MIDTERM REVIEW

The midterm critique on this project and development was a success.  My project was pretty well received from the professors and visiting architects.  I felt as if they all got a good grasp on my concept and ideas and were glad to see that I stuck through everything even though there were limitations and faults in the final product.

Some of the advice I was given during the presentation was to think about the next step of the cardboard box, like perhaps does this apparatus turn into a lamp fixture or some other type of product after it becomes a wine apparatus.  I agree that I didn’t fully explore this route and it makes me think about the possibilities and how this project and idea of byproduct can develop into a more efficient and effective cycle of reuse.  I could of taken this one step further and thought more about the after use of the wine apparatus.

Another aspect i hadn’t thought about was the possibility of adding a personalized touch to the wine apparatus.  Thinking about how the ‘wine kit’ purchaser could add on their own niche to the wine apparatus would be a good idea as well.

There were also a few other comments to consider such as how this could become an aggregate, or about how this could be more inclusive.  I learned a lot during this presentation and also took back some helpful comments and ideas about how to develop this project into the next step of designing a winery.

APPARATUS DESIGN SOLUTION

The final apparatus that I developed suggested that it is a do-it-yourself solution where one who purchases the wine making kit can also assemble their own wine rack.  The simple solution is linked to a set of simple instructions that are clearly marked on the box along with perforated lines.  This wine apparatus becomes that of the end user.  The apparatus follows the concept byproduct and therefore uses my own personal experience to develop some type of design solution. To see my midterm presentation slide show CLICK HERE.

ITERATIONS

From the research I have gathered about wine, homemaking wine, and the byproducts I have decided to translate these topics and apply them directly to the design of my apparatus.  Since I decided to get the hands on approach and make my own wine, I have also thought a lot about the byproducts that are products during the process.  The main byproduct that I had left in the processes was the cardboard box that the entire wine kit came in and therefore I decided to create my wine apparatus from exactly that.  Below are several iterations and explorations I had done to reach the final result.

APPARATUS UPDATE

Since my last post about this ‘apparatus’ I have developed a much stronger concept and project.  I have taken a closer look at the ‘byproducts’ I personally have/had when I made my own wine.  The cardboard box that the entire wine making kit came in is the main thing.  Therefore I decided to re-purpose the cardboard into a unique and functional wine apparatus.  Through several case studies, precedents and experimenting with what I can do with a limited amount of cardboard I was finally able to develop a wine rack with the cardboard box.

Things that I kept in mind and referenced when developing the form for the apparatus were…
1. DYI – do it yourself as a concept
2. flat pack IKEA furniture + assembly instructions
3. origami and kiragami
4. easter egg kits

WINE APPARATUS

In my last post I mentioned that I am going to direct my project towards home wine making with both the ingredients and byproducts of wine making aspects in mind.   I have done more research into the meaning of both waste and byproduct and how these correlate back to home wine making a cycle and result.  This prompts me with the idea that I want to be able to represent this in the form of a wine rack.  Just about every aspect of making wine is reusable in one way or another; from this idea the wine rack needs to be adaptable to different spaces and: storage, table/stand, green wall, disguise.  I have also thought about how the material choices of this apparatus can play into my project i.e. cork and glass.

Below is my first attempt in designing my wine apparatus.

RESEARCH UPDATE

While in the past few weeks I have focused my line of research on the home wine making, this week I defined my research into a simpler and more cohesive idea.  Creating a Wine Chart that separates the wine making ingredients from the wine making by-product.  From these numbers I have developed my final grasshopper definition which begins to translate these numbers into form.  This development has definitely aided in my concept process.

Here are a few of the ideas and concepts that I have started to develop:
process: reuse + recycle
small changes –> big effects [sensitive components]
less useful, but functional

STRAWBERRY WINE

Here is my strawberry wine recipe if anyone likes… [I tripled the ingredients which will equal 3 gallons of wine]

3.5 qts of water
2 lbs of sugar or honey
4 lbs of strawberries
1 tsp. acid blend OR juice of one large lemon
1/8 tsp. tannin
1 Campden tablet
1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme
1 packet champagne or Montrachet

ESSENTIAL STEPS IN WINE-MAKING

1. Extract the flavor and aroma from the base ingredients by chopping, crushing, pressing, boiling or soaking them.
2. Add sugar, acid, nutrients, and yeast to the fermentation media or liquor to achieve the proper ratio and ferment, covered, for 3 to 10 days in a primary fermentation vessel  at 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Strain off the liquid from the pulp, put it into a secondary fermentation vessel, fit a fermentation trap/airlock on the mouth of the bottle, and allow fermentation to proceed at 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit until all bubbling ceases [after several weeks].
4. Siphon the wine off the sediments [lees] into another clean secondary fermentation vessel. Reattach the fermentation trap. Repeat after another one or two months and again before bottling.
5. When wine is clear and all fermentation has stopped, siphon into wine bottles and cork the bottles securely. Leave corked bottles upright for 3-5 days and then store them on their side at 55 degrees Fahrenheit for six months [white wine] to a year [red wine] before sampling. If not up to expectations, allow to age another year or more.

