MA Narrative Environments
SZU AN YU MA Narrative Environments / learning log / Sep. 2012 / Mar. 2013
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RESEARCH
Discover new information and facts / Understand enough before a direction / Avoid excessive confidence / How to research? RESEARCH METHODS DESK RESEARCH / SITE RESEARCH / SOCIAL RESEARCH / ACTION RESEARCH
ANALYSIS
Thorough Examination / Deeper insights / Identify the problem / How to analyse? ANALYSIS METHODS PLACING/ Categorising / Comparing / Making Logical Connections / Storyboard and story matrix
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FOCUSING/ Finding key words / Finding the supporting materials to strengthen one strong idea / Using metaphor
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EXTENDING/ Intuitive connecting / Continuing writing and drawing / Brainstorming
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RE-EXAMINE/ Asking and answering questions / Describing things in a different way/ visualising / Different point of view
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COLLABORATION
Working with others / Increase the power / Broadening the perspective COLLABORATION IN STAGES The collaboration in research / analysis / production VALUES OF COLLABORATION Wider perspective for project/people Knowledge and skill sharing Practicing communication TECHNIQUES OF COLLABORATION MEETING GROUP/ Adjusting schedules / Defining meeting goals / Personal preparation
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COMMUNICATION/ Drawing / Thinking out loud / Speaking equally / Debating
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RELATION/ Being flexible and open-minded / Respecting and trusting / Non-working meeting
SUBJECT KOWLEDGE
What is Narrative Environments? / Story + telling
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HOWCEAD A STORY? Self-interpreting/ Participating/
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HOW TO READ THE STORY IN AN ENVIRONMENT? Inter-corporeal/topological/ Linear/non-linear/
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WHEN MAKING A STORY IN AN ENVIRONMENT Structuring the story Communicating the story/ Story to narration Expanding and compressing time Time in space Openness and flexibility
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THEN
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RESEARCH
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Discover new information and facts Research is an action which aims to discover new information and facts. It is what a project, proposal or design needs to be based on. It could be seen as the beginning of a design process. Understand enough before a direction Good research is usually helpful to avoid missing any important information, which means we need to collect as many facts as possible, whether we think it is relevant or not at the time. Avoid excessive confidence When we are trying to produce a creative idea, it usually cannot be based only on what we already know. In the process of research, I think we should always avoid feeling too confident in the quantity of information we have got. This attitude helps us to dig out more facts, which means it is one of the ways to ensure that the research is comprehensive. How to research? From past experience, I found I always followed a particular order when thinking about a project. Mostly, it was a process of narrowing down the scale, such as from area to site, from space to people. In my opinion, the sequences reflect on the methods of research: from general to specific information, from being outside to being inside. However, it is not exactly an irreversible process. Normally, we research by different methods alternately, or, we could say, almost at the same time.
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RESEARCH 1 First, we were able to see that it was in East London; then we understood the transportation around it, such as underground/overground stations, bus route, and location of car parks; furthermore, we found that the market was exactly on a main traffic line which connects north and south. 2 After carrying out site research, one of the key facts I found was that there were many charity shops. Therefore, when I returned to desk research, I searched for information about those shops. I found lots of reviews written by users. For me, that was the first time I to understand a site from the users’ point of view, which is very different from the research I did in the past. In addition, these reviews recorded the dates on which they were written, so that we were able to see not only people’s current opinions but we were also able to see a comparison with past opinions. 3 The structure of the project meant that we were compelled to start with desk research, facing large amount of references, which was really confusing at first. Even though I was really excited by the prospect of creating a future world, I struggled with the process. First, there was a very wide range of drivers to contemplate. Secondly, we were not looking at the existing facts but at the possible changes to them. How to make the decision became a big problem when we were facing predictions rather than information. What I did was to use the keywords to search again and again and try to build up stronger predictive facts.
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METHODS
RESEARCH
DESK RESEARCH Where is it? That is the question we usually ask when we start to research a site/space. Normally, desk research comes first when we try to find out the answer, though it is just a very simple approach. Looking at the map on the internet is the beginning of this research. Usually we keep doing desk research throughout the whole design process. How I have used this method in the projects At the beginning of the Kingsland Road Market project, I did the desk research, which was similar to what I have done in the past. I looked on the map to find out which area the market was located in. One of the advantages of desk research is to gain a larger sense of environments, which is quite different from other types of research. 1
Moreover, desk research is usually considered as secondary research. This means that we can draw out facts from the existing information that was recorded, collected or compiled by others, such as the reviews about the area around the market that I found on the internet. This was the point at which I started to do research in different ways from what I had done in the past. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, different methods are usually interwoven together in a research process. As the ideas develop, the range of the target of the research will be narrowed down. 2
Desk research played a large role in Museum of the Future project. We didn’t have a real site before we figured out our research insights for this project. It was a particularly unusual scenario because the background environment of the project was set in the future. My interpretation was that we had to create our own future site and make it overlap with the real site. 3
Sometimes this decision-making can even be based on personal taste or instinct. For that reason, sufficient references from desk research were needed to make ideas convincing. I have never thought before that desk research could be so important when collaborating with others.
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RESEARCH 1 The market we went to for research the first time was actually not the site we were looking for. This was because we asked the locals, “where is the Kingsland Road Market?” and all of them pointed to another market, which was on the same road and was bustling. After further research, we found that it was in fact not our target. The one we were looking for was on the other side; it opens once a week and was very rundown. 2 We went to another market that was also close to the Kingsland Road Market. It was the second case that showed the contrast between the rundown Kingsland Road Market and the flourishing other markets. 3 Since the discussion began when other group mates returned from Cagliari, I started to realise how difficult it could be for me to understand the site for the project. Before this, I thought that it would not be a big problem; but actually the truth is that site research is a large part of identifying the narrative in environments. However, this problem was fixed during other site research we did. We went some places in London for social research, but it became a “site research” to me. We were investigating places which might help to define our target audiences.
