The Journey
During this project, we crossed four different phases. Each phase had its own unique goal and different milestones and deliverables; ‘in-between en end products’. Each of the phases and the products are described below.
01
EXPLORE
the context
An exploration of the challenge
In this phase, we explored the chosen challenge and conducted our context study
First, we decided on the place we wanted to focus on. A few countries with slums appealed to us but in the end, we chose India and more specific Mumbai’s poorer areas.
The topic itself was the next step. We did research about the impact of the covid-19 Pandemic on this area and decided that the economical issues and with that the food security and in specific malnutrition became a (more) pressing concern.
With that our final challenge was born: “Battling food insecurity and malnutrition in the poorer areas of Mumbai, India”.
After defining our challenge we did more research about the context we are designing for; the people in the slums, the situation and we looked into existing initiatives.
This research we conducted in a first (digital story), second (poster), and third iteration of our context study.
These three can be found in ‘resources‘.
02
Define &Ideate
script of design
Get to know the stakeholders
Every client defines requirements for the product he/she wants you to develop. However, in this case, there is no client and therefore we needed to state requirements for ourselves.
We defined these requirements on the basis of research into the values of our stakeholders and the needs that are built upon those. We also looked into the norms, guidelines, and regulations that apply in the given context.
These findings are conducted in a ‘Script of Design’ (see below), a visual with a description in which all these requirements are linked to the terms named above.
The whole script of design can be found in ‘resources‘.
03
Design
Preliminary designs
Sketching towards the solution
For this phase, we followed design sketching classes and used the learned skills to create a storyboard about our challenge and to conduct 5 preliminary sketches (displayed below).
The sketches are based on the requirements defined in the ‘Script of Design’ (see phase 2).
The storyboard as well as the whole explanation of the preliminary designs can be found in ‘resources‘.
Click on the images to zoom in
This is design comprises of a combination of different hydroponics systems. First It uses the passive hydroponics concept and adapts it to using available and waste material such as coconut shells and plastic water bottles.
Here the simple unit shown above is combined into one system using a salvaged opake container to reduce root exposure to the sun. As described in the image it also allows control of the nutrient solution for all units in the system communally instead of separately. It uses the Kratky method to reduce maintenance and avoid the use of a pump and uses the natural sponge effect of the coconut husk as a whick to suck up the water with capillary action.
This prototype consists of bottles filled with a growing medium. During the monsoon season, the rainwater will flow off the tilted side of the roof into the bottles. The plants will grow out of the bottleneck, and the young shoots are protected from the heavy rain and the hot sun by the roof and the bottleneck.
This design uses some elements from hydroponics (pumping the water around, using no soil) while trying to keep it as simple as possible. The design is stuck on the wall and collects rainwater from the roofs, which then goes through the whole system and ends up in a water reservoir, where nutrients can be added, and water can be pumped up again. As seen in the magnification, the roots are merely touching the water and the plant sits in a medium like coconut shells.
This design is some way of vertical farming. The idea is that there are hexagonal patches that can be sticked to the wall in which the plant can grow. The patch exists of 3 layers. The first layer is the back layer which can be sticked to the wall. This patch can be made out of different (waste) materials like plastic or cardboard. The middle layer consists of the soil in which the roots of the plant can grow. The top layer is some sort of net or transparent material, which hold the soil on the patch.
This sketch is illustrating a very basic hydroponics system, reusing water to make it more sustainable and cheap. It can be made out of cheap waste material that is available in the slums (plastic bottles, wood, cardboard etc.). The farming module is slightly tilled to ensure water flow and can be shrunk or enlarged to fit personal preferences.
04
Detail& Deliver
End product
The finalization
In this final phase of the project, we combined the preliminary designs into one, final design.
We also made this website to display our project and we presented it to our peers, teachers, and a team of professionals.
With this phase, our journey ended and we are happy to say we conducted a final product that we can be proud of.
Click here to view our final product
