I have helped with the Journalism school's Taking Part project. I was a collaborator on the Think About It section and edited an article to be featured on the site. The class is still working on the project.
http://takingpart.wvu.edu/the_artists_with_disabilities_collaborative_multimedia_project
Sunday, November 30, 2008
My Internship
I interned for a magazine called Live Better. This sustainability magazine covers current environmental issues and disasters. The online version is at http://centerforabetterlife.com/eng/.
Personal Mission Statement (Portfolio)
I present a vivid, literal representation of personal experience, valuing betterment.
“Design like You Give a Damn,” Locally, Around the World (Portfolio)
“Giving a damn” is an important philosophy for designing in a world with environmental and social turmoil. “Design like You Give a Damn,” a book edited by Architecture for Humanity (AFH), a (501)(c)(3) charitable organization, features architectural responses to humanitarian crisis. The work is on point with the philosophy of socially conscious design, and it presents more than 80 contemporary solutions to such urgent needs as basic shelter, healthcare, education and access to clean water, energy and sanitation. Architecture for Humanity was started in 1999 when co-founder, Cameron Sinclair had the idea to challenge architects to discover better solutions for refugees returning to their destroyed Kosovo homes after the war. The “AFH Challenge” encouraged as many design solutions as possible, especially those from architects close to the Kosovo region, to secure the best option to solve their housing problem (http://artkrush.com/90654). The Open Architecture Challenge has since become a way of collecting more solutions than problems, usually by at least 100 fold, while giving architects around the world an opportunity to respond to great need. The Mississippi program, for example, offers Hurricane Katrina-ravaged people an opportunity to rebuild on their Biloxi property with the assistance of committed architects, engineers and design professionals. The nonprofit believes that “the physical design of our homes, neighborhoods, and communities shapes every aspect of our lives.”
One billion people live in abject poverty, four billion live in fragile but growing economies, and one in seven people live in slum settlements or refugee camps. Architecture for Humanity is established on the concept that “where resources and expertise are scarce, innovative, sustainable and collaborative design can make a difference.” This pioneering organization only accepts projects that demonstrate a commitment to environmentally-sensitive design. Local labor and materials are used whenever feasible, and some projects also include green elements such as solar and rainwater collection. Projects are evaluated based on their potential impact to the number of building beneficiaries it ultimately serves, and preference is given to buildings adhering to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design at http://www.usgbc.org/) standards.
Sustainability extends to the way buildings are not only designed and engineered but also constructed by AFH. In Biloxi, where Hurricane Katrina ripped apart houses with walls of water, some people displaced from their homes are still living in tiny, one-room, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailers. The non-profit has helped people here by sponsoring construction of a number of fully-funded demonstration homes built on stilts above flood waters, while simultaneously incorporating a number of design features that withstand hurricane-force winds. To begin the Mississippi program, AFH invited established and national firms to create home proposals that meet disaster-mitigation challenges.
All AFH projects must demonstrate a strong partnership with local community groups such as affordable housing advocates, women’s groups or food banks, and partiality is given to projects that can demonstrate involvement by a broad array of community members, to include engaging locally-based design teams. Project partners must demonstrate their ability to secure building sites, which includes obtaining proof of land title. Proposals must show need, must be able to access design services and must include a strong community design component that engages the future occupants in all stages of the design process. Preference is also given to proposals that include community member training in design and construction best practices.
For 2008 the Challenge is located in three communities on three different continents: Nepal, Kenya and Ecuador. Nepal’s tele-medical center project, to be found in one of the country’s least developed areas, the Accham District, is particularly important because only one in 200 births occurs in a hospital. In addition, the AIDS epidemic is spreading due to extreme poverty and unavailable medical treatment. One doctor serves a quarter of a million people in this and the Doti District. Here the challenge was to enable families in a remote rural area to access healthcare from the world’s top physicians and other medical professionals by building a clinic with Internet access.
The facility will utilize sustainable and/or local building materials, as well as local labor, taking into account the site’s remote nature and the costs associated with transporting materials. Earthquakes, epidemics, fires, landslides and debris flow, floods, hailstorms, thunderbolts, and windstorms are challenges specific to this area. Forty percent of the clinic’s space will be open to the public to be used as a community computer lab and training facility. The remaining 60 percent will provide medical services such as obstetric and nursing training, tele-medicine exchanges and X-ray interpretation via overseas medical professionals, patient consultation and offices to manage medical files, as well as a pharmaceutical supplies ordering area. The site area is two acres; total facilities footprint is 175 square meters; and total occupancy will be forty.
Another aspect of the 2008 Challenge is the “50 by 15” initiative to bring affordable Internet access to one half of the world’s population by 2015. All three of these challenge projects incorporate this aspect, as in Nairobi, Kenya with SIDAREC (Slums Information Development & Resource Centers). This organization is helping to alleviate poverty in one of the biggest slums in Nairobi, which contains one-quarter of a million people living in desolation. The plan also includes turning an open lot into a place where people can come for education, safety, healthcare and life-skills. SIDAREC clearly recognizes that today’s youth is a vast untapped resource whose future depends upon the ability to gain these inherent rights. The organization’s proposed media lab and library will offer a place to teach computer skills, including web and graphic design, while also offering recording facilities for the youth radio station and a place to research, play games and study. And, of course, challenge participants employ sustainable and/or local building material and use local labor to realize their design.
In Ecuador, a project even more unusual is innovating ways of life; a chocolate factory is being planned to help save the rain forest. Here within the Amazon Basin, the plant used to make chocolate, cacao, is grown organically among the hard wood forests. Giving the indigenous chocolate producers and artisans, the Kallarni Association, the opportunity to make their business more lucrative could, ideally, allow them to conserve their land. As an added benefit, this business is good for the environment because the cacao plant is grown only on sites with a wide diversity of plants, thus facilitating biodiversity. Also, only 10-15 percent of each family’s land is used for growing crops while the rest is left preserved in its natural state. The new factory will improve and increase production, which will allow the Killarni Association to export chocolate to first-world countries, while the newly acquired Internet access will assist in expanding the business and bring profits back into the villages. This self-sustaining project is being done by the local people, for the local people.
The land will be purchased in the capital city of Quito as a six or seven hectares (about 13 acres) plot abutting a road to another relatively large town, Tenna. The challenge is to design a main complex with a chocolate production factory, a tourist visitor center, and a fair trade exchange/research center, plus a model/prototype for three satellite technology hubs to be set off the main site in remote and semi-rural villages. The Killarni Association is requesting the facilities be designed and constructed per LEED Gold standards in order to reduce energy, water and resource use, which will minimize the cost of maintenance and production. However, since limited funds restrict AFH from participating in the actual certification process, the project will not be seeking LEED certification nor will it actually obtain a facility LEED rating.
Part of a previous year’s AFH Challenge, Tanzania’s Impuli Center of Excellence is a health facility designed to provide both medicinal care and to create a new generation of medical professionals. Currently, the Impuli villagers must travel two kilometers by ox cart and then by bicycle in order to reach the nearest hospital in the Tanzanian capital of Dar es Salaam. However, when the river floods during the rainy season, it is impossible to cross safely. Therefore the village mortality rate is actually compounded by simple transportation, which does make the village easy to accept as an AFH candidate. As is the practice, the combination medical center, training center and secondary school is being built by local labor, using local materials, in addition to the use of renewable technologies for solar and rainwater collection. Community support via land donation and income generation are manifesting in order to make this dream a reality. In addition, people in surrounding areas can benefit from the building’s uses, as communities anywhere in the developing world can benefit by means of free access to the structure’s construction documents, plans and designs.
AFH is growing not only in number of designers, but also in number of chapters around the world. Over 2600 designers meet regularly to discuss and participate in their design projects. And, at least 40 local chapters have sprung up in places such as Auckland, New Zealand, and all over the United States, usually helping their town of origin, but also taking on projects elsewhere, such as the United Kingdom chapter’s work with a Brewerville, Liberia school. Local chapters take many forms depending on the chapter size and its location, with each one operating and engaging autonomously in its own projects and activities.
From an Afghanistan earthquake emergency shelter to a children’s merry-go-round that pumps water into a water tower (covered with public health and HIV/AIDS awareness posters and with paid advertising to maintain the pump), the list of pioneering AFH and “Design like You Give a Damn” completed projects goes on and on. Humanitarian needs in the world continue to form an unwritten to-do list. Thanks to AFH’s open architecture network and those reaching for the most sustainable answers to today’s challenges, the list of well-designed humanitarian solutions can form even faster.
To get involved with Architecture for Humanity, visit their website at www.architectureforhumanity.org/get_involved. Sign up for the AFH newsletter while there; it contains the latest information on volunteer and job opportunities, as well as upcoming competitions. In addition, it also follows the progress of projects and offers interesting links and news.
One billion people live in abject poverty, four billion live in fragile but growing economies, and one in seven people live in slum settlements or refugee camps. Architecture for Humanity is established on the concept that “where resources and expertise are scarce, innovative, sustainable and collaborative design can make a difference.” This pioneering organization only accepts projects that demonstrate a commitment to environmentally-sensitive design. Local labor and materials are used whenever feasible, and some projects also include green elements such as solar and rainwater collection. Projects are evaluated based on their potential impact to the number of building beneficiaries it ultimately serves, and preference is given to buildings adhering to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design at http://www.usgbc.org/) standards.
Sustainability extends to the way buildings are not only designed and engineered but also constructed by AFH. In Biloxi, where Hurricane Katrina ripped apart houses with walls of water, some people displaced from their homes are still living in tiny, one-room, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailers. The non-profit has helped people here by sponsoring construction of a number of fully-funded demonstration homes built on stilts above flood waters, while simultaneously incorporating a number of design features that withstand hurricane-force winds. To begin the Mississippi program, AFH invited established and national firms to create home proposals that meet disaster-mitigation challenges.