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RESEARCH
SITE RESEARCH “Do the design on site”: I always remember this phrase, which was said by an architect when I was an intern at an architecture office several years ago. Since that time, I believe that to experience the site thoroughly is really crucial for the design process. The aspect that differ the most from desk research is that we are “experiencing” the space rather than observing it. In addition to the scale and quality of the space, we can understand the atmosphere of it, which is hardly discoverable if we are not on site. How I have used this method in the projects Interestingly, our impression of the Kingsland Road Market came from an accident during site research. Through being misled by locals, I found that the Kingsland Road Market was really dilapidated; otherwise it would not be ignored like this. 1
Another fact I found which helped the idea develop was the contrasting surroundings. This finding motivated us to research more sites around the market, and this became one of the main concepts. 2
In City Branding of Cagliari project, there was a key problem with my site research: how to do the research without being on site in Cagliari? The experience of being on site doesn’t only consist of nice pictures and vivid descriptions. Sights, sounds, smells, space and people: these details are only present in the experience itself. This is why I felt that I only got a fragmented idea from the secondary information. 3
In that process, I got a sense of what places in Cagliari we were talking about by experiencing those examples and counterexamples. For instance, I could recognise the atmosphere of our actual site by descriptions from group mates: “it was like this part, but not that part”. Even though the literal site was different, we could discover similar narratives in it.
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RESEARCH 1 We went to the Kingsland Road Market almost every Saturday; from the first interviews of locals, we learned that there were not many people who knew the market; from the second interviews with shoppers around the market, we found that they came almost every Saturday and still love it; then we interviewed the stall owners and understood that it is the strict policies which partly cause the difficulties in running the market. The whole process formed a sense of how it had become a rundown market with no choice. However, we discovered that the market still worked well in a way through doing further social research. To observe the vintage hunters who would usually come before the market began (which we learned from previous interview), we helped one stall to unload their goods on a very early Saturday morning. During the process, we learned how a stall followed the strict policies and we were surprised by the amount of treasure hunters waiting for the stall. In addition, we discovered that the sense of community between sellers and locals was very strong, which we considered as part of the core message of the project. sample laptop mobile phone head phone camera pen ipad/ipod journal/notes quiet space space can be ocupied room background noise/music light/sunshine window nice tenperature electric changing space privacy/security?
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RESEARCH
SOCIAL RESEARCH Since learning how to do social research, I have felt closer to the idea of narrative environments. Before I started to study narrative space, I almost thought that spatial research was everything. But it is humans who use and experience the space, therefore how can I understand and design a space without knowing the audiences? This practice has been really powerful for me. Social research always helps me to learn more about the stories in an environment. It is a great way to figure out the existing user experience and create a new one. From Susann Chase’s article “Taking Narrative Seriously,” I was inspired by the concept of report and experience. Both measurements of reality and a sense of the perspective of human beings are involved in the process of understanding. For a space, it is hard for me to imagine using results from social research to develop an idea at first. I was asked to be objective and not to talk about feelings when I was doing a spatial design. But now I realise that the experience can be very valuable if we are trying to apply narrative into a space. Moreover, some crucial information might be missing if we only care about the quantity of a space. How I have used this method in the projects This is the main reason why we interviewed people. When we design an environmental experience for people, we must discover information from a human perspective, especially from the perspective of the target audiences. 1
Compared to the analysis of the existing social facts on site in first project, the social research I did in other two projects was slightly different. It was more a case of predicting the possible behaviour of our target audiences. In the Museum of the Future project, we created an internet event as a survey to understand how people think about ‘collecting.’ From my point of view, this survey didn’t work very well, even though we got some supporting information from this research. My opinion is that we should be very careful about the way we ask people when we are using social media such as Facebook.
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RESEARCH 1 After some research and analysis, we had an idea of using chairs as a trigger for audiences’ curiosity and as a trial for them to follow. We tested this on different routes of our design proposal, and the results were different between them, which we had not expected. The first one we chose was a route from the tube station to the Kingsland Road Market; even though the chair and the trial were noticed, no one stopped and looked at it for a while or asked questions. The other one we chose was the route from another market to the Kingsland Road Market, and the result was very exciting. Many people stopped by and stared at the chair, and even took pictures of it; lots of them read the texts on it as well. One guy talked to me while I was observing and photographing shooting of it from a distance; he was very curious but confused at the same time. We invited him and other people to sit on the chair and asked them how they felt about it.
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RESEARCH
ACTION RESEARCH It was very hard to recognise the difference between social research and action research at first. They were very similar to me, but after these projects I know they are different approaches. Simply speaking, action research could be seen as ‘learning by doing.’ It is a research method which aims to get information by acting something out in reality. From the experiences I have had so far, I would say that we have to be at a stage where we already have insights into a project to do action research. We usually put it in order after other research methods: desk, site, social research. This is because we can derive the specific topics or directions from the previous processes of research and analysis. As to how to do an action research, for me it is to ‘change the environment’, for example, to put some objects into a space to test, or to perform some particular actions in a space. Then we observe the human behaviour that results from the actions we have taken. This kind of research is usually for testing the ideas of a possible design proposal. But it can also be done without very clear and definite targets and expectations, which means carrying out actions in a provocative way. This approach is more open to any possible results: ‘change the environment, and see what will happen.’ How I have used this method in the projects For me, the most significant experience of action research was in the Kingsland Road Market project. This was the first time I had tried this kind of research, and also the most interesting case of ‘doing something’ on site of any of my projects. Through that experience, we understood how the objects had an impact on the human behaviour and environment and gained more information from conversations with our audiences. 1
