PORTFOLIO Moa Dickmark
~2014~
MOA DICKMARK Believer in change & the power thereof
You can say I’m a visionary who loves a good challenge. I love architecture and design, but it is not what inspires me. It is seeing how people interact with space that fascinates me. Working with them and understanding why they do what they do, why they react the way they react, how we together can change a space that isn’t working into something that is, and how we can create new spaces that bring the best out of people both as individuals and as a team.
Location: Noerrebro, Copenhagen Location: Denmark
Year of birth: 1983 Mobile: 0045 2759 3732
E-mail: Web:
moa@moadickmark.com moadickmark.com
Writer
I write for the blog core77.com
Networking
I’m like Nokia: I connect people
co-creation
It’s about the user, not me
Architect
I create spaces
CV Articles DROEN Glesborg Ts’onot The Rock
Work and life experiences
Because I can’t stop
Co-creating an active playground
Co-creating learningspaces
A cave to be forgotten
Music for the people
Competences The title says it all
Co-creative design processes Designing a process where I work together with the users as to create the best possible solution for the project at hand. This includes learning spaces, playgrounds and office spaces, as well as strategy development and implimentation plans
Networking & connecting people Using my already exstensive network as to find candidats for f.x. a specific job, people living in a certain country and connecting various parties and
Writing My goal is always to use writing as a tool to capture peoples attention about a subject that normaly wouldn’t capture them
Design Strategic- , communication- , process-, product-, interiour- and graphic design, architecture and concept development
Project managment Concept development, organization and composition of teams, team management, coordination of projects and tasks, comunication within and across organizations and partners, negotiation with external parnters, strategic communication
Process development Planning, facilitating and collecting process data, developing co-creative processes and user involvment
CV Work and life experiences
Work 2014 PureVision.io, Milan, Italy Networker 2013-2014 Socication.com, Copenhagen, DK Self employed 2012-2013 MoHo - Co-creative Architects, Copenhagen, DK Self employed 2010-2014 The Collaboratory, USA Networker 2010-2013 Product Ventures, USA Networker 2010 Terroir Architects, Sydney, AU Intern 2009 Bjerking Engineering, Uppsala, SE Intern 2008 Bjerking Engineering, Uppsala, SE Intern 2006-2007 Urban Outfitters, Copenhagen, DK Teamleader
Education 2010-2012 2010 2007-2010 2007 2005 2000-2001
Master in Architecture, Aarhus school of Architecture, Aarhus, DK Erasmus students, Politecnico Bovisa, Milan, IT Bachelor in Architecture, Aarhus school of Architecture, Aarhus, DK Product Design, Den Skandinaviska Designhøjskolen, Randers, DK Art History, Uppsala University, Uppsala, SE Exchange student, Bari, IT
Languages and such Swedish, english and danish – Very good Italian – Good Spanish – Average
Computer programs
Adobe creative suit, Office package, Sketchup – Very good Revit - Beginner
Just because Have throughout many years work with various cultural events in both Copenhagen and Aarhus. Here my roles has varied from being a part of the team creating the events to lending a helping hand when needed. In 2009 I was responsible for developing a project proposal for the NGO Educat, when designing a school in Kigali, Rwanda.
Articles Because I can’t stop writing
On co-creation and education
Creative Minds
Working with kids - The Good, the Bad and the Awesome
Jonas of Nordic Tales
~ Why you should work with the user, young and old
The future of learning environments - An issue that concerns the students ~ Why architects should work closely with students and others using the school on a daily basis when designing and redesigning education space.
Education - Alian in society
~ An article written as to start a discussion on a global level regarding education and what role it should play in todays society.
Co-creative processes in education - The small things that makes a big difference
~ Things you should think about when working with co-creative processes.
~ A danish architect with the eye for simple design that captures the spirit of Scandinavian
Giorgio on Analog Photography
~ Italian graphic designer exploring and experimenting with the wonderful world of analog photography
Elisa of Manoteca
~ A young italian one-off designer using her heritage as to create history within the objects
Brian offers a Philosophical view on Design ~ Artist and industrial designer talks about the importans of socialy conscious design
When your field of expertise is hard to explain ~ Article discussing the difficulty of holding talents that are hard to define
Co-creative processes The small things that makes a BIG difference
Working with students & teachers can be a rather dificult at times, so here comes a few tips & tricks on how you can make the process run more smoothly There are a few things that one should think about when it comes to working on a project using co-creative processes. There are the basics, such as how you develop and structure them, and then there’s the small things that make the process go more smoothly. Sometimes these small things end up making a big difference, so I’m going to let you in on some of the ones that my colleague and I use more or less every time we are out working. Most (but not all) of them are applicable also when working with teachers, leaders, politicians etc.