All AFH projects must demonstrate a strong partnership with local community groups such as affordable housing advocates, women’s groups or food banks, and partiality is given to projects that can demonstrate involvement by a broad array of community members, to include engaging locally-based design teams. Project partners must demonstrate their ability to secure building sites, which includes obtaining proof of land title. Proposals must show need, must be able to access design services and must include a strong community design component that engages the future occupants in all stages of the design process. Preference is also given to proposals that include community member training in design and construction best practices.
For 2008 the Challenge is located in three communities on three different continents: Nepal, Kenya and Ecuador. Nepal’s tele-medical center project, to be found in one of the country’s least developed areas, the Accham District, is particularly important because only one in 200 births occurs in a hospital. In addition, the AIDS epidemic is spreading due to extreme poverty and unavailable medical treatment. One doctor serves a quarter of a million people in this and the Doti District. Here the challenge was to enable families in a remote rural area to access healthcare from the world’s top physicians and other medical professionals by building a clinic with Internet access.
The facility will utilize sustainable and/or local building materials, as well as local labor, taking into account the site’s remote nature and the costs associated with transporting materials. Earthquakes, epidemics, fires, landslides and debris flow, floods, hailstorms, thunderbolts, and windstorms are challenges specific to this area. Forty percent of the clinic’s space will be open to the public to be used as a community computer lab and training facility. The remaining 60 percent will provide medical services such as obstetric and nursing training, tele-medicine exchanges and X-ray interpretation via overseas medical professionals, patient consultation and offices to manage medical files, as well as a pharmaceutical supplies ordering area. The site area is two acres; total facilities footprint is 175 square meters; and total occupancy will be forty.
Another aspect of the 2008 Challenge is the “50 by 15” initiative to bring affordable Internet access to one half of the world’s population by 2015. All three of these challenge projects incorporate this aspect, as in Nairobi, Kenya with SIDAREC (Slums Information Development & Resource Centers). This organization is helping to alleviate poverty in one of the biggest slums in Nairobi, which contains one-quarter of a million people living in desolation. The plan also includes turning an open lot into a place where people can come for education, safety, healthcare and life-skills. SIDAREC clearly recognizes that today’s youth is a vast untapped resource whose future depends upon the ability to gain these inherent rights. The organization’s proposed media lab and library will offer a place to teach computer skills, including web and graphic design, while also offering recording facilities for the youth radio station and a place to research, play games and study. And, of course, challenge participants employ sustainable and/or local building material and use local labor to realize their design.
In Ecuador, a project even more unusual is innovating ways of life; a chocolate factory is being planned to help save the rain forest. Here within the Amazon Basin, the plant used to make chocolate, cacao, is grown organically among the hard wood forests. Giving the indigenous chocolate producers and artisans, the Kallarni Association, the opportunity to make their business more lucrative could, ideally, allow them to conserve their land. As an added benefit, this business is good for the environment because the cacao plant is grown only on sites with a wide diversity of plants, thus facilitating biodiversity. Also, only 10-15 percent of each family’s land is used for growing crops while the rest is left preserved in its natural state. The new factory will improve and increase production, which will allow the Killarni Association to export chocolate to first-world countries, while the newly acquired Internet access will assist in expanding the business and bring profits back into the villages. This self-sustaining project is being done by the local people, for the local people.
The land will be purchased in the capital city of Quito as a six or seven hectares (about 13 acres) plot abutting a road to another relatively large town, Tenna. The challenge is to design a main complex with a chocolate production factory, a tourist visitor center, and a fair trade exchange/research center, plus a model/prototype for three satellite technology hubs to be set off the main site in remote and semi-rural villages. The Killarni Association is requesting the facilities be designed and constructed per LEED Gold standards in order to reduce energy, water and resource use, which will minimize the cost of maintenance and production. However, since limited funds restrict AFH from participating in the actual certification process, the project will not be seeking LEED certification nor will it actually obtain a facility LEED rating.
Part of a previous year’s AFH Challenge, Tanzania’s Impuli Center of Excellence is a health facility designed to provide both medicinal care and to create a new generation of medical professionals. Currently, the Impuli villagers must travel two kilometers by ox cart and then by bicycle in order to reach the nearest hospital in the Tanzanian capital of Dar es Salaam. However, when the river floods during the rainy season, it is impossible to cross safely. Therefore the village mortality rate is actually compounded by simple transportation, which does make the village easy to accept as an AFH candidate. As is the practice, the combination medical center, training center and secondary school is being built by local labor, using local materials, in addition to the use of renewable technologies for solar and rainwater collection. Community support via land donation and income generation are manifesting in order to make this dream a reality. In addition, people in surrounding areas can benefit from the building’s uses, as communities anywhere in the developing world can benefit by means of free access to the structure’s construction documents, plans and designs.
AFH is growing not only in number of designers, but also in number of chapters around the world. Over 2600 designers meet regularly to discuss and participate in their design projects. And, at least 40 local chapters have sprung up in places such as Auckland, New Zealand, and all over the United States, usually helping their town of origin, but also taking on projects elsewhere, such as the United Kingdom chapter’s work with a Brewerville, Liberia school. Local chapters take many forms depending on the chapter size and its location, with each one operating and engaging autonomously in its own projects and activities.
From an Afghanistan earthquake emergency shelter to a children’s merry-go-round that pumps water into a water tower (covered with public health and HIV/AIDS awareness posters and with paid advertising to maintain the pump), the list of pioneering AFH and “Design like You Give a Damn” completed projects goes on and on. Humanitarian needs in the world continue to form an unwritten to-do list. Thanks to AFH’s open architecture network and those reaching for the most sustainable answers to today’s challenges, the list of well-designed humanitarian solutions can form even faster.
To get involved with Architecture for Humanity, visit their website at www.architectureforhumanity.org/get_involved. Sign up for the AFH newsletter while there; it contains the latest information on volunteer and job opportunities, as well as upcoming competitions. In addition, it also follows the progress of projects and offers interesting links and news.
Design Studies Capstone Paper (Portfolio)
Interning for Live Better magazine was both a treat and a challenge for me. Used to regimented work schedules and school days filled with regular class times and homework, I carried the responsibility of a lot more freedom while writing for the magazine. And my biggest scholastic question was answered in full, “What would it be like writing for a magazine?” Would it be the perfect job for me as I’ve theorized?
Before my internship began Rosemarie Calvert, publisher and editorial director of Live Better magazine at the Center for a Better Life Foundation, told me that, despite my lack of writing experience, she could have me ready to write professionally for a publication by the end of my summer internship. This is the exact opportunity I needed to understand how my decades of personal writing could translate into a career. At the suggestion of Mrs. Calvert, I started attending intern meetings a couple months before my internship would start. Every Friday I sat-in while the current interns edited their work and discussed ideas for other stories. The extra time to familiarize myself with the processes was necessary, because I would be doing most of my work after the first few weeks on my own, only checking in at these meetings with the publisher and the more experienced interns.
Another exciting aspect of my internship was that I would be working for a foundation committed to making people aware of environmental issues. Topics being used for the magazine were things like the disasters in Kivalina, Alaska and Bia Mare, Romania, the first a natural disaster of erosion being sped up by human-induced global warming and the second a poisonous mine spill in an area already mined to environmental degradation. Also being discussed were the topics of mercury, bush meat, Green Switch, honeybees, and Architecture for Humanity. The other interns from WVU came from all different departments: journalism, public relations, English, and my design studies. Being from the design department, I was assigned a story on Architecture for Humanity as my main project.
The time frame for my internship was to be 12 weeks. This way I could see a project through to completion for one issue of the magazine, as all of us interns helped each other on our own projects. Architecture for Humanity was actually the most interesting subject for me. I appreciate the worldwide need for appropriate shelter and the angle of reporting on an organization that is helping people. Researching for the other stories, I found out there were even more environmental and social problems than I had previously known, so looking closer at the solutions being accumulated by such a selfless organization was a relief.
Toward the beginning of the internship, there were more meetings, they were longer and more strongly guided. We would meet in the library and all research the same topic there where we could ask questions as we went. We even went over how to research using the most recommended search engines and respected journals. There were also questions we had to ask and methods of keeping track of the information. Outlines were already familiar to me as a technique I use when it’s required of me, and here they were required of me. I had concerns about keeping track of sources in an outline made to organize information by subtopic. The answer to that was to keep both a list of information by source and then an outline in preparation to write.
There were different areas of the publication to be covered as well: business, marketing, editorial, ect. I concentrated on the editorial with my 20 hours a week, but I still learned some general knowledge about business and marketing. We covered page layouts of the issues and why certain pages are used for advertising, and how different pages cost more or less than other pages.
‘Media kit’ is a term used a lot in regards to the business aspect of publishing. These contain company background information, visions, values, mission statements, product profiles and corresponding digital photography, executive biographies, photographs, speeches and presentations, ect. Live Better might include in their media kit as they have included on their website, “We’re non-political. Our mission is to educate people about the importance of sustainability in their daily lives – to help promote the idea of preserving resources for future generations, to assist those individuals smarter than we in getting their critical message out about global warming and to create a communication infrastructure to deliver this vital information. We are working with Federal agencies, non-profit groups and private industry to put together programs of change.” And their mantra, “We go directly to the source to provide the truth- or as close to the truth as frail human beings can get.”
