PoL
Design and Build Project
17th September - 21st November 2015
Accompanying video for the project found at : https://vimeo.com/167334646
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The project began with initial meetings held in the Medjuck Architecture Building which delivered the brief and schedule for the 3 month long project. A series of design charrettes were then held with students working initially as one group to consider opportunities and general directions for the design to take, before smaller groups were formed to develop the themes into proposals. An event was held amongst the team, where all developed ideas were presented through conceptual drawings and sketch models. The ideas were discussed, analysed and argued for before a democratic vote was held to decide which design should be the one to be submitted for approval by the event coordinators at Herald Events. The winning proposal was the ‘Jellyfish’ by Sinje Westerhaus, shown opposite. It was chosen for its animated allure, exciting simplicity and for its ability to be replicated. As advice from students who had participated in the Parade of Lights previously, a design that can allow as many students to be involved in the parade as possible is best, this also means that multiple students can work on these individual pieces at the same time, thus, there is an efficiency of production.
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Once approved for safety and suitability by the event coordinators, this entry was tested and developed by the Dalhousie Parade of Lights team. A process of experimentation with different materials was carried out at weekly meetings, these aimed to achieve details reflective of the initial concept idea. Sheets of acrylic, sourced from other design and build projects that had taken place in the Architecture School were found to be the most suitable structural material. The sheets were cut into 1, 2 and 3 inch widths which would be used to create the structure of the jellyfish. The weekly meetings were generally held in the studio of the Architecture Building through the design stage and migrated downstairs to the buildings basement workshop as the project progressed. The workshop facility was kept open by student technicians who oversaw the evening activities, often advising on construction methods and tools.
It was determined that the jellyfish themed entry for the parade would consist of three elements. The main, ‘mama’ jellyfish, would be pulled along on a rick-shaw, this would encase the main sound system for the assemblage. Secondly there would be a series of ‘walkers’ that would be harnessed to a person encased in the individual ‘jellyfish’. The final pieces to the entry would be a series of ‘jellyfish’ attached to bikes as in the original design proposal. As a part of the original design, iridescent polypropylene, a film-like material, was specified to create the vibrant colours associated with the project’s namesake sea creatures and to interact with lights in an exciting manner. Whilst structural experiments were being carried out, a team was regularly working on the sourcing of this material which would eventually be used as a cladding.
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Once the period of development and prototyping had been concluded, each of the three ‘jellyfish typologies’ were at a stage where the structure, cladding and lighting systems had been tested to a point that the final week before the event would be a purely assigned, ‘build week.’ All of the members of the team, who had been involved at some point in the process so far, were called upon to offer a hand in building. This included a range of interdisciplinary students who had been amassed along the way i.e. Sam Fresia an Electrical Engineering student who helped with portable power supplies and lighting, and Dérik Sauvé a Community Design student and president of the Dal Bike Centre who provided bikes and knowledge of their mechanics. On the 21st of November 2015, the intense build week was concluded with the day of the parade. All participating students gathered their assigned ‘jellyfish’ and headed to the dockyard where the parade would begin. Amongst the other floats of the parade a great sense of joy outshone the unfortunate weather. Through the centre of the city the parade passed by thousands of spectators, lighting up faces of all ages. 4km and two hours later, on University Avenue, the enjoyment of the parade came to an end. It would be fair to say that the event was a well-deserved reward for all of the hard-working team. Returning to the Architecture Building, the team shared a warming feast and celebrated the rest of the night as a group, brought together by the Parade of Lights.
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As found in other design and build student projects, having a team direction set out from the beginning allows for a more invested input from all involved. As can be the case when the design process begins with individual submissions that are then to be voted on, students can feel contempt for having to work on projects that have been chosen over theirs. In this case the team had an overall vision for what should be the outcome of the project, and thus were able to come to agreeable compromises easily. Considering this was a voluntary project, entirely student lead, all participants were of similar mindsets and keen to contribute. This factor gave the team shared objectives and aided in the understanding amongst team members. As the team began to include students from other disciplines, valuable lessons of communication and working with others were learned. Along with this, knowledge of other disciplines were transferred, providing students with a more well rounded knowledge base. An example of this would be that the mechanics of bikes, which are critical for modifications to be made to them. From an architectural viewpoint, the practice of involving specialists to help in achieving a specific goal is very valuable to encourage.
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Recycling materials for both economics and sustainability were shown in this project. Left-over, waste acrylic might otherwise not have been used or experimented with if an explorative mindset was not employed. This turned out to be the ideal material, (lightweight, flexible and cheap) for the structure of the ‘jellyfish’. It’s flexibility alluded to the original ‘jellyfish bob’ effect better than other materials such as metals that were tested. Overall the ‘scavenger’ mentality of the project encouraged students to ‘do more with less’ and test materials that otherwise would never be considered. As a fundamental skill in every project, the parade of lights teaches students to source funding. This involved contacting various bodies and providing them with relevant information to make them keen to contribute to the event. Budgeting and administration exercises came as part of this experience. The overall budget was modest but was essentially only for materials and food (to attract participants to the event).
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Another success of the project came through the fact that it has been well founded in the city. Having run for 20 years the event has a large roll to play in the city. People look forward to it all year, it is an event for all the family and inspires children (even if they don’t think it looks like a jellyfish). In Halifax this event really brings the city out into the street to celebrate together (even on a miserable cold and rainy night). Above this, Halifax gets to show off its creative talent. With the internationally renowned art college (NSCAD) based in the city, Halifax has a wealth of creatives in its art scene. Latching on to this, the Architecture school gets to show off its abilities that often don’t get to be performed on such a stage. This opens up the students to be exposed to the public, but also consider what the city and its people (the client) want to see; what they can contribute to the greater community. The students are able to witness the reaction that people have of a design that they have created. To see this full process allows a certain feedback loop’ that students learn how their ideas come in to reality and how they compare to the original concept. I think this event was hugely important in helping students consider what they can offer their environment, and how they can engage with it.
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As a participant of the Parade of Lights I was involved in arguing for the ‘jellyfish’ concept and presenting this to the group. As one of the senior students in the team I played a significant role in motivating and leading the project. I enjoy construction and have accumulated some good experience in this area which allowed me to play a major role in determining the capacity of materials and the methods of structure. I self-nominated myself to gather film footage of the project. In terms of education I feel that I have learned valuable lessons that might not fall within traditional courses of Architectural education. This overall design and build event was purposefully whimsical, exploring an artistic avenue. The event allowed me to build relationships with people I would otherwise not have met. The Parade of Lights design and build opened my eyes to the potential for architecture students to contribute to a large community.
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Document produced by Lewis Grant to accompany Parade of Lights 2015 movie
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Images: Isaac Fresia Lewis Grant Laura Keays Nick Pearce Sinje Westerhaus
Project Leaders: Jen Kinnunen Shalini Makdani
Participants: Damon Couture Darren Fransen Dérik Sauvé Emily Wilson Ian Sawatzky Inés Paiva Isaac Fresia Jacob Kalinowski Jane Ouillette Jaudat Adnan Jeffrey Walker Kelly Cameron Kelly Caughlin Larissa Roque Laura Keays Lewis Grant Liam Guitard Mahta Safavi Mark White Rafael Barra Ryan Swirsky Sam Fresia Shaili Chauhan Sinje Westerhaus Wessam Bou-Saleh