Tunnel systems and Prototyping

Designers: Ava Shepherd, Parth Loliyania, Willow Yan, Ziyuan Dou

Following our feedback from last week we decided that this week our main goal would be to focus on idea creation and prototyping.

We decided to start by creating some rough sketches of different ideas we would like to explore. At this stage our primary focus was helping rats navigate around the underground in a safer manner.

Initial Ideas

After brainstorming we had two key ideas we wanted to start with. One was to find a way we could encourage rats with smell to move into a tunnel system when a train comes so that would get injured. The second was to design some ledges and grooves on the walls of the station that they could run along to avoid the train tracks

Prototyping

Idea 1: Ledges along tube walls

On Tuesday Parth started prototyping how we could make grooves along the tube walls for them to run on. While he was building this I was carrying on further research on the London Underground.

It was at this stage we hit a bit of a wall and realised that the logistics of working with TFL would be challenging.

When carrying out further research this week we found that TFL was not very open to questions being asked about the rat situation. They would not answer any emails or phone calls. When they did it was only automated responses that lead to dead ends. This made us hesitant about how we could actually implement our design into the tubes to test as they have very strict rules about working / filming on the underground. Due to this we started expanding our ideas and exploring new avenues

Example of email response

Idea 2: Freedom tubes

Due to the issues with the London underground we decided to expand our idea to be about Rats on a whole and include those living above ground. From this we came up with the idea of 'Freedom Tunnels'. These would be tunnels that we could build into parks and forest areas they live in to create some shelter and quick passageways.

Additionally it would be made from a material that could adapt and chew. This way we are not limiting them and they could alter the tunnel to cater to their needs

My illustration of the idea

We were really happy with how this prototype came out. Ziyuan suggested that we use individual hexagons so that the tunnel can have different entry and exit points depending on how it is used. We really liked this as it felt like we were leaving room for the rats to have some agency over how the tunnel is used

Final Prototype

When building this prototype we were unsure about how we wanted the entrance and exit to look like as it would be very visible to humans. It was at this stage we decided it would be a good opportunity to purposefully draw light to our design and educate people about why we are doing this project.

Following this Willow made a sign with different facts about rats that we would place at the entrance.

Informational sign

Idea 3: Camouflage

Once we began prototyping, more idea began to arise. We wondered what would happen if we made a really simple edging that could run along buildings and walls so that the rats are less obvious to the human eye and therefore more likely to avoid harm

My illustration of the idea

Comparing white wall with camouflage black edging

We knew that this prototype would not be our finished outcome. However we still wanted to explore the idea and see where it lead us.

Living with Rats poster

Finally this week also put up a sign in LCC asking people how they would feel about living with rats. We thought it could be an interesting way to gain some perspective into students opinions on rats in London. After just a few days our sign was almost full with lots of interesting and varied ideas.

Interim Presentation

Finally on Thursday we had our Interim presentation. Unfortunately Takram was unable to join us this week so we will present to them next week instead. However we still presented our research and a demonstration about each of our designs to the class and other external partners.

Feedback

Following our presentation we received mixed feedback about our work. People were pleased to see that we had begun experimenting with ideas and building prototypes. However John did not feel that they were finished prototypes as they were not 1:1 scale.

One key piece of feedback was the rats are natural buriers. Therefore why would they need us to build them tunnels in the ground? They could just do that themselves. This was a really obvious point that we failed to notice when working this week. Additionally, other feedback was to consider if there is a more natural way we can help rats navigate the city compared to constraining them. Finally, the question was raised about how humans would react if rats began navigating the city easier. Would we adapt to the new lifestyle or reject our designs?

Reflection:

This presentation left us all feeling quite deflated. It felt like we had made really good process this week with prototyping. However following the presentation, we felt no further forward than we were in week 1. Additionally, working with rats is starting to highlight a lot of issues that we are adding to our workload and will encounter along the way. How will we change the stigma? How do we test with rats? Do rats want new ways of navigating the city?

Following this presentation we decided to all take a step back over the weekend and regroup on Monday with fresh eyes and see what direction we want to go.

Next Post: Development of Ideas and Co-Design