Sustainability class helped prepare me for the internship. I benefitted from a familiarity with LEED design practices and the concepts of solar and rainwater collection, as well as local labor and materials. Environmental biology also helped prepare me for the knowledge I would encounter with projects at Live Better. There was the plight of honeybees, the effects of development to coastal areas, and biodiversity. It was easier to expand on what I had learned than it would have been to start with the basics. The classes that assisted me most with my writing were interior design quality of living and interior design independent study where I wrote a long research paper and edited to fit the required formats. This assignment and the internship both taught me a lot about editing.
Architecture for Humanity was my last assignment. My first pieces of work were practices in writing product press releases, which are short promotions for consumer products endorsed by the philosophies of the Center for a Better Life. A couple examples of those are as follows:
Composting toilets are clean, sanitary, and odor-free. Without the need for any water hook-ups, the systems can be put anywhere: cabin, cottage, RV, pool house, boat, shed, barn, or home. They allow human waste to break down into an organic compost and usable soil without using any water. Aerobic microbes do this in the presence of moisture and air, by oxidizing the carbon in the organic material to carbon dioxide gas, and converting hydrogen atoms to water vapor. The user simply uses the toilet and waits three months to a year to retrieve soil with improved ability to support life.
Recycled plastic lumber (RPL) is a wood-like product made from recovered plastic or recovered plastic mixed with other materials, which can be used as a substitute for concrete, wood, and metals. RPL is clean, nontoxic, and nonporous, and lasts longer than wood. In addition, all types except wood-filled RPL have the following advantages over wood: moisture and chemical resistant, graffiti resistant, splinter free, no cracking, no need for sealants or preservatives, colored throughout, no need for paint, impervious to insects, flexible, can be curved and shaped, maintenance free, and no absorbing bacteria. This lumber also diverts plastic wastes from landfills.
Next I was moved on to the assignment of Green Switch, which was like a product press release except that it was a little longer than a paragraph; it was a 400 word piece. I reported what the product Green Switch does, trying to use a promotional tone. My Green Switch article is probably a better example of technical writing, as I was told. Green Switch was later reassigned to another intern after a third attempt by me read like this:
Managing both home and office energy consumption is now as easy as the flip of a switch. The system, Green Switch, is not only saving the environment in more ways than one, but also saving money. Getting its start in the hospitality/hotel industry, where energy is the second largest expense, the energy control system was able to save 25% to 45% of energy costs. The Green Switch system pays for itself in about one to two years through energy bill savings, while it can benefit the environment through resource conservation.
According to the Department of Energy, 10% to 15% of the energy on a homeowner’s electric bill is used as stand-by power, the power drawn into appliances and electrical systems that are turned off but still plugged in. In addition lighting and other electrical items being left on without being used can also waste energy. All of this, as well as the setting of the home’s thermostat back to the economy mode, are managed at one control switch on the way out the door or before going to bed. Turning off the master switch sends a wireless signal cutting power to all designated outlets, electrical systems, and light switches. Control is in the hands of the consumer who has the option to choose which lights and outlets need to be connected to the system upon installation. Split receptacles even make it possible to designate only one outlet out of the pair, convenient for coupling lamps with alarm clocks or TVs with DVR systems. This allows appliances
needing the power to continue to operate while the energy wasting appliance is master controlled. With the master switch turned off, lights and thermostats can still be controlled manually, and turning on the Green Switch master switch returns wall plugs and electrical systems to normal modes.
Green Switch installations take about an hour for homes on average, and are done either during construction or on existing homes and offices. The master switch is placed conveniently by the door most used to enter and leave the house, and controls lighting and outlets even in other buildings. Outbuildings and barns over 100 yards can also be controlled with the same wireless technology as in the house, using microchip controlled RF (Radio Frequency) communication between the master switch and the electrical components. The system also saves economically and environmentally by substantially extending the useful life of heating and air conditioning systems, television, and lighting by easing their use, keeping more money in wallets and fewer appliances in the landfills.
My writing maturity has definitely advanced through the course of the internship. The moment that I was most proud was when the publisher asked me to churn out a first draft of my Architecture for Humanity article in just a couple of days and I was able to, in her words, “push it out” that quickly. I learned to say what there is to say and spend the majority of my time editing. The ratio of my writing to editing for most of my class assignments has been backwards from that, and my personal writing is almost exclusively read and left untouched by corrections. The writing I’ve done for personal reasons is art compared to the writing I would do for a magazine like Live Better, which is more about design in that it’s advocating change in an organized way.
Having the intern experience, I can say that I profoundly respect the job that is being accomplished at the magazine, and I value the insight that the experience has provided me. That insight is the window to the process of writing to convince readers to change. But with that insight, I’ve disproved my theory as well as answered my question. I’m grateful for the opportunity to discover what it’s like to write for a magazine, while also discovering that I’m less interested in it.
I’d like to use a metaphor to explain myself. Playing in water refreshes me, which is why I like to swim. When I took my love of water to the lanes and joined a competitive swim team, with the goal of form, speed, winning races, I became exhausted by the interpretation of what I used to enjoy. To see swimmers in the Olympics makes me glad to be excused from such proceedings. Writing my thoughts and feelings freely has been another release for me that has been enriched by trying different methods. Having tried the magazine method, I’m glad it’s someone else who is doing the writing that I read in them now.
Still I like to write. I still go to the pool and swim laps; I just don’t time myself and try to be the fastest swimmer at the Recreation Center. Another professional writing method is newspaper. The writing I do for fun would probably most seamlessly be translated into the writing of a critic’s column or of an editorial in a newspaper. I tend to write on the topics that have sprung up in my life, and at a newspaper it’s much the same. If something’s happening in the town or an issue is effecting people, these are the topics for the newspaper to address. The differences from magazine writing seem to be that newspaper writers have a more traditional work schedule and their stories are shorter and written more frequently. I know almost as much about writing for a newspaper as I do about writing for a magazine.
My own brother graduated from West Virginia University with a Journalism degree and went on to write for the Parkersburg News and Sentinel. His assignments were various events he was sent to attend and cover, such as restaurant openings, World War II veteran interviews, and the Jessica Lynch story. He would report on what was there and what people said whom he interviewed. The work became very boring for him, however, and he left the newspaper to find a manager position at 84 Lumber, which he enjoys a lot more (and which has supplied me with plenty of catalogs and old tile samples for my Interior Design projects). Being a manager at 84 Lumber has nothing to do with his Journalism degree, except that the job was more likely to be given to someone with any degree.
So I’m getting a Design Studies degree. Before this semester I felt like that just meant I would have a degree on my side in job interviews, proof that I could accomplish that feat. Now I’m taking the English multimedia class and the journalism multimedia class, and I’m learning other methods of communicating through media. I’ve actually been using what I learn in these classes for my own personal projects. I’m excited about and interested in how I can use these methods in a career.
Through my multimedia classes I’ve learned how to create all sorts of projects that are presented over the Internet. Mostly through the English class, I’ve learned how to record and upload audio, upload video, and create movies with combinations of pictures, music, video, and word overlay. These techniques are good for supplementing online news stories, for conveying a message in a more memorable way, or simply for a creative outlet.
It was in this English class that ancient Aztec writing was covered. Aztec people used to use pictograms to record stories, history, and laws. Pictograms, or picture symbols representing ideas, brought myths to life by bringing visual representations of gods and creatures that had been handed down from generation to generation. Reading the description of how pictograms were meant not so much to make myths memorable, but to, “make them unforgettable,” the concept resonated with me. I believe I can do this with my writing, and I am theorizing that my new multimedia techniques could be the tools I need to further delve into this style.
It was in the journalism class that a guest speaker came to show us how to work a video camera for interview projects. He talked about working with major motion pictures on sound and his work with the camera and lighting on other projects. A preparation for these jobs is to take project assistant jobs, which are apparently relatively easy to get, for experience being on set and experiencing the different jobs. Working my way up to directing movies is another method for using my communicating inclination professionally. Another guest speaker for this class was a television political reporter who graduated with a political science major from a college that had no journalism program. This class seems to reaffirm my scholastic journey so far and reiterates the Emerson quote, “Don’t go where the path leads. Rather go where there is no path and leave a trail.”
The Design Studies major is another step on the trail to fulfilling my potential. I’ve changed my major a lot of times. So far I have everyone beat who tries to go up against me for more numerous. That I’ve changed my mind so many times is not a source of pride for me, but that I was able to when I felt the need is a big part of my life. That I’m a well-rounded student is a source of pride for me, and that I’m a less prejudice, more confident person because of my various experiences is also a good reason to remember this list.
Biology was going to be for genetics. “What do you picture yourself doing?” they’d ask me in junior high, “working in a lab?” I liked doing Punet squares and learning about what gene combinations would present as what traits in plants and human eyes and things. This was seventh grade science class with a teacher who taught in my exact learning style, plus I was Hermine Granger at school in junior high. High school biology, chemistry and physics was not as much fun as Punet squares but didn’t dissuade me, so college rolled around, and my major declaration was pre-biology.
I squeaked by with a C in my first college biology class, and getting dismayed by how much we had to kill things to complete a lab assignment and by my obvious vagueness on what I’d even be doing, I lost motivation. I failed my second semester biology class. It was too hard. Concepts were over my head to heights at which maybe a butterfly could reach if we hadn’t killed it as a caterpillar in bio lab. It was during this year, I remember because I was in the hallway of my dorm, that I told my mom on the phone that I thought I should be a professional organizer. After laughing at me, she sobered up when she realized that I was serious and asked what major I’d have to be in to go into that, “Interior Design?” I was horrified at the prospect.
Psychology was an interesting subject. In high school one of the college classes I took was Psychology 101. Now I think who’s not interested in psychology a little bit? Around this time is when I took my first career assessment/interest inventory test. That thing had the gull to tell me that I’m not interested in anything. I had no interest strong enough to read above the others. This may have been when I started to blame my parents for my situation. I had done what they told me to do for years and years, and now I was lost not knowing what I wanted to do. Friends told me that some people are just meant to go from one thing to the next for life.
