1.)http://shixiaomeng3361028.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/rationale.html?showComment=1332742664787#c3683433602748666718
2.)http://haresama.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/project-1.html?showComment=1332742507866#c4363500356222205352
3.)http://janraymondgerardino.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/studio-2a-project-1-bioinspired.html?showComment=1332742329710#c481084608563699718
4.)http://patrickdunnindustrialdesign.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/normal.html?showComment=1332741967030#c2425760336156226651
5.)http://pings19.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/bamboo-spices-bottles.html?showComment=1332741389534#c8671407179340857711
Sunday 25 March 2012
Project 1: Bioinspired
Rationale:
Fruitzle is designed to relive the olden times by using the traditional method of preserving fruits without relying the refrigerator. This is to encouraged users to learn and understand on how to store fruits properly and bringing back the connection between different levels of living things; as human beings and food ingredients. Fruitzle comes in pieces and the user is required to assemble the structure of the food storage just the way how termites would build storage chambers to store food. The horizontal surfaces with the divided parts of the storage allow fruits to be placed strategically. Fruitzle is made up of bamboo because the material is sustainable and cheaper than most of the hardwoods.
Fruitzle is inspired by the complicated structure of the termite hills. Termite hills are constantly built to assist thermoregulation, to control and create perfect temperature levels, moisture levels, oxygen and carbon dioxide intake so that the food that termites had brought in are in good condition and well-ventilated. Termites require lots of food and have many specialised chambers for food such as fungus, dried plants and wood. Termites store dried plants in the underground level that has low moisture levels and it is constantly exposed to cool air. The ceiling of the underground level has many rows of flat and thin plates facing down vertically which helps to trap moisture. Water vapour will be evaporated to cool down the temperature. Oxygen will flow in and carbon dioxide will flow out so that the mixture of air is fresh. This kind of process is suitable for cooling ripen fruits. Ripen fruits need lots of fresh air to stop the ripening process so that the ethylene produced by the fruits will be carried away by air. This is important because fruits do breath; it takes oxygen in and carbon dioxide, water vapour and heat out. The vertical arrangement of the flat plates can help to increase the surface area to trap more moisture and to minimise the contact with the fruits. The moisture collected will be cooled down by the flowing air that is coming in. This is because almost half of the fruits’ bodies are covered by the surfaces of bowls or trays which could increase the moisture release and could bruise the fruits after storing it for a long time. This way, respiration of fruits can be slowed down so that the fruits can last longer. Ready-eat-fruits can be placed at this area as well.
Termites also cultivate fungal gardens in the nest for food. Termites eat fungus which would help them to extract nutrients from the dried plants’ cellulose they consume. The gardens generate lots of heat and moisture so that the crops are well grown. Termites would also huddle around to increase metabolic heat to keep the temperature ideal. The moisture and heat would help the nutrient processing within the soil surrounding the nests. This will cause an increase in fertility due to higher nutrient status of the crops. Water loss is prevented by confining the pavement surrounding the nest to a small, curved area thus increasing its effectiveness. The curved design of Fruitzle promotes the idea to gather all unripened fruits so that they are close together to increase the production rate of ethylene, moisture and heat to speed up the ripening process. Besides that, fruits that has high production of ethylene such as apples, peaches and bananas can be placed with the unripened fruits to speed up their maturation rate. Fruits that are ripened can be placed at the other side to stop its ripening process.
Sunday 11 March 2012
An Inconvenient Truth
No wonder this film has won the Academy Awards Best Documentary. This documentary film could grab you right from the start until the end, making it one of scariest movie that I've ever watched and it could definitely change our perception towards the environment instantly. I'm quite sure that the Americans must be wondering whether Al Gore could be the next U.S. president in 2008 after watching such a powerful and moving movie. Might be Al Gore's political motive?
