My Plan Moving Forward into Project 5

Looking at the next steps of investigating my research question of:

“How can nature or natural structures evoke social interactions in spaces where food is consumed?”

I have created a plan of action as to what needs to be addressed over the coming weeks in order to address the brief of Project 5.

Area/ Context of My Project: 

1. What is the area/ context of my research?
   • Research current natural sustainable structures/ buildings/ items out there surrounding the consumption of food
     • Utilise appealing designs or videos to make data digestible and audience friendly 
     • Record research visually as well as the written word to keep it engaging 
     • Make data comparative and proportional
2. How will I research it?
   • Academic papers
     • Biophilic design 
     • Nature in building
     • Social interactions around food
     • Social interactions in differing spaces
     • Temporary structures with nature
   • Websites
     • Assess how restaurant and other spaces in which food is consumed utilise nature at present and how this impacts social interactions – (try and observe this in person once spaces are open after restrictions are lifted)
   • News Articles
3. Outline what change is possible in the area 
   • Create a new natural sustainable product to evoke social interaction?
   • Changes in behaviour – how people utilise spaces around food
   • Changes in approach to sustainable structure – nature bound intrinsically into the built structure

Stakeholders:

1. Who are the people and organisations involved in this field? 
   • How would they be affected by the changes I propose – for or against? 
   • What power do they hold in the situation/ context? 
2. Reach out to experts– get their opinions on the issues that a natural structure could alleviate and also what materials and forms might work – Temporary, semi- permeant or permeant structure?
   • Industrial designers
   • Structural engineers
   • Sustainable/ natural designers
   • Materials experts
   • Product developers
   • Hospitality spaces – events companies?
3. Reach out to consumers – gather opinions on what kind of structures they would utilise and how nature could be utilised to evoke social interactions
   • Could the structure be utilised for domestic use as well as commercial? – eg: in people’s gardens or homes? or is it social – found in parks etc?
   • What features of existing structures do they like/ dislike – how can they be addressed and improved?

The Change I Look to Make:  (move outside of my comfort zone)

1. What is the change I wish to make and why is it necessary?
   • Changes in social behaviours and attitudes towards sustainability and nature by the utilisation of a product?
   • To what extent would a product be viable for a business model – would the structure work?
2. Look to learning how to use CAD 
   • To be able to create 3D models of designs for structures
3. Possible interventions:
   • Test models with stakeholders
     • Can be physical models, but prepare for judgement over the quality of the model impacting people’s opinions of the proposed design – high quality model will suggest a high-quality finished design, which you will have to be able to deliver, or a low quality/ unfinished model may reflect poorly on the design
     • Focus on demonstrating the idea – not so much the aesthetics, as to test the idea first and then visuals can be adapted later, by collaboration with stakeholders
   • Invitation to create with nature
     • Provide people with natural materials/ apparatus and ask them to form what social interaction means to them out of the apparatus – utilise the outcomes to realise change in how nature can be utilised to form structures, even as small models
     • How do people respond to nature? how does nature aid their wellbeing?
   • Simulate how changes in configurations of spaces in which food is consumed alter interactions in that space?

Remember– Keep bibliography of source materials used or that I plan on using as I go

Having outlined all of the work I need to address during Project 5, I have developed a week by week guide as to the tasks I aim to complete over the course of this project; which you can see below.