Refuge, Final Project

After many struggles we finally finish our final project. Here is what I came up with, since it was related to sound pollution i decided to create a place where people could get a away from all the noise created all around, a Refuge for people as well as a place for wildlife and habitat. A place surrounded by nature even if it is man made, it is still a place to get out of most of the commotion around mostly from the freeway. My sensor would be implemented on throughout the site to see if there was a difference in noise levels and where the best place to rest peacefully would be found.

Another way of showing noise

http://www.amusement.net/2014/07/16/nils-volker-transforms-trash-bags-pixels/

This image of Mr. Nils was one of the inspirations of a different idea it gave me, that would represent noise in a different perspective. I was planning on using bags to inflate and deflate bags according to the different noise levels on the landscape. So it would also be like a spectrum wave with bags coming out of the ground. A bag forest in a way appearing and disappearing with the decibel levels.

Visible Sound

Finally after many trials and errors I was able to build my circuit. It was hard work to put it together since I never had used an ironing gun before nor program anything. Although most of the files are online it wasn’t easy to put everything together for some reason. Seen the final work was really a nice feeling of our hard work and our perseverance. I was able to make sound visible through a microphone and an LED matrix.

First steps, Arduino

At the beginning we were all lost in creating a circuit that would work with our Arduinos, mostly because it was out or our field. We continue working on practice ones until we were ready to work on our own ones. This is one of the practice ones we built, it was an LED light that changed colors. It gave me an idea of what circuit to build for my own. I decided to build a circuit to detect sound and will show it with light, the next step is to get that circuit ready.

Technology and Landscapes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The project was based on the sensing of the invisible flow in landscapes that people don’t normally pay attention to. In this case I was sensing the cellphone signal frequencies when the cellphone is communicating with the towers in the area. The actual sensor that I chose to use was an antenna that sensed different frequencies from low to high. The display component of the sensor would be an array of led lights of different color that would change with the different frequencies which would attract they eye of the public which would induce their curiosity and make them walk into the spaces I intend to provide with this design.

The design is composed of multi-functional spaces with different components like gathering spaces like amphitheaters, learning spaces that could be used in amphitheaters or outdoor classrooms, meditation from gardens to labyrinths, edible gardens, and habitats. These spaces are put in place based on the notion of edge to core conditions. For example, an amphitheater is more of an edge condition to where  a meditation garden is more of a core condition. Finally the design is intended for the public to experience the space and connect back with nature and where technology can coexist with this nature. It would also make people see the impact of the connection we have with our cellphones and maybe they could use the same connection with nature.

Allen Jacobs Lecture

I attended the lecture of renown urban designer that had a discussion with our dean Michael Woo. I thought Mr. Jacobs is an interesting man. He is straight forward and has strong feelings towards what he believes. As many designers know he was the city planner in San Francisco and one thing he said was that the Transamerica building was ugly. He also disliked that in that time one of the designers was trying get rid of part of a street to add a park around the building and he said he doesn’t like when streets get taken away from the public. There was one thing that he said that caught my interest the most and it was that landscape architects are too nice when designing for people. That made me start to think in what way are they too nice and I hoped he would have elaborated more on that subject, but he just said that statement. All in all I thought that it was an interesting lecture.

Final Circuit: cellphone signal detector

This was my final circuit that was used to define my final project to show the measurement of the invisible flow which is cellphone signals. Although this circuit was an existing circuit I found online and was named a simple cellphone detector circuit, it was not so simple to build it. I had trouble following the schematics thus had to ask the professor for help to connect all the wires correctly because when I did it myself I put things all turned around.

In the end I couldn’t get it to work even with the power it asked for which was 12v. When I connected the batteries I only got a small dim light in the led light I put on the circuit, so I’m not sure what was wrong. However, I believe if I had more time working on this and more tweaking to this circuit it would be fully functional and I would be able to collect data.

First Attempt Arduino Circuit

This circuit was of a multi-color LED light using an existing code using arduino. It was not too complicated because the instructions were really clear, so we were able to connect the right wires with the right place on the arduino. When I first saw this I thought to myself man this is going to be very hard since I had never worked with this kind of process of technology. The only thing that I used was my computer and even this I don’t know everything that is a computer. However, building this circuit made me see a different aspect of technology and I actually had some fun doing this circuit. At this point I still didn’t really understand how this technology would help in the design of landscapes.

Redefining The Energy Of The Landscape

Along Wheeler Avenue in La Verne, meets a diverse group of infrastructures; commercial, industrial, residential, transportation, recreational, electrical, and water. With the number of electronic devices involved and surrounding our daily lives, the concern about the health affects from these devices has been increasing in equal measure. On a larger scale, electrical lines carry higher power currents and therefore would have a larger concern about affecting the surrounding communities. These distribution lines are woven through our built environment. The project studies and communicates the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the distribution lines in a more visual manner representing the power lines; glistening lights that pulse across the landscape overhead, just as the distribution lines surge above us. The project also creates a landscape that fosters the interaction of the community and awareness of the habitats. The created landscape includes the use of private and open spaces to foster active use and awareness. The objective of the project is to create a system of connecting areas that perform as ecologically conscious spaces amongst the surrounding urban environment. The integration with the existing urban environment promotes engagement with the landscape through a series of locations that offer distinctive experiences. The design incorporates the notions of preservation, restoration, and innovation to create an environment that encourages education and engagement. These notions are carried throughout the project by restoring wildlife habitats and through the use of urban agriculture. The notion of preservation is evident in the landscapes using vegetation native to the region. The areas used for generating electricity from solar panels and social gatherings advocates the innovative functions of the landscape. The project uses a series of areas that have specific purposeful principles to create an overall multifunctional landscape.

Connecting EMF Detector Sensor to Project Site

After testing and adjusting the EMF Detector Sensor to the best of my ability, I had become proficient in soldering and somewhat understanding programming code. I had begun to research various ways to connect the sensor into the landscape and understanding the unseen flows that surround and weave through the landscape. I searched through a variety of articles, maps, thesis’, and official announcements to find that what would best implement electromagnetic field sensors in the landscape with the current electrical infrastructures would be to focus mainly on the transportation of energy by distribution lines and from there study ways to combine the transportation of energy with the create of it by means of solar panels, both panel paving and large scaled panels. The attached image illustrates my study of electrical generation throughout California and combining the information with the amount transported through my landscape.