DANamic.ORG

It really isn't easy to grasp what's required of you to be able to convince and impress the client of your design. Even in school - as I'm working on my last and final landscape architecture project.

Anyway, standing at the end of two-thirds of a project means that the analysis, design process, design proper and concept works are over, and when project resumes after term break, it'll be time for detailed drawings, black-and-white construction drawings and construction specifications, even cost estimation.

For this first post, I ought to introduce this part of me. This Ai is strong with concept deriving and reasoning, as well as construction/technical detailing of elements. I also have much interest invested into sustainable design and user-responsive design. I tend to design with minimal materials; keeping the colour palette simple always seems like the best approach to an outstanding concept translation to me, but that doesn't mean the textures don't vary. Plant wise, I've some experience of working in a plant nursery, so I've the added advantage ahead of my peers to knowing the true nature of certain plants, instead of only depending on '1001 Garden Plants of Singapore' to help me realise my design through effective plant form, texture and growth pattern.

And I'd like to make a confession (or two) here. Although I am in a stipulated-three-year Diploma course, I am now in my fourth year. Yes, I had retained a year, in Year 2 to be specific. Rumours and speculation aside, I am told that this was attributed to my lack of conviction to follow through my design in-depth and expansively. I was always submitting late, or in recent status, submitting the almost-bare minimum although on-time, despite my seemingly-awesome ideas that could've easily been the best model project if I had put in the required effort and time.

So, as I was saying, its not child's play to be able to give your clients what they want of you, and meeting with spoken and unspoken personal requirements. Just as I had met with the stated requirements in the project brief, I failed to impress, to give all the majestic ideas I've ever considered to them, and following that, the most important part, to prove them of the depth and extent of thought I had put into the design proposal.

I enjoy spending a lot of time on the net and pouring over books in the Architecture section of the bookstore to find a case study, or a particular detailing method, or an simply an element that has good function yet is very aesthetically pleasing. This precious time taken means I have lesser time to work on the design process, put pen to paper. With lesser time, it results in the late/incomplete submission.

This project, though, even as I spent so much time on research and ideas, I made good effort to spend the rest of the time concentrated to the processes that I need to show in my design journal. And by concentrated I mean sleeping only 5 hours a day, spending only 1.5 hour total time on breakfast/lunch/dinner breaks daily, and doing nothing else but draw draw draw. Not even going out with friends for a meet-up, or attending a close relative's happy occasion. Not even to celebrate my own birthday. I don't even chat with my roommate-sister, and if I ever talk its only about my design and its progress as submission approaches. I even did a 2-day crash course on hand-drawn perspectives and rendering them manually. I am proud of myself for pushing me this far.

And so today I had my submission. Since two weeks ago I had already made plans to have the best project break once I've done my presentation to the course facilitators. Submission was good; for the first time in ages I had in my checklist everything that was listed. But when Critique session came, when I presented my work.. somehow I didn't have the confidence to deliver my intent appropriately. And deliver it I didn't. I couldn't even finish saying my piece when the 15-minute timer rang, signaling an abrupt end to my presentation. Following which I received comments. many comments from my course lecturers/tutors, but none of it was positive. Even though I personally saw a drastic improvement from my usual standard, all they saw were what I lacked from the expected Year-3 standard. My beautiful concept washed away by murky water, my amateur first-hand perspective drawings, invisible. All because I didn't show as much details as I have feature elements. And I didn't even know I was expected to come up with that much. It wasn't in the project brief.

Thus now I am sad, sadder than I ever have been due to my project. Reviewing my mistake tells me that I must remind myself, that things that ought to be done are never as obvious as they ought to be.

I will work on it still, my improvement works. I am still aiming to give a shot at NUS admissions exercise in February 2010, with my grades from this project. For now, this is the first post of Muse-um, the journey of my final, final year project by the same name for its concept. Attached are the amateur perspective drawings I've worked on for the past 3 days and am so very proud of producing. Just for a note, it was Calvin who taught me how to draw and colour, and Nick Ng who taught him before that; all within the time span of one week.

Thanks for dropping by. I  hope you will follow my journey for the next 3 months through the final phase of my diploma. I will document my progress as I go along, and also my past efforts ^^

-Ai