Weeknotes 2024 week 5

Course results

This week I read most of the 31 papers for the ‘Bio Inspired Design’ course. Lots of wacky designs as usual. But this year especially, it strikes me how difficult (or just not intuitive) it is for students (even at the MSc level) to separate the prototype from the actual design. Under ‘design improvements’, for instance, a good number of groups describe tweaks to the 3D printed version of their work, while the final design would be injection molded or even made of metal or something.
This was my first week working 50% at the Architecture faculty and to get a sense of the level and approach of their first year’s, we joined their presentations. The designs were much more complete and (sometimes) rich than I expected. Fun!
Also, many models displayed that same sort of naieve inability to make an abstract model or representation of a plan or design that I noticed in the mechanical engineering students’ work. Most of these were very literal, unsuccesfully trying to look like real grassland and stone with printed textures on everything, and with way too much detail in unimportant parts.

Responses to my column on the rector’s remarks about protest and freedom of speech on campus have kept coming in this week. I don’t think I ever had this much positive response to a column from staff and students.