach a common end goal instead. This way the members can go through the struggle of being team members and learn from the experiences and each other’s skill sets. I find that groups that work well together can achieve much more than individuals working on their own. A broader range of skills can be applied to practical activities and sharing and discussing ideas can play a pivotal role in deepening your understanding of a particular subject area. A side from that being part of a team will help you develop your interpersonal skills such as speaking and listening as well as team working skills like leadership, and working with and motivating others.

What unique team challenges do design teams face?

     

     Some unique team challenges that design teams face are Ineffective Leadership, Participation, and Time management. Without effective leadership, teams generally have trouble sticking to their plans and maintaining personal discipline. Although effective leadership is essential, few people are natural leaders. Most of us need to develop our leadership skills and to get practice using them. Team members have different skills and abilities as well as different motivations, energy, and levels of commitment. This means that every member makes a different level of contribution to the team’s performance. In fact, the variation among the members’ contributions generally increases with increasing group size.

Team Formation

Team formation talks about a mission statement is a destination. It talks about how to gather a group of individual with different skill sets then other and speaking to the team about what they want to accomplish from the project. Once the mission statement is set into place the team need to come up with a vision of how to work together. "The Initial structures that you need to create are of three general types ways to divide and integrate work, to coordinate and communicate, and to make decisions." I found this quote important because it talks about these three structure that not only the team leader or project manager or any higher authority needs to take but everyone must comply to the same structure of communication and the effort to work efficiently and together. Everyone must put in  equal amount of effort to get the final product to be the way that will satisfy them.

"Working Group :- Strong, focused leader, individual accountability, individual work products, runs efficient meetings, Discuses, decide, delegates."
"Team :- Shared leadership roles, Individual and mutual accountability, collective work products, encourages open-ended discussion and active problem-solving meetings, discusses, decides, and does real work together." What I take from this is that the team must be comfortable with one another and must be able to communicate thoroughly and get there point across to everyone.

The challenges the design team faces is time management and the work flow of each individual. Even though you might have pick the brightest and the fastest people for the project among them all lack something that other might have. Even though you think you might know all you still are learning. Thats something different about design profession people tends to think once they got a degree and a job they know everything because they don't. You can learn a lot from your client, the community and others.

WEEK 4 - NOTES & REFLECTIONS

“Team Formation” William A. Kahn

A design team works to achieve a common goal – you have to feel comfortable with each other during the process of a project, create values and beliefs, and while working together - making just and impartial decisions. Working together means gathering information that offers effective arguments to help guide them in creating effective reports and presentations.  As a team, you come up with one idea that is compiled into everyone’s efforts enabling a better understanding of the scope of the project. During the process, you will need Brainstormes that can come up with “...ideas quickly and lead everyone else to thinking as creatively as possible that will lead them to similar research and products.”  And so, it is a tremendous help to create a mission statement beforehand that delineates the goals of the team in order to remind them of its initial intent so that they can make “…important conversations and guide difficult choices.” Consequently, in order for the team to function effectively, the team needs to have a vision on how they will carry out the mission that they all have agreed upon – a working group that holds  “…to a collective purpose, and to one another.”

A team that works well consists of important key members – the facilitator, the project manager. The first one is the facilitator who “...helps monitor the flow of conversation, ensuring that team members participate appropriately and move through agenda items.” The second one is the project manager who “….coordinates and schedules the project-related activities of team members, ensuring the work is integrated.” In all ends, communication is the integral part of a working team – “…gathering to develop shared understandings of what you need to do.” Most importantly, understand why you are meeting – have a clear purpose in order produce valuable work together.

What unique team challenges do design teams face?

• ·       Morality/Team work effectiveness – depends on how well you know each other and your willingness to be open minded about everyone’s ideas.

• ·         Individual work/Integration of work – know the mission and have a clear understanding about your role on the team.
• 
  
• ·         Skill levels – Know what you are good at and be willing to learn lots.

week 4 response

This reading brings up the idea of a mission statement.  I'm not sure how necessary it is to come up with a formal statement as opposed to determining major goals and priorities.  Some mission statements I've read use flowery language, but I'm not sure how they translate into everyday decision making.  However, group goals do need to be discussed along with logistics about time commitments, availability, and group meetings.  I think how a group makes decisions is extremely important and needs to be discussed early.  Discussing all these things early will help prevent resentment from people feeling like someone assumes to much of a voice for the team or someone feels left out when they can't go to group meetings when the group needs to get together more often to get work done.

The section on the differences between a team and a working group was something I never thought about.  I'm think the differences are more fluid then they appear and the dynamics may change over time as needs change.  In my gateway group last semester, in the beginning the project advisor took on a leadership role to assign responsibilities and people worked on specific aspects individually.  However, by the end, most work was done collectively with discussions about what needed to get done and no one person making final decisions.



Design teams face the unique challenge of no hard answers and therefore needing more group  feedback on different ideas and directions for the project to take.  For example, a research project can have many possible topics, but once a topic is decided upon all is needed is compiling research into a cohesive group.  It is unlikely for partway through a member will discover something that sends the team in an entirely new direction.  In design, there are infinite possibilities at every stage of the process, so open, constant communication is more important.  In design there are very few hard facts that make one approach better than another.  So decisions are much more subjective and potential causes of arguments and conflict.  This means that how a team makes decisions and comes to a consensus is even more important than for other types of groups.

 Week 3 Readings (Perkins/ Lepik)

The paired readings for this week’s discussion focus a lot of attention on the integrity of a designer within a community practice and specifically the operations of a firm.  ‘Chapter 22: Talent is Not Enough’ by Shel Perkins was an extremely insightful read, written for the audience of emerging designers his writing embraces the social format of the architectural trade. His perspective of operational formatting within an office was for the integrity orientation for someone such as myself that has not yet received this experience.  This configuring of social hierarchy within the architectural field is how Perkins explains never a cookie cutter structure, Architecture firms have a cultural philosophy unlike any other profession; as this reading was also paired with ‘Building On Society’ by Andres Lepik, Its evident that the cultural philosophy of architecture in light of unfortunate global occurrences has started to focus attention back to communities in need.

Collaboration functions at multiple scales, and these reading are evidence of such. Collaboration functions within the office format in the social interactions between designers/interns/ and principles as well as contacted offerings with outside engineers and construction firms. Perkins describes the process of the inner office hierarchy as not the typical top down approach but more so principals and leaders serve as a facilitator and a catalyst. The reason for this embraced philosophy might correlate with the level of risk a design team might be willing to take. True innovation requires creative risk, and this creative risk should be implemented in every level of the field including the social structural of firm.

With risk comes innovation, in the design field innovation and technology work in a symbiosis with ideas and concepts. Ultimately new innovations will eventually evolve to being new standards. Lepik references many contemporary instances of community outreach from designers who showed integrity for providing underprivileged communities with access to properly designed infrastructure that will potentially enhance pride and lifestyle . Most of these communities Lepik described were communities in desperate need of infrastructure, these are opportunities for designers to embrace these localities and design for their prescribed needs. Through these opportunities designers have moments of showing that we are more than just skilled professionals but that we are human and design with empathy and social structures.

 

 

3 questions for an architecture firm

1.       What was the pinnacle moment of achievement for your firm.  how did you gain this success.

2.       What is your office philosophy, how do you collaborate within the firm.

3.       How did you emerge as an established firm and how do you see potential growth of the firm 20 years now.