My Traveling Thoughts

User responsive iPad and iPhone bezel slide in gesture.

2012-01-07T12:26:00.001-05:00

The best way to switch between apps on an tablet or phone device seems to be the bezel slide in gesture. That said, there are many issues with implementing this approach. The foremost being that apps requiring long screen gestures and interactions such as games will invariably cause users to accidentally switch away from the current app.

This is why having a full bezel to bezel gesture across the device's screen required to switch apps is more appropriate. That said, this system invariably loses out on some of the best aspects of the single bezel slide in approach, such as dynamic feedback illustrating that one app is being switched for another the moment the bezel gesture begins. This can't be applied to the bezel to bezel approach without losing the reason for using it in the first place, preventing interruptions to the current app session from accidental bezel slide in gestures.

This is why I propose a hybrid. Require a full bezel to bezel gesture to switch apps but only beginning the dynamic feedback at the midway point. This could be implemented as a gradual fade in of the next app below the user's finger at the midway point or, to conform more to Apple's design language, having the current app begin the recede into the background at the midway point followed by the next app sliding into place on top.

I'd like to see this approach implemented in the iPad as the current 4 finger gesture limits the functionally of apps to 3 finger gestures or less.

What .2 of an inch will do for the iPhone 5

2011-07-11T12:29:00.000-04:00

Something occurred to me the other day regarding iOS 5, the iPhone 5 and their impact together on the iOS UI (namely notifications). Prior to this I'd been writing an essay on the shortcomings of notifications on iOS 5 and how I felt they could be fixed. With that essay in mind I was reflecting on how Apple could have gotten notifications so wrong when gradually the all the pieces, all the rumours and inconsistencies, came together for me. The ensuing image was brilliant. Let me explain:

In my previous easy I highlighted the fact that iOS 5's notifications are still obtrusive as they hide critical UI elements in some apps. My solution for this was to have iOS 5 resize apps below notifications using the same double height status bar method employed by the phone app, voice memo app and tethering function. The issue with this, I conceded, was that some apps don't resize properly to make room for the double height status bar. Apple must have also observed this resizing issue, regarded it as being unacceptable and chose to have notifications conceal all apps consistently rather than some apps inconsistently. Personally, I would have written off apps that didn't resize much the same way apps that didn't multitask were with iOS 4. Users would have naturally gravitated toward apps that do resize just is I found myself doing so with multitasking apps after the release of iOS 4. As it stands currently, notifications in iOS 5 are unacceptable and un-Apple in their implementation.

At the same time as my musings, rumours were surfacing regarding the next iPhone. Sites such as 'thisisnext.com' ran very exhaustive articles compiling the most credible rumours of what the iPhone 5 had in store. One rumours that struck me as odd was the suggestion of a larger 3.7" screen. Apple has stayed very true to the 3.5" screen of the original iPhone and to change it now would cause some very serious headaches for app developers. Also, that extra .2 of an inch isn't much, maybe enough for another line or two of text on screen. Why bother go through the trouble adding it? It seems like an odd move from Apple which has distanced itself from the numbers game one-upmanship of the rest of the tech industry.

A line or two of text though, that could be handy for notifications. In fact, bumping up the screen size by .2” would provide exactly the right space for notifications to slip into. My back-of-the-envelope calculations confirm this. By my calculations iOS 5 notifications are 6mm in height. Expanding the iPhone’s screen in all directions to accommodate 3.7” would result in 2.8mm of additional screen width and 4.2mm in additional screen height, but constraining the screen width to that of the existing iPhone and only increasing the screen height to accommodate 3.7” result in... 6mm of additional screen height!

Picture it, on the iPhone 5 old, iOS 2 to 4, apps would no longer be covered by incoming notifications; they would instead appear in the blank space made available by that .2 of an inch. This would be a genius move by Apple: what couldn't possibly be fixed through software (having all app developers code their apps to resize below notifications) would instead be fixed through hardware. Ideally Apple would then learn from the mistakes of the past and place stronger restrictions on new 3.7" screen apps, requiring them to resize properly upon the arrival of a notification, that or disallow apps for using that space at all.