The Necessities Start the process with a few meetings with the headmaster and school leadership, where you can decide on a common goal and make sure that you are on the same page. A goal for a process can be something along the lines of: Develop spaces that students and teachers feel comfortable in and that can be used in various ways depending on subject and the individual students needs. Decide on a timeline, a budget, how many hours you will spend with the students per workshop and ask them to find a class with teachers that are open-minded and up for the project. No point in hitting your head against the wall with teachers who don’t want you to be there; the students will probably take on the sentiment of teacher and the process to reach the set goals will not be enjoyable for anyone.
Involvement 1.) Make sure that everyone involved in the project feels like they are truly a part of the project, and that they have an important role in the process and outcome.
When working with students, invite their parents for a meeting where you tell them about the project, tell them a bit about the basics of co-creative processes and what sort of things their kids are going to come home and ramble about. It’s really good to let them try what you are talking about, so let them do one of the exercise—i.e. a quick and dirty model-making session always bring out a lot of laughter—in order to provide a greater understanding of how fun it can be, and so they have something to talk about when their kid comes home from school. This is also a good way to get them more involved— maybe one of the parents works at a warehouse and can arrange some sponsorship deal with the boss or something of the sort, or that some of them want to spend some of their free time helping out at one of the workshops. The more support you get from the parents, the better.
2.) Also make sure that people who are not directly involved of the project feel welcome. For example, shortly after starting working with a 6 grade class in a small school in the middle of Jylland, Denmark, the biggest ambassadors for the project and for what the students were working on turned out to
be the librarian and one of the cleaning ladies. They showed parents what their children were up to, and talked about the vision developed for the various areas.
All on the Same Level / Experts in Their Own Right
No matter who you work with, be it a class of 7-yearolds, a class of 17-year-olds, a bunch of teachers, the school administrators or a mix of all of them, always remember to make sure to listen to them and and take
Overview
Design an overview of the process and the various workshops. Explain the overall goal with the process, and the goal for each workshop—but not the details— to the students and teachers in the beginning of the first workshop. Draw them on the whiteboard with figures (cameras, maps, tools etc) representing each workshop. It’s good if you do this in the beginning of each workshop—that way, they will have a visual understanding of what is going on, and will be able to see where in the process they are, what they have been through to get there and what they have to look forward to.
Language
Everyone has an opinion of their surrounding, but not everyone has the language to express it. Students and teachers will find it difficult to express why a certain area is good, and why another one isn’t. It is your responsibility to help them develop a better understanding of their surroundings, and a way for them to express it, and it is your responsibility to make sure you get the information you need, and to make sure that the students and teachers participating in the workshops learn from them, and find them interesting to take part of. This wa,y no one feels like they are wasting their time and everyone works a bit harder to reach the set goals. It also creates a great positive energy that spreads like wildfire around the school. When working with students, no matter what age, never ever use oversimplified language. Continue using words such as design process, co-creation and mod-
them seriously. Whoever is a part of the project team is an expert in his or her own right, so when working with co-creative processes, no one’s opinion is more worth than anyone else’s. A 7-year-old girl’s opinion about the learning space is just as valuable as that of her teachers and headmasters; make sure that this is clear when you start working together, and that it is respected throughout the process. Make sure that no one plays the seniority card to get her/his way...
ules. Write them up on a section of the white-board, you can call it “The dictionary,” and then explain what it means using words that already are a part of their vocabulary. By the end of a workshop, you might hear a student say to another student something along the line with “Oh, but this is not the finished product, it’s just a prototype of the modular system we are working on...” When that happens you will stop, listen and think to yourself, “Wow, so cool!”
There’s no Right or Wrong
Another thing that is good to think about is to tell the students when you start working with them that: There’s no right or wrong! If you want to write down your idea, write, we don’t care about the spelling, or grammar for that matter. If you want to draw down your idea, draw. If you want to build your idea, we are going to do that too!