Communication studies, after one semester of psychology, was my next major with a business minor so I could run my own business. Classes got more frustrating with their seemingly pointlessness, and I fanaticized more and more about dropping out. Unlike in junior high and high school, where I spent my spare time stressing about what exactly teachers needed from me to give me an A, I simply did the work and took the grade. This turned out to be an important lesson in reducing stress, but I still hadn’t found my motivation.
Education was declared at WVU-Parkersburg. What would have been my third year of college was spent in Morgantown as were the previous two years, but by two thirds into that Fall semester I had stopped going to classes completely. There was supposed to be a fun poetry one that wasn’t what I expected like so many other classes before. I finally took a whole semester off and just worked that Spring. When my lease was up, I moved back in with my parents in Parkersburg. Teaching would be perfect, summers off. I stayed in classes that semester but dropped my education one before I had to go spend time in actual elementary school classrooms.
Journalism would be for the next semester it was decided. My first classes were mind-numbingly about the intricacies of printing machinery. Terrified, I withdrew from another whole semester before it would even show up on my transcript.
English came from a different angle. I would have to get through the classes to graduate from a major and get a job, and English classes were always the calmest classes for me to attend. My next English class, however, reminded me that class-time for English class is fine, yes, but all that reading, and for this one, all those interpretations. I’m not sure this major ever got declared, because I couldn’t do anymore English classes.
Business came from another angle still. I went to my advisor and asked for the fastest way out. I knew I just had to stick with something, and by this time I knew all of it would be excruciating. So, what would be the least amount of pain I would have to take to look down and see a degree in my hand? I was told that I had enough business classes to graduate with an associate’s degree in two more semesters. After a semester of business classes, I was told it would be two semesters from that point. I didn’t even try to clarify who made the mistake. I left the advisor’s office and didn’t sign up for the next semester of classes.
Interior design was my finally admitting that I am a prissy little girl who likes to watch HGTV and wants to play house for a living. I moved all back to Morgantown with perhaps even enough gathered motivation to tackle this four-year program. If it’s what I can honestly see myself doing, this major could work where I had failed with others. Signing up for the program I’m made aware that it is competitive and only 20 people are accepted each year. My motivation said, well, we’ve come this far.
My motivation killed me for a year with art history and style eras and craft projects the likes of which I had never encountered; interior design is not for prissy little girls. Along the way though, we 60 or so “cohorts” of Interior Design 2006 received the announcement that there would be a possible new alternative for students rejected from the program. They would continue on with the same basic set of classes, only steering the program more toward a chosen minor field. I was eyeing the writing minors long before the group of 20 was selected excluding me.
One of the minors that surfaced as an option for writers was Communication Studies. So now after some serious negotiation on what classes are acceptable for what requirements, a required summer internship and another year and a half of classes, I’m going to be one of three first ever graduates of the Design Studies program.
This semester has been my favorite bunch of classes ever. With my mind opened to new resources, all the things I like to do have converged at this one time, also giving me the satisfaction keeping it all organized. I believe that through all of this, I have been designing my life to be better suited to me. Graduating from college does not promise me a job, or even tell me what job I’ll have, but my trail has given me the opportunity to be able to do what I want to do, and also, to find out more clearly what that may be.
My suggestions for improvements to design studies would be the same for any program. Incoming freshmen to WVU are herded around like cattle to advisors most concerned with forming conflict-free schedules to do their job of getting as many students in and out of the door as possible. I think that a better design for these young minds would be to let them choose their electives, or better still, make them choose them. Whenever possible let them choose to take first out of the classes that they have to take the classes that are the most interesting to them. The sooner they find it’s not what they expected the better, and if it is what they’ve looked forward to, they will have that confirmation as motivation through the classes of less interest to them. Knowing toward what they’re working will sustain students as they design their futures.
Before my internship began Rosemarie Calvert, publisher and editorial director of Live Better magazine at the Center for a Better Life Foundation, told me that, despite my lack of writing experience, she could have me ready to write professionally for a publication by the end of my summer internship. This is the exact opportunity I needed to understand how my decades of personal writing could translate into a career. At the suggestion of Mrs. Calvert, I started attending intern meetings a couple months before my internship would start. Every Friday I sat-in while the current interns edited their work and discussed ideas for other stories. The extra time to familiarize myself with the processes was necessary, because I would be doing most of my work after the first few weeks on my own, only checking in at these meetings with the publisher and the more experienced interns.
Another exciting aspect of my internship was that I would be working for a foundation committed to making people aware of environmental issues. Topics being used for the magazine were things like the disasters in Kivalina, Alaska and Bia Mare, Romania, the first a natural disaster of erosion being sped up by human-induced global warming and the second a poisonous mine spill in an area already mined to environmental degradation. Also being discussed were the topics of mercury, bush meat, Green Switch, honeybees, and Architecture for Humanity. The other interns from WVU came from all different departments: journalism, public relations, English, and my design studies. Being from the design department, I was assigned a story on Architecture for Humanity as my main project.
The time frame for my internship was to be 12 weeks. This way I could see a project through to completion for one issue of the magazine, as all of us interns helped each other on our own projects. Architecture for Humanity was actually the most interesting subject for me. I appreciate the worldwide need for appropriate shelter and the angle of reporting on an organization that is helping people. Researching for the other stories, I found out there were even more environmental and social problems than I had previously known, so looking closer at the solutions being accumulated by such a selfless organization was a relief.
Toward the beginning of the internship, there were more meetings, they were longer and more strongly guided. We would meet in the library and all research the same topic there where we could ask questions as we went. We even went over how to research using the most recommended search engines and respected journals. There were also questions we had to ask and methods of keeping track of the information. Outlines were already familiar to me as a technique I use when it’s required of me, and here they were required of me. I had concerns about keeping track of sources in an outline made to organize information by subtopic. The answer to that was to keep both a list of information by source and then an outline in preparation to write.
There were different areas of the publication to be covered as well: business, marketing, editorial, ect. I concentrated on the editorial with my 20 hours a week, but I still learned some general knowledge about business and marketing. We covered page layouts of the issues and why certain pages are used for advertising, and how different pages cost more or less than other pages.
‘Media kit’ is a term used a lot in regards to the business aspect of publishing. These contain company background information, visions, values, mission statements, product profiles and corresponding digital photography, executive biographies, photographs, speeches and presentations, ect. Live Better might include in their media kit as they have included on their website, “We’re non-political. Our mission is to educate people about the importance of sustainability in their daily lives – to help promote the idea of preserving resources for future generations, to assist those individuals smarter than we in getting their critical message out about global warming and to create a communication infrastructure to deliver this vital information. We are working with Federal agencies, non-profit groups and private industry to put together programs of change.” And their mantra, “We go directly to the source to provide the truth- or as close to the truth as frail human beings can get.”
Sustainability class helped prepare me for the internship. I benefitted from a familiarity with LEED design practices and the concepts of solar and rainwater collection, as well as local labor and materials. Environmental biology also helped prepare me for the knowledge I would encounter with projects at Live Better. There was the plight of honeybees, the effects of development to coastal areas, and biodiversity. It was easier to expand on what I had learned than it would have been to start with the basics. The classes that assisted me most with my writing were interior design quality of living and interior design independent study where I wrote a long research paper and edited to fit the required formats. This assignment and the internship both taught me a lot about editing.
Architecture for Humanity was my last assignment. My first pieces of work were practices in writing product press releases, which are short promotions for consumer products endorsed by the philosophies of the Center for a Better Life. A couple examples of those are as follows:
Composting toilets are clean, sanitary, and odor-free. Without the need for any water hook-ups, the systems can be put anywhere: cabin, cottage, RV, pool house, boat, shed, barn, or home. They allow human waste to break down into an organic compost and usable soil without using any water. Aerobic microbes do this in the presence of moisture and air, by oxidizing the carbon in the organic material to carbon dioxide gas, and converting hydrogen atoms to water vapor. The user simply uses the toilet and waits three months to a year to retrieve soil with improved ability to support life.
Recycled plastic lumber (RPL) is a wood-like product made from recovered plastic or recovered plastic mixed with other materials, which can be used as a substitute for concrete, wood, and metals. RPL is clean, nontoxic, and nonporous, and lasts longer than wood. In addition, all types except wood-filled RPL have the following advantages over wood: moisture and chemical resistant, graffiti resistant, splinter free, no cracking, no need for sealants or preservatives, colored throughout, no need for paint, impervious to insects, flexible, can be curved and shaped, maintenance free, and no absorbing bacteria. This lumber also diverts plastic wastes from landfills.
Next I was moved on to the assignment of Green Switch, which was like a product press release except that it was a little longer than a paragraph; it was a 400 word piece. I reported what the product Green Switch does, trying to use a promotional tone. My Green Switch article is probably a better example of technical writing, as I was told. Green Switch was later reassigned to another intern after a third attempt by me read like this:
Managing both home and office energy consumption is now as easy as the flip of a switch. The system, Green Switch, is not only saving the environment in more ways than one, but also saving money. Getting its start in the hospitality/hotel industry, where energy is the second largest expense, the energy control system was able to save 25% to 45% of energy costs. The Green Switch system pays for itself in about one to two years through energy bill savings, while it can benefit the environment through resource conservation.
