Part 4 Unit 2 – Aggie's interior design journey

Research task: Communal living

There are several communal living set ups withing the UK. There must be much more all over the world. Funny, I was never aware of such organisations. I always thought communal living had to do with flat sharing, squatting or a sect of some sort.

Osho Leela is a spiritual commune in Dorset. New members are accepted based on what skills they can bring into the community. There are weekly group meditation sessions, which may include some shouting to get rid of negative emotions and help dissolve conflicts between the residents. Visitors can come and stay for a nominal fee. The residents don’t pay but instead help out with the upkeep etc.

Forgebank in Lancaster started as a community of 15 houses in 2012 but now consists of 41. It is a sustainable development for people who want to leave sustainably. The houses are powered by solar power, bio-mass boiler, and micro-hydro scheme (installed in the nearby Lancaster canal). This all aided by community sharing of laundry facilities, cars (there are 7, of which 3 are electric), cooperative food store (into which the residents pay in). All homes have own kitchen but in addition to that there is a big communal kitchen where meals and time are shared amongst the residents. The community has achieved Passivhouse standard – which means low carbon footprint through build and subsequent exploitation of development.

LILAC in West Leeds stand for Low Impact Living Affordable Community. It started in 2006 and first residents moved in 2013. It is a mutual home ownership society ensuring permanent affordability of housing. It is Low Impact because it is sustainable in many ways. They achieved low carbon footprint during construction by using panel timber walls insulated with straw bale. There is a passive solar / MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery) system in place, which helps to maintain high air quality without the need to open the windows (and thus lose the heat / waste the energy). There are solar panels for each house, plus extra for the common house, also solar thermal system installed for air and water heating. Additionally, the community is sustainable through sharing of cars, equipment, tools, laundry facilities, office space. They also share meals twice a week, growing own produce on allotments (I’m sure this gets shared too) and shopping locally.

It sounds like a great way of living. To share instead of waste… Kind to our planet too. Many areas suffer with anonymity, no community feel. This in turn results in mental health issues etc. Perhaps community living could be an answer too. Keep thinking through this task of Holmes Road Studios where a small community living with gardening activities improving that community help people out of homelessness.

References:

Bibliography

Bearne, S. (2018) ‘Totally together: could communal living suit you?’, The guardian, The Guardian, 3rd February [Online]. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/feb/03/communal-living-communes-cohousing (Accessed 30 December 2022).

Facebook.com (n.d.) Facebook [Online]. Available at https://www.facebook.com/thedrivecoop/ (Accessed 30 December 2022).

Lilac.coop (n.d.) LILAC [Online]. Available at http://www.lilac.coop/ (Accessed 30 December 2022).

Org.uk (n.d.) Home [Online]. Available at https://www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/ (Accessed 30 December 2022a).

Org.uk (n.d.) Diggers and dreamers – intentional community in Britain [Online]. Available at https://diggersanddreamers.org.uk/ (Accessed 30 December 2022b).

Org.uk (n.d.) Lancaster Cohousing [Online]. Available at http://www.lancastercohousing.org.uk/ (Accessed 30 December 2022c).

Suzanne Bearne (n.d.) Evening standard: Is co-living the New Way for millennial Londoners to flatshare? — [Online]. Available at https://www.suzannebearne.com/new-page-42 (Accessed 30 December 2022).

Thedrive.coop (n.d.) The drive housing co-operative [Online]. Available at https://thedrive.coop/ (Accessed 30 December 2022).

Further research: other small, occupied spaces.

There are many other different examples of small-spaces-for-living or small spaces that can be occupied. Do some background research into the design and use of Japanese capsule hotels. Can you find several different examples? How are they used? What considerations have determined the design of these small spaces?

Document your research in your learning log.

I started my research by googling the phrase ‘capsule hotel’. One of the first results was a hotel comparison site, so I thought it would be a great starting point to see how the offer varies.