If Apple does this it will have paved the way for one of the best notification systems in the mobile space next to WebOS's. Yet, in an all too common move Apple will have thrown older generation hardware owners under the bus, leaving them with obstructive notifications and a subpar user experience.

They're finally getting it...

2011-06-24T12:51:00.001-04:00

Very similar UI concepts . Im flattered.

My iPhone exposé concept:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OOeKVbWIkg&sns=tw

Meego's three window UI concept:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSZssHGR-Qg&sns=tw

Refining the iPhone notification system

2010-12-12T13:58:00.017-05:00

I came across an interesting project Tweeted by Aaron Ash (arronash). Peter Hajas has taken it upon himself to rethink the way that the iPhone handles and displays notifications. Check out his blog at peterhajas.com I'm a little unclear on all the details but it got me really excited about the possibilities of a proper notification system on iOS. That said, I'd like to toss out a few of my own ideas on what iOS notifications could and likely should be with iOS 5.0 (fingers crossed).

The enemy! Obtrusive and annoying!

I've yet to see any notification system on the iPhone really deliver as they all fall into the same traps that others have: they become overly complicated by adding new UI paradigms.

UI paradigms are an agreement between developers and users. Put simply, the developer and the user agree that object/environment A will act in such and such a way. When you start to introduce exceptions or changes that breaks that agreement and users become confused.

Other notification replacements have used ‘Activator’ from ‘Cydia’ to bring up a list of previously dismissed notifications. I have found that this has led to issues with the functionality of my iPhone. Apps are not aware of Activator’s methods of activation: shake, slide in from the bottom, tap the status bar, etc. Those methods of activation interfere with games (shake), app launching(slide in), navigation to the top of a window (tap the status bar). My belief is why invent a new IU paradigm when Apple has already given you a good one: double tap the home button.

Double tapping home brings up backgrounding and media controls but it also leaves a lot of dead space that could be filled with dismissed notifications. If the screen lifted another inch or two to reveal notifications in addition to backgrounded apps the excising UI paradigm of iOS 4 would remain in place.

What’s all the empty space doing for you? Combining the double tap multitasking tray with the Spotlight search UI paradigm creates a new system which users will quickly come to understand.

The multitasking tray is left functional and the user gets so much more out of their double tap multitasking screen. I find this approach particularly intuitive because notifications relate directly to multitasking, just as the music playback controls do. After all, notifications like music playback are really just an extension of an app left running while you perform other tasks.

As a side note, my iPhone is jailbroken so that bar you see under the playback controls is not iOS 4 default. For those that are curious it is there to control my screen brightness.

The same approach to notification collection can and should be taken with displaying the notifications as they come in. Many of the new features of iOS 4 involved a new animation which moves your current display out of the way to reveal the happenings of a screen underneath. The multitasking tray uses these and folders use this.

A system using this animation would be the least obtrusive as it doesn’t cover your current task, it simply moves out of the way. Using this approach for notifications seems the most logical. It suggests to the user: I know you are doing something else but under here there is something else going on you may be interested in.

Holding true to established UI paradigms, there is another iOS notification that uses this approach: the double height status bar. When active, the double height status bar moves the current screen down slightly to make spaces for itself. Apps and users and used to the double height status bar. They both know that when in play they can continue to work: the keyboard still works and text boxes are still visible.

The status bar would lift away and the bottom of the screen would push down and resize to make, both making room for the notification underneath.

A know that there are still a lot of issues that need to be resolved with this approach to notification: how to display notifications on full screen apps, where to display the number of missed notifications to prompt users to double tap home to see them and how to display landscape. I believe full screen apps will just have to become covered in part. Apple really didn’t think that one through even with double height status bars. As for notification counters or some other way to display the number of unattended to notifications, I would like to see the status bar display icons of app notifications that haven’t been attended to or dismissed, though that could fill up fast. Landscape is a no brainer thankfully. It’s not great but it can still show some text and an app icon.

What are your thoughts on notifications, iPhone or otherwise? Have I missed something or am I way off? Let me know!

