It is good to know a word like ‘Funkytown’. I could see how people, including our group members, enjoy saying, ‘Funkytown’. People probably expected that our presentation would be such a fun because of the word. The reason that we tried to present in a more light hearted way was not only for the audience but also for ourselves. We wanted to try to empathise with the audience, regarding ‘Funkytown’.
While I was travelling to Barcelona, Rome, Cinque Terre and Milan with Chris, I asked him that what was the most important thing to him, when he traveled. He said that he usually liked watching people and walking around the cities.
What about myself?
I’m used to visiting well-known tourist places, where we feel we must go, as per the guide book. I am always in a rush and do not want to miss anything.
What I remember about countries I have visited?
One day, I visited well known tourist areas in Singapore. There were many huge shopping malls and clean streets, which Singapore is well known for. However, I found out the tourist places are not always what they seem. When I visited my Singaporean friend 2 years later, she showed me around Singapore villages and we ate so many local foods, which was so cheap and delicious. I had paid a lot of money for poorer food, on my first Singapore trip. I enjoyed much more my second Singapore trip, compared with the first because I could see how Singaporeans live, which is different from in Korea. How their houses look, what kinds of food they have and so on. Two times travelling but are totally different journey, although, I was traveling in the same country. When I heard Chris’s answer, it reminded me of the two different kinds of Singapore trips.
I had started to be interested in the life of humans and different cultures through friends in the design ethnography department. I decided to see not only tourist places but also, to study people, their habits and how they communicate. I felt this would be helpful to the ‘Funkytown’ project. We had a breakfast, lunch and dinner in a local restaurant and saw what those locals ate and how they enjoyed talking with other people. We also found similar places in Barcelona. Local people gather together to play guitars, sing songs, listen music and chat outside. It was very late at night but there were many people and making friends seemed to be easy, maybe through music and chat. Their impression was of peace and relaxation. This seems to happen every night.
I made so many friends in Milan through the design fair, just because we all had the same interests and came from the same country. To share the same things or thinking brought people closer naturally. The Korean friends I met in Milan made our group name (‘Gandi’) and we arranged to meet again when we get back to Korea. That was amazing. How we became close to each other so quickly and enjoyed meeting more people. It seemed to me that we had formed a new community.
There was no coordinator, no pressure and no plan to make a community. What a natural gathering! How can we bring these natural ways of becoming a community in a town? We recognised, at least, why reconnected community is important through our own proposal and other’s presentations.
To me, this project was a good opportunity to open eyes to think about gathering people, in my subconscious.
While I was travelling to Barcelona, Rome, Cinque Terre and Milan with Chris, I asked him that what was the most important thing to him, when he traveled. He said that he usually liked watching people and walking around the cities.
What about myself?
I’m used to visiting well-known tourist places, where we feel we must go, as per the guide book. I am always in a rush and do not want to miss anything.
What I remember about countries I have visited?
One day, I visited well known tourist areas in Singapore. There were many huge shopping malls and clean streets, which Singapore is well known for. However, I found out the tourist places are not always what they seem. When I visited my Singaporean friend 2 years later, she showed me around Singapore villages and we ate so many local foods, which was so cheap and delicious. I had paid a lot of money for poorer food, on my first Singapore trip. I enjoyed much more my second Singapore trip, compared with the first because I could see how Singaporeans live, which is different from in Korea. How their houses look, what kinds of food they have and so on. Two times travelling but are totally different journey, although, I was traveling in the same country. When I heard Chris’s answer, it reminded me of the two different kinds of Singapore trips.
I had started to be interested in the life of humans and different cultures through friends in the design ethnography department. I decided to see not only tourist places but also, to study people, their habits and how they communicate. I felt this would be helpful to the ‘Funkytown’ project. We had a breakfast, lunch and dinner in a local restaurant and saw what those locals ate and how they enjoyed talking with other people. We also found similar places in Barcelona. Local people gather together to play guitars, sing songs, listen music and chat outside. It was very late at night but there were many people and making friends seemed to be easy, maybe through music and chat. Their impression was of peace and relaxation. This seems to happen every night.
I made so many friends in Milan through the design fair, just because we all had the same interests and came from the same country. To share the same things or thinking brought people closer naturally. The Korean friends I met in Milan made our group name (‘Gandi’) and we arranged to meet again when we get back to Korea. That was amazing. How we became close to each other so quickly and enjoyed meeting more people. It seemed to me that we had formed a new community.
There was no coordinator, no pressure and no plan to make a community. What a natural gathering! How can we bring these natural ways of becoming a community in a town? We recognised, at least, why reconnected community is important through our own proposal and other’s presentations.
To me, this project was a good opportunity to open eyes to think about gathering people, in my subconscious.
After I grew up, friends and I sometimes talked about our childhood. Nobody else seemed to have the lovely memories I have of my youth. They were always jealous. Korea has become more mobile, people live as nuclear families and, apartment buildings are anonymous. By a change of environment, they still miss the hug relationship.
Whenever I join in events, I can see a mix of races and ages. That means that popular cultures are well ingrained in the mass of people. I know that I often compare between Korea and the UK, where I stay at present. I can’t help doing this because there are so many different cultures displayed.
All of our team had the same thinking that the topic should be enjoyable. For this reason, we made the memorable title, ‘Funky Town’. Everybody has heard our title only once but, they have already memorised it. Now, we need find out how to capture the true essence of the project from the title.
When we thought about the costs of our research, this reminded me of my former work experiences. Of course, I should be concerned about the costs of design work and I know people point to ‘Less cost, more profit’. This is very important to know, when you work in design fields.
He gave to each group tasks with paper. He is really good at making a structure of the process for a project. During his presentation, he uses multi-materials, together with his enthusiasm. He first put paper on a white board and then extended the drawing areas out with the paper, by using different coloured markers. From my experience in Korea, I have image of a professor always pretending to be a man of dignified appearance, who uses technical material for teaching. There is a big gap between students and teachers in Korea. However, my image of ‘learning’ has changed since arriving here. I have been impressed, ever since he tried to perform with chairs (see above picture). Other lecturers are also very open with students. If I ever have an opportunity to teach someone, I would use the design thinking process I have learned here.
Chris and Fiona belong to our group. We just looked each other and instantly formed a friendly team. I feel so comfortable with them because we were in the same team for the 2108 project. The start was good. As usual,we tried brainstorming to find five interesting topics on A1 white paper. I am now used to this kind of process. I noticed that my behavior was now so natural, whereas, before, I was always nervous when we had a group discussion during semester one but now, I have the feeling of belonging in my group.
There were two lectures, one each, by Brain Carlin and Mel Woods. Brain Carlin, from RESQROLL emergency extrication systems, showed a design for spine saving equipment. Mel Woods from own Ambaba company, showed a new design for nappies. Both of the ideas were very interesting because I think that these fields occupy a niche 