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RESEARCH
What I have learned? The research methods I used in architectural training were different from the methods I have used here. The practice of these research methods has taken on a lot of meaning for me, especially the social and action research. Before I tried, I never thought these kinds of research would be so relevant to a project. Also, it was really hard for me to take the first step when I was trying to interview people (in English), so I always pushed myself to act without hesitation and tried ‘just doing it first’, which is the opposite of what I have done before. It has become easier for me to do social research after the first project. This kind of interview did work in the process of research. For example, we found out about the strict policies by talking with the sellers seriously and helping them taking care of the goods (Kingsland Road Market Project); we knew how great the market formerly was and how rundown it is now by chatting with locals and visitors. I have also learned that it is not so hard to try out an installation as a student, and that people do react to it. Furthermore, I realised that the results of the same actions can be so diverse when the action is carried out in different places. As to desk and site research, I learned to use methods from other group mates’ approaches. For me, that is one of the greatest benefits of group work. Thanks to the range of backgrounds we have, I noticed how deep their research could be based on their particular discipline; for example, the research of art and historical development was very clear and helpful, and is something that might be neglected by me at the beginning (Museum of the Future). Then I tried to think differently while I was doing research; for example, I made myself research topics that didn’t seem familiar, and to keep looking without judging too early. What is the next? Though I did learn a lot from those processes in projects, it is still not enough. For site research, I want to know more about how other people observe a space, rather than missing some important facts because of getting too familiar with the research methods. In other words, I have to look at it from different points of view. For action research, we ultimately didn’t try any provocative action in our projects. I want to practice this in future projects. 018
RESEARCH Method and facts in projects Kingsland Road Market DESK RESEARCH Internet/// area map and location of the site/ traffic lines/ article about the site/ review of user experience / Books/// history of development/ article about the site/ SITE RESEARCH On site/// the scale of the site/ light, smell, sound, view of the site/ atmosphere/ the function of the space/ who are the locals and visitors/ the activities on site/ SOCIAL RESEARCH Questionnaire/// feeling and expectation of the market/ who are the locals and visitors/ Interview/// feeling and expectation of the market/ details of the market policies/ history and change of the market/ ACTION RESEARCH Experiment/// interaction between the trigger and audiences/ feedback about the design proposal/ Museum of the Future DESK RESEARCH Driver cards/// clues of possible focus/ Internet/// discussion of the issues among experts/ deeper understanding of the issues/ future predictions/ type, contents, introduction and events of the museum/ SITE RESEARCH On site/// atmosphere/ style of the museum/ experience as a visitor/ SOCIAL RESEARCH Survey/// what and how people collect things/ Interview/// user experiences/ facts was not displayed on website/ City Branding of Cagliari DESK RESEARCH Internet/// area map and location of the site/ future urban plan/ geography, population transportation facts and history/ comparisons of other cities/ SITE RESEARCH Sample site/// light, sound, scale and atmosphere of the sample spaces/ possible target audiences/ SOCIAL RESEARCH Survey/// what the audiences need/
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ANALYSIS
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Thorough Examination Analysis is a process of filtering, decoding and organising information. It is a process to eliminate the irrelevant materials and put the others into an understandable structure. It is a thorough examination of what we found from the research. If we use photography as a metaphor, we could say that shooting and recording on the negative film is research, and the process of developing the film is like analysis. Deeper insights Processing the information makes sense of the materials we have collected during the research. The aim is to get deeper insights in order to form our design concept. Identify the problem Analysis is a necessary tool to fill the gap between ‘what we have’ and ‘what we want to do.’ For myself, I was usually unconscious of this process while I was actually doing it; this might be because the action is an instinctive human behaviour when we are organising, and understanding how to react to, the facts. Analysis is also crucial to the thinking process; it helps to identify the problem and find the direction, which are the key motivations to move on with the project. How to analyse? The methods of analysis are various and sometimes it depends on different background and habits. Everyone might have a different way to carry out the whole process. For me, the general steps are: develop an in-depth understanding of the materials, categorise them, find the relations between them, narrow down the focus and confirm the direction. I sort the methods I have used by action and function.
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ANALYSIS 1 In the Museum of the Future project, we had numerous driver cards at the beginning. It was too much information for us to find any keywords. We therefore started to put them in two piles: interesting and not interesting. After that, we reviewed all of them and sorted them by topic. By this step, we found that what we were interested in were actually only 3 to 5 topics: technological, social and political. 2 We didn’t struggle too much with this process in the Kingsland Road Market project. I assume this was because we obtained several similar findings which all pointed to one idea. Firstly, we couldn’t find the market properly and it seemed to be neglected; secondly, the market sold ‘waste’ which meant something with reduced value that might be abandoned; thirdly, the strict policies left the market diminished and dying. Those research findings told us that it was about ‘something is dying and waiting for the chance to change.’ 3 The comparing method worked well in the City Branding of Cagliari project as well. We found that many findings from our research were opposite to each other. At first, we were told that people in Cagliari are not so friendly, but my group mates said they actually were friendly and welcomed people to visit lots of spaces. In addition, I researched the tourist activities of other cities (mostly about beach, sunbathing, relaxing holidays) in Sardinia, which were really different from what my group mates told me about Cagliari, which they said was quiet, a university-city, with functional buildings. Moreover, compared to other touristy cities, Cagliari doesn’t have destination sites and it is more like a ‘backdrop.’ From those comparisons, we found that the city does have a unique character. 4 We used this method a lot in the Museum of the Future project. At the early stage there were too many keywords on the table, and we had to figure out the causal relations between them, such as when the ‘population’ rises, the ‘resources’ reduced proportionally; therefore ‘conflicts’ develop, which leads to the ‘control/ power’ problem becoming important. 5 In the three projects we all used the storyboard and story matrix to help us to examine whether the narrative was well constructed or not.