According to the Department of Energy, 10% to 15% of the energy on a homeowner’s electric bill is used as stand-by power, the power drawn into appliances and electrical systems that are turned off but still plugged in. In addition lighting and other electrical items being left on without being used can also waste energy. All of this, as well as the setting of the home’s thermostat back to the economy mode, are managed at one control switch on the way out the door or before going to bed. Turning off the master switch sends a wireless signal cutting power to all designated outlets, electrical systems, and light switches. Control is in the hands of the consumer who has the option to choose which lights and outlets need to be connected to the system upon installation. Split receptacles even make it possible to designate only one outlet out of the pair, convenient for coupling lamps with alarm clocks or TVs with DVR systems. This allows appliances
needing the power to continue to operate while the energy wasting appliance is master controlled. With the master switch turned off, lights and thermostats can still be controlled manually, and turning on the Green Switch master switch returns wall plugs and electrical systems to normal modes.
Green Switch installations take about an hour for homes on average, and are done either during construction or on existing homes and offices. The master switch is placed conveniently by the door most used to enter and leave the house, and controls lighting and outlets even in other buildings. Outbuildings and barns over 100 yards can also be controlled with the same wireless technology as in the house, using microchip controlled RF (Radio Frequency) communication between the master switch and the electrical components. The system also saves economically and environmentally by substantially extending the useful life of heating and air conditioning systems, television, and lighting by easing their use, keeping more money in wallets and fewer appliances in the landfills.
My writing maturity has definitely advanced through the course of the internship. The moment that I was most proud was when the publisher asked me to churn out a first draft of my Architecture for Humanity article in just a couple of days and I was able to, in her words, “push it out” that quickly. I learned to say what there is to say and spend the majority of my time editing. The ratio of my writing to editing for most of my class assignments has been backwards from that, and my personal writing is almost exclusively read and left untouched by corrections. The writing I’ve done for personal reasons is art compared to the writing I would do for a magazine like Live Better, which is more about design in that it’s advocating change in an organized way.
Having the intern experience, I can say that I profoundly respect the job that is being accomplished at the magazine, and I value the insight that the experience has provided me. That insight is the window to the process of writing to convince readers to change. But with that insight, I’ve disproved my theory as well as answered my question. I’m grateful for the opportunity to discover what it’s like to write for a magazine, while also discovering that I’m less interested in it.
I’d like to use a metaphor to explain myself. Playing in water refreshes me, which is why I like to swim. When I took my love of water to the lanes and joined a competitive swim team, with the goal of form, speed, winning races, I became exhausted by the interpretation of what I used to enjoy. To see swimmers in the Olympics makes me glad to be excused from such proceedings. Writing my thoughts and feelings freely has been another release for me that has been enriched by trying different methods. Having tried the magazine method, I’m glad it’s someone else who is doing the writing that I read in them now.
Still I like to write. I still go to the pool and swim laps; I just don’t time myself and try to be the fastest swimmer at the Recreation Center. Another professional writing method is newspaper. The writing I do for fun would probably most seamlessly be translated into the writing of a critic’s column or of an editorial in a newspaper. I tend to write on the topics that have sprung up in my life, and at a newspaper it’s much the same. If something’s happening in the town or an issue is effecting people, these are the topics for the newspaper to address. The differences from magazine writing seem to be that newspaper writers have a more traditional work schedule and their stories are shorter and written more frequently. I know almost as much about writing for a newspaper as I do about writing for a magazine.
My own brother graduated from West Virginia University with a Journalism degree and went on to write for the Parkersburg News and Sentinel. His assignments were various events he was sent to attend and cover, such as restaurant openings, World War II veteran interviews, and the Jessica Lynch story. He would report on what was there and what people said whom he interviewed. The work became very boring for him, however, and he left the newspaper to find a manager position at 84 Lumber, which he enjoys a lot more (and which has supplied me with plenty of catalogs and old tile samples for my Interior Design projects). Being a manager at 84 Lumber has nothing to do with his Journalism degree, except that the job was more likely to be given to someone with any degree.
So I’m getting a Design Studies degree. Before this semester I felt like that just meant I would have a degree on my side in job interviews, proof that I could accomplish that feat. Now I’m taking the English multimedia class and the journalism multimedia class, and I’m learning other methods of communicating through media. I’ve actually been using what I learn in these classes for my own personal projects. I’m excited about and interested in how I can use these methods in a career.
Through my multimedia classes I’ve learned how to create all sorts of projects that are presented over the Internet. Mostly through the English class, I’ve learned how to record and upload audio, upload video, and create movies with combinations of pictures, music, video, and word overlay. These techniques are good for supplementing online news stories, for conveying a message in a more memorable way, or simply for a creative outlet.
It was in this English class that ancient Aztec writing was covered. Aztec people used to use pictograms to record stories, history, and laws. Pictograms, or picture symbols representing ideas, brought myths to life by bringing visual representations of gods and creatures that had been handed down from generation to generation. Reading the description of how pictograms were meant not so much to make myths memorable, but to, “make them unforgettable,” the concept resonated with me. I believe I can do this with my writing, and I am theorizing that my new multimedia techniques could be the tools I need to further delve into this style.
It was in the journalism class that a guest speaker came to show us how to work a video camera for interview projects. He talked about working with major motion pictures on sound and his work with the camera and lighting on other projects. A preparation for these jobs is to take project assistant jobs, which are apparently relatively easy to get, for experience being on set and experiencing the different jobs. Working my way up to directing movies is another method for using my communicating inclination professionally. Another guest speaker for this class was a television political reporter who graduated with a political science major from a college that had no journalism program. This class seems to reaffirm my scholastic journey so far and reiterates the Emerson quote, “Don’t go where the path leads. Rather go where there is no path and leave a trail.”
The Design Studies major is another step on the trail to fulfilling my potential. I’ve changed my major a lot of times. So far I have everyone beat who tries to go up against me for more numerous. That I’ve changed my mind so many times is not a source of pride for me, but that I was able to when I felt the need is a big part of my life. That I’m a well-rounded student is a source of pride for me, and that I’m a less prejudice, more confident person because of my various experiences is also a good reason to remember this list.
Biology was going to be for genetics. “What do you picture yourself doing?” they’d ask me in junior high, “working in a lab?” I liked doing Punet squares and learning about what gene combinations would present as what traits in plants and human eyes and things. This was seventh grade science class with a teacher who taught in my exact learning style, plus I was Hermine Granger at school in junior high. High school biology, chemistry and physics was not as much fun as Punet squares but didn’t dissuade me, so college rolled around, and my major declaration was pre-biology.
I squeaked by with a C in my first college biology class, and getting dismayed by how much we had to kill things to complete a lab assignment and by my obvious vagueness on what I’d even be doing, I lost motivation. I failed my second semester biology class. It was too hard. Concepts were over my head to heights at which maybe a butterfly could reach if we hadn’t killed it as a caterpillar in bio lab. It was during this year, I remember because I was in the hallway of my dorm, that I told my mom on the phone that I thought I should be a professional organizer. After laughing at me, she sobered up when she realized that I was serious and asked what major I’d have to be in to go into that, “Interior Design?” I was horrified at the prospect.
Psychology was an interesting subject. In high school one of the college classes I took was Psychology 101. Now I think who’s not interested in psychology a little bit? Around this time is when I took my first career assessment/interest inventory test. That thing had the gull to tell me that I’m not interested in anything. I had no interest strong enough to read above the others. This may have been when I started to blame my parents for my situation. I had done what they told me to do for years and years, and now I was lost not knowing what I wanted to do. Friends told me that some people are just meant to go from one thing to the next for life.
Communication studies, after one semester of psychology, was my next major with a business minor so I could run my own business. Classes got more frustrating with their seemingly pointlessness, and I fanaticized more and more about dropping out. Unlike in junior high and high school, where I spent my spare time stressing about what exactly teachers needed from me to give me an A, I simply did the work and took the grade. This turned out to be an important lesson in reducing stress, but I still hadn’t found my motivation.
Education was declared at WVU-Parkersburg. What would have been my third year of college was spent in Morgantown as were the previous two years, but by two thirds into that Fall semester I had stopped going to classes completely. There was supposed to be a fun poetry one that wasn’t what I expected like so many other classes before. I finally took a whole semester off and just worked that Spring. When my lease was up, I moved back in with my parents in Parkersburg. Teaching would be perfect, summers off. I stayed in classes that semester but dropped my education one before I had to go spend time in actual elementary school classrooms.
Journalism would be for the next semester it was decided. My first classes were mind-numbingly about the intricacies of printing machinery. Terrified, I withdrew from another whole semester before it would even show up on my transcript.
English came from a different angle. I would have to get through the classes to graduate from a major and get a job, and English classes were always the calmest classes for me to attend. My next English class, however, reminded me that class-time for English class is fine, yes, but all that reading, and for this one, all those interpretations. I’m not sure this major ever got declared, because I couldn’t do anymore English classes.
Business came from another angle still. I went to my advisor and asked for the fastest way out. I knew I just had to stick with something, and by this time I knew all of it would be excruciating. So, what would be the least amount of pain I would have to take to look down and see a degree in my hand? I was told that I had enough business classes to graduate with an associate’s degree in two more semesters. After a semester of business classes, I was told it would be two semesters from that point. I didn’t even try to clarify who made the mistake. I left the advisor’s office and didn’t sign up for the next semester of classes.
Interior design was my finally admitting that I am a prissy little girl who likes to watch HGTV and wants to play house for a living. I moved all back to Morgantown with perhaps even enough gathered motivation to tackle this four-year program. If it’s what I can honestly see myself doing, this major could work where I had failed with others. Signing up for the program I’m made aware that it is competitive and only 20 people are accepted each year. My motivation said, well, we’ve come this far.
