SKETCHBOOK
SKETCHBOOK
SKETCHBOOK
Hybrid Museum Exhibit
The Effects of Anthropogenic Activities on Bird Species
Environment Design
4 Week Environments Studio Project​
My Project Goal
Designing a hybrid museum exhibition that travels through time, using technological interactions to enhance the visitor’s experience ​
Final Concept
Anthropogenic activities including deforestation, growing infrastructure, manufacturing, and hunting have had substantial impacts on bird species throughout the world, leading to loss of biodiversity, habitat destruction, and ecosystem instability. This hybrid exhibit takes you on a journey through studying the past—the infamous extinctions of birds, the present— understanding causes and effects of human actions, and the future—including actions you can do to prevent worsening conditions for bird species and environmental organizations to support. Representing the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the exhibit allows visitors to better understand the changing relationship between humans and birds all around us.
Tools
3D-Rendering: SketchUp
Physical Modeling: Foamcore, Acrylic Glass, Paper, Box Cutter, Hot Glue
Elevations/ Floor Plans: CAD Tools, Figma
Digital Computing: Arduino (C+), Animation
Illustrations: Illustrator, Photoshop
Presentation: Indesign, Photoshop, Figma
Chosen Client
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
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Target Audience
Students and faculty in the Oakland area
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Location
Miller Institute of Contemporary Art
(Access project components through side navigation bar)
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Site Research
Initial Site Exploration | Miller Institute of Contemporary Art
Visited the Miller Institute to understand the size and space of my target location, options for lighting changes, wall placement, and flooring.
Observations
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Visiting the Client | Museum of Natural History
View what existing exhibits depict the Anthropocene and narrowed down 3 potential issues to discuss
Human energy consumption of fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources have large impacts on the environment (air pollution, global warming, rising temperatures, and sea levels etc); Deforestation leading to decreasing biodiversity
Idea 1: Energy Consumption
Anthropogenic activities have led to decreasing biodiversity, impacting the stability of ecosystems — deforestation, growing infrastructure and construction, and hunting throughout history has led to the extinction of several bird species
Idea 2: Impact on Bird Species
Emphasize how human emissions (anthropogenic activities) cause rising sea levels, melting glaciers, changing geology (climate change) significantly more than tectonic plates, and volcanic processes/ emissions (natural processes) do.
How poor mining practices across the world contribute to erosion, sinkholes, deforestation, decreasing biodiversity, and significant use of water resources, degrading the environment.
Idea 3: Geologic Effects
Moodboard
I chose a color palette shifting from olive greens to brown to represent the natural environment, invoking an innate sense of sanctity and peacefulness. The somber, pastel colors are also intended to emotionally appeal to the audience, combined with displaying bird species that have become extinct due to human activities, making them more inclined to take action. These colors also depict the habitats of many bird species— juxtaposing their actual environment (ie. the tropical rainforest) within this artificial space.
The top right image of a living room captures the clean, modern feeling I want the exhibit to embody, especially with see-through glass walls/ windows (similar to windows that birds typically run into) to exemplify how human construction has negatively affected the daily lives of birds. The top middle image is from the Carnegie Museum, where green is used as an accent color for their exhibit signage and text, and harsh lighting is used on their display cases. The main serif font is synonymous with the rustic feel of the dark brown wood grain, fitting the more serious and formal tone of the exhibit.I chose smooth dark brown wood patterns for the ground of the exhibit — laminate (fake wood) texture — to ironically play on how deforestation harms birds, and humans excessively use these materials. Being inside the exhibit will force people to face this issue head-on.
Storyboard
Drew an intitial storyboard of the user's experience through the space. Refined the interactions throughout the process
CAD Elevations & Floorplans
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I created elevations and floor plans according to the layout of Miller Gallery, and began to develop content for the walls of the exhibition.
Developed the final layout including decisions about the present, past, future exhibits.
PARTI Diagrams: Refining Concept & Interactions
Previous Iterations