The initial concept differed significantly from the final outcome. Originally, we intended to create a soundproof phone booth designed for students who needed a quiet place to study. However, upon comparing our concept with the existing study cubicles at the school, we recognized that our design lacked distinctive inspiration and was not feasible within our small budget. Scratch the last point, I suggested scaling up the project to design a larger house where students could relax and rest. This design was much more expensive but I felt like this project needed to have meaning and an ambitious goal for it to truly succeed as a permanent structure in the school.  We needed flair, and I think this design sets it apart from the alternate options for relaxing at NYUSH. 

In order to prove that I am serious about this deisgn, I decided to make it on Fusion 360. This way I can work on the structural design and find out potential problems early. Also, I needed to prove to my professor that this double canteliver design will hold up with the enourmouse weight that is weighing down the front portion of the house. 

After we agreed on this deisgn, we split the work into two. Haoran and I are in charge of building the house and Stephanie and Alexandra are in charge of decorating and furnishing the inside. Haoran created a new fusion file which took my design in a different direction adding many new elements with each of the four sides looking different to one another. Haoran was essential for completing many deliverables early in the design process while I working on my version of this deisgn. However, we did get into some discussion about which design to use, since he had an equal role in the design of the exterior. This was resolved peacefully through detailed cross inspections of strucutre and price analysis for parts. He respectfully agreed to sticking with my deisgn and we moved forwards with it. 

Throughout this process, I was looking into wood plank construction and pricing, this step took at least 10 hours of research and watching videos on youtube on strong joineries for wood planks. Once I had figured out the placement of the last screw, we ordered the exact parts that we needed to save as much money as possible. The stakes were high and the margin for error was low since we only had two extra planks of wood to work with for the roof connection and for potential errors we make. In the end, through careful planning, we did not waste any wood and the whole process went smoothly. Overall, I feel like the discussions between me and Haoran improved the final deisgn, as it made both of us more critical and on our own deisgns. 

As a kid who grew up building my own stuff out of Legos, I designed the construction process of the house similar to how Legos work. Everything is centered around a base unit of measurment. For this project, I landed on 200mm as the base unit. This would define the width of the wood used for structure and for the walls as a way to save money on buying different sized wood from multiple vendors, simplify construction as much as possible, and for cutting to be minimized to a single dimension (we do not need to change the width of the plank). This planning was important because when we ran out of money to pay for the inside wall, we were able to pivot into using screens that are based off of the same dimensions.

To be totally honest, I was not sure if final product will creek or even hold up itself. I was really nervous. However, the house turned out to be better than I had expected. The structure feels solid and there were minimal compromises made throughout. The interior fit the design well brining a feeling of coziness to students who use it. Stephanie and Alexandria were given a very tight budget which was managed well. All in all, we are very proud of the final result.