Hi I’m Cuyler, a 4th year Business Student. The Business of Design program connected to me personally in a way most classes have failed to for a long time. Small class size and interdisciplinary teams played a vital role reminding me of what a healthy learning environment truly is. Experiencing different perspectives among faculties and gaining a better understanding of various personality types felt like a breath of fresh air among only business courses. I gained project design skills and an introduction to system analysis, but more importantly the beginnings of both bottom up as well as top down design thinking.
I focused on my idea for a multipurpose rain barrel for much of the semester. Made of three parts, a bottom that collected rainwater from household gutters, a middle that composted the households organic waste into dirt, and lastly a top that would serve as a planter. This planter would be filled with the dirt created from the system and watered from the rain collected on the roof, creating a sustainable system. Three classmates joined me in its physical creation and we had a ton of fun completing the rain barrel section of the project as a prototype.
Next, I joined a passionate team set on interacting with communities through expression and creative repurposing of materials. We designed an old fashioned Yatai -typically a Japanese food cart- and re-purposed the rain barrel from my personal project into the materials to build most of the structure. We utilized one members old skateboard decks among other items for the roof and created an interesting looking travelling Yatai. It serves to draw attention to the skill of making but would functionally serve more appropriately as a merchandise booth, moving library, tool station, or maybe an art gallery; among other uses. I am excited to discover what skills the next term will deliver and how I will personally develop.
Group Project:
Yatai