Collaborate

Engage & Persist

Research

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Stats/Data analysis

Inclusive Micromobility Systems is a proposal for two roads in South Boston to become more accessible to bikers and pedestrians. It looks at what existing problems the streets have and proposes to fix them in inclusive ways, such as fixing crosswalks to be more visible and adding ADA pads to intersections for general safety. The area is very industrial and uninviting, so Inclusive Micromobility Systems proposes to make the area more friendly to people who work in the area.

I generally focused on the social aspect of studio this session, because I wanted to get into the groove of being in school again. I believe I succeeded in this goal because I had many instances where I was able to ask questions or lead the group. Specifically, when we were working on the final presentation, I took charge and made sure the slides got finished in time. I also worked with Jade very closely and productively on the flight path map. I slowly was more active in conversation over the session, while still getting work done.

Collaboration

Engage And Persist

Sketching and visual

representation

While this studio was definitely not what I usually focus on, I have still found it very applicable to my greater goals of developing skills in industrial and mechanical engineering work. I was initially challenged with the alternative workflow of an architectural studio, although I am very proud of myself for overcoming those challenges and feel I learned a lot about group work and work dynamics. I've also gained significant practice in both data analysis and high-fidelity concept visualization, two skills I have neglected development on in the past. 

Data Analysis

Inclusive Micro Mobility Systems is dedicated to creating proposals for infrastructure development in South Boston to encourage greater pedestrian and cyclist utilization of the roadways. The current focus of these proposals is greenway development on Southampton Street and Old Colony Ave. Primary conclusions of proposal development include a focus on well-maintained sidewalks and crossing infrastructure, greenway-based separation for bike lanes from the roadway, and removing un-utilized lanes from roadways to make space for pedestrian infrastructure. 

Engage & Persist

Envision

Data Collection

 Our studios project was a culmination of research, site visits, and data taken from clients and online resources. We visited Old Colony to assess the state of it and how we could improve upon it. We analyzed many different topics, including how many people used the street, weather they were in cars or on foot, the conditions of the sidewalk and street, how much noise pollution Old Colony had, what kind of buildings were there, and then we mapped it all out and started diagramming. We used more data to figure out how to improve the roads, such as crash data from 2020-2023, and drew the ideal street.

I consistently put effort into staying focused, which is very rare for an architecture based studio. I still lost quite a bit of interest and steam about halfway through and became less productive. I think I might be more distractable when the work is mostly research based, seeing as I have trouble sitting and reading, and usually don't comprehend the contents of the text. Some of the resources were in PDF's, which my "read out loud" browser extension does not work for. Finding resources and documenting them was also quite tricky for me. I will try to further improve upon this.

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Reaserch

Engage & Persist

Envision

Data Collection

 Our studios project was a culmination of research, site visits, and data taken from clients and online resources. We visited Old Colony to assess the state of it and how we could improve upon it. We analyzed many different topics, including how many people used the street, weather they were in cars or on foot, the conditions of the sidewalk and street, how much noise pollution Old Colony had, what kind of buildings were there, and then we mapped it all out and started diagramming. We used more data to figure out how to improve the roads, such as crash data from 2020-2023, and drew the ideal street.

Throughout the studio I put effort into staying focused and on track. While I wasn't one hundred percent focused at all times I believe I did pretty well.

The studio format was interesting and I enjoyed having many different projects to work on, I felt like I was always focused on a few things at once.

The biggest struggle for me with this studio was wrapping my head around the maps we created and the formatting of data, it took me a while to be able to look at one of the maps and understand what it was saying.

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Reaserch

Collaboration

Engage & Persist

Research

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Sketching & Drawing

This project was about micro-mobility, which concerns transportation, wayfinding, placemaking, etc. However, the project was mainly focused on accessibility in South Boston. The group was tasked with brainstorming ways to improve South Boston, but a large process was conducted first in order to receive some background information on the site. It consisted of selecting a site to analyze, conducting a SWOT Analysis on the site, creating sketches/maps of designs that could be implemented and also maps of the area, and much more. The group focused on bikers and pedestrian accessibility, as it was decided that these two groups were in need of the most help due to South Boston's lack of non-vehicular accessibility. Once this process was over, the group compiled all the information that was gathered into one presentation which was presented to classmates.

The goals that I set more frequently than others were collaboration, sketching & drawing, engaging & persisting, and research. I chose these four because they were skills that came up the most throughout the project. These goals were set each morning as "daily action steps," and they helped us focus on what needed to be done and how it would be done each day. I completed these goals by creating multiple sketches throughout the project, collaborating with my classmates on presentations/slides, conducting thoughtful research on the site we chose, and participating within the group. Near the end of the project, I put a lot of my focus into pedestrians and how we could make the area more accessible for them. Therefore, I created sketches of crosswalks, curb designs, a possible roundabout implementation, etc.

Envision

Express

Research

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Growth Paragraph

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Statistics and Data Analysis

We started our studio first going into Boston and walking around to see what would make a good path, and if Boston was easy to find your way around in. Our next step was choosing a site. We got into groups of two and looked at three potential sites by weighing the pros and cons of each one. We eventually decided on Old Colony Ave. and Southhampton Street in South Boston. Our next step was to do research on the area. We each worked on maps describing income, race, and public transportation in the area. Once we had gotten a better understanding of the area we visited our site. During the site visit, we took data on the number of cars, pedestrians, and the noise level. Our final step was to improve the streets by designing bike lanes and crosswalks to the area.

Going into this studio I wasn't sure what to expect. I had never taken a course with a structure like Nuvu and was very nervous. Over the course of this studio, I learned about the importance of collaboration. In order to create our design sketches and during our research I would have to talk to people doing research on other topics to see what they were finding. One example of this is when I was prototyping a design for a crosswalk on Old Colony Ave I had to reach out to the people working on the bike lane to see if my design would interfere with theirs.

Express

Researching

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Growth Paragraph

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Sketching and Drawing

Create

 In this studio, I learned valuable skills, such as city planning, analyzing sites based on their assets, and many other things. I am grateful for the information I learned about this topic, especially as micro-mobility becomes an ever more popular and eco-friendly form of transportation. On top of learning new things, I improved on some of the skills I already have experience in, such as researching and writing research papers/summaries. Another thing I worked on in this studio was sketching and drawing, this had always been something I struggled with and do not particularly like. I really pushed myself to improve in this core skill, and even became a little more confident and proud in my drawings. Overall, I feel like I grew a lot during this studio, wether those were new things or skills I had some experience in.

Project Paragraph

Our project surrounded micro-mobility, a form of transportation, which concerns many different factors, such as placemaking and wayfinding. During this studio, we learned about all the various factors that go into micro-mobility, forming an understanding of the vast topic. After conducting our background research and viewing real-life examples, The Arboretum, we started the process of picking a site. After conducting different SWOT analyses on other areas in Boston, we deiced as a group that South Boston, specifically Southampton Street and Old Colony Ave, needed the most improvement. We then continued to research the site and even visited in person to get a better feel of the area, we were able to start creating our master plans. After even more research on creating public infastructure, we knew what specifically needed to change in that area, like adding bike lanes, more crosswalks repaving sidewalks, and creating more reasons for foot traffic around the area. Then, we created a presentation about our process and final designs and shared it with our classmates.

Inclusive Micro-Mobility Systems