Shibuya - A Place to Indulge

In the first exercise, we built a 1:1 prototype of a kinetic element named ‘Beyond the Experience’ created by our senior. We modified the project based on quick availability and the budgets that restricted us, thus developing a sense of how assembly processes for the designed elements work and a sequential understanding of construction techniques and the problems faced in the real world. We became aware of the parts available in the market that could aid us to achieve our kinetic dream, thereby pushing our ambitions in the right direction and restricting us when needed. Musicscape was the exercise that followed, where we decoded a music piece to create an abstract model. The song picked was ‘Shibuya’ by Covet in the genre of Rock for the element Water. It deals with the concept of math rock and thus has an ever-changing rhythm. The melody was exciting and consuming. The song was very busy with the drums and electric guitar constantly fighting for attention but it also had a hollowness. There is an attempt to capture these emotions in the musicscape model. The strips extending out of the model signify the electric guitar and its prominent vibrations through the song and the thickness of the strips came in from the grid developed from the rhythm of the song. National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad requires Nidus (the shop where students sell the products they designed) to be re-designed while incorporating a design gallery and cafe onto the site. Using the Musicscape model as inspiration and keeping the context in mind, the design must cater to the needs while incorporating a kinetic element as a central part of our project. The design will be developed with the knowledge from the 1:1 prototype, the abstraction of a music piece, a site context and a programme. After rigorous sketching, concept development and a bunch of process models a final design is reached.