Notes within a dream garden

Honey Bee Roars The CPUT board has issued a date for classes to recommence. The break has afforded my group in the Design for Sustainable Futures subject time to complete our presentation. I used photos and pages designed in photoshop to visually show what we were up to at Montebello. Our biomimetic champions are honey bees, lions, butterflies and squirrels. We chose these species as they are specialists at mutualism, a form of collaboration in nature where both parties benefit.All group members managed to contribute to the assignment and it was a success! Here are a few shots of our time at Montebello!

Design in Newlands🌍🔎 For our 'Design for Sustainable Futures' subject we looked at the Montebelllo Design Centre in Newlands Cape Town as a case study. Unfortunately CPUT had to close it's doors due protests from thugs and the university body not addressing the state of affairs. As a result we see another year of academic put on hold and the lives of students disrupted. There was a sense of anxiety and tension in the air and this took away from the 'joy' of and the experience of this assignment. The Montebello centre is tucked away under the shade of Table Mountain just below Newlands Forest. It is conveniently located near Rhodes memorial and Kirstenbosch Gardens. The scenery is beautiful and the centre is a heritage site. The building  exterior has a weathered look  with the original brick work, interior decor and roofing. The building exterior has a weathered look due to exposure to the elements. To me it looks like a place where old people go for tea and lunch...

 Design for Sustainable Futures The year is in full swing and we have embarked on a new subject and at it's core is Sustainability. It is a complex and multilayered area in design and has multiple sub sections and components. We enjoyed a lecture by Bruce and Alettia. We were introduced to Bruce Mau and his Massive Change Network.  Here Bruce Mau has summarised his work in 24 principles of design.  We watched a talk Bruce gave at a design event and one thing he mentioned that stood out to me was being Optimistic and always having a positive outlook so that one will always see the opportunities to improve the world through design. Alettia read some passages from a journal article by Joanna Boehnert titled 'Design vs the Design Industry'. In short the article is an overview of political and economical dynamics relevant to designers concerned with sustainability (Boehnert, 2014). We were asked to do a group task and develop a concept informed by Alastair Fuad-Luke's 6 p...