Hudson

Using Google Wave for Android Push Notifications

2010-04-15T12:31:00.004-04:00

So I was going through my random ideas notebook, yes, I have a notebook dedicated just to crazy ideas, and I came across this old idea from way back (6 months ago?) when Google Wave first hit the public. My thought was, why can't Google use a tool like Google Wave to mirror, maybe even better, the iPhone push notification system?

Google Wave API plugins could be used for push notifications on Android not in dissimilar fashion to those on the iPhone. This system would involve some minor changes to the Android OS but would not fragment the OS as it would operate in addition to the current notification system. Additionally, Google would be able to leverage Google Wave in a way that would encourage developers and users alike to utilize Google Wave, to benefit of each. In this system the Android OS would allow apps to create waves in a user’s Google Wave account which the apps would use for storing all online and offline notifications, chats and other such events. At the OS level, Android, ether on Google’s servers or on each device, would monitor a user’s Wave account for changes. When a change is found that change would be directed to the corresponding app to notify the user or to perform any number of other tasks the app developer would see fit.

This system would have benefits outside any battery savings realized by using one global data connection. By plugging into Google Wave to direct notifications and data to a user’s Android device a developer would be making that notification and data stream available to the user outside of the Android device. A resourceful developer would be able to create a Google Wave app to leverage this data, extending their Android app to the desktop computing environment and potentially increasing the amount of time a user spends in their app. This increases the value to cost for the user and the potential advertising revenue for the developer.

A simple example would be a Twitter client would runs both on Android and inside Google Wave. Tweets and requests would be stored inside the Google Wave stream and presented inside a user friendly Wave app. That data would be directed to the corresponding Twitter client on the user’s Android device. Ideally, the Wave app and Android app would have a consistent UI across both platforms, creating a seamless user experience.

A Twitter app running on a Nexus One.

The Google Wave version of that same Twitter app, collection data in a forward facing, user friendly manner.

Google has already been talking up its app store for Google Wave; it doesn’t seem like that big of a leap to imagine apps being sold in conjunction across Android and Wave: buy one, get the other for free.

As aways, your thoughts on this or any other ideas are very welcome!

Hudson

Research Project: Head tracking in Architectural Environments

2010-04-12T11:03:00.011-04:00

Two years ago I began a four month research project in conjunction with the University of Waterloo’s Architectural program with the goal of developing methods and systems for creating inexpensive virtual architectural environments. These virtual architectural environments would enable students and professionals to immerse themselves into their designs, becoming more attuned to their special qualities. What followed was nine month of soldering, programming and LOTS of Googling, trying to bring my ambitions to some kind of head. In the end, I produced a setup using the Nintendo Wiimote, Unreal Tournament 2004 and lots and lots of soldering and burned out LEDs.

I’ve made public, through Google Docs, my project documentation video and PDF. Please feel encouraged to download it and do with it what you would, as I’d always intended it for public use.

PDF Documentation

Video Documentation

Thoughts on phones and silent times...

2010-03-18T23:32:00.002-04:00

So I have an iPhone and many of you have heard me complain about some element of it at one point or another. That said, I do really love the thing. I love the way it lets me stay connected at all times. Sadly, that connectedness can be a problem when it comes to times when you just want... SILENCE!

The iPhone does a particularity bad job of offering users a way to silence their phone at key times or to do so manually when so needed. Two modes are given: silent or not. I won't go into details on what is exactly silenced when in silent mode but it falls short. For one, the vibrate function can be rather loud when you are trying to sleep with your phone next to you. It can also provide too great a degree of silencing, eg. Perhaps you get a lot of messages during the day but so you need your phone silent while at work but you want to be alerted when that one, all important, call comes. In that instance the ring should not be silenced but the message client should. Sadly, Apple does not see this as a valid use case, users don’t NEED these options. You're right Apple, they don't, but they do WANT them.

Hence the reason for my purchase of Auto Silent from the Cydia Store (so available on Rock) An aggregator for applications which Apple sees fit to neglect or outright deny.

Auto silent allows for the creation of time specific profiles which can be programmed function by function to be silent or not, this even includes disabling the vibrate (JOY!) Needless to say, I love it. My phone has been waking me up at night far too often even since I enabled facebook, msn and email on it! That said, it believe that it still falls short of providing the level of control and intuitivity that Apple is renowned for.