My motivation killed me for a year with art history and style eras and craft projects the likes of which I had never encountered; interior design is not for prissy little girls. Along the way though, we 60 or so “cohorts” of Interior Design 2006 received the announcement that there would be a possible new alternative for students rejected from the program. They would continue on with the same basic set of classes, only steering the program more toward a chosen minor field. I was eyeing the writing minors long before the group of 20 was selected excluding me.
One of the minors that surfaced as an option for writers was Communication Studies. So now after some serious negotiation on what classes are acceptable for what requirements, a required summer internship and another year and a half of classes, I’m going to be one of three first ever graduates of the Design Studies program.
This semester has been my favorite bunch of classes ever. With my mind opened to new resources, all the things I like to do have converged at this one time, also giving me the satisfaction keeping it all organized. I believe that through all of this, I have been designing my life to be better suited to me. Graduating from college does not promise me a job, or even tell me what job I’ll have, but my trail has given me the opportunity to be able to do what I want to do, and also, to find out more clearly what that may be.
My suggestions for improvements to design studies would be the same for any program. Incoming freshmen to WVU are herded around like cattle to advisors most concerned with forming conflict-free schedules to do their job of getting as many students in and out of the door as possible. I think that a better design for these young minds would be to let them choose their electives, or better still, make them choose them. Whenever possible let them choose to take first out of the classes that they have to take the classes that are the most interesting to them. The sooner they find it’s not what they expected the better, and if it is what they’ve looked forward to, they will have that confirmation as motivation through the classes of less interest to them. Knowing toward what they’re working will sustain students as they design their futures.
The Closet Organizer (Portfolio)
ABSTRACT
Clutter is a current problem in many households world-wide that may be resolved through design. An overview of the current field shows how to get organized, identify assistance available to those with clutter problems, and realize the personal and environmental benefits of solving the problem.
INTRODUCTION
This essay applies design thinking to the issue of clutter. Most people see objects in terms of benefits and fail to consider the responsibilities and potential liabilities related to ownership. For example, acquisition takes storage space. When the objects acquired exceed storage available, personal space can become more about making accommodations for worthless items and less about getting through one’s day smoothly. The build-up of worthless items can continue until living with clutter becomes a near impossibility.
On TV shows like Clean House, Clean Sweep, and How Clean is your House, hosts guide the residents of houses brimming with cluttered living space to clear out and sort their possessions. These are the serious clutterers. Floors are covered leaving only paths for walking through junk. A common problem viewers can see from guest to guest is that once things start to be sorted, duplicates of the same item can be found: seven white button-up shirts, thirteen pairs of red pumps, or two sets of furniture for the same room. People are drowning in the things they need and can’t find.
How Clean is Your House deals with serious filth problems that come with years of clutter. Samples are taken from throughout the home to a lab to be tested for all sorts of mold, bacteria, protein, and bugs. Regularly things like carpeting and refrigerators need to be thrown out completely as cleaning attempts would be futile. Lab results usually find the kitchen sink to be more microbe-ridden than the toilet. The show talks about what specific infestations in the cluttered areas can cause what specific illnesses. It’s sobering when you realize things like not being able to dust can lead to asthma.
Writer Mary Lou Healy who professes to live in a moderately cluttered home, writes “What’s so Bad about Clutter?” (Healy, 2007). Healy admits that when she’s expecting guests, she does need plenty of time to clean house. She notices that everywhere she goes magazines and newspapers carry articles that address the problem of clutter. She looks up “clutter” on the Internet to find there, too is the issue addressed with attitudes combating her own. Her reasons for being cluttered are as follows: “It tells me who I am and what I’ve been doing – in case I happen to forget. There are the stamp collections I stopped working on years ago and the huge bag of scrap material, hoarded against the day when I might want to make a quilt or hook a rug – a day that keeps receding into the future. There are the stacks of magazines with articles too interesting to discard or photographs too beautiful to put into the recycling bin – a bin with which my husband is far more enamored than am I.
“I won’t dwell, beyond a mention, on the closet full of clothing a size too small, which, I firmly believe, one day will enfold me again; or my mother’s mechanical toy collection, which must be kept for possible grandchildren’s delight, or all those kitchen gadgets that are so irresistible in the store, so impractical for actual use. There are boxes of recipes, cut out when I was hungry but too complicated and time-consuming for everyday meals.” Healy also recalls that if buying an item was mentioned during her childhood, her family usually found that they already had the item in their attic.
Another article begins with the story of a big move with a small pack; Hazel Pary left England carrying just one rucksack. The sack contained her material possessions, which she had reduced the bare minimum as the months went on before her departure. She felt liberated at the time. Now ten years later, Parry has a house full of the same kinds of clutter anyone gets, “cupboards full of VCDs, shelves heaving with books, files, old magazines and newspapers, a desk full of unfiled documents I’m not sure I’ll ever need, drawers I dare not open, and suitcases packed with clothes I haven’t worn in years. And to top it all, four children and all the clutter that goes with them” (Parry, 2006). Aside from the kids, she is not happy living with her clutter.
Parry theorizes that clutter is a more recent occurrence, brought about by a consumer society in which people have more money to spend on material items. Talking to declutterer and author Sue Kay, Parry includes that clutter accumulates over time. The article says that people hang on to these things because of frugality, which can be instilled by parents. Another reason Parry finds is guilt and sentimentality when people think the item has to stay because it’s a gift or is too meaningful to let go.
Parry also spoke to professional organizer Kristen Lowe whose clients come from a wide range of situations. Lowe found that clutter tends to build up in people’s lives if they struggle with making decisions. These people find it hard to know what to do with items, and the decision can go to the default keep-it-to-be-on-the-safe-side choice. Lowe is quoted as saying, “Where space is relatively unlimited – for example in countries where homes have basements, attics, garages, spare bedrooms – this can go on indefinitely.”
Organizers in Parry’s article agree that clutter is a problem taking up time and space. According to one recent study, the average person wastes 150 hours a year looking for lost papers. By adding to stress, clutter can affect psychological well-being. Lowe notes that clutter overwhelms people and puts a strain on relationships. Studies on the physical and financial consequences show that 80 % of medical claims are now stress-related, and that the average American executive loses one hour a day to disorganization.
Lowe then points out that there is also a critical time when clutter becomes a health and safety issue. An example is when halls can’t be navigated because of the boxes piled up. She knows that it collects dirt and dust, and she’s seen some pretty nasty stuff in boxes left unopened for a couple of years. Bedrooms, she finds, are particularly interesting, where people have seemingly thrown and stuffed items anywhere they could. The article says people can get ashamed of clutter problems and stop inviting people to their homes. Some people struggle with becoming uncluttered and the emotional aspects of it years.
Ending on a positive note, the article includes the good news that most people can overcome clutter and achieve a more satisfying living state. Time and money will be saved, relationships improved, schedules will be more balanced, and there will even be reported a sense of great relief, empowerment, and optimism. Kay sums it up by stating, “You’ll feel better because you’ll be surrounded with things you like. You’ll be living with the things relevant to your life now, not the life you were leading several years ago or thought you’d be living one day.”
Sara Schaefer Munoz brings relief for closeted clutterers by relaying the story of one who seeks professional help. As the account goes the clutterer pours out her feelings of stress and her longing for peace. Then the consultant from California Closets Co. creates that peace in her home with an area for school bags, jackets, and projects like gift-wrapping. This article tells how companies like California Closets Co. and ClosetMaid are offering simplified living, harmony and order with their products and services. These products and services can be customized for particular life events such as marriage or retirement. Even feng shui has emerged as an option for organization.
Organizations including the Mayo Clinic and the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation (OCF) reiterate what Dr. David Tolin has to say about hoarding, that people may have a compulsive hoarding problem if they meet these three criteria:
1. You regularly hang onto a large number of possessions that most other people would not consider to be very useful or valuable.
2. Your home, or parts of your home, is so cluttered that you can no longer use those parts of your home for their intended purpose.
3. The clutter is bad enough that it causes significant distress or impairment. (Tolin, 2003).
Clutterers fitting the last criteria, “cannot have friends or family over to their homes because they are so embarrassed by the clutter, cannot let repair or maintenance professionals into their homes, keep the shades drawn so that no one can see inside, get into a lot of arguments with family members about the clutter, are at risk of fire, falling, infestation or eviction, and feel depressed or anxious much of the time because of the clutter.”
Objects become clutter when they lose their value, which can happen in different ways. If an object is not working well, that object becomes clutter when working it is too much of a hassle to warrant attempts. An object can work, but when there is insufficient space to utilize its value, it’s worthless. In this way clutter can cause clutter.
Clutter brings noticeable symptoms to a dwelling. There can be multiples of items when one will do. There can be problems cleaning. Health problems can result from the filth. Social problems can occur, which in turn cause more health problems by causing stress. Psychological problems can be induced, especially plausible considering that psychological problems are factors in causing clutter.
“Manufacturers sold $5.9 billion U.S. worth of home-organization products in 2004, up 23 percent from 1999, according to the most recent data available from Freedonia Group, a market-research firm. The demand for custom closets has grown so much in the past several years that manufacturers, designers and installers a year ago launched a new trade association, the Association of Closet and Storage Professionals, based in Wheaton, Ill., that is developing certification to ensure professionalism in the industry. Americans spent about $2 billion U.S. in 2006 on custom closets, up 20 percent from the prior year, according to estimates by the association” (Munoz, 2007).
Solutions and billings vary among providers. One provider goes to a client’s home to take inventory of clothes, is involved with deciding what to throw out and what to keep, and proceeds to build a custom closet with the help of an architect and stylist. She says, “You spend that much money on clothes you want to be able to protect them” (Earle-Levine, 2004). Her initial consultation costs $250 and subsequent visits are $200 an hour with most projects costing between $15,000 and $30,000.
