VCUQ | Tasmeem | Archives | Student Projects Brief 2006

Design in Need of Community, Community in Need of Design:
How solutions that emerge from interaction with community give design power

Introduction
Designers are often sought out and recognized for a particular style or signature look. Communities and institutions seek unique buildings for their skylines that deliver status and prestige, just as consumers seek products that are recognized or branded as good design or in style. Designers become household names as their designs and personas are accepted and consumed as the in thing. However, these recognized designs—and especially imitations of such designs—risk becoming formulaic and often lack vitality when the conditions to which they originally responded, no longer exist, or have changed. The premise of the Tasmeem Doha Design Conference 06 is that fresh, original, appropriate design stems from a process that is based in investigative, analytical discourse and observation.

The poet has often been the eyes of a society showing us what we have not seen, what we have not wanted to see or what we have avoided seeing. As a result the poet has been hailed as visionary, sometimes accused of inciting revolution, and even at times regarded as a scoundrel. But whatever the reflection, the poet, through the written word, can provide unique insight into the experiences and scenery that we all endure and see.

The use of poetry as a model for the act and art of observing and responding is intended to provide an opportunity for the development of a fresh approach to a design problem.

The organizers of Tasmeem Doha 06 are asking students to seek solutions through an outward gaze as opposed to relying on an inward vision, which is often myopic. Students are being challenged to see from the point of view of others or to eat at another’s table, to uncover the connections that lead to powerful solutions for community.

Project
Students are to begin the project by selecting or defining a problem between themselves and a neighbor. They are also asked to select a poem from an unfamiliar country or culture, which is at least six time zones from their location, and then utilize the poem as a conceptual basis for problem solving. Regardless of the poem’s actual or assumed relevance to the selected problem, it should become a guide for eating at another’s table, a mechanism for making connections, as well as a window for gaining insight into the unseen.

Details
All projects should be presented on a 24” x 32” board and prepared for presentation on a vertical surface. The problem and the selected poem should be included in the presentation.

The organizers of Tasmeen Doha 06 are interested in an educational dialogue of problem seeking and design solutions and therefore feel that this project is best completed in a classroom environment through the interaction of students and instructors.

It is requested that all submissions be created within the context of a teaching environment, i.e. class project, group charette, etc. All entries must be conceived in response to this specific program and executed during the fall semester of 2005 (September through December).

Selected entries will be prominently exhibited during Tasmeem 2006 at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. A committee of design faculty as well as senior administrators from VCUQ will review all entries and select the top three. The designers of the top three entries will receive travel and accommodations to attend Tasmeem 06.