When we visited the Southsea areas, we observed how Portsmouth stands out as an iconic city with its seafront views. From Gunwharf to Clarence Pier, we strolled along, admiring the ships and yachts, until we reached our destination, “The Point,” in the old Portsmouth area.
The stone platforms prompted me to jump onto them and take in the surroundings. The scenery was mesmerizing and breathtaking. I instantly fell in love with the place, and we lingered there for 15 minutes.
The following week, we were tasked with defining “hopepunk,” reflecting on what it means to be hopeful and joyful. However, we hadn’t yet thought of that location. We simply engaged in play and brainstormed ideas for hopepunk and chose the word we can use instead of “link”.
We chose “Umbrella“
Our group has six members. We couldn’t decide what to create, so we just gave a way and design our own creative style. The next thing that just came to our mind was the umbrella which our teammate, Foad, brought along when he visited the Southsea area.
The concept of the umbrella initiated our collaborative design process. With this, we went to the next step “Singing and dancing”. When we were asked to choose the site, me and my teammate, Rishika, suggested “the Point” where we could have lots of opportunity to create and design whatever we want.
The Point
After choosing the site and visit there again, what we want to do is some performance on that stone platforms. It laid there perfectly as a stage where we can may be dance and sing on them. When we presented the site and potential to the design what we want it to be. We glad to know that our presentation was lifting the classmates spirit with the dance and the song “Imagine” by John Lennon. We made the class into joyful and playful at that day.
Joyful, Playful
For that topic, we were asked to design a spatial design where human and non-human can interact. We knew that with just singing and dancing, we couldn’t design out of that theme. However, we still stuck on our joyful and playful spirit and tried to make a playful stage with ropes and balls of we called that project “Rhythmic Rope”
Rhythmic Rope
Through a robust blend of theoretical grounding and practical application, Rhythmic Ropes endeavors to respond to the pressing need for inclusive spaces that not only encourage physical activity but also facilitate meaningful social interactions and nurture emotional well-being within the bustling confines of urban environments.
Rhythmic Ropes is a n innovative design concept aimed at enhancing mental health and well-being through dance and movement activities within The Point area of Portsmouth.
Drawing upon extensive research highlighting the positive impact of exercise on mental health, Rhythmic Ropes proposes to transform conventional rope playgrounds into dy-
namic spaces conducive to expressive and joyful dancing. At its core, Rhythmic Ropes comprises network of interconnected rope structures strategically designed to facilitate a spectrum of movement-based activities.
What I learned
From the visit to the Southsea to the Rhythmic Rope project, I have learnt that spatial designer needs to focus on the surroundings not only the humans but also non-humans: birds, plants, sea and even the stones and rocks. What we made needs to be resilient. What we create needs to be effective to them both in present and the near future.
S.A.D
I didn’t know about the S.A.D in my previous studies because I didn’t pay attention to the emotional changes of the people which link to the seasonal change. After participating in this project with my teammates, I got to know what S.A.D meant to be. It is the mental illness which got affected by the seasons. It is what it is, especially in winter where we got to see few people at that site. And it was because of the winter season and people don’t like to go out. The concept and design we chose happens to be effective to the people who suffered from S.A.D syndrome. We give joyful and hopeful with colors that could uplift their moods by playing around what we created.
That was a perfect concept where we can link with resilience.
From this group, from my teammates, I came to acknowledge that no matter how big our group is, with six members, we can still make a decision and appreciate everyone efforts and participation. That skill is what spatial designers as well as the interior designers needs to be learnt when they got to have practices outside the university at the working environments.
I wasn’t that much creative in my previous practices in interior design field. After applying the master degree in university of Portsmouth, I got to widen my knowledges and my design thinking skills.
Sometimes we need to be playful.
Good designers need to be playful and create anything in the joyful ways.
