Design Thinking
Grocery Observations
Observing American grocery stores predeprture
Journey Map
Tracking emotions throughout the first 48 hours of study abroad.
Crazy 8s Brainstorming
Practice brainstorm for widespread compost solutions.
Nottingham Exploration
Observation of the bus, bike, and walking paths, the Parks neighborhood, and beverage containers.
It was interesting to me that buses and bikes had shared lanes on public roads, and there were some separate side walk lanes just for bicycles. The signs were all easy to notice and understand but many crosswalk signs in the city were covered by stickers and unable to be viewed. There were also a few walkways that were rather unclear or difficult to navigate due to inconvenient structures. The maps for both the bus and tram were understandable and there were many pamphlets explaining them inside the train station.
In the parks, we observed
that most of the housing was apartments and the nicer looking houses lay on the edge of the neighborhood. Very
few homes had a yard at all, but there was a very large public field that was very easy to access.
The containers for beverages varied greatly. At the coffee shop, we observed reusable drink parcels, a discount for bringing your own bottle, and glass and aluminum drinks as well as plastic, but a small variety of bottled beverages. The local grocery store my group visited had mostly recyclable drink containers but the smaller shops had only plastic ones.
Hampstead Health
My group decided to take the tube from Kingscross to Hampstead station from which we walked about 10 minutes to the park. The maps in the tube were very easy to navigate but walking on foot was slightly more confusing. The structure of the park itself was very organic, there was a large path that split into many smaller paths and the park itself connected to many other public areas. It was filled with couples, tourists, children, dog walkers, and general nature enjoyers. There weren't a great deal of people there, but it definitely wasn't empty. On the way back to the hostle we took the Golder Green to Uston and walked the rest of the way, once again, the tube was very easy and pleasant to navigate.
River Restoration Tour
We started off the day with a trip from the tube onto an Uber Boat down Thames River. The boat seemed to be more of a tourist attraction than means of transportation judging by the people aboard and the route moving past the Big Ben, London Eye, and under the London Bridge. I sat on the outside of the boat and got a wonderful view of the city.
Docklands Museum
The museum explained the historical significance of the Thames river and the role it played in making London such a significant city. The river was used to trade goods from all across the world which made a huge contribution to the economic state of London. The river was also a way fro immigrants to travel to a new home as well as a way to create jobs in the city and on the river. We learned that as time progressed, the river shifted away from its commercial use since new means of transportation came around. The Docklands museum is important because it showed the great deal of good that the river was able to flow into the city as well as some of the darker parts of its history. It explained how at times the river transported colonizers on their voyages to capture and enslave Africans and bring them back to the UK to be bought and sold. The exhibit gave visitors the opportunity to write notes on how this information made them feel which I thought was interesting. The architecture of the Museum building itself had hardly changed from when it was in use as a storage facility Which I feel was important in showing how parts of a cities history will stick with it into the future.
London Transportation Museum
Harry Beck's Map of the London Underground
His design was innovative because of the it simplified the information displayed on previous versions of the same map. Instead of showing what the area really looked like, he used a grid to make the map easier and less complicated to navigate. The grid also allows for the text to be stacked in columns, making your location or destination far easier to find than in previous versions. The lines are more geometric and sharper than the earlier versions which used organic ones. The lines are also color coded to make way-finding easier and show where journeys may overlap. The small circles and squares are also helpful indicators of interchange and interchange with British Railway stations.
The poster shows a train conductor directing people exhausted from the heat to the underground transit system. I think the color way does a great job at reinforces the idea of temperature that the poster wants to convey and the curved lines indicate the movement of the tube. The poster implies the tube is comfortable and classy invokes a desire to to use it. The poster was designed by Charles Herrick in 1926 and the target audience is people who want to get out of the summer sun.
This poster shows the street view of the city of Watford layered on top of an image of the metro to Watford. I like that it shows both the destination and part of the journey, to me this implies a safe and reliable trip. The poster is made for those who travel to Watford, showing the new route and the times that the metro runs. It was designed by R.H. Selbie in 1925.
This poser shows a dapper man entering and existing the underground system with text explaining proper tube edict. I enjoy the illustration and that it shows users what the underground logo and building look like. It seems to indicate that people who take the tube follow the rules and
are respectful, a message which would
be directed towards those who may be skeptical of the kind of people who use
the tube. The poster was designed by
Ludi Roberts.