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METHODS
ANALYSIS
PLACING/ This is the first step I usually take. Simply put, this step is to know what we have and put everything in the right place. Categorising is putting similar materials together as groups, which surround the same topic, so that diverse facts can be sorted into several topics. By this method we may find that one or some of the groups are bigger than others; or it may not make sense, in which case we can re-categorise them in another way. This help us to realise that what we got from the research is actually about a few particular themes rather than a pile of unrelated things. 1
However, those categories still didn’t seem to relate to each other meaningfully, and we then sorted them according to other aspects: space, people and the relationships. Even though sometimes this process doesn’t produce a better result, we still can understand the materials in more than one way. Comparing is putting similar or opposite things together and finding the common or contrasting features. Among the similar materials we may find a common element or concept that we can draw out as the key narrative. Between the materials that are opposite to each other, we can identify the greatest most differences and find dramatic insights. 2 3
Making Logical Connections is to find the relations between findings in a logical way. This method helps us to discover the related things and get rid of irrelevant ones. It can be applied to the results from research, for example, by connecting cause and effect between the findings, we can get a sense of priority, or of which is the core factor influencing others. Locating logical connection in the brief, the research and the goals helps to build the rationale and structure the narrative lines. 4
Sometimes we became lost in endless discussions, so we went back to revisit the project goals again: what (museum deliver messages in different way), why (the city changes in the future) and how (technology, human behaviour, etc.). This helped us to make sure we didn’t digress from the original target. 023
ANALYSIS
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ANALYSIS
Storyboard and story matrix are used to put ideas together smoothly. They are usually used at a later stage of the project to make sure that everything is well connected. But we can also use them before the whole story is completely developed. At that point in time, they help to figure out what we are lacking in the process, so that we can analyse or even research that again. 5
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ANALYSIS 1 In the Kingsland Road Market project, we found the concept of ‘waste’ from comparing the position of the market, the activity in the market and the situation of the market. The process led us to have a strong sense of ‘waste’ as a meaningful concept. Because of this we decided to focus on it. We used this method in the Museum of the Future project as well. We categorised, compared and overlapped the numerous descriptions of drivers, and then found ‘control’ and ‘collect’, as well as ‘technological reliance’, ‘advertising’ and ‘women’s position’, which we decided as the main drivers later on. 2 The proverb ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ had this impact in the Kingsland Road Market project. We decided to think about ‘waste’ and at the same time we found that sentence, which made the idea clearer and more meaningful. The ‘working holiday’ concept in the City Branding of Cagliari project was supported by several key findings, such as the city as a ‘backdrop’, what the audience bring with them is more important, lots of places in Cagliari are suitable for reading, thinking, etc., other cities are touristy and entertaining. Even the survey we did showed that the target audiences like to have short breaks and work in different environments with good qualities. 3 For example, trying to attract people to ‘buy’ the ‘dying’ market’ was the metaphor for the behaviour of selling ‘waste’ in the Kingsland Road Market project; the installation of second-hand chairs was the metaphor for waste, and people needed to ‘change their perspective’ to see the message. That usage of metaphor helped us to link the materials and the idea together.
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ANALYSIS
FOCUSING/ This is the following step that I usually use after the PLACING methods. This is a process that helps to figure out the focus and direction from the large number of sorted materials. Finding key words is looking at similar words or topics and developing them. It is also a process of digging out hidden common keywords from those materials that look unrelated at first glance. Through this the range of investigation can be narrowed down into one or a few focuses. 1
Finding the supporting materials to strengthen one strong idea is a method to enhance the strength of the focus. Once we decide to focus on one direction, we can search for more material to support it in order to make it convincing. It is mostly a process of reviewing the materials that give the sense of that focus/keyword, to establish the strong and logical relation between the findings and the idea. Also, of course, researching more new supporting materials is definitely always helpful. 2
Using metaphor for me is to connect and double-layer the materials and ideas in a significant way. It is to apply an abstract concept to concrete materials. It is to interweave denotation and connotation. As to how this can be achieved, in my opinion it usually follows the process of ‘comparing two or more materials to draw out the facts, behaviours or concepts, which exist in different forms but point to one idea.’ 3
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ANALYSIS 1 These three methods are very common in the process of analysis. We can almost say that we do those methods all the time, even unconsciously, since inspirations come out sometimes without expectation. We did brainstorming in the Kingsland Road Market project; the ‘waste’ was agreed upon by all the group mates. In the City Branding of Cagliari project, we did brainstorming when we got stuck in the generating or deciding process. In the Museum of the Future project, some of the drivers were intuitively connected before we considered the logic. And when I worked individually, I wrote and drew in my notebook whenever I didn’t have a clear direction to move on.
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ANALYSIS
EXTENDING/ Most of the time, we often struggle in the process of figuring out the focus. We could be stuck because of the lack of satisfying results from the initial analysis. In these circumstances, we need more materials to find the direction to steer the discussion. This method can be done without logic and it is where creativity plays an important role. Intuitive connecting is connecting the materials in an instinctive way. Rather than using logic, this process is undertaken by intuition. For me, it is the idea that ‘there seems to be a relation between this and that but I am not very sure yet.’ This method is often used before logical connections are made, which means that we guess or assume the connection first and then prove it afterwards. Continuing writing and drawing has a similar sense of intuitive connecting but is not limited to the existing findings. It is a method used on my own. It is done by writing the relative words or sentences as much as we can, or using drawing to describe them as much as we can. It is very simple but the quality of the contribution depends on creative ability. Brainstorming is almost same as the above method but involves more than one person. It is a group work process and the results can be doubled because of the different thinking processes of different people. 1
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ANALYSIS 1 When I was doing the Museum of the Future project, I found it was really confusing for most of the time. One thing I did to help myself stay clear was to continue asking and answering questions. For instance, I asked ‘what is the museum for?’The answer was to deliver messages. And then I kept that in mind and asked ‘what messages it will deliver?’ when we made decisions. Of course, the questions we faced in the crit were helpful, too. I forced myself to take notes seriously in that project, because we did need these questions to help our thinking. 2 In the Kingsland Road Market project, we found that the market was in a kind of chaos; I then drew and mapped the market plan to see why it looked disorganised. As well as visualising the concept of each keyword, it always helps me to understand the meaning of each concept and how it functions further. In the Museum of the Future project, I visualised the history of the development of the museum, which is different from above.
