Reflective summary-Keep Going and Infinite Progress

Challenges are always there

Time never pauses and the second semester is about to pass again without us even realising it. It has been another challenging and novel semester, including two design projects and thesis preparation. I always feel like I don’t have enough time and long for a moment of respite. However, the experience of exploring knowledge and working towards becoming a designer is worthwhile and interesting, which can further enhance my personal abilities.

Try a new blog theme

After my attempts at blogging in the first semester, I had a basic understanding of the methodology and process of blogging, but this semester’s Housing alternatives project theme made it necessary for the blogs to become more nuanced and detailed, which was a new challenge. I focused on the theme of sustainable community management. In my opinion, designing a housing that meets all the conditions is simple and achievable, any design firm can do it, but how do we make residents want to live in a community? How do we get residents to stay in the community for a long time? This is about a sense of belonging and identity, and the key to solving this problem is good and sustainable community management. Of course there are many factors that affect the sustainable running of a community, and I could write about every aspect of it and start a discussion, but I’ve found that anyone can tell a detailed and engaging story about something, but how do you get your readers to provoke a thought process within a limited word count? I think I need to continue to explore the methods involved.

What I’ve learnt

Housing alternatives is a large scale project with many challenges and difficulties, not only in terms of the scope of the design, but also in terms of the range of factors that need to be considered. Designers need to consider the type of housing, home ownership, sustainable living, amenities, etc. For me at this stage, this is definitely an opportunity to improve myself.If you compare the type of neighbourhoods in the UK with those in China, it is easy to see that there is a huge difference between the two, which has forced me to shift my thinking from Chinese design to British design. It’s also interesting to note that the UK prefers terraced housing, which is a low rise type of housing, as opposed to the centralised flat type of housing in China. Chinese communities tend to be fully walled to ensure the safety of homeowners within the community, whereas British communities only have hedges surrounding the houses. Parking is also very different, as vehicles in Chinese communities are directed into underground car parks as they enter the neighbourhood to ensure the safety of pedestrians above ground, whereas car parks in British communities are often designed to be at ground level.

Prospects

Thanks to Luke’s workshops, which led us to continue exploring the interesting aspects of blog writing, this term has helped me learn a lot about design that I had never come across before. The blog writing experience encouraged me to continue reading and learning. In addition, being able to practice my critical writing helped prepare me for thesis work. Overall, I am glad I was able to participate in these blogs; it was a unique and valuable experience! I look forward to improving my urban design skills again.