I first looked at Resol Poshtel Tokyo Asakusa. It is only possible to book either male or female single bedrooms. They are competitively priced for a single traveller at £36 per night. I gather there must be male and female sleeping sections. It seems the capsules/ bedrooms have no fixed / locking doors but just curtains hanging, in a similar fashion to store changing rooms. There are shared bathrooms (I assume also divided into male/ female) that are similar in set up to what you may see at a modern gym. The bedrooms are very small, with a single bed each and suitcase space under each bed. The location of the hotel is in close proximity to multiple points of interest. I am sure it offers value for money; I am not quite sure I could stay there (mainly due to lack of locking doors and a lack of privacy). I suppose this place is just half a step up from traditional hostel with a more luxurious bathroom. It may however work for solo travellers, giving them opportunity to meet new people as all spaces, even the bedrooms seem quite communal. The compact design allows to fit more bedrooms in a smaller space which I am sure comes at a premium in Central Tokyo.

Fig 1-4 Facilities at Resol Poshtel Tokyo Asakusa © Booking.com

Nine hours Otemachi Imperial Palace in Tokyo offers single capsule rooms in either female or male sections. Soundproofing or sleep analysis upgrades are available. A night there can cost as little as £26. The design of this place seems less cosy than Resol Poshtels. Nine Hours Otemachi however offers lockable capsule bedrooms that are stacked on top of one another. They almost look like rows of cupboard in pristine, white almost lab feel setup. The bedrooms are very small, just big enough to ft a lying person in. Definitely no room to stand and stretch, this would have to be done ‘outside’. As seen in Fig. 5 the design is very futuristic.

Fig 5-8 Facilities at nine hours Otemachi Imperial Palace in Tokyo

I believe the main consideration in the design of these spaces was to maximise the number of individual sleeping quarter in the minimum space while providing all necessary facilities that you’d expect in a ‘hotel’. There must have been a need in the market for affordable accommodation and this must be the result of the compromise. Compromise on space and privacy but in return it is affordable.

List of illustrations:

Fig. 1 Booking.com (2022) Capsule Bedroom at Resol Poshtel Tokyo Asakusa. [Photograph] At: https://cf.bstatic.com/xdata/images/hotel/max1024x768/239289989.jpg?k=dbd1b0ce73a52740332540ee033a25421a20b8a9b571d2f22f24ec1582882b88&o=&hp=1 (Accessed 30/12/2022)

Fig. 2 Booking.com (2022) Capsule Bedroom with an occupant at Resol Poshtel Tokyo Asakusa. [Photograph] At: https://cf.bstatic.com/xdata/images/hotel/max1024x768/242931851.jpg?k=38b0551456b4d0660aca652431e494628f8d4a6aa5b3650041e7754f3881be6d&o=&hp=1 (Accessed 30/12/2022)

Fig. 3 Booking.com (2022) Row of Capsule Bedrooms at Resol Poshtel Tokyo Asakusa. [Photograph] At: https://cf.bstatic.com/xdata/images/hotel/max1024x768/242931850.jpg?k=ab185a3de6697b68223b7082f5e6f00de4e0859e938f6ac3916abc57c8b74c63&o=&hp=1 (Accessed 30/12/2022)

Fig. 4 Booking.com (2022) Shared bathroom facilities at Resol Poshtel Tokyo Asakusa. [Photograph] At: https://cf.bstatic.com/xdata/images/hotel/max1024x768/239289840.jpg?k=ebf65e9c5fa2b17ebf5ae2b6b0997a5560f7e961e74fb9624b7e5345730a657d&o=&hp=1 (Accessed 30/12/2022)

Fig. 5 Booking.com (2022) Nine Hours Otemachi Imperial Palace bedrooms. [Photograph] At: https://cf.bstatic.com/xdata/images/hotel/max1024x768/136691939.jpg?k=c72a7d1dd53bb688bb2941cb4dba762f5ec65e66ef0c4318277f3eedeaa589b2&o=&hp=1 (Accessed 30/12/2022)

