ASSESSING GOOD DESIGN
In todays session we were working in groups and had to assess the design of a specific building, the building that my group were allocated is the Showcase Cinema. To begin assessing the design of this building we needed to decide what we thought was the key criteria. We decided this was:
- USEFULNESS (Fit for purpose)
- AESTHETICALLY PLEASING
- ORIGINAL
- ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
- ETHICAL IMPACT (Accessible, society margin)
We needed to explore the cinema and assess the exterior, interior, entrances, furniture, safety and also signage, all these aspects make a good design and help create a better social environment to the buildings design.
When we first arrived at the cinema the first thing we noticed was that there were two sets of stairs, as well as a disability ramp, this showed us good accessibility and also showed an aspect of the social margin being covered by having disabled facilities.
As well as having the disabled access it also had power assisted doors, these doors also had low slanted handles on the inside which I thought were a good design as it would allow people in wheelchairs to reach these. Because of all the disabled access I think it opens up the cinema to a wider range of people and doesn’t only cater for a small section of society. As well as having power assisted doors and a disabled ramp, there was also textured flooring for the partially sighted/blind, this was allocated at the top/ bottom of the steps to show there is change within the floor.
As a group we found that when it came to the aesthetics of the cinema in a whole, there wasn’t really much to it, they had lots of signage which was lovely as it allowed for clear information and it was all in a similar font allowing for branding to come into place, some of the signage was lit up by neon lights which makes it easy to notice in the dark and can also be more visible for party sighted people.
Over all I think my group and I came to the conclusion that only sections of the cinema had good design, some which are ethical and cover a range of society, however I think that they were trying to add aesthetics in spaces which did not need it, e.g. the railing next to the stairs has a banister which is covered in a square pattern, this may be seen as aesthetically pleasing but personally I disagree. The cinema over all had a good layout and had access for society and also took into account your safety by having CCTV allocated around the building.
Peta-Louise Krog 