SLATE
Project Details: 3 weeks • February - March 2021
PROJECT SUMMARY
This project focused on seating design that accentuated the beauty of it’s environment. More specifically, the environment had to be a place made more beautiful in the winter. Slate is a multi-level, angular, stone bench, designed to provide seating for skaters at this west Ottawa park.
This project was an amazing opportunity to appreciate the outdoors and see how community and life still finds a way amid lockdown and a pandemic. Designing Slate was also a unique opportunity to learn to design, prototype, and create a product with limited resources and online consultations.
PRELIMINARY IDEATION
This project took place during the winter months of 2021. At this point, the world had been in lockdown for almost a year due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Canadian winters are cold, gloomy, and many people experience seasonal depression. The confinement and isolation of the pandemic made this worse.
This project's goal was to encourage people to go outdoors and see the winter season with a new perspective. preliminary research included walking outside in nature, noting observations, and sketching the environment.
These notes were the foundation for the design ideation, focusing on highlighting the outdoor landscape with design.