Weekly reflections

This week was dedicated to the creation of our Design Dialogue exhibitions. On Monday, everybody presented the results of their group’s interventions. After gathering courage and presenting first, Marina & I (and Pippa too, over zoom) sat down and relaxed as we listened to what the other groups had to share.

I particularly liked what Plant B group (Chris, Juaquin and Didac) showed the class. Their concept was to create a space for an “inter-species jam session”, where the plants would be both musicians and instruments. By wiring a MakeyMakey to different potted plants, they managed to connect them to a computer and associate each one to a different sample on Ableton. I was amazed by the great website they managed to put together in such a short amount of time and the amount of people who were engaged with the project at Parc Ciutadella.

I thought the concept was really interesting and could be built upon to make something which includes visuals too. That’s why I spoke to the group about making some art that could be added to each sample generated by the plants, using the real time audiovisual programs I know so well (i ❤️ touchdesigner). Although I have never worked with Ableton MIDI inputs within TD, I theoretically know how I could put it all together. It’s just a matter of doing it, and hoping my thoughts were correct. I might work on it during the holidays, if my laptop allows it.

My excitement around the interactive plant project confirms my passion for interaction design, which means that I may shift my focus back towards the tech area rather than continuing pursuing biomaterials. Although I enjoyed experimenting with biomaterials and collaborating with Marina and Pippa, I think that it is not the field I ultimately want to keep working on. However, I do believe that I can integrate my ethics on waste and what we learned together into my future projects.

After the presentations, we discussed what to display on Tuesday, December 21st and how to do it. We bounced around exhibition ideas, brainstorming how we could have a cohesive exposition while still remaining true to our individual and group projects. This is the final display the class decided to work with.

For the remainder of the week, we had revisions with professors, group meetings and hands-on days all surrounding Design Dialogues. We sketched out some ideas on how to arrange our group area and our individual sections.

I was happy to have a break between all the design dialogues planning, making and coordinating on Wednesday when we joined Jonathan for a hike and tour around the IAAC campus around Valldaura. It turned out to be a splendid day, with the sun shining, making me appreciate Barcelona’s t-shirt weather even in December.

We were shown some of Valldaura’s projects, including an impressive DIY-solar greenhouse, a tiny sustainable house, an AI-made vaulted brick structure and the beautiful gardens. The MDEF city kids got a taste of what it means to be a modern-day farmer farmer, by joining in on the compost-making, soil-turning and kale-planting. I loved every second of it. We concluded by eating lunch at Leka, some people enjoying the restaurant’s multiple course meal, and others eating outside.

Finally, to conclude our week, we had a Christmas dinner on Friday evening, at a traditional Catalan restaurant called Els 4 Gats. Apparently, Picasso and Gaudi both used to hang out there, so it was fun to think about that while eating. Although it was an extra curricular activity, it definitely was a highlight from me that I could not exclude from this week's weekly reflection.

Overall, I’ve been both stressed and super excited about next week. I can’t wait to see everything come together and conclude the first semester of hard work in the MDEF classroom.

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