Fig. 6 Booking.com (2022) Nine Hours Otemachi Imperial Palace bedroom. [Photograph] At: https://cf.bstatic.com/xdata/images/hotel/max1024x768/402247755.jpg?k=8b5dcd0920355144e98f1413c0320555b3ed739c2f15d661ae4ddae381c81894&o=&hp=1 (Accessed 30/12/2022)

Fig.7 Alam, M (n.d.)Nine hours Otemachi bedrooms. [Photograph] At: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipPf8QXggt-202QJkeA6HxL4QfVaQl32_Ff2BImI=w253-h189-k-no (Accessed 30/12/2022)

Fig. 8 Soliman, M (n.d) Nine Hours Otemachi Imperial Palace bathroom facilities. [Photograph] At: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipOMAq_lox8dZWinqXNeV3nMgh62_yJSzKqsNNAB=w253-h337-k-no (Accessed 30/12/2022)

References:

nine hours Otemachi-Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan (no date) Booking.com. Available at: nine hours Otemachi-Imperial Palace, Tokyo – Updated 2022 Prices (booking.com) (Accessed: 30 December 2022).

Booking.com (2022) Resol Poshtel Tokyo Asakusa. [Accommodation listing] At: Resol Poshtel Tokyo Asakusa, Tokyo – Updated 2022 Prices (booking.com)

Exercise 1: Minimum space

I gave it some thought, how to present my findings. I decided that for the story to be cohesive and easy to understand I should have same/ similar background in the images. I decided to present the story as if the camera was positioned at the feet of the bed. In first few images I accentuated the ceiling light being on, illuminating the room, to show it is night-time. This is then followed by the action of undressing and putting the pyjama on by my character. He then goes to sleep; the light is off and moon crescent is present next to pictures 1-4. Daytime pictures show the sun shining. I thought I’d show my character stretching and yawning as he wakes up, he then gets dressed and leaves the room.

In my storyboard research, I’ve seen examples of each picture having a little description, I used that description here. I considered the look of the storyboard and didn’t like the idea of seven squares. I decided to make it eight squares, first one to contain the title. I considered carefully what sort of movements are made by the human body in the requested examples, I even mock tried making some movements and then drew what I thought represented them.

Drawing my design sketches, got me thinking of what these dimensions could be… I know as a fact that a single bed is usually 90cm wide and 200cm long. As my character is quite tall, I decided (after a quick look online at average data) that top of mattress to the floor distance should be 60cm. My storyboard had a bed that is quite a bit lower than that. I also keep thinking that this isn’t smallest space I could have had these actions in. The bed could be placed on a platform (like in Trailhead Tiny Mansion). The character could ‘exercise’ (stretch, bend etc) more while getting dressed or undressed. The door could have been a sliding one to save space. I enjoyed this exercise; it was fun and creative. The drawings were created using Procreate app on iPad.

Research task 2: Storyboards

To research how other designers have used storyboarding as a tool, do an online search for ‘storyboard’ and look at some of the images that you find. You will see lots of different styles of storyboarding from impressive ‘finished’ slick frames, to those with stickmen representing how a person moves around a space. Both are useful in working out the extent and functionality of a space and are helpful in exploring and defining a brief.

For this research task I simply googled word ‘storyboard’. Seemingly all image results were connected to video/ movie making.

Fig. 1 Attack from Mars © 2022 Dream Farm Studios

The above example comes from a Dream Farms Studios Website, the article explains how storyboards can be used instead of a script in the process of creating an animation. The drawing clearly states the order of action, direction of movement with very clear arrows and a bit of text below explains the details and length of the ‘shot’. The drawings are a little crude, (the artist is just a little bit better than me at drawing human hand, which is my nemesis), yet they communicate very clearly the order and content of action in the film. In this little story the content is not as important as skill, the drawings certainly don’t need to be neat or perfect, they need to be easy to understand. I like the neatness of the design of this story board, with all rectangles being uniform in size and position. The squares are so neat I think they may have been drawn on the computer, printed out, and then artist drew and wrote on the printout.

