Week 3: Project Definition


PART 1: Defining our semester project(s)

 

This week we need to outline the tasks that need to be done for the semester, and find individual projects that each studio member will work on to contribute to the overall effort. Below I will outline some potential topics that came out of our meeting at Architecture for Humanity (AfH) last week, but these are not intended to be anything more than a starting point for your own thoughts and creativity.

 

Each of you should come to class next Wednesday prepared to present your ideas for your own semester project (projectable format--pdf or powerpoint or similar). We will discuss them as a group, mold, shape, connect and guide the directions. In some cases, a project might be suggested that we feel is not a good fit with the overall project goals, or maybe your proposal is too broad and needs to be split between multiple people, or narrowed in focus. It would be great to have more than one idea from each of you--so we all have more options to choose from.

 

This will be a group brainstorming session on Wednesday, and by the end of the class the goal is to have each person matched up with a fairly well defined individual focus, as well as to have a consensus on how all the individual projects together form an umbrella project mission that will make a coherent and well defined contribution to AfH and its Pacific Rim Project Goals.

 

Follow this outline format for researching and presenting your Semester Project ideas:

  1. Descriptive Name of Project and your name
  2. Definition of Project Mission and Goals
  3. Discussion of Process, Tools and Methods
  4. What are Final Deliverables at end of semester?
  5. Explain how your individual project will make a Contribution to the CPM Seminar's Group Project for AfH and the Pac Rim Studios?

 

 

 

 

Sample Project Ideas to get you started thinking....  I might add more to these before Wednesday, but also you can feel free to add suggestions and ideas on this page, following the same format (this Wiki is supposed to be interactive, remember?)

 

 

  1. PROJECT NAME: Open Architecture Network Feedback
    1. PROJECT MISSION:
    2. PROJECT PROCESS: Work through the current OAN website structure, learning both about the OAN goals and current state. Using the Pacific Rim Project, and our seminar group efforts, as case studies, use the network and learn its limitations and strengths, and make suggestions about how to improve it. Learn about the different OAN partners (Nathaniel mentioned Blue Gecko and Sun MicroSystems, there are probably others) and help guide the discussions of how to use these partners, what other partners are needed, perhaps help suggest fundraising or sponsorship opportunities to make it a stronger platform.
    3. PROJECT DELIVERABLES: Well structured analysis document that can be presented to AfH as a valuable tool for improving and expanding the capabilities of the OAN Network.
    4. PROJECT CONTRIBUTION:
  2. PROJECT NAME: Disappearing Land
    1. PROJECT MISSION: Identify and document places and people being affected by rising water, help establish comparisons between different groups and areas with similar situations, create crosslinks to more efficiently share resources between affected groups and areas.
    2. PROJECT PROCESS: Find existing research and reformat the information to be more broadly useful. Create bibliographic database of resources, including web links, lists of organizations, structure for collection of case studies, etc.
    3. PROJECT DELIVERABLES: Diagrams and maps that provide readily useful information for those making strategic decisions
    4. PROJECT CONTRIBUTION:
  3. PROJECT NAME: The Ocean's Changing Acidity
    1. PROJECT MISSION: To Provide structured information about a little understood environmental impact, so that others can make better informed decisions about the interrelationships between complex environmental relationships
    2. PROJECT PROCESS:  Find existing research and reformat the information to be more broadly useful. Create bibliographic database of resources, including web links, lists of organizations, structure for collection of case studies, etc.
    3. PROJECT DELIVERABLES: Well structured analysis document that can be presented to AfH as a valuable tool for improving and expanding the capabilities of the OAN Network.
    4. PROJECT CONTRIBUTION:

 

 

PART 2: UNDERSTANDING MIND MAPPING

This part of the assignment is easy (you can do this in 20 minutes or less). Just read some of these linked resources to learn about the concept of mind mapping, so you'll be ready to participate in Wednesday's class using this tool. Mind mapping can be done by hand, or with the aid of software. You don't have to run the software on Wednesday--but you do have to understand the concepts of how Mind Mapping works, and why one might want to use it.

 

Start by the Wikipedia Definition and follow some of the links within the posting, so you can get an overview. Have a look at some of the software that is available for mind mapping--some of it is free and web-based, others are proprietary (and expensive). The software we will use in class on Wednesday is called Mindjet MindManager, but they all work in very similar ways, so it is worth looking at the software advertising and YouTube presentations about several different applications.

 

Here is a video on a free online mind mapping software called Bubbl.us. I haven't used the software, so I don't know how well it works, but if you watch the video it will explain some more about the concepts of mind mapping while it explains how the software is used.

 

Here is a video on hand drawn mind mapping. Kind of hippy dippy looking graphics, but the music is nice, and the concepts are clear.

 

Again, don't worry about mastering this for Wednesday's class--the goal is just to understand the concepts of mind mapping. The most important thing before class is to think about and prepare your project idea presentation.