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ANALYSIS
RE-EXAMINE/ This is a method I use when trying to look at the materials carefully, as well as considering whether the information from the materials is insufficient. It is a process of looking at each finding again and examining it thoroughly, to interpret it in another way and see if any other key point comes out. It can be the step before placing the materials, as it allows us to think about each of them as deeply as we can to avoid misunderstanding or missing information. It can also be an action taken to dig out more factors that are hidden or ignored. Asking and answering questions is a process that is used quite often when we start to think about anything. Before we put the materials in right place or whenever we are confused, we need to know what exactly we are dealing with. The simplest method to me is to ask: what is that? Why it is like that? How can we do that? This method helps us to clarify confused thoughts and reminds us what the key point is. 1
Describing things in a different way/ visualising is a way of interpreting and understanding something again in another aspect or another form. It is a process of visualising texts, thoughts or everything we have said. It is to map what we are thinking. On the other hand, it can also be used to generate keywords from images. Additionally, it can be used to quantify the materials rather than having only descriptions. The process of visualising materials is used frequently when we are discussing and drawing. 2
This was to map the abstract information in a visual way. Another method I used was to look back at old notes and drawings and to think about them again. Sometimes I would have different interpretation of those notes and drawings, because I was viewing them from a different angle. Different point of view is similar to the above but involves more than one person. It is a method to look at the materials from another, or even an opposite, angle. It usually means discussing with people rather than thinking on our own. Due to the different backgrounds we have, the ways of thinking involved can be totally different. These different points of view might avoid overlooking problems or fix blind spots. 031
ANALYSIS
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ANALYSIS
I found this method was helpful when I started the course. As a result of working as a group, challenging each other’s theories was very common during the process of discussion. On every project, we usually agreed with some part of others’ thoughts and disagreed with the rest. Then we used various methods to convince the others. On the other hand, we always found new aspects from others’ explanations or theories, which improved the development process.
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ANALYSIS
What I have learned? The thing that is new to me is the storyboard and story matrix, as well as intuitive methods. Due to the training of architectural design, I was always asked to be objective and think logically. Now I have worked with others whose design background might need more creativity comparatively. The experiences were different but enjoyable. And the storyboard and story matrix were really helpful when had to carry out the stories logically. They are useful tools that functions as a tick box, which make sure that everything is structured smoothly. In addition, I was not familiar with the brainstorming in the past. I realise it can be used very often, as it is just a very simple way to think and see what other people think. What is the next? There will always be lots of method I need to practice to improve my skills. For this moment, I am more concerned about the intuitive thinking. It is because I believe that to produce a creative work relies on the intuition. I might be too cautious with producing ideas sometimes. Therefore I expect myself to be more creative by using both logical and intuitive thinking.
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ANALYSIS Method and facts in projects Kingsland Road Market PLACING/// overlapping the history, the activity in market and the situation of surroundings, c o m p a r i n g o t h e r m a r ke t t o t h e m a r ke t , comparing ‘routes to the market’ ‘bring people back’, comparing ‘market is rundown’ and ‘waste’ then we sell it FOCUSING/// narrow down to ‘waste’, using metaphor to strengthen the ‘waste’ and ‘routes’ idea EXTENDING/// brainstorming key words of the market, waste---trash/treasure RE-EXAMINE/// asking questions: why the market is downfallen, what is waste, what we want to tell? mapping of the market, visualising the concept of waste, storyboard and story matrix Museum of the Future PLACING/// categorising the driver cards and key words, connecting the cause and effect, finding the relations between key words, re-categorising then in different aspect, comparing the ‘collecting behaviour’ in the past and now, draw the timeline to check the system of changing, structuring the aim from brief, rationale from research and the main message as a logical narrative FOCUSING/// narrow down to ‘conflict and justice’ and ‘control’, strengthening the concept of collecting, checking the rationale from previous analysis EXTENDING/// intuitive connecting the driver cards and key words (then logical connecting), writing anything about the keywords RE-EXAMINE/// visualising the concept of ‘control’, challenging others’ theory, asking definitions (museum, collecting), visualising the development of the museum, answering the questions from crit, re-interpreting the old notes and sketch again City Branding of Cagliari PLACING/// comparing the other cities in Sardinia and Cagliari, comparing the rhythm in Cagliari to in London, pre-impression of locals and the facts (unfriendly - friendly), open site looks not welcoming, storyboard and story matrix FOCUSING/// strong feeling of walking through those sites, looking for other possible supporting materials, using metaphor to connect the facts EXTENDING/// brainstorming of the mobile working RE-EXAMINE/// asking why we changed the brief, keeping challenging others’ ideas, figuring out the reason of becoming good-quality-space
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Working with others Collaboration is the process of working with other people. It involves different people, even from different disciplines. It allows us to create or produce something more than we can produce on our own. It is based on the relationships between individuals, which need to have a clear sense of intention and function. Increase the power Collaboration works by connecting multiple people in order to increase the power of creating and producing things. The aim of it is to enhance the abilities, and counterbalance the weaknesses, of a group of people. Collaboration helps us to do more productive, creative, efficient and valuable work. Broadening the perspective The ability and perspective of one person are relatively limited when we are facing diverse works. Collaboration with others seems to be an inevitable part of creative work, especially we are working in a multi-disciplinary environment. Moreover, using only one perspective is not enough to create comprehensive work. Collaboration can provide a wider view to broaden a limited perspective.
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COLLABORATION 1 For example, in the Museum of the Future p r o j e c t , a n o t h e r t e a m m e m b e r, w h o s e background is Museology, researched the history of art works in depth and specifically. In terms of the Kingsland Road Market and City Branding of Cagliari projects, I did the area, site, and urban planning research, which were familiar subjects to me. 2 This worked most obviously in the Museum of the Future project; everything we discussed about the future was based on subjective predictions, which made the discussion harder. We doubted each other for the uncertainty involved in saying “this is what will happen”. 3 As to the City Branding of Cagliari project, it was also not an easy process; we all had our own preference, for example, one team member was more concerned about the commercial aspects, one liked pure personal experience, one wanted physical spatial design, etc. 4 In the Kingsland Road Market project, where I made the model with the other spatial group mate, as well as the visualisation of story matrix, because that involved the concepts of the map and drawings. 5 That situation happened in the Museum of the Future project; the outcome was supposed to be a video, but one member of the team didn’t know anything about how to do it. The solution we came up with surprisingly satisfied us. That particular team member did all the text works and supported us for any detail aspects while we were busy making the video. 6 For example, in the City Branding of Cagliari project, there was one member who wanted to try doing the storyboard, as she had never done it before. We all agreed with that and gave advice when she needed it.