Burrow Market
The market was very large, branching off in different directions and filled with all sorts of smells, sounds, and people. When observing the food packaging, I noticed mostly paper, aluminum, and glass containers across the booths, although there were quite a few using plastic cups and containers. The proportions didn’t seem as large as they would be in America but were still a very fair amount. There was also a range between really affordable and more expensive options since the market had so many booths. Labels on carryout bags were made from stamps but individually wrapped products had stickers on them. The restaurants had well designed logos and signs but some of the booths that looked more temporary used chalk boards, each booth had products clearly labeled though. Customers who were grocery shopping brought their own bags but those just there for food on the go used carry-out containers. Customers carried across ethnicity, age, and gender, there seemed to be an even mix of locals and tourists but it was a bit hard to tell due to the crowdedness.
Olympia Park
Olympia Park was built for the 1972 Olympics and to give Germany a new name after the ______ war. Parts of the park are built over top of the rubble that the city of Munich had become after the war and show that change is achievable. The park was built to be reused by citizens unlike all previous versions of Olympic stadiums. The athletic housing was converted into student dorms where students could paint murals on their buildings. The swimming pools became free to German citizens, the park is public and even the flowers are meant to be picked. The design of the structure is an example of biomimicry and meant to resemble dragonfly wings so it’s very interesting to look at. The signage was meant to communicate what each building was used for without using actual words so it could be understood by anyone regardless of the language they speak. The 1972 Olympics were meant to show the progress that Germany had made since the war and display the country as a peaceful place. Unfortunately during these Olympics, there was a terrorist attack where nine Israeli athletes and one German police officer were killed by Palestinian terrorists. There were two memorials to commemorate those lost in the attack, showing their names, atheletic background, and an item they carried with them.
Rachel Carson Center
The center was named after a writer, marine biologist, and conversationalist because the founders were tired of buildings named after wealthy German men and felt greatly impacted by Carson's work. The center is an humanitarian group who’s main purpose is teaching, research, outreach and events. Our lecture at the Rachel Carson Center was lead by Christof Mauch, an environmental historian. He taught us that Germany decided against skyscrapers and high rises after the war because they associated taller buildings with Americanism. He explained the history of the English Garden and how it is the biggest and only public garden in all of Munich, and how it used to be a hunting ground owned by a Bavarian Princess. One part of the lecture that I particularly enjoyed was when Mauch discussed how the ice age shaped Germany’s geography. The melting of the icecaps lefts relics like the giant hills and mountains, formed the bodies of water, and created large areas of gravel. He explained how due to the gravel, some parts in Germany are impossible to farm in and how cities are formed in places near farmable soil and bodies of water. I also found it interesting how prevalent the Italian influence was in Germany, especially Munich. Rome served as a model for the city of Munich and some of the churches are identical models, but even smaller details like the design of architectural arches are the same. Other topics Mauch discussed was the price of living in Munich and how expensive it can be, he told us that if a single pumpkin had to pay rent for the amount of space it takes up, it would be around $500 a month! This was a bit surprising since the population is nearly 1.8 billion, but not shocking because the city was only built for 500,000 people. The last topic discussed was the significance of bikes in German culture, Munich has the largest bike network in the world! This can be an issue however because there isn't nearly enough space for all of them, citizens will often have bike protests demanding more bike space. My favorite part of the lecture was learning that Germans loves bikes so much, they even have bike fashion shows sometimes.
Munich Bike Tour
On our bike tour, we were escorted around town by three college students. They took us though the park, city, and we took a brief break by the river. It was an experience that helped show a better view of the city. I found that the bike lanes in Munich felt much safer than the ones in Cincinnati and drivers seemed to have a much higher respect for bikers than I had expected. The bike lanes were much clearer but pedestrians in bike lanes was an issue. The most inconvenient part of the experience was how in some places there was little space for bikers and we had to stop and start again rather quickly which was a bit difficult. We had briefly discussed how Munich is in the process of building a bike highway which would greatly improve the issue of space and take away the issue of rapidly starting and stopping. In Munich I could definitely imagine myself making short trips on my bicycle and bike highways would encourage me to commute via bike as well.