Arguably the most innovative approach to clutter abatement going forward is tackling the concept of the clutterer’s motivation to organize. The behaviors involved with becoming cluttered are associated with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and addressed in an article, “Motivation and Compulsive-Hoarding Treatment” by Nicholas Maltby, Ph.D, as well as David F Tolin, Ph.D, both with The Anxiety Disorders Center of Hartford, CT. They apply Prochaska and DiClemente’s Stages of Change Model, often used to facilitate change in a person’s nutrition and health, to the state of their household living conditions. The five stages of change are pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance, taking into account that there could be relapse to old behaviors. The article appearing on the OCF website entails how to identify in which stage a person is and what is the helpful response from outsiders at each one to encourage moving to the next stage.
The contradiction of cluttering behavior surfaces with examination of the thought process; if one keeps items with the idea of securing what is needed without fulfilling an actual need, seemingly responsible behavior develops more and more easily into irresponsibility.
People all over the world who have enough money and/or resources to accumulate are accumulating too much. Maybe we’re looking around at the starving, barely clothed, scantily-supplied living of neighbors and saying, “I know how to keep myself from that.” Then we keep everything. Everything that crosses our thresholds, we let stay in our homes as though we can take responsibility for this mass of materials. The things we don’t use are pushed around in daily efforts to get to and use the things we do use.
DISCUSSION
People who have clutter problems live in a world of abundance even if solutions to their specific needs are scarce or unattainable to them for the moment. The goal is for people stay open to and achieve what they really need and want in life by continuously evaluating the personal value of what they have and clearing space for what could be.
Doing this can be a mental challenge for individuals who, though they’ve collected a lot of junk, are without knowledge of what to do with it or what could be better. A support group created mindful of the common needs of this group of people could offer avenues of self-help. Clutterers can already be very responsible people who just need a little help to actualize their level of responsible inclinations. The support group will be a connection to the available resources of recycling, from paper and plastics to mechanical devices and charitable organizations that accept and sell used items. Group chapters can be formed anywhere in the world.
The impact of these groups could be far reaching as the activities involved are more a way of life than a coping mechanism; anyone can take advantage of the services they will provide. The material used to collect and transport items to the appropriate places will be necessary. Each group central meeting place will have large-scale trash, organic waste, recyclables, and charity goods pick-up, for people without these services at their homes or people with large loads. There will be an outlet for the reuse of all materials that can be saved from the landfills, and an importance will be placed on where an item will inevitably end up before it’s brought into the home. Money made from recycling material, and possibly from the selling of items and compost or mulch, will cover the cost of the projects to continue.
CONCLUSION
Devalued objects that are kept in the home can get in the way and continue to lose value. Clutter is the build-up of these items and can be caused by lack of time, lack of storage, or lack of understanding in how to sort and keep organized. Psychological problems can also be a cause of serious cluttering. Hoarding or the collection of useless, meaningless objects can lead to health problems, social problems, and psychological problems. Moderate cluttering can bring the disadvantages of taking up time and space.
Utilizing the services and products available will clear up these problems. If items are valuable to the user, they are housed in a specific place. People can pass on what they don’t need. Long term organizational solutions through support groups will solidify this concept in the ideals of humans. An interior that functions as a well-designed system will be healthy for the environment, as well as for the people living inside.
References
Earle-Levine, Julie (2004, January 4). A wardrobe tailored for your clothes [Electronic
version]. Sunday Times (London), p. 11.
Healy, Mary Lou (2007, May 7). What’s so bad about clutter? [Electronic version].
Christian Science Monitor, p. 19.
Kelly, Susan (2007, October 24). Tips on straightening out your closet; Some simple
suggestions on how to declutter your closets – and which accessories are most likely to help in the process. An occasional design tough should be considered; a bit of style can go a long way [Electronic version]. The Gazette (Montreal), p. F10.
Ng, Eileen (2004, January 3). Wardrobe organising [Electronic version]. New Straits
Times (Malaysia), p. 10.
Parry, Hazel (2006, June 3). Losing the clutter bug [Electronic version]. South China
Morning Post, p. 8.
Reeves, Lynda (2006, June 3). How to hide, hang and hoard: Closet organizers can make
storage easier – and prettier [Electronic version]. National Post (Toranto Edition), p. TO22.
Sanderson, Vicky (2006, December 23). Teenager closet chaos [Electronic version]. The
Toronto Star, p. E02.
Sapienza, Terri (2006, March 16). To restore order in the closet [Electronic version]. The
Washington Post, p. H03.
Schaefer Munoz, Sara (2007, April 7). Relief for closeted clutterers; Closet organizers
have become therapists for the over-stressed and over-consumptive [Electronic
version]. The Toronto Star, p. P04.
Stark, Judy (2002, December 7). Deck the hall’s closet [Electronic version]. St.
Petersburg Times (Florida), p. 1F.
Tolin, David. (2003). Do you have a compulsive hoarding problem? Retrieved
November 5, 2007, from http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200411/tows_past_20041118_c.jhtml
Widhalm, Shelly (2005, January 19). Controlling closet chaos [Electronic version]. The
Washington Times, p. B01.
Clutter is a current problem in many households world-wide that may be resolved through design. An overview of the current field shows how to get organized, identify assistance available to those with clutter problems, and realize the personal and environmental benefits of solving the problem.
INTRODUCTION
This essay applies design thinking to the issue of clutter. Most people see objects in terms of benefits and fail to consider the responsibilities and potential liabilities related to ownership. For example, acquisition takes storage space. When the objects acquired exceed storage available, personal space can become more about making accommodations for worthless items and less about getting through one’s day smoothly. The build-up of worthless items can continue until living with clutter becomes a near impossibility.
On TV shows like Clean House, Clean Sweep, and How Clean is your House, hosts guide the residents of houses brimming with cluttered living space to clear out and sort their possessions. These are the serious clutterers. Floors are covered leaving only paths for walking through junk. A common problem viewers can see from guest to guest is that once things start to be sorted, duplicates of the same item can be found: seven white button-up shirts, thirteen pairs of red pumps, or two sets of furniture for the same room. People are drowning in the things they need and can’t find.
How Clean is Your House deals with serious filth problems that come with years of clutter. Samples are taken from throughout the home to a lab to be tested for all sorts of mold, bacteria, protein, and bugs. Regularly things like carpeting and refrigerators need to be thrown out completely as cleaning attempts would be futile. Lab results usually find the kitchen sink to be more microbe-ridden than the toilet. The show talks about what specific infestations in the cluttered areas can cause what specific illnesses. It’s sobering when you realize things like not being able to dust can lead to asthma.
Writer Mary Lou Healy who professes to live in a moderately cluttered home, writes “What’s so Bad about Clutter?” (Healy, 2007). Healy admits that when she’s expecting guests, she does need plenty of time to clean house. She notices that everywhere she goes magazines and newspapers carry articles that address the problem of clutter. She looks up “clutter” on the Internet to find there, too is the issue addressed with attitudes combating her own. Her reasons for being cluttered are as follows: “It tells me who I am and what I’ve been doing – in case I happen to forget. There are the stamp collections I stopped working on years ago and the huge bag of scrap material, hoarded against the day when I might want to make a quilt or hook a rug – a day that keeps receding into the future. There are the stacks of magazines with articles too interesting to discard or photographs too beautiful to put into the recycling bin – a bin with which my husband is far more enamored than am I.
“I won’t dwell, beyond a mention, on the closet full of clothing a size too small, which, I firmly believe, one day will enfold me again; or my mother’s mechanical toy collection, which must be kept for possible grandchildren’s delight, or all those kitchen gadgets that are so irresistible in the store, so impractical for actual use. There are boxes of recipes, cut out when I was hungry but too complicated and time-consuming for everyday meals.” Healy also recalls that if buying an item was mentioned during her childhood, her family usually found that they already had the item in their attic.
Another article begins with the story of a big move with a small pack; Hazel Pary left England carrying just one rucksack. The sack contained her material possessions, which she had reduced the bare minimum as the months went on before her departure. She felt liberated at the time. Now ten years later, Parry has a house full of the same kinds of clutter anyone gets, “cupboards full of VCDs, shelves heaving with books, files, old magazines and newspapers, a desk full of unfiled documents I’m not sure I’ll ever need, drawers I dare not open, and suitcases packed with clothes I haven’t worn in years. And to top it all, four children and all the clutter that goes with them” (Parry, 2006). Aside from the kids, she is not happy living with her clutter.
Parry theorizes that clutter is a more recent occurrence, brought about by a consumer society in which people have more money to spend on material items. Talking to declutterer and author Sue Kay, Parry includes that clutter accumulates over time. The article says that people hang on to these things because of frugality, which can be instilled by parents. Another reason Parry finds is guilt and sentimentality when people think the item has to stay because it’s a gift or is too meaningful to let go.
Parry also spoke to professional organizer Kristen Lowe whose clients come from a wide range of situations. Lowe found that clutter tends to build up in people’s lives if they struggle with making decisions. These people find it hard to know what to do with items, and the decision can go to the default keep-it-to-be-on-the-safe-side choice. Lowe is quoted as saying, “Where space is relatively unlimited – for example in countries where homes have basements, attics, garages, spare bedrooms – this can go on indefinitely.”
Organizers in Parry’s article agree that clutter is a problem taking up time and space. According to one recent study, the average person wastes 150 hours a year looking for lost papers. By adding to stress, clutter can affect psychological well-being. Lowe notes that clutter overwhelms people and puts a strain on relationships. Studies on the physical and financial consequences show that 80 % of medical claims are now stress-related, and that the average American executive loses one hour a day to disorganization.
