Understand Art World: Rainwater Collection Systems

Critique and Innovation: Reiterating Ideas and Building on Inspiration

This entire curriculum process of designing a classroom of the future has been very scaffolded. Critique and Reflection have been an essential practice of every session. Students developed and articulated Habits of the Mind: Observation, Envisioning, Engaging and Persisting, Expressing, Developing the Craft and Techniques required, Reflecting on their struggles, Stretching and Exploring when they were unsure of the final out come and Drawing Inspiration from their peers other artists around the world.  Students were very metacognitive about their entire process. An excellent example of this is the rainwater catchment systems in the images below. During one opening circle students were exposed to a variety of roofs. One roof in particular, a upward facing butterfly roof caught the attention of some students because of it’s unique design and functionality in collecting rainwater. Two groups designed very different innovation of this butterfly roof. One group created a funnel like structure that held the solar panels, had a cutout for the edible garden and collected and filtered the rainwater. Another group designed large fins that would open out during the rain and collect water not only from their site but their neighbors as well. 

Habits of mind in Kannada

 The structure you see here as these huge fins that open out when it rains in order to collect rainwater from the neighbours

A Preview of our Models

Tomorrow we will post our rough drawings, plans and details from our models. Here is a preview of our models. It’s exciting to share these with you while you are in the thick of building your structures. 

These are images of our classroom space and the final presentation

We are working on our plans

We worked in three groups. Here are images of the three models

Drishya: Choosing and Measuring the Site.

We chose a specific site for the project. We had to think about sun, rain, wind etc. while designing our space.  The site is in the community that we live in and we did not want to raise any alarms so we decided to use our bodies to measure the site . We intentionally did not take a tape measure but used our feet to measure the perimeter and features of the site. These anthropometrics (measuring with your body) were then recorded and on returning to the classroom we averaged our findings as a whole class and created a scaled drawing of the site with the key features, (mainly trees). We recorded the movement arc of the sun and marked areas of sun and shade on the site.  

Using the body as a measuring tool was liberating. We developed a different understanding of how to use everyday measurement and not only rely on external tools to understand something. The body was legitimized as a medium of making meaning of the physical space

Waste Plastic Shelter

For all of you building your shelters right now – check this out. We went to visit this installation created by Mark (unfortunately we don’t remember his last name) a Swedish artist who has created this pyramid from waste chips and other plastic packets.

Mark engaged the local children in sourcing plastic bags that had been thrown in the trash by paying them a small fee for every 10 plastic bags they brought him. 

While approaching the structure we though it was built out of colored glass because the reflective quality of light through the bags, On approaching it closer there was a disbelief that something so beautiful in the landscape could be made out of locally found trash. There was an active conversation that emerged around the structure. Some students debated it’s use as a shelter because the current form would not keep the wind and rain out. Others argued that the aesthetic space created within the structure was all the function it needed to serve. Meditation is a central part of the students day and many students agreed that the quality of light in the space would be a great addition to their meditation space. 

Marks structure continued to remain an inspiration for our students. One team created a covered dining area for their model by using the plastic bags like tiles. Another created a meditation space using colored bottles in the wall to replicate the quality of light.

Drawing From a Point

At Drishya these drawings were our starting point. The focus of the drawings were to see our space through new eyes (new perspectives) and exercise our choice as to which direction we were going to follow. To note: At Drishya we don’t have separate art classes. The art, science, and math are all integrated. These drawings were a precursor to the architectural drawings you will all see soon.

Also to note – the Drishya students are currently on Summer Break, so they will respond to your posts in a couple of weeks.

Drishya: Newspaper Shelters

 

The Drishya crew building their Newspaper Structures:
- Each group was made up of 5 people
- 2 people needed to fit in each structure