This week in ISM, I really explored my options for my original work. I wanted to create something that would really teach me how an architect works, but also something that could help people in the real world. I research many different options to find something that could meet this criteria. The things I came up with, however, seemed redundant and overused; like houses or hospitals. I wanted something unique, something not many people would think about at all. That's when I came up with my current idea; to build an old age home, also known as a retirement home, or nursing home. The mission in my mind is to create an environment for the elderly that feels like home but also can be used to care for them (with nurses and doctors, etc). I chose this as my original work because it seemed like a challenge I was interested in. A nursing home is technically considered a commercial building, however, I will be adding elements of a residential home. This way, I will be able to allow patients to feel comfortable and "at home" and also be able to learn how to create both aspects of the building: the residential and commercial portion of the building.
We also completed a research assessment this week. I was lucky enough to find an article that would help me out in the long run. It talked about the normal design of nursing homes in the past and how to create a home-like feel to newer homes to create a familiar ambiance to patients living there. This article especially had a lot of new information for me to use during the construction process of my original work.
This week was really helpful for me because of all the things I discovered about nursing homes in particular and all the decisions I made on what my original work will be.