Lowe then points out that there is also a critical time when clutter becomes a health and safety issue. An example is when halls can’t be navigated because of the boxes piled up. She knows that it collects dirt and dust, and she’s seen some pretty nasty stuff in boxes left unopened for a couple of years. Bedrooms, she finds, are particularly interesting, where people have seemingly thrown and stuffed items anywhere they could. The article says people can get ashamed of clutter problems and stop inviting people to their homes. Some people struggle with becoming uncluttered and the emotional aspects of it years.
Ending on a positive note, the article includes the good news that most people can overcome clutter and achieve a more satisfying living state. Time and money will be saved, relationships improved, schedules will be more balanced, and there will even be reported a sense of great relief, empowerment, and optimism. Kay sums it up by stating, “You’ll feel better because you’ll be surrounded with things you like. You’ll be living with the things relevant to your life now, not the life you were leading several years ago or thought you’d be living one day.”
Sara Schaefer Munoz brings relief for closeted clutterers by relaying the story of one who seeks professional help. As the account goes the clutterer pours out her feelings of stress and her longing for peace. Then the consultant from California Closets Co. creates that peace in her home with an area for school bags, jackets, and projects like gift-wrapping. This article tells how companies like California Closets Co. and ClosetMaid are offering simplified living, harmony and order with their products and services. These products and services can be customized for particular life events such as marriage or retirement. Even feng shui has emerged as an option for organization.
Organizations including the Mayo Clinic and the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation (OCF) reiterate what Dr. David Tolin has to say about hoarding, that people may have a compulsive hoarding problem if they meet these three criteria:
1. You regularly hang onto a large number of possessions that most other people would not consider to be very useful or valuable.
2. Your home, or parts of your home, is so cluttered that you can no longer use those parts of your home for their intended purpose.
3. The clutter is bad enough that it causes significant distress or impairment. (Tolin, 2003).
Clutterers fitting the last criteria, “cannot have friends or family over to their homes because they are so embarrassed by the clutter, cannot let repair or maintenance professionals into their homes, keep the shades drawn so that no one can see inside, get into a lot of arguments with family members about the clutter, are at risk of fire, falling, infestation or eviction, and feel depressed or anxious much of the time because of the clutter.”
Objects become clutter when they lose their value, which can happen in different ways. If an object is not working well, that object becomes clutter when working it is too much of a hassle to warrant attempts. An object can work, but when there is insufficient space to utilize its value, it’s worthless. In this way clutter can cause clutter.
Clutter brings noticeable symptoms to a dwelling. There can be multiples of items when one will do. There can be problems cleaning. Health problems can result from the filth. Social problems can occur, which in turn cause more health problems by causing stress. Psychological problems can be induced, especially plausible considering that psychological problems are factors in causing clutter.
“Manufacturers sold $5.9 billion U.S. worth of home-organization products in 2004, up 23 percent from 1999, according to the most recent data available from Freedonia Group, a market-research firm. The demand for custom closets has grown so much in the past several years that manufacturers, designers and installers a year ago launched a new trade association, the Association of Closet and Storage Professionals, based in Wheaton, Ill., that is developing certification to ensure professionalism in the industry. Americans spent about $2 billion U.S. in 2006 on custom closets, up 20 percent from the prior year, according to estimates by the association” (Munoz, 2007).
Solutions and billings vary among providers. One provider goes to a client’s home to take inventory of clothes, is involved with deciding what to throw out and what to keep, and proceeds to build a custom closet with the help of an architect and stylist. She says, “You spend that much money on clothes you want to be able to protect them” (Earle-Levine, 2004). Her initial consultation costs $250 and subsequent visits are $200 an hour with most projects costing between $15,000 and $30,000.
Arguably the most innovative approach to clutter abatement going forward is tackling the concept of the clutterer’s motivation to organize. The behaviors involved with becoming cluttered are associated with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and addressed in an article, “Motivation and Compulsive-Hoarding Treatment” by Nicholas Maltby, Ph.D, as well as David F Tolin, Ph.D, both with The Anxiety Disorders Center of Hartford, CT. They apply Prochaska and DiClemente’s Stages of Change Model, often used to facilitate change in a person’s nutrition and health, to the state of their household living conditions. The five stages of change are pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance, taking into account that there could be relapse to old behaviors. The article appearing on the OCF website entails how to identify in which stage a person is and what is the helpful response from outsiders at each one to encourage moving to the next stage.
The contradiction of cluttering behavior surfaces with examination of the thought process; if one keeps items with the idea of securing what is needed without fulfilling an actual need, seemingly responsible behavior develops more and more easily into irresponsibility.
People all over the world who have enough money and/or resources to accumulate are accumulating too much. Maybe we’re looking around at the starving, barely clothed, scantily-supplied living of neighbors and saying, “I know how to keep myself from that.” Then we keep everything. Everything that crosses our thresholds, we let stay in our homes as though we can take responsibility for this mass of materials. The things we don’t use are pushed around in daily efforts to get to and use the things we do use.
DISCUSSION
People who have clutter problems live in a world of abundance even if solutions to their specific needs are scarce or unattainable to them for the moment. The goal is for people stay open to and achieve what they really need and want in life by continuously evaluating the personal value of what they have and clearing space for what could be.
Doing this can be a mental challenge for individuals who, though they’ve collected a lot of junk, are without knowledge of what to do with it or what could be better. A support group created mindful of the common needs of this group of people could offer avenues of self-help. Clutterers can already be very responsible people who just need a little help to actualize their level of responsible inclinations. The support group will be a connection to the available resources of recycling, from paper and plastics to mechanical devices and charitable organizations that accept and sell used items. Group chapters can be formed anywhere in the world.
The impact of these groups could be far reaching as the activities involved are more a way of life than a coping mechanism; anyone can take advantage of the services they will provide. The material used to collect and transport items to the appropriate places will be necessary. Each group central meeting place will have large-scale trash, organic waste, recyclables, and charity goods pick-up, for people without these services at their homes or people with large loads. There will be an outlet for the reuse of all materials that can be saved from the landfills, and an importance will be placed on where an item will inevitably end up before it’s brought into the home. Money made from recycling material, and possibly from the selling of items and compost or mulch, will cover the cost of the projects to continue.
CONCLUSION
Devalued objects that are kept in the home can get in the way and continue to lose value. Clutter is the build-up of these items and can be caused by lack of time, lack of storage, or lack of understanding in how to sort and keep organized. Psychological problems can also be a cause of serious cluttering. Hoarding or the collection of useless, meaningless objects can lead to health problems, social problems, and psychological problems. Moderate cluttering can bring the disadvantages of taking up time and space.
Utilizing the services and products available will clear up these problems. If items are valuable to the user, they are housed in a specific place. People can pass on what they don’t need. Long term organizational solutions through support groups will solidify this concept in the ideals of humans. An interior that functions as a well-designed system will be healthy for the environment, as well as for the people living inside.
References
Earle-Levine, Julie (2004, January 4). A wardrobe tailored for your clothes [Electronic
version]. Sunday Times (London), p. 11.
Healy, Mary Lou (2007, May 7). What’s so bad about clutter? [Electronic version].
Christian Science Monitor, p. 19.
Kelly, Susan (2007, October 24). Tips on straightening out your closet; Some simple
suggestions on how to declutter your closets – and which accessories are most likely to help in the process. An occasional design tough should be considered; a bit of style can go a long way [Electronic version]. The Gazette (Montreal), p. F10.
Ng, Eileen (2004, January 3). Wardrobe organising [Electronic version]. New Straits
Times (Malaysia), p. 10.
Parry, Hazel (2006, June 3). Losing the clutter bug [Electronic version]. South China
Morning Post, p. 8.
Reeves, Lynda (2006, June 3). How to hide, hang and hoard: Closet organizers can make
storage easier – and prettier [Electronic version]. National Post (Toranto Edition), p. TO22.
Sanderson, Vicky (2006, December 23). Teenager closet chaos [Electronic version]. The
Toronto Star, p. E02.
Sapienza, Terri (2006, March 16). To restore order in the closet [Electronic version]. The
Washington Post, p. H03.
Schaefer Munoz, Sara (2007, April 7). Relief for closeted clutterers; Closet organizers
have become therapists for the over-stressed and over-consumptive [Electronic
version]. The Toronto Star, p. P04.
Stark, Judy (2002, December 7). Deck the hall’s closet [Electronic version]. St.
Petersburg Times (Florida), p. 1F.
Tolin, David. (2003). Do you have a compulsive hoarding problem? Retrieved
November 5, 2007, from http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200411/tows_past_20041118_c.jhtml
Widhalm, Shelly (2005, January 19). Controlling closet chaos [Electronic version]. The
Washington Times, p. B01.
Building Analysis (Portfolio)
What's striking about this space is the open, easy-going feeling. Negative space is largely used in depth as well as height. The height is stories tall seeming not to close at all with the way one wall curves slightly to meet, where the ceiling would be, the opposite side which is composed of glass primarily. The hall also curves into the distance as the floor creates a diagonal line inclining to the second floor. The floor is a white, smooth material unbroken except for a centerline right down the middle of the hallway. The negative space, airy color, and curved lines evoke the free feeling. The smooth walking space directed by a long shape and a single line creates a movement effortlessly even as the path leads to a second story. I think the design is successful. This is a place where the concept is to get people calmly from one place to another. In a place that could get crowded with people, it's hard to imagine this one getting a cramped feeling. There is space to rest and eat at tables, which aren't blocked off in their own stagnant area or an imposition to the walking or visual flow. It looks like there is also a see-through elevator going to the next floor. Travelers would have an easy time navigating in this design at the slow constant pace the design conveys. The two things i could think of adding were easily dismissed in my mind. Both stairs and running water features would have brought with them a sense of gravity we don't have to deal with in this space as it is.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
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