Major Design Thesis Project
Nominated for ACIDO Rocket 2020 competition
Overview
Reuseful started as a systems analysis project centred around improving resources for reusing materials at OCAD U, and soon developed into the opportunity to design for social change towards sustainability across campus.
Through collaborative co-design with both staff and student stakeholders – from the Office of Diversity Equity & Sustainability Initiatives (ODESI), the OCAD Library Learning Zone, Facilities & Studio Services, and more – this project worked towards improving many aspects of the system of reuse on campus.
This included re-branding strategies, outreach events, social media presence, holding in-class info sessions, updating wayfinding, and building a new material swap spot (the Material Commons) planned for OCAD's iconic Sharp Centre for Design.
All of this effort was put towards the goals of reducing waste and engaging with the community to establish a circular economy on campus.
Video summarizing details of the project's process and progress.
Insight
Extensive research through observation, data-analysis, surveying, and interviews showed that not all OCAD U students were aware of the various resources for them to take and/or donate reusable materials across campus. And some of those who were aware of the resources, had negative opinions towards the aesthetics and usability of some resource locations on campus. This was partly due to outdated info online and on posters, and the plus the lack of association made between the many locations of resources as an interconnected system of material reuse.
This exposed the need for a more convenient stream of info on these resources, and a way for students to identify them clearly. In addition, there was a clear need to divert the large amount of material waste being generated by students on the 5th floor of OCAD's main campus building, part of the Sharpe Centre for Design. This aspect of the project was first introduced by ODESI student monitors, and co-designers, Rachel Morris & Janai Redman.
Idea
The Material Commons was co-designed and built to divert waste in the Sharp Centre for Design and provide students a convenient way to create and prototype more sustainably.
It was also important to establish a visual identity that could be associated with the various resources for reuse on campus.
By engaging with the community of students and staff both on campus and online through social media, there was a way to inform them and influence their habits towards more sustainable circularity of materials on campus - instead of discarding projects that could have been disassembled and their materials reused.
The Material Commons is designed to ease the process of disassembling projects in order to salvage reusable materials to donate for other students to up-cycle in future projects and creative prototyping.
Planned to be located in the Sharpe Centre for Design, part of OCAD U's iconic main campus building in downtown Toronto, Canada.
The Material Commons was fabricated and stored on campus, in a woodshop assembly room on campus, thanks to help from shop technicians and studio staff.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused OCAD U campus to close in early March, which pumped the breaks on the completion and launch of the Material Commons until campus re-opens this Fall.
Impact
By developing a consistent visual identity, while also engaging in community outreach, and educating that community on the sustainability benefits of material reuse, the amount of material waste they generate can be reduced significantly.
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, OCAD U campus was closed before the Material Commons was completed, which postponed its launch in the Sharp Centre for Design to Fall 2020.
Regardless, this project was able to generate vast momentum towards social change on a community scale, all while reducing waste and improving the association between the various locations of resources for taking and/or donating reusable materials across campus.
Build Process
Video documenting the build process of the Material Commons in wood shops on OCAD U campus during early 2020.