After observing the before-and-after pictures from the movie, I've discovered that the melted water from the Greenland(due to the rising temperature) could stop the currents from flowing which would cause climate change in Europe. Glaciers from the Argentinian area disappearing. The carbon dioxide/temperature-time graphs shown are quite frightening.The temperature will keep on rising within a few decades if we don't do something about it. It will eventually reach to a critical stage. Other than that, the warm waters on the surface of the ocean can cause strong hurricanes. Lakes are shrinking year by year which would kill the aquatic animals, fishermen would lose jobs and could cause millions of people in hunger. All these sound depressing but somehow, after watching this movie, it gives me a sense of hope that it is possible to tackle this problem. Now, I understand that global warning is a moral issue, not a political issue. Parents or adults should educate the young ones that it is important to keep the environment clean rather than telling them who are the ones making all this mess. I thought this is a good warning by Al Gore. Another point is that we tend to blame the politicians for not doing what they should to to protect the country from the increasing carbon emissions, toxic waste-by products and of course the rising temperatures. There is just lacking of political will. Most importantly, politicians should not take this crisis lightly and use this issue as a motive to gain political power and win votes from people for the next general election. This environmental crisis is a problem to solve for everyone, not for a particular group of people.
AL Gore also stressed out that increased technology and growth population are important factors of global warming. When the population grows, the demand for technology will rise but will there be a 'rise' in people's concern towards the environment? I think this is something that industrial designers should take note from it. Using renewable materials and products that are easy and cheap to manufacture are always encouraged. Also, always consider and make sure that less energy is required to make the particular product and less toxic substances are produced. Extra points will always be awarded if some sort of green design is incorporated. If designers keep on reminding themselves about this and do it as a routine, it will automatically be a positive habit.
From the movie, the most common assumption that people have is that global warning will not be coming anytime soon. Some people do realise that global warning is a serious issue but we don't really take the effort to help to care our environment everyday. Others will do the job, not me, I'm only one person. This is something tat we have to consciously remember it of the fact that it is not okay to neglect our 'duties'. I think we should be brave to voice out any concerns about the environment since it a moral issue, it is our right. It will be useful if I can incorporate this into my design, to convince people why green design is vital and to create the awareness about the environment.
After observing the before-and-after pictures from the movie, I've discovered that the melted water from the Greenland(due to the rising temperature) could stop the currents from flowing which would cause climate change in Europe. Glaciers from the Argentinian area disappearing. The carbon dioxide/temperature-time graphs shown are quite frightening.The temperature will keep on rising within a few decades if we don't do something about it. It will eventually reach to a critical stage. Other than that, the warm waters on the surface of the ocean can cause strong hurricanes. Lakes are shrinking year by year which would kill the aquatic animals, fishermen would lose jobs and could cause millions of people in hunger. All these sound depressing but somehow, after watching this movie, it gives me a sense of hope that it is possible to tackle this problem. Now, I understand that global warning is a moral issue, not a political issue. Parents or adults should educate the young ones that it is important to keep the environment clean rather than telling them who are the ones making all this mess. I thought this is a good warning by Al Gore. Another point is that we tend to blame the politicians for not doing what they should to to protect the country from the increasing carbon emissions, toxic waste-by products and of course the rising temperatures. There is just lacking of political will. Most importantly, politicians should not take this crisis lightly and use this issue as a motive to gain political power and win votes from people for the next general election. This environmental crisis is a problem to solve for everyone, not for a particular group of people.
AL Gore also stressed out that increased technology and growth population are important factors of global warming. When the population grows, the demand for technology will rise but will there be a 'rise' in people's concern towards the environment? I think this is something that industrial designers should take note from it. Using renewable materials and products that are easy and cheap to manufacture are always encouraged. Also, always consider and make sure that less energy is required to make the particular product and less toxic substances are produced. Extra points will always be awarded if some sort of green design is incorporated. If designers keep on reminding themselves about this and do it as a routine, it will automatically be a positive habit.
From the movie, the most common assumption that people have is that global warning will not be coming anytime soon. Some people do realise that global warning is a serious issue but we don't really take the effort to help to care our environment everyday. Others will do the job, not me, I'm only one person. This is something tat we have to consciously remember it of the fact that it is not okay to neglect our 'duties'. I think we should be brave to voice out any concerns about the environment since it a moral issue, it is our right. It will be useful if I can incorporate this into my design, to convince people why green design is vital and to create the awareness about the environment.
Sunday 4 March 2012
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