The New Upper School in more Detail

5. Transparent, open spaces; lots of light.

I think that this point was achieved. Form followed Function, but still no compromises were made. It is transparent, as well as having open spaces but still I feel it is welcoming. The form of everything inside as well as outside is very attractive. Through the humungous amount of glass in each and every room, the rooms are full of light. Not only from the outside, but also the doors are glass. It is absolutely great to have this, because this at the end saves energy, and also CO2 output because the lights don't have to be put on all the time. The design doesn't match up with the expectation, it excedes it. There are also sky lights in the second floor, which give a big amount of light as well, when needed. Of course it cannot be determined if every single new person at this school came because of the new building, but when the school made the plan of it, they expected 25% capacity left open to be filled. Now, in the first year, the school is already at its limit. 442 of possible 450 places are taken. This shows us that this design is liked by a lot of people, and that they most probably believe that if a school has the amount of money to build a building like this, they must be very good because the parents pay so much money. I think that everything has been taken into consideration when this object was designed; from open spaces, to light rooms and opening walls so rooms can be bigger. The only question is, if this design is timeless. At the moment it is super modern, but what will it be in 50 years? This most probably, is the most interesting bit about this building and the design of it. Overall, the school has achieved its goal to be transparent, have open spaces and lots of light.

The New Upper School

I think that the new upper school is absolutely great. It looks very good from the outside, although it could maybe be compared to an industry building at some points. From the inside it is even better; the corridors are wide, and give a lot of space just like the stairways do. It has designed walls, which I personally think is great, just like the fact that it dosen't look like a childish school. It dosen't have all of those typical colored walls, or painted doors, it is simple and very nice.

Evaluation of the Videos

This video of the London underground station showed us that

• Form follows function
  
• Easy to use
• Simple
• Form still attractive
• He squared it, which is adapting but pleasing to the eye
• Timeless

The video of the chairs showed us that

• Revolution in technology in materials
• New materials in new shapes
• Some of the chairs are still very known today, even existing in this school
• Their ideas were excellent to sit on, but not that not as good to look at
  

The Company I would like to work for

The company I would like to work for is called "Herzog and De Meuron". They designed objects such as the Allianz Arena which is a soccer stadium in Munich, or the new Olympic stadium in Beijing.
I personally would like to design something for this company because they are like the non plus ultra of their league. And I would really really like to design a stadium or something like that. This would really enjoy me, and I would have a lot to do and consider along the way. This would also be very close to what I want to do in the future(being and architect).

Wikipedia Notes

Wikipedia Product Design
• The products designed in the Bauhaus, are still the best.
• More money can be made, with design. Ex. Although a new design of a car doesn’t bring more power or anything else, it looks better, and more people want to buy it.
• The perfect design was already found for a car, but not produced because the customers wouldn’t buy a second or third car because the design couldn’t be improved.
• Designs are bound to functions of materials, math and logic, but the only reason people buy things, is based on their expectations.
• People buy things they don’t need because of the great design they have.
• Victor Papanek started the idea of form follows function
• Form follows function basically means that people rather buy something that has a better design although its functions might not be as good then its competing product.

Great Design

Great Design 1
• Best selling products are good designs
• Design should match up with expectation (needs to fulfill)
• Value is added to the uniqueness of a piece
• Ease of use is very important
• Good design aren’t as good as we thing because they are very hard to use
• Old technology good and useful, new is complicated but looks better

Great Design 2
• A lot of things have to be taken into consideration when designing something
• Design only costs once, but it brings in more and more money, with ever product it sells
• Simple things don’t sell better, because more complicated things are needed such as colour types etc.• Artists beauty is irrelevant
• Every product should be produced as cheap as possible
• Design can change lives of humans

Great Design 3
• Design gets you to be the #1 sold product in your category
• Getting every aspect of the design perfect, making a usable product, making the right trade offs between price and functionality, between flexibility and ease of use, between weight and battery life is not 100% necessary to be the best selling product.
• Design has to be state of art• Design has to meet the customer’s needs
• Has a certain flaw
• No one should be able to compete with your design (it should be a must have product)
• Design does not have to be 100% perfect

Headphones I have brought to class

My headphones are a great design. They are something that cannot be made better. They are adjustable in each and every imaginable sort of way. They perfectly fit the customer’s needs; there is nothing that can be improved in the design, quality and comfortableness. Because of the great design these headphones have, they get sold for a lot much more money, than they could be. This is because of the outstanding state of the art design, uniqueness, ease of use and rareness of the headphones, but still give you a lot of flexibility in how they can be used. The design only costs Bang and Olufsen (Headphone Company) once, but with every piece they sell; they get more and more money. This product is still not the leader in its product category because there is no leading headphone company. But, they are praised with an extremely good reputation, which barely any other company is. The only flaw this product is its price; they cost approximately 150 CHF, which is way too much for a pair of headphones.

Principles of Design

Describe some of the large design technology projects or assignments you have done in the past? (Products made such as posters, movies, web page; the software you used; and the steps in the process like planning, editing, evaluation, research)

What would you like or what are you hoping to learn about in this course and what prompted you to sign up?
In the past, I have done several of designs. In school, as well as out of school. For example, last year we did a poster in english class with ms.Freeman, she was very precise about each and every bit about the poster, and at the end nearly everyone's looked good. This was pretty impressing, how only a few formating rules can make things look so much better.When we moved to Zurich, we bought a new apartment, and I joined my parents design its interior. I decided where certain things would go such as the couch, tables, TV, etc. This was very interesting, and a lot of fun.When my brother and I have free time, we like to design certain things. He wants to become an archtiect as well, and is going to start studying it in University next year. So we are like a perfect match because we love to do design things. Last month, we designed an house layout, which again was a lot of fun, and looked very cool, I think.I would really like to learn more about design and what things are important in it. When I grow up, I want to be an architect and I think that this course could help me get a head start into the studying, and give my more insight if I want to be an architect in my future life or not. This is what promoted me to join this class.