The profiles that Auto Silent allows you to create are limited to time as the only determining agent when enabling them. Why not adapt to the user? We aren't home bodies, we aren't mindless drones, we are subject to change and erratic behaviour. My phone shouldn't be telling me when it's time for lights out, I'll tell it!

With that in mind, here is an email I wrote to the programmer of Auto Silent with some suggested features to include in future builds.

These features do not have to be limited to the iPhone; ideally I would like to see them inform all phone designs.

>>>>>>

First, the concept is that the night mode/sleep time, ie. 10pm to 7am is good for getting a good night’s sleep but if you DO happen to have your phone on you or are out and about then you'll want your phone to be making sounds as normal. Why not have an option which can be enabled on any profile which will have the phone intermittently pole the accelerometers to see if it is moving? That should give a good indication as to if it is in use or not and if it should be silent or not.

Here is another one, maybe even better. Have an option which can be enable in the profile setup, just as with the accelerometer mode, to have the phone intermittently sample the ambient audio level and adjust the volume of the ringer or alerts accordingly. This could include simply lowering the volume in a quiet room or increasing it in a loud one. It could also silent the phone entirely when the ambient volume is below a pre defined level.

Last one. Why not have another mode in the profile setup which, again, can be turned on in a profile to profile basis but this time it would rely on the phone's location. A user could define a point on google maps and then a radius around that point in which the phone would change its profile to a pre defined setting. Eg. Pointing to your work and specifying silent between 8am to 5pm or school between 9am and 3pm, or home between 10pm and 7am. The Longitude app in Rock already does the pre defined location poling. Maybe you can tap into that as a requirement for this option? Just pole the user's google latitude location.

These options can be introduced as DLC for the Auto Silent app. Let users buy them each for $1 to $2. You'll make a killing! I know I would buy each and every one!

>>>>

So, what are your thoughts on this? Too much or still too little? How can a phone be more responsive to its user in a helpful way? Are we getting there or are we just spinning our wheels?

Hudson

-- Post From My iPhone

Rome Design Studio Project 2 – Final Project

2009-12-08T08:34:00.013-05:00

It’s over! I’m actually very happy with my project. I won’t bore you with the long drawn own explanation of what my project became in the final hours (and believe me, I was down to the final hour!) I just hope that you can take in the pretty pictures and get some pleasure from them.

I do want you to read this quote of Philleppi Starck though. It’s from an interview with the technology website, endgadget.com and really influenced the way I approached my project when I was trying to understand the Zeitgeist for our decade.

"Modernity goes to the minimum, to dematerialization. All intelligent products are more power and less volume and less design. And yet, in a complete reversal of modernity... Everything that has mechanical parts is older. These old, mechanical things may be well done but one day they will break.

Do we love these objects, the box, or do we love what will be inside the box?
When you get a new computer you are not in aw of the computer itself, but what you will do with the computer. That is why I want to clearly separate the 'box' from the end result. I don't give a shit about the object, the box, the space, the building; I care about what will be done with these things by the people that will be interacting with them, the human experience.”

On my building facade textures contrast: stone to stucco, stucco to mosaic, mosaic to concrete. Stark walls of concrete and marble faces contrasted against the bright, gleaming walls of mosaic.

Mosaic will create my imagery and orientations. Intricate patterns will form out of the grid of the ceramic tiles. The gleam of the sun across their brightly polished surface will create an added layer of texture, swirling, shifting, ever changing.

Ramps and stairs lead to a series of simple, austere spaces. Concrete floors and ceilings, steel cable railings, and a sleek exposed lighting system create neutral functional spaces; the objects placed in the museum are the program, for, as is the case on the internet, the medium is nothing without the subject.

The pure orthogonal geometry of the circulation zone, the internet, is violated by the expression of the folded front facade on one side and the resultant galleries, the medium, within.