THE BASIC EQUIPMENT The three stages of wine making all require slightly different equipment. Here is a list of essential equipment for making 1 gallon, or  six standard wine bottles, of wine:

1.      a white plastic bucket of 2 gallon capacity, preferably with a lid or suitable close-fitting cover

2.      a plastic or wooden spoon

3.      a large aluminum or stainless-steel pan

4.      a medium and a fine nylon mesh sheet for straining

5.      plastic or glass fermenting vessels of 1 gallon capacity, such as the easily obtainable glass demijohn

6.      a rubber bung and air-lock

7.      a plastic or nylon funnel

8.      a second demijohn for storage

9.      suitable bottles and stoppers for the finished wine

10.  4 feetof nylon or plastic tubing for siphoning the wine from one container to another when fermentation is over or when bottling

a bottle brush for cleaning jars and bottles.

THE INGREDENTS

You will need to learn the basic ingredients needed for making your wine product. The main ingredients for making great wine are as follows:

1. Fruit: You will need fresh fruit, canned fruit or frozen fruit concentrate
2. Water: for dilution of the fruit
3. Yeast: turns sugar into alcohol, used for fermentation
4. Pectin Enzyme: breaks down pectin in your wine, makes more juice and adds more color to the wine/
5. Grape Tannin
6. Sugar: Yeast eat this and turns it into alcohol
7. Potassium Sorbate: inhibits yeast production and fermentation at bottling
8. Yeast nutrient, the energy for the yeast
9. Campden tablet are needed before fermentation and before bottling

DESIGN + CONCEPT REVIEW

While on our research trip, we stopped in Portland, Oregon to shared our research, grasshopper definitions, the development and concepts to an architecture firm there.  I complied all of my research into a HOME WINEMAKING PRESENTATION that covered the basics of wine making, a brief history and more precisely the art of home wine making and how all this research correlates back to developing a concept that this wine apparatus will be based upon.  The research was then used to develop several grasshopper definitions.  The critique went well and the advise from the firm members were to focus on process and not so much the ending/consumer aspect of wine.  This advice then lead me to think more about the process of home wine making and what I could add to that process.  Within this project and wine making, small changes cause big effects.  This general statement combined with process will hopefully direct me in a path toward a successful wine apparatus.

STUDIO RESEARCH TRIP

The time spent on this trip was a visit to several wineries along the Oregon coast, around Portland and in Seattle.  While touring and learning more about the commercial process of wine making, I was able to relate the process to my small home brew wine that I am currently in the process of making.  The steps are the same, just done on a larger scale.  Process is the key to good wine making no matter what the scale may be.

The first winery the Wine Studio class visited was  The Flying Dutchman Winery perched on the Otter Rock cliff above the Pacific Coast of Oregon which is just south of Depoe Bay.  This winery incorporated a passive cooling system in which the salt water and breeze from the ocean aided in the fermentation process of the grape and therefore giving the wine a very that provided this winery a unique selling point and advantage in location.

The second winery we explored also grew and harvest their own grapes.  Winter’s Hill is an estate winery and vineyard where they then can be more in control of the entire grape growing, harvesting and wine making process.  It is very interesting how different the same wine from the same grapes can taste and smell from one year to the next.  Also, I might just add to the fact that each winery definitely focused on a different selling aspect which made their winery and wine unique. We visited a variety of tasting rooms which gave us all a better sense of taste for wine; Wine Country Farm, Domaine Drouhin, Eleven Winery, Eagle Harbor Wine Company, Harbor Square Wine Shop and Tasting Room and Novelty Hill/Januik Winery were all the wineries and tasting rooms we got to explore.

I will be able to take back a lot of the concepts and key ideas implemented into the process and wine making in general to expand and enhance my project.

STRAWBERRY WINE

After about a week of researching the art of home wine-making and struggling with where exactly this project is going to take me, I decided to go out on a whim and make my own wine.  I talked to a wine making connoisseur for advice and gathered all the equipment and ingredients to make my own strawberry.  It is always an interest I have had after all the research I just decided to go for it.

After first crushing twelve pounds of strawberries and combining it six pounds of sugar I am well on my way to making wine.  The second thing I have to do is wait till everything all cools down to a room temperature to add the acid, tannin yeast and the campden tablets, wait another twelve hours and add the pectic enzyme, and twenty-four hours after that add the yeast and let the fermentation process being.  In one week, I will rack the wine into the glass carboy which will initiate the secondary fermentation process.  I will bung the wine at this step and let it sit anywhere from six months to a year!

If anyone is interested here is a link I have posted that includes my Strawberry Wine recipe, essential equipment and the steps in home wine making.