DLA leads Team SOMP for Place-Making in Somerset Belt
26 Jan 2021
With support from the Youth Division of MCCY (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth), our students embarked on the project: User Experience Research for Place-making in Somerset Belt. This project strives to co-create spaces with
DLA Lecturer, Toh Sok Na, led 3 DLA (Diploma in Landscape Architecture) students, 1 DID (Diploma in Interior Design) student and 1 DARCH (Diploma in Architecture) student to form Team SOMP. Team SOMerset Project started on the User Experience Research in Sep 2020. It was a unique experience as most parts of this cross-disciplinary project work was conducted online during the pandemic period.
A physical prototype was developed at the end of the design process, Team SOMP is proud to showcase their design in a public space frequented by youths and hopes to inspire and motivate more youths to be designers of the future. On 20 Jan 2021, Minister-of-State, Alvin Tan met Team SOMP on site where Playbox was showcased.
Getting ready to meet MOS Alvin Tan.
Playbox is a seat that combines an element of play and practical use for youths and adults. It is flexible enough to be configured for different uses while allowing users to express their creativity and have fun doing it.
MOS Alvin Tan interacting with Team SOMP on site.
(From left) Benjamin, Camille, Jin- Rong, Jolene, Jun Jie and Sok Na.
Students are learning from one another and from the Lecturer, Sok Na; gaining more experience to build their portfolios. Sok Na’s motivation to take up this project is because she saw a rare opportunity for students to turn ideas into a tangible element. She attributes this valuable out-of-classroom learning experience to MCCY’s openness to youths’ ideas.