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COLLABORATION IN STAGES The collaboration in research is usually considered as ‘division of work.’ No matter whether the group is large or small, we all work as team members with different backgrounds. This means we have various abilities, which can be used in research in order to make the works efficient. 1
However, this is not the only way to divide works; if a team member researches a topic that is new to them, this might help the group to have different insights and help us to practice new things. The collaboration in analysis provides ‘more perspectives’ from which to work on the ideas. That is the most crucial function of collaboration, in my opinion. Not only ‘different people’, but also ‘different backgrounds’, allow us to interpret the facts and concepts more comprehensively. 2
Through this doubt we knew that those ideas were not convincing yet because of the lack of supporting materials. 3
They all were very valuable ideas but different. We therefore worked hard to combine them into a well-considered concept. The collaboration in production is basically based on professional skills. The outcomes of projects can be varied, so diverse abilities make a group productive. Usually we provide the skills which we are proficient in. 4
But what if there happens to be something we cannot produce? 5
However, sometimes we don’t always have to do what we are really proficient in. 6
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VALUES OF COLLABORATION Wider perspective for project/people When we work as a group, it is like a ‘round-table’, which means we sit together around a target/fact/idea/proposal and use different approaches to examine it from our own position. We might see different or even opposite things, and ask diverse questions. We can challenge each other and add in the details neglected by the speaker. We also can be inspired by others’ words, even if these are actually considered ‘nothing special’ by them. Due to the distinct characters or habits of different people, one thing can be interpreted in so many ways. That does help us to re-examine and get inspiration from any ‘new’ things. Also, collaboration is a good way to understand ourselves better. By noticing how different others are and realising why they do this or that, we might reflect on ourselves to understand the differences and the reasons for them.
Knowledge and skill sharing Not only different people’s characters but also their different backgrounds contribute the diversity of knowledge and skills to a group. We can share knowledge while we are in a group, such as graphic design, architecture, spatial design or museology. We can share the experience of what, why or how we do things in our discipline, as well as the physical skills, for instance models, sketching, drawing, visualising, animation, etc. We can learn new skills and at the same time we share what we have.
Practicing communication For as long as we work together, communication becomes an essential element. What we do in any learning process is to learn and then practice. Thus, group work is the best way to practice communication skills, which we almost definitely will need in our future careers. These include the skills we use while discussing ideas and the skills needed to have better relationships. Both of them are important; the first makes sure that every thought is conveyed completely and nothing is misunderstood or ignored, which can affect or damage the value of collaboration; the second makes the working process more effective and enjoyable because of the positive outcomes. 041
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TECHNIQUES OF COLLABORATION MEETING GROUP/ Adjusting schedules When we are going to meet in groups, or even before that, there are some useful techniques to use; for example, we need to compare everyone’s schedules and figure out when is best for everyone, and then of course we need to be on time. In the past, I wasn’t usually required to be exactly on time and a small range of lateness was accepted. This has made me make an effort to get used to being ‘exactly on time.’ Defining meeting goals To define the goals of every meeting is also helpful. It clarifies the direction, mission or purpose. It gives a general sense of the time that the meeting will last and of the effort we need to make. In my projects we did that almost every time. This did make the meetings efficient and prevent us from losing time. Personal preparation Before going to group meetings, I found that it is really important to prepare personally in advance. What I used to do was to consider that is ‘official working time is the time when I am starting to work’ rather than working in advance of that official time. Therefore, I changed my way of working both with groups and as an individual. One thing I think it is particularly important to me is that personal preparation can help me fix any language problems when I was trying to convey my thoughts.
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COMMUNICATION/ Drawing Communication is really a big issue in collaboration. First is the language problem; as I mentioned previously, to prepare in advance is a good method to avoid delivering messages poorly. Even we all use the same language, the words we use might have slightly different meanings to everyone. Thus, to describe a concept in different ways, such as drawing, can be very useful. Most of us did that very often, because visualising what we were talking about gave us the sense of it immediately. In addition, using body language can be an effective technique. Thinking out loud Sometimes we keep thinking in our own minds before the thoughts become a complete idea. We might be afraid of being disregarded because the idea we have is not wellorganised. But actually any thought can inspire others, even if it is just a fragment of thinking. I made an effort to practice this; my habit is to make the idea complete before I say it. When I realised that it might be helpful to others, I started to feel free to think out loud. Speaking equally We cannot deny that sometimes there might be a dominant person in a group. But no matter whether a group member is active or passive, we all need to make sure that everyone speaks equally. The most important thing is that we have to take on the responsibility to participate. To be honest, I am not very active and don’t speak a lot. That became a big problem at the beginning of the process of working with others. However, change was needed. As my language got better, I felt freer to share my thoughts and I forced myself to give feedback, even when I couldn’t think of any new ideas at that particular time. On the other hand, it is also important to notice if there is any member who doesn’t speak. They might be just shy or hesitatant to say what they think and need someone else to ‘make space’ for them.
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Debating There is one thing that is crucial in the process of communication. This is, don’t be afraid to challenge other members’ ideas. That everyone thinks differently is part of the spirit of collaboration. The goal is to compare and figure out the advantages and disadvantages of any particular thought. Disagreements can be very positive in the communicating process. Otherwise, it can be harmful if someone notice the drawbacks of an idea but is afraid to say.
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RELATION/ Being flexible and open-minded Working as a group member, we might need to be flexible in the roles we play. Most of the time, what we are in charge of in a group is based on our backgrounds. Sometimes we need to adjust the division of work when our skills overlap others’. The truth is, we may not be able to do everything we want to and we might need to do something we don’t want to for efficiency. Therefore, we have to be flexible and openminded on the decisions made by a group. Respecting and trusting Moreover, respecting and trusting other members is essential for good relations in a group. There is no definite right and wrong, and it is not wise to judge others solely on their abilities or backgrounds. Only respecting and trusting each other gives us the chance to create a positive working environment. Non-working meeting Aside from those collaborative techniques that we use during working, spending time being together without setting serious tasks to do is a good way to build the relationships within a group. Working seriously is often stressful, and it might diminish our enjoyment of the time we are spending together. Thus, meeting in different environments can help; for example, having food together, spending leisure time together or just chatting and not discussing the project. We did that in the last project and it was surprisingly useful. Although we were busy on our own assignments and projects, we had breakfast in every member’s place and even went to Holland together. The result was that we didn’t feel stressed and we did the project well.
