Assignment: Thoughtless Acts

Collaborators: mcdowell

Scene 1:

Taken near people's park.

1) What is happening: Homeless people have repurposed shopping carts as mobile storage for their belongings.

2) Design solutions: Create a cheap, robust, and waterproof cart to meet the material needs of people without permanent residences.

Scene 2

Taken near Cheeseboard Pizza.

1) What is happening: People are repurposing the grassy median running down Shattuck as an impromptu picnic grounds for eating their Cheeseboard pizza. Note the man in the first picture leaning against the sign that reads "KEEP OFF MEDIAN." In the interest of science, my colleague and I made a closer inspection from the median (picture 2). Note the woman leaning against the tree as a rest.

2) Design solutions: Widen the median slightly and install benches and trash receptacles to make the space safer,  more hygenic, and more comfortable.

Scene 3:

Taken near Barrows Hall

1) What is happening: A bicyclist has repurposed a milk-crate to be a storage container on their bicycle by affixing it with some ties (not visible, on bottom of milk crate).

2) Design solutions: Consider re-use scenarios when manufacturing packaging that has potential use as storage. Bolt-sized holes or lattice structures (as seen in milk-crates) make it easy to attach an object in a novel place, extending its useful life. Additionally, adding a platform to the back of a bike with several mechanisms for affixing a container (built in straps, well-positioned bolt-holes, etc.) would expand the realm of items that could be attached in this manner.