Prototyping (Un)reality
— Natural Phenomena & Fictional Devices
Entwurfsprojekt
ab 3. Semester
Wintersemester 2015/2016
Projektbetreuung
KM Johanna Schmeer
Prof. Axel Kufus
KM Hanna Wiesener
Teilnehmer
Jana Francke
Isak Han
Milan Siegers
Sophie Stanitzek
Anna Petersen
Christine Oehme
Marie Scheurer
Philipp Hainke
Sachi Kogame
Charlotte Marabito
Complementary to the 2015/16 Design MA topic “Natural Forces / Forced Nature / Nature of Forces”, the BA project “Prototyping (Un)reality” engaged with natural phenomena, from both the perspective of reality and unreality. The project was used as a vehicle to explore different prototyping methods, as well as communication strategies, and was an introduction to the practice of speculative and critical design.
In the first part of the project, the task was to research a natural phenomenon, e.g. biological phenomena such as decomposition or metabolism, chemical phenomena such as oxidation or crystal growth, or nuclear phenomena such as elementary particle reactions. The aim was to analyse and represent, or even interpret, these phenomena, through the creation of materialised abstractions in three dimensional form, through lo-fi prototyping. As a part of this, the project covered an introduction to 3D scanning and making tools such as the UdK 3d scanner, 123d Catch and
123d Make.
The second, main part of the project was an introduction to speculative / critical design and the use of narratives in design. Based on the previously researched natural phenomena, scenarios and fictional devices or tools were designed, and presentation and communication strategies for the resulting designs and narratives were developed.