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What is Narrative Environments? Simply put, Narrative Environments is using the environment to tell a story. The environment means the space we are experiencing; it is a space that something is happening inside. And the narrative includes the story and telling (narration). Narrative Environments is not only words or pictures just put into the space. It is how we experience the environment and understand the narrative. We understand a space by understanding the story. Story + telling I would say a story is something intangible that happens in the mind. The story can be simply what we are reading or it can evoke something within ourselves; this could be thoughts, messages or memories that we ‘read’ from the telling. Several months ago, I might have said that the story could be anywhere and the telling could be anything or everything. But since the word ‘telling’ is an action which means ‘to tell’, the narrative must be deliberately told. Even the memory or imagination can be activated by material things; what we are doing here is ‘telling’. In terms of what stories we are going to tell, these come from the project target or the environment itself. We identify the story by using research and analysis to obtain the information and materials. Afterwards, we re-construct a stronger, intentioned story and tell it through the space. This is what we practiced in the projects.
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SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE 1 “The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe.” (Berger, 2008) “we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves.” (Berger, 2008) “ ’stories’ do not ‘happen’ in the real word but, rather, are constructed in people’s heads” (Bruner, 2004) “rather than meaning being inherent to things, these structures were inherent in the human mind” (Matthew Potteiger, Jamie Purinton, 1998) 2 “Instead of an author ’s having control of meaning, readers play a significant role in reworking and producing the meaning of a text.”
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HOW DO WE READ A STORY? Self-interpreting/ Before we focus on how we create and tell a story, we need to know how we read a story. To ‘read’ a story is not only about watching and understanding the literal meaning. It involves the action of interpreting. Even very common forms of narration, for example words, are explained differently by different readers. When I see an English word, what I think of is the explanation that someone has given me in Chinese, which is based on a very different culture from English. Generally speaking, how we read a story is based on the way we see it; and the way we see it depends on our knowledge and cultural background. Thus, when we read a story, we use our own views and imagination; we even try to relate it to ourselves unconsciously while looking at it. That is why I consider a story is something intangible that happens in the mind. 1
Participating/ We could therefore say that a reader participates in the process of ‘story telling’. I believe that what we take from almost every story we read is not exactly what the author intended, because the sensations through which we experience the world are our own, not those of others. The only thing authors ‘can’ do is to decide the degree of participation of themselves and their readers respectively, and try to make the story accessible as much as possible. Rather than a story controlled completely by the author, a story open for re-interpretation and participation is more exciting while we are reading it. For instance, a story is structured but parts of it are not fully explained; we fill these with our understanding, our imagination, even our guesses. In addition, an open story might be a provocative one, which functions as a question; it invites reader to continue ‘the story’. Through this participation, we are not just reading but also generating the stories. 2
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SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE 3 1. She is sitting on the bed and facing the window. She looks sad, though the sunshine comes through the window and illuminates her. She is alone and seems to be focusing on something outside the window where the sunshine comes from. 2. She has been looking outside for a while, or longer. She has forgotten what she is going to do at first. And she has kept thinking about what she really wanted to do since she woke up. 3. She was not alone last night. Somebody was sleeping beside her. And the sunshine looked the same, while they were together and watching the people on the street.
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Aside from through the projects, we might experience this process very often in other contexts. In the English support lessons, I re-interpreted a painting that has strong narratives as practice. This process was interesting and confusing at first. On the first reading, I tried to recognise what the character was doing at the time and describe it. The second reading was extending the time, which means to think about what she has been doing. Finally, the third reading was to use the past tense to describe what already happened to her. The reason that I was impressed by the practice is that the process went past the literal signs and generated deeper levels of understanding by extending tenses. And of course, it was also that the story used my own interpretation. 3
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SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE 1 “…the narrative is a very fundamental way people shape and make sense of experience and landscape. Stories LINK the sense of time, event, experience, memory and other intangibles to the more tangible aspects of place.” (Matthew Potteiger, Jamie Purinton, 1998) 2 “Traces in the landscape hold secrets and invite interpretation.” (Matthew Potteiger, Jamie Purinton, 1998)
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HOW TO READ THE STORY IN AN ENVIRONMENT? Inter-corporeal/topological/ Before we understand the story through the environment, we need to know how we read the space. We use the sensation to feel, to obtain the messages from our surroundings. This process is about the body as a medium to sense, react to and understand the world. What we call the inter-corporeal approach is to make the body as the centre point from which to look at external things. This is more related to the concept of individual interpretation, which might be relatively subjective and based on personal feelings. In terms of the topological approach, it is more of a process of externalising the internal. In my opinion, it is a way to transform our thoughts or feelings into a tangible or visible system. It is the way we measure and structure our understanding of the space. It might be an approach which aims to create a shared, understandable representation. We might consider the second approach when we think about applying stories to a space, even though we mostly experience a space through the first approach. 1
Linear/non-linear/ We read a space as we enter into it. The space could offer a particular route or it could be a space without any route. For the space that has a distinct route, what we experience is an established storyline and what we do is to follow the author’s indication. The story is organised with an order, which is almost like a novel or a movie. As to a space without any obvious route, we could enter into it from different points. This allows more possibilities of interpreting the story in our own way. We can move around within the space, look at things from different angles and even deciding whether or not to go deeper. 2
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SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE 1 Ordinary world - - order lost - - initial conflict - - decision to act - - inability - - meeting the mentor - - 1st threshold - - 2nd threshold - - loss of the mentor - - ability - - - fear to act - - conflict resolution - - order re-established - - return