Another storyboard I found was for a health campaign video, promoting preventative cancer testing. This example is quite nice as it comes with a video of the after product. The video can be viewed here https://youtu.be/VnRxhULO1Zk

In the video the woman says to the man (in case you were curious) ‘Dad, I have a gift for you. I had that test done (cytology), it’s all right, I am healthy’. The last shot of the video says, ‘I am planning a long life.’ I like this story board, it explains all actions and shots, using the arrows to show direction of movement. I quite like the box no 20, where it’s clearly shown to woman is speaking to her dad, even though we can’t know what she said, we can see emotions of happiness in the following boxes. The order is also very clear thanks to the numbers next to each box. I stumbled across this storyboard as I hoped it may be a bit more related to interior design, showing the house and interior elements. Even though it isn’t interior design related it shows the use of space and crucial elements within it. All the elements are Christmassy as the action is clearly happening at Christmas time, we have a Christmas tree, Fireplace with stockings hanging, large table and chairs to accommodate the entire gathering, the gifts are being exchanged. The video and the storyboard preceding it leave no doubt when and where it is all happening. It also shows the use of space, and how it is used at Christmas time, even though that wasn’t the intended purpose of it.

I tried looking for interior design storyboards but google seems to think that those are the same thing as mood or design boards, which they obviously aren’t. Then I stumbled across this Pinterest image; I am pretty sure it is interior design related.

I like the use of colour and the energy of these drawings, coming from confident hand. The wobbly lines and high contrast add charm and interest. I also like how the person on the last picture is sticking out from her square…

The internet is full of examples of storyboards, but I think I best stop here, it is so easy to get lost in the research.

Whenever I look at story boards, I can’t help myself but to think of comic books straight away. There is similar energy, especially in showing emotions and movement. All the little boxes are missing are speech clouds to rely detailed conversations…

List of illustrations

Fig. 1 Author Unknown (2022) Attack from Mars. [Storyboard drawing] At: https://dreamfarmstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/example-storyboard_orig.jpg (Accessed 13/12/2022)

Fig. 2 Bielicka, A. (2018) ‘Storyboard “Choose a long life” Part 1.’ [Storyboard drawing] At: https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/014/891/775/large/agnieszka-belicka-1-10-v4-c.jpg?1546118094 (Accessed 13/12/2022)

Fig. 3 Bielicka, A. (2018) ‘Storyboard “Choose a long life” Part 2.’ [Storyboard drawing] At: https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/014/891/786/large/agnieszka-belicka-11-20-v4-c.jpg?1546117667 (Accessed 13/12/2022)

Fig. 4 Bielicka, A (2018) ‘Storyboard “Choose a long life” Part 3.’ [Storyboard drawing] At: https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/014/891/789/large/agnieszka-belicka-21-26-v4-c.jpg?1546117682 (Accessed 13/12/2022)

Fig. 5 Author Unknown (n.d.) Interior Design Story Board. [Drawing] At: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/4b/66/03/4b66031f89725d89bd68049e722b07fb.jpg (Accessed 13/12/2022)

Research Task 1: Tiny House Movement, USA

visual-report Download

References:

Gonzalez, J. (2022, April 29). This woman made her tiny house a luxurious modern farmhouse. The Spruce. https://www.thespruce.com/luxury-modern-farmhouse-tiny-home-5224653

Journey, T. H. G. [@TinyHouseGiantJourney]. (2021, October 29). Mom + daughter tiny house – might be nicest Tiny Home ever! Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m997oklpKM

Trailhead Tiny Farmhouse – Single mom living large in a not-so-tiny house. (2021, December 26). Trailhead Tiny Farmhouse; Trailhead Tiny House. https://trailheadtiny.com/

(N.d.). Instagram.com. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from https://www.instagram.com/trailheadtiny/