Sine City
Project Description
The Sine City project was High Tech High's version of the San Marcos Creekside Project currently in work. In San Marcos, California there have been plans to create a new downtown place located off of San Marcos Blvd. This area of land's vision is to be a newer more modern, outdoor space with shopping complexes and restaurants, and also a redesigned infrastructure to stop existing San Marcos problems such as the flooding that happens commonly on the creek. Through this project we were able to use what we learned about trigonometry and other math concepts to develop a final product that fit the requirements outlined in the Specific Plan for the area.
Process
So there were many steps leading up to this project and many requirements and products we had to complete. The first step of the project was to actually survey the land. We did this to be sure on where exactly our plot of land sat on the San Marcos area and also how big it was. We actually went out to survey the land using older styled mathematical methods with measuring tapes and protractors along with basic knowledge of trigonometry and geometry. After surveying the land it was time to make our designs. We had gotten the measurements and came back to scale them into our first drawings. We sketched the building first before we did the whole site plan, just to see how big we could make it and how much space it would take based on the requirements. We then made two to three more drafts of the building then a whole site plan with a floor plan. When we consulted with our teacher we were brought to a halt because our entire building was out of scale. We were making little shops the size of giant malls, and this was due to the fact that we had measured the site wrong. We actually were dealing with more space than we initially thought we had. After fixing our plans and drawings our new vision called for three large buildings with a corridor type area in the middle of all three and a little parking lot on the side. We then moved to the computer to create drawings that we could then laser cut into wood to make 3D buildings and sites. After cutting the pieces we printed a large version of our site plan and placed the building models that we cut onto the site plan. Since everything was scaled the same most of it fit perfectly on the site plan. Then came the Exhibition.
Math Learning
There were many math topics we tackled in this project, some of the main being basic geometry and trigonometry but we also got the chance to learn about topics such as the golden ration and sun path diagrams. Learning these more interesting and creative topics made the project much more fun and engaging. Trigonometry was used together with the sun path diagrams to be able to create awnings for the buildings. Awning provided shade when a building needed it and sun light also in the appropriate time. Golden ration was used more of as an aesthetic choice. In my group specifically, we incorporated golden ratios into the windows of all the building. All the windows followed golden ration rules of proportion and made the building "pop".
Exhibition/Reflection
Instead of making all this stuff and not having a purpose to it, our class and teacher decided to show our work to San Marcos itself. We hosted an event/meeting with the San Marcos Youth Committee. I participated in the event but came late to the event itself unfortunately. We were able to show the committee pictures of our products and some of the recommendations we had for them. We also decided to exhibit all our products from this project in the form of a gallery walk sort of thing at our school for community member and family members to see. Throughout this exhibition my role was basically to inform people about current San Marcos plans and also to inform people about different possibilities and options that we could present. Exhibition for this project was actually really interesting because I was able to have good conversations with a lot of the people about different topics based off of the San Marcos Creekside Project, and this helped me actually understand more about an active community that I am a part of. I think one of my biggest struggles in this project was getting the measurements wrong because this set our entire group back really far back. We did pick ourselves up from this mistake and got back on time finishing the project right when we needed to. Overall I learned a lot about urban planning through this project and a lot about my school community.
Photos
The Sine City project was High Tech High's version of the San Marcos Creekside Project currently in work. In San Marcos, California there have been plans to create a new downtown place located off of San Marcos Blvd. This area of land's vision is to be a newer more modern, outdoor space with shopping complexes and restaurants, and also a redesigned infrastructure to stop existing San Marcos problems such as the flooding that happens commonly on the creek. Through this project we were able to use what we learned about trigonometry and other math concepts to develop a final product that fit the requirements outlined in the Specific Plan for the area.
Process
So there were many steps leading up to this project and many requirements and products we had to complete. The first step of the project was to actually survey the land. We did this to be sure on where exactly our plot of land sat on the San Marcos area and also how big it was. We actually went out to survey the land using older styled mathematical methods with measuring tapes and protractors along with basic knowledge of trigonometry and geometry. After surveying the land it was time to make our designs. We had gotten the measurements and came back to scale them into our first drawings. We sketched the building first before we did the whole site plan, just to see how big we could make it and how much space it would take based on the requirements. We then made two to three more drafts of the building then a whole site plan with a floor plan. When we consulted with our teacher we were brought to a halt because our entire building was out of scale. We were making little shops the size of giant malls, and this was due to the fact that we had measured the site wrong. We actually were dealing with more space than we initially thought we had. After fixing our plans and drawings our new vision called for three large buildings with a corridor type area in the middle of all three and a little parking lot on the side. We then moved to the computer to create drawings that we could then laser cut into wood to make 3D buildings and sites. After cutting the pieces we printed a large version of our site plan and placed the building models that we cut onto the site plan. Since everything was scaled the same most of it fit perfectly on the site plan. Then came the Exhibition.
Math Learning
There were many math topics we tackled in this project, some of the main being basic geometry and trigonometry but we also got the chance to learn about topics such as the golden ration and sun path diagrams. Learning these more interesting and creative topics made the project much more fun and engaging. Trigonometry was used together with the sun path diagrams to be able to create awnings for the buildings. Awning provided shade when a building needed it and sun light also in the appropriate time. Golden ration was used more of as an aesthetic choice. In my group specifically, we incorporated golden ratios into the windows of all the building. All the windows followed golden ration rules of proportion and made the building "pop".
Exhibition/Reflection
Instead of making all this stuff and not having a purpose to it, our class and teacher decided to show our work to San Marcos itself. We hosted an event/meeting with the San Marcos Youth Committee. I participated in the event but came late to the event itself unfortunately. We were able to show the committee pictures of our products and some of the recommendations we had for them. We also decided to exhibit all our products from this project in the form of a gallery walk sort of thing at our school for community member and family members to see. Throughout this exhibition my role was basically to inform people about current San Marcos plans and also to inform people about different possibilities and options that we could present. Exhibition for this project was actually really interesting because I was able to have good conversations with a lot of the people about different topics based off of the San Marcos Creekside Project, and this helped me actually understand more about an active community that I am a part of. I think one of my biggest struggles in this project was getting the measurements wrong because this set our entire group back really far back. We did pick ourselves up from this mistake and got back on time finishing the project right when we needed to. Overall I learned a lot about urban planning through this project and a lot about my school community.
Photos