If you want to see the full panels with plans, sections and elevations you can check them out in the images below or follow the links to be redirected to Google Docs

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0By7LHV7FlKQcYzNmZWFhMjAtYTgyMS00Y2E2LTljNjYtMmMzNTI3ODQwOTQy&hl=en

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0By7LHV7FlKQcNWQxZTZmNWItZmY3Mi00YWM0LTgxNTktMDlhMmVjMjkxOTUw&hl=en

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0By7LHV7FlKQcNjIyNWEwMTktZWIxNi00ODFlLTlhYWEtNDJmZWE1NGQxNjQ3&hl=en

Rome Design Studio Project 2 – Intermezzo

2009-11-26T08:14:00.002-05:00

It's a studio day today. Normally I'd sooner be outside or, at the vary least, near a window, but it's cloudy and there is something in the air that seems to be driving the population of Rome crazy. Everyone has somewhere to go and to hell with anyone that happens, yours truly, to be in the way. No matter, I need to be in studio. I'm starting to feel the walls of this project close in on me. I only have 2 weeks left and I haven't produced anything new to speak of in the last 2 weeks. My mind has been occupied with other thing: I just wrote my one and only exam, applied for jobs for the next 4 months and started to do some Christmas shopping.

That said, during my time studying for my exam I did formulate a number of opinions which will act as guide posts for development of my project over the next 2 weeks.

Technology is hidden: it is not the bold thing of steam, speed and power it was imagined it would become in the early 20th century. Likewise, the economy of the world is increasingly idea driven, ideas which are carried by underground cables between homes and businesses and data centers located hundreds of miles outside our cities.

The hidden nature of our technology frees the ground plain and speaking to the piazzas of Rome, creating places for gathering and loitering.

There is an explicit limitation to our modern technology. The internet is a dynamic entry but that dynamism can only find express through the outlet of a computer or some other form of screen or such device. A building, my building, which aims to embody the internet should also have this limitation placed upon its expression: finding itself stark and expressionless along the breadth of its form but exploding into complex and dynamic forms at its ends. In this way the building can be seen to mirror the cables of internet and the screens on which the data they carry is deployed.

This methodology of design has the added bonus of mirroring, perhaps even mocking, the static and immobile historical buildings of Rome. Their forms remain static and unchanging, while this new building, a tribute to the digital revolution, plays both games, unmovable in part, yet, as though to scoff at the viewer, just as one's eye begins to move away from its form the ends of the building explode into a tumultuous dance, deconstructing itself and exposing its core.

This manor of deconstruct speaks to the urban makeup of Rome: the combination of new and old, where everything new is on a steady path to ruin. In this process history is exposed, its lessons from past becoming exposed.

Rome Design Studio Project 2 – Interm

2009-11-18T12:45:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was the interm review for my final studio project; only two more weeks until it’s due (where has the time gone?). This was a particularly hard interm for me as I effectively started my project from scratch after the first project review. I had to pull an all-nighter just to product to amount of work I felt was needed to express my project. It wasn’t pleasant but I did it! So, what did I have to show for myself?

First of all, I made it a point to illustrate why I felt the need to so drastically rework the roads crossing my site.

As you can see in the old (or existing) urban circulation map, the main arm of traffic comes to an abrupt fork to the west of my site, forcing it hard left or right. This creates a number of secondary connections on which traffic flows. This is counter to traditional Roman planning which favours a cross axis: the Cardo for north/south traffic and Decumanus for east/west. So, that’s what I made.

As a side note, I don’t believe anyone else in the class has taken such a drastic departure from the current layout of the site. That said, it is incredibly effective and I and the few other student that have seen my work are surprised no one else has done it.

By creating a Cardo and Decumanus I have divide my site into two halves, where there once was four. The road acts as a division line, separating the transportation hub created by the train station, bus terminal, subway and taxi hire, from the three museums. The division favours the museums to the north with an expansive green piazza at the centre of the three museums, compressing the transportation hub to the south into a bustling singularity.

The green piazza at the centre of the three museums is programmed with cafes and shops to the west and ruins of a water cistern in the centre. Green space spreads out in front of the cafes created by trees in pavers, providing shaded space for tables and benches. Around the large, nearly rectangular cistern, the green spaces begins to densify, tress in grass form alcoves for smaller, more private activities to happen, while, directly adjacent to the cistern, space is left open for outdoor museum exhibitions to occupy.

