1.0 Proposal Presentations
After the architecture students returned from their spring breaks with proposal ideas of situations they deemed important and could use a design solution with the intention to ease the housing court. Ideas that were presented varied throughout scales, issues, and who they would be affecting directly. Issues that had come up while we presented in our separate groups, the issue focused on ranged from the security issue at the entrance less used, to the way-finding throughout the courthouse, all the way to extra information that could be included with the "Notice to Quit" form used to initiate the summary process. Even though every person within each group came up with many different interventions, each with the possibility of easing the housing court issues through any given eviction day, there were topics that began to align with each group members ideas and began a collaborative brain-storming session between every group.
Each of the 4 groups was to then focus on one of the issues that we had all hinted at in one of the proposals that we had brought to class on this day. The groups focuses were as follows; way-finding, time-keeping, lawyer for a day area, and the mediation waiting room. After each group picked the focus that they wanted for the their intervention that was to be tested out within the courthouse, the class shared their ideas on the what the other groups were looking into.
Way-finding Group (Brian, Katya, Gizelle)
Proposals ranged from informing the people that receive the "Notice to Quit" where to get to the courthouse, to iPads that could be located at the info desk sitting at the top of the stairs within the atrium. The interactive dockets that are placed throughout the courthouse could be updated in order to actually describe to people where to find the courtroom their hearing is located. A few questions that were asked to this group is how they were to present these way-finding interventions. Are the signs going to be heavy on the symbols and graphics so more people could look at and understand the maps that would be placed around the courthouse.
Time-Keeping (Sachia, Sarah, Omar)
This group is targeting how people within the courthouse can know and view the time while they are in the courthouse due to lack of any sort of time telling device visible to the public as they enter the building.
Lawyer for a Day Area (Mackenzie, Craig, Ben, Tyler)
The ideas that were discussed through this group began with thoughts on spreading the two lawyer for a day tables apart in order to give the landlords and tenants some more space as they are to discuss their case to get help. This lead to creating some sort of intervention that could create a private separation incase the case dealt with a more private issue. With the ability to separate the landlord and the tenant, the tenants could get help away from the landlord, possibly giving them a bit more confidence and ease the pressure of being in court.
Mediation Waiting Room (Micaila, Brody, Tori)
This group is looking into the mediation queueing room where the landlord and tenant sit in the exact same room, possibly right next to the other as they wait for their case to be mediated. Some sort of separation can help ease the tension of the two, possibly leading to less stressful mediations throughout the day.
Throughout all the ideas that were presented in the class, we are to design and test out whether these interventions are something that work or don't work. We will need to identify what it is that we are looking to solve and identify what is that could define this project as successful or not. Looking into different sets of data both qualitative and quantitative could help the groups decide what makes their intervention successful.
