Design Process: Talk and Case Study Research

     For this week, we had attended a talk by Professor Tay Kheng Soon, a practising Architect and adjunct Professor at National University of Singapore's School of Architecture. The points he touched on were interesting, especially how he related design to other disciplines such as psychology and biology. A phrase he mentioned that struck me the most was that focusing on purely style and aesthetics was "the lowest level of design". It gave me a reminder that design has to have substance as well. During the talk, he often stressed on 'Humanising' whatever we design. He explained how a tropical environment, such as Singapore, should have buildings built to adapt to the climate itself. Our current buildings actually increases the environmental temperature, a phenomenon known as 'Urban Heat Island", which is due to the modification of land surfaces. He proceeded to show some examples of Green and Eco-Friendly buildings. That really gave me an in-depth understanding of how much thinking has to go behind a design.

     There was also a briefing for WGSN, a world leading trend authority, serving the fashion and creative industries. The forecast trends and have articles on design as well. They also have stock photos which we could use, so it is good to keep them in mind for the group project.

Case Study research:

Seniors living alone in Singapore:

http://www.socialserviceinstitute.org/RP/Elderly/Fulltext/10.pdf

This research focusing on challenges that the Elderly face living alone. Some points to take note of for the group's design problem (The kitchen is a dangerous place for the elderly/how to make it convenient and easy for elderly to cook for themselves):

-They are concerned about their living expenses, therefore we should take into account the affordability of our design

-Loss of mobility, but wishes to be independent and not cause others burden

-In need of socializing and emotional support

-They mostly desire to age in place

-There is a growing group of seniors living alone:
"Approximately 8.2% of the senior population in Singapore was living alone according to 2010 census, an increase from 7.7% in 2005, and 6.6% in 2000 (Department of Statistics, January 2006)"
and
" In 1998, only 15.2% of seniors expressed intentions to live alone, but in a 2005 survey (Straits Times, 21 June 2005), 24.3% had indicated that they wanted to live alone"

-More accessible and affordable for seniors to live alone:
"new policies and measures such as the building of Housing and Development Board (HDB) studio flats for seniors since 1998 (The Straits Times, 13 January 2009), the HDB Lease Buyback Scheme introduced in March 2009 (The Straits Times, March 2, 2009), and a 20 percent increase to the stock of rental flats in HDB in 2009 (The Straits Times, August 23, 2008)"

-However, there is an increased risk of seniors attempting suicides due to the loneliness of living alone