The transportation hub, while largely just, has a number of program elements given to take advantage of the increased foot traffic it will see. At the centre of the site, just to the north of the train station, I have chosen to place my bus terminal. I have recessed it three meters underground and place a market place over top of it. In doing so, I hope for the market to take advantage of being at the centre of a train, bus, subway and taxi, transit hub. This space is intermittently sloped and ramped; provide room for the buses to travel underneath but also to facilitate its secondary use: a performance venue at night, after all, what could be better to have at the centre of the Roman world?

I’m in the process of layout out the plan of the market to give it the feel of being a space excavated from a hill side, much like a marble quarry. My goal with doing this is to make a connection with the buildings around the market/venue, which will have a vast amount of polished marble elements. Also, through artificial cracks in the ground plain, like cracks in marble, I hope to connect back to the bus terminal below. These connections may not be readily apparent across the whole of the site and the buildings upon it, but it will be with the walls of the buildings framing its space, which will be all polished marble.

Two of these walls framing the market/venue will be that of double height shopping spaces. At grade they will be entered from the street and parking for the train station located to the east of the site. At the second level they will be entered from the market/venue.

My museum acts as the link between two disparate spaces of the museum piazza and transit hub. It provides program to both spaces while also accommodating travel between the two. On the museum side, the museum acts as a symbolic aqueduct, providing water to the ruins of the cistern. On the transport side, the museum acts as the third wall framing the space of the market/venue over the bus terminal. A crack forms between the museum and the market/ venue to provide access to the bus terminal. Conversely, as the market/venue slopes up it creates a shear wall to the south east which acts as the main entry of the bus terminal.

The overarching aesthetic design I’m applying to the buildings of my site has been something I have just only begun to touch on. My theory of design is as follows. The buildings of Rome are heavily rooted in history: they are, for the most part, built out of historical materials such as marble and tufa stone. It must follow then that new buildings in Rome should be built from these materials in order to conform to the lay of the urban fabric. That said, it can’t be ignored that new building materials and styles do exist. A study of the building typologies of Rome provides a guide as to the degree in which new building material (I refer to steel and glass) can be used in a give building’s design. In the case of a museum, a modern construct, steel and glass should be the main building element, using marble and stone only as a mean to ground it in its context. Conversely, cafes or shops, institutions which primarily occupy renovated older buildings, should be mostly marble and stone yet providing indication, through the presence of steel and glass, that they are renovated.

Keep in mind that I have only just started to design these shop typologies and my museum. I haven’t even used a ruler yet! Following the terms dictated by my typology study, I wanted to frame my museum on a wall of polished marble. The marble would literally be a thin wall of marble, much like a canvas, on which my museum would hang. The spaces of the museum would be intermittent frosted glass with thick metal frames, clear glass with no frames, only supported from the rear by spider clamps, and a wall of zinc panelling. These spaces symbolize earth, air and fire, which I was assigned by. I was also assigned water, but I’m toying with letting the cistern be that element...

My shops will be two story buildings. The base will be formed as a heavy marble base with few opening. The top will be stepped back from the street and be metal panelling. In this way the modern material, symbolizing the changes made to the buildings of Rome over time, will not be visible when up close, it will only be when a viewer steps back, to examine a building as a whole, will the modern buildings material become apparent.

Argh! That took too long! Did you get all that? I sure did! During my crit I was giving a number of suggestions which I took slight offence to but now, after reviewing my project in this manor, I can better come to terms with and I find myself wanting to implement! The second level of shops around the market/venue has to go, so do the water elements to the south. I also need to rework the placement of my cafes on the museum side of the road; can you see how they block the view to the museum to the west?

Please, post comments! You’re opinions main a lot.

Rome Design Studio Project 2 - A Penny for your Thoughts

2009-11-12T07:44:00.000-05:00

Just had a project crit (a one on one project review) with my professor Lorenzo which went very well. I haven't had a crit with Lorenzo before and he was surprisingly forthcoming about the direction he felt I should got with my project.

His was of the opinion that I should totally redirect the road I had arched around the Baths, cutting across the site and effectively dividing it in half. I'm going to test out that idea this afternoon but first lunch!

Rome Design Studio Project 2 - Take 2!