& What at your age is called Fantasy and Imagination is called Creative Thinking later on, and is something older people go to university to learn more about. So don’t lose it, you will need it now and for the rest of your life!
Teams
When designing the process focus on teamwork. Make sure that they vary in size in the very beginning; depending on how many students you are working with
in total, you can make them bigger. We have found that the magical number is 5–8 people in one group. It’s better with more teams than bigger teams. During the first few exercises, you will be able to see how they work in teams: which ones work more closely; who naturally becomes a leader and who takes the leader role by force; who is a good project manager or creative thinkers; who brings positive and productive energy to the team; and who simply can’t work together. Try to get them to reflect upon this in various ways so they are more likely to develop good team by themselves later on in the process. And then you have the ones that just don’t seem to fit in—or in some cases don’t want to fit in—to any sort of group. It is your challenge to figure out what sort of role they can play in process. Maybe they can be the Journalist, create a blog for the project, take pictures, do interviews with teachers and their fellow students, and write articles for each workshop. Or maybe they can be your personal assistant, or the shoulder-tapper, the one who goes around and gives high-fives, tells the other students how good they are and gives them positive reinforcement, it’s an important task too. Just make sure that no one is left out.
About Moa Dickmark Basics
- My name is Moa, and I’m an architect (I have a master to prove it) - I’m Swedish - According to wiki my name derives from the old swedish word for mother “modher” - I work with design of all sorts from product design to working together with the users using co-creative design processes
Other
- I’m a big kid - I love a well designed playground - I’m curious about more or less everything - Things that scare me makes me determined to try it and over come it - Baking and vintage dresses are my two biggest vices
If Lara Croft can do it, then so can we!
Droen An active playground for & by tweens
Imagine a playground designed to inspire activity both during and after classes. That is just what we did with this project, and then we made it happen. Working with the design process as an active part of the co-creative process, the students developed a space suitable for them. What you see on the following pages are parts of the process, and a partial design of stage 1 (of 2) in a nation wide competition. Out of 115 schools projects, our project was one of the 17 to make it to stage 1. One of the reasons for this is that we worked closely with students, teachers and leaders at the school as to create a space that both are intended for play and fun, and have integrated the pedagogical thinking into the space. Website: droen.dk
Dirtyjump model
Model materials
obsatcle corse model
orm 5 - 100 m
mlingen”
Idea development
Si
Platform 4 - 85 m “Hulen”
Samlingsstedet - 65 m “Tankstationen” -Klasselokale udenfor skolen
Final blueprint in progress - Forbinder skole, nabolag og fodbold bane - Tribune
Platform 3 -35 m
Platform 2 - 20 m
Bevægelse i forskellige nivåer.
“Stick n Sit”
Mulig “dirtbike” bane
Platform 1 - Cykel/skateplatform
- Geometriske gurer
- Start på 100-metersl
Kids with jiggsaws, now that is cool...
Glesborg Co-creating creative learningspaces
Creating a framework for project with the goal of creating a space that inspires the users is always a challenge. By working closely with students, teachers and leaders at the school Børnebyen Glesborg in Denmark, we did not only understand the flow and structure of the spaces. We were a part of changing the entire perception of the space, how the students and teachers saw themselves and the how they interacted with the space, both as an active part of learning/teaching and during the free periods. All while building up a better understanding of how to develop and interact with the users themselves.
process plan
Mapping
Quick and dirty model
Prototyping
Bulding
In action
And this cave belongs to which superhero..?
ts’onot A cave to be forgotten
Some spaces are not to be taken for granted. Some spaces you have to work hard to enjoy the pleasure of interacting with. This space, even though located under the island I’lle Seguin in central Pars, is designed to be one of these spaces. No true reward comes easily. During the day the light will shine into the cave through the openings above, during the evening the light will shine from below, showing the landscape and life underneath the surface.
Can you hear what the rock is playin’?
The Rock Creating change through space & music
One of the first spaces that tourist see when arriving with the buss from the various airports of Milan is Piazza Luigi Di Savoia. In this very now, the Piazza is not something that represents the beauty and cultural level of Milan. By creating a stage that is just as beautiful in use as out of use, it creates a space that literally reflects the true beauty of the city. Video: The Rock - youtu.be/a8eqE5dB9vU