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WHEN MAKING A STORY IN AN ENVIRONMENT Structuring the story To create a story, we must consider the frame of a story as well as the three key elements: event, agency and character. The frame here means the setting of the story. It gives the audience a sense of the background of the story, such as the period, the style or the environment. Framing the story helps the audience to establish the viewpoint and sets their expectations. It also implies or influences what the audience should think. There usually are at least two events in a story. The first one is to establish the existing situation which aims to help the audience to locate themselves in it. As for the second event, the function of it is to alter the original situation and produce the conflict at the same time. Also, the events should happen as a result of various agencies. In other words, agency is the power to make events happen. In terms of the story’s character, this might be someone who lives in the setting, who acts in the events or who faces the conflicts. Moreover, it could be projections of ourselves, which helps us to read the story as if we are experiencing it. Further, after we learned the theory of the ‘Hero’s Journey’, I realised that lots of successful stories could fit into the same template. Simply put, almost every story can be seen as a journey of learning how to respond to and solve the problem. Although it is not necessary to make every story have a happy ending, the theory helps us to understand what a good story looks like. 1
Communicating the story/ To tell is one of the functions of communication. Beyond the physical form of telling, we might consider the messages of the story. In order to as we talk about ‘message’, we must consider how it works. Generally speaking, a message is transmitted by the transmitter to the receiver. We have the story as the source and it becomes the transmitter to deliver the messages to the receiver, who is the audience. It seems to be a simple process, but there can however be some ‘noise’ while the messages are being delivered. Noise might be irrelevant information or materials we need to disregard while structuring the story. Moreover, the process 055
SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE 2 Metonymy, simile, and analogy were used in the Museum of the Future project. 3 “They perform the necessary function of relating one thing to another, the known with the unknown.” (Matthew Potteiger, Jamie Purinton, 1998) “When two elements occupy similar positions in a story sequence or are substituted one for the other, they set up a comparison.” (Matthew Potteiger, Jamie Purinton, 1998) “Through repeated use or memory, one thing can become associated with another so that it can be used as the sign of the other.” (Matthew Potteiger, Jamie Purinton, 1998)
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of subjective interpretation happens while the receiver receives the messages and decodes them. On the other hand, the quality of message might be decreased when we encode it. This depends on how we interweave the story into the narration. We also learned some techniques of using ‘tropes’, which can strengthen the messages. These tropes include metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, etc. They represent an effective way to combine the conceptual similarities between two things, especially for different forms. I mentioned this idea in my discussion of methods of analysis, but it can also be applied to connect story and narration as well, and make the narrative more meaningful and believable. 2 3
Story to narration The narration is the ‘telling’ of narrative. It is the expression, the physical form, or the media used to convey messages. It is the tool of the task that follows after we create stories: we need to tell the stories through narration to the audiences. It becomes complicated but interesting when we bring the story to a process of narration. For example, I was particularly engaged when we were making the video of Museum of the Future , which had multiple layers: the audience sees the narration (1st layer) linearly while the frames follow a certain order; but the story (2nd layer) itself could be linear or nonlinear, while the concept of the whole imagined world (3rd layer) would be constructed by the audiences themselves over time. Expanding and compressing time However one of the other key points I learned is that time also plays a big role in narratives. If we choose a temporal medium, the flexibility of time in stories is very obvious. In a film, for instance, story time could be expanded from one second or compressed from ten years to two hours. The time of narration is fixed because of the medium, but the time that audiences experience is altered. With regard to media with a certain sequence but that are not time-limited, such as books, both story time and narration time are flexible. The duration of reading is controlled by audiences.
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SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE 4 “However, as Ricoeur states, narratives combine two dimensions, one a temporal sequence of events and the other a non-chronological configuration that organises narrative into spatial pattern. …, through landscape the temporal dimension of narrative becomes visible, and ‘space becomes charged and responsive to the movements of time, plot and history.’” 5 how to present TIME in SPATIAL form 1. single point in time/ frozen moment 2. linear narratives/ to link 3. continues narrative/ show the passage of time(different spatial depth in a frame) (Matthew Potteiger, Jamie Purinton, 1998)
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Time in space When the narration becomes a space, in my view, we might use another way to describe the alteration of time. That is, time is compressed when the story time is shorter than narration time; on the other hand, time is expanded when the story time is longer than narration time; for example, a ‘white box’ gallery is as pure as nothingness and makes people feel that ’time is frozen’, while historical sites that show the old buildings or landscapes makes people aware of the past. The second case shows the ability to gather different layers of time in an environment. While the stories of spaces might be only organised in non-chronological narration, in contrast to a medium with a temporal sequence, the temporal dimension of story is nevertheless readable. 4 5
Openness and flexibility In the visual narratives showing three levels of how to represent time in spatial form, I found that the third one is closer to the spatial narrative, while the first one is ‘steady images’ and the second one is ‘moving images’. In that continuous narrative the sequence of reading is relatively flexible. It is very similar to the concept of ‘audiences entering the space from different points’. As I mentioned previously, there is no definite temporal sequence to reading a space. The narrative of environments usually is non-linear and open for audiences to construct their own narrative. Even in an environment that consists of several linear routes, this flexibility still exists.
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THEN There have been lots of definitions, explanations, examples or debates of Narrative Environments on my way of learning. It still seems to be unfixed in my knowledge storage. The shape of Narrative Environments varies to me all the time. As everyone who enters in the subject is different, the way of interpreting it might be altered. The flexibility of interpretation is like the one of ‘how audiences enter in the space and read the story’. It is not the time to jump to conclusion yet as we are at the stage of learning. At this moment, I would consider it as the elements that are used to compile the complex of narrative in our daily life. While to explain it as a tool of delivering messages is easier to understand, to recognise it as an audience gives me the significance of it. It is just the beginning of adventure in this subject, after we practiced the diverse methods of research and analysis together. In spite of the struggles, I experienced the spirit of collaboration a lot and enjoyed the process, which will keep going from now.
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SZU AN YU MA Narrative Environments / learning log / Sep. 2012 / Mar. 2013 Thanks for learning together, Chiao Yi Cheng Felicitas zu Dohna Liliya Hadzhiyska Sonia Kneepkens Chin Kio Lei Yvonne Li Manasi Pophale Margriet Straatman Tracey Taylor Kasse Wang Yamin Zheng Helen Zhou