Work for Foundations in art and Design

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The body art project required us to make an something that could be worn and have a purpose. The project must consist of at least two platonic solids and have a cavity. I made a sleeve covered with platonic solids. They can be used and pockets and for protection. I got the idea from always needing extra pockets to carry things. The project was made using paper and a jacket.

Final Blog Reflection

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While studying the wicked problem of traffic I learned just how big of a problem it is in the city. I learned how certain areas are bad and why they get that way. It made me ask why no one has worked to accomplish anything when it comes to solving it. I feel that it is a much bigger issue and we only keep getting bigger. I also feel that it is on the residents and not just the city to find an adequate solution to the problem that accommodates everyone. I learned how we could also utilize other forms of transportation and make improvements to the ones we already have so they are beneficial to a larger number of people. I feel my group put forth their best efforts so we could reach these conclusions and thoughts. Our collective efforts resulted in something that could one day help the community of Austin. We explored different options of adding lanes, taking away lanes and extending current forms of transportation. Bettering traffic in Austin could create a need for specific forms of transportation that do not exist and cause companies to move in expanding business in the city which would help the community in multiple ways by not only helping with transportation but also providing jobs.

Step B – Blog/Reflection

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I learned that we all have different ideas when it comes to fixing the problems with transportation. Some of us think more on a city wide scale and others think it should be more individualized. The questions we had were how the rickshaws down town effect how people get around and if they were actively being chosen as alternatives to cars and taxi’s. I feel the problem of transportation in Austin needs major city intervention and an upgrade of roads around the city to relieve the areas currently affected by the flow of traffic. We also discussed if people use services such as uber and lyft more than they use taxis. We talked about Proposition 1 and how that affects the city by putting in new bike only lanes and also how many people use bikes over cars and other services in the city. We also discussed how income effects people and how they choose to traverse the city and what areas were most popular among certain incomes. We determined that no one solution is possible to benefit everyone and some solutions may help most but inhibit others from doing things. Lastly we discussed the effectiveness of the Austin Metro and how its rail services benefit the city.

Step B – Blog/Reflection

I am still waiting on replies from people I have attempted to interview. I looked into legislation being debated to help make some areas of the city less congested and took a look at construction zones and how long the usually take to complete their work to see how long they usually inhibit traffic flow. I have sent out three emails and so far have gotten no replies as of yet. I learned that many people believe congestion is directly related to I-35 running through the city causing there to be high volumes of people using the city as a place to rest from their travels. Some residents also believe that the growth of business and neglect to update roads is the main cause of congestion in the city. Many people in this city have very different ideas as to what the major cause of traffic congestion is. Together they make a very significant problem that the city of Austin needs to address to keep the city running smoothly. The most common answer among locals are that certain intersections in popular areas of town receive an overload of people trying to participate in the activities in that particular area like intersections near popular restaurants and movie theaters.

Reflection to Dr. Kennedy’s Lecture

To Dr. Kennedy photography is wicked problem in a sense that pictures can move people and set emotions. They can bring awareness to others however the way the message of the picture is interpreted is vastly different depending on who is looking at it. His problem is to find out how he can take a photograph that makes sense to everyone and is meaningful in the same ways. I was surprised about how in depth some of his work was. Some photos took hours to get right and I had figured most of it was very quick and easy.

Wicked problem Visual and short response

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I learned that they’re are many issues with the transportation system in Austin and that there are many independent causes that work together to cause issues such as the day and the weather. Time also has a huge impact on transportation in Austin making certain hours of the day almost impossible to get around quickly

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Week 4 reflection

I believe that I can integrate my linked course of mathematics with my Wicked Problems in Austin group by being able to use data and compile and analyze it in different ways to make things such as graphs and charts that can show our data through interactive means. I’ll also be learning different ways to look at this data and be able to solve problems that come up. By looking at problems in different ways and compiling data gathered we can find possible ways to solve these wicked problems with solutions that have never been thought of before. I will also be able to come up with ways to group certain findings to keep things organized and easily readable.

Austin CAN Presentation on Sept 12

I thought that the most interesting element of Mr. Alvarez’s presentation was all the data they had on things such as poverty and crime rates for the city and surrounding area. I felt a bit happy that they where documenting things in hopes of taking steps to make life better for people in the Austin area however I was surprised that it seems only now are they taking large steps to help support the cities population. By studying these wicked problems we can have a better perspective for other cities with the same problems. We can take the knowledge we learn from solving them and use it on a world wide scale.