2009-11-11T17:26:00.004-05:00

Alright, so you may have noticed that my first look at this project was a little uninspired to say the least. My project review didn't go so well and, in not so many words, I was told to go back to the drawing board. So here it is. It's still in its infancy but I have a good feeling about it.

I began with a study of the site and how I could divide it up into zone. Three in total: hard, soft and other. These are vague terms but I'm still vague on the program I want to place.

This 1/3 system lead me to remove a number of roads and relocate the main road running through the site (it's getting hairy, stay with me) to follow an arch through the site. Such a drastic move allowed me to rethink the way in which the Baths are used and accessed as well as the division of public spaces.

After my last studio review I was wavering on having the road depart from the axial system it currently obeys. Yet, having thought over my design and the reasons for why I have it set out in such a manner it is clear that there really is no other way in which this project should be carried out.

Setting out the road in a wide arch around the baths creates a space in which the Baths will be noticed. The narrow strip of landscape currently out front of the Baths doesn't encourage people to linger, it isn't a habitable space. Arching the road enlarges this strip of landscape, creating a programmable space.

The problem with my current design is pedestrian circulation from the station (in off grey) to my zones: market/concert, cafe, parking, the museums, and the Baths (in yellow) new landscape feature. This problem is beginning to be addressed by having the new museum (long white box) bridge over the road and act as a pedestrian circulation corridor. This has a potential to act as the defining armature of the project. Additionally, the bus terminal (in blue) has a channelling effect with the neighbouring museum, focusing people at it and framing a key view of the city, the Piazza della Repubblica.

Rome Design Studio Project 2

2009-11-11T16:24:00.001-05:00

So it begins.

"The second project of the term will lead you to a comprehensive design for a new museum to house a prestigious collection of classical statuary, the Torlonia Collection.

"The location of the new museum will be at Piazza dei Cinquecento, the large open space between the Stazione Termini and the Baths of Diocletian (now Mseum of the Terme)...." and so on.

View Larger Map

As you can see in Google Maps, the site is currently a bit of a disaster zone! Buses to one side, taxes to another and a complete lack of a defined pickup zone for the train station.

So, here is my first crack at creating a pleasant, while still functional, piazza in which to place my museum.

Experimental Game: Shadow Physics

2009-06-14T15:42:00.001-04:00

Wow, just... WOW! Props this this guy and his team. This is a totally unique core game mechanic which looks like it could be really fun! I wish I has the freedom to follow an idea like this through to completion.

Wandering the streets of Barcelona

2009-02-16T16:09:00.003-05:00

I wasn't mugged but I am a few hundred pounds poorer!

Hogwarts here we come!

2009-02-12T04:36:00.002-05:00

On our latest visit to London to see Eric we decided to travel to lesser visited parts of the English country side...

Out with the girls

2009-02-06T20:04:00.002-05:00

An impromptu pub crawl in Worthing with Kate and Liz. I ran into some great locals... Kate and Liz did not. Point Hudson.

A Little Bit of Canada

2009-02-02T16:51:00.001-05:00

The greater part of the UK woke up to 2cm of snow and ice. It gave me a bit of national pride to see the Brits stip and slide around!

A Full English Breakfast

2009-02-01T04:00:00.001-05:00

Kate and I finish up our tea before I run off to work. The English haven't converted me yet though, for every one tea I'll have 6 coffees at work!

The Worthing Beach

2009-01-26T17:48:00.001-05:00

My first sight of the Worthing Beach and pier and it's beautiful! There isn't any sand, oh, and don't be confused, it's not the ocean, it's the muddy English Channel! Or so I've been told.

Sheep!

2009-01-26T17:39:00.001-05:00

I bet they wouldn't miss just one. Mmm...

Walking in the Downs

2009-01-26T17:34:00.001-05:00

Kate and I went for a walk in the Downs. It was wonderful but full of dogs. They should do something about that...

Puzzling Signage

2009-01-26T17:28:00.001-05:00

Umm...

First Visit to Brighton

2009-01-26T17:22:00.002-05:00

Having a pint after a long day of walking around Brighton.

London Police

2009-01-22T13:49:00.001-05:00

Why the funny yellow rain coat? It's not raining... Yet.