Modern consumerist culture has given us a unique problem of plenty, where the production, availability and disposability of objects seem to be exponentially increasing. This plethora has conditioned a common view of objects with various scopes of obsolescence, diminishing common perceptions of key important factors in user / object relationships such as functionality and more importantly to this project, emotional and psychological value that the object embodies for the user.

This project is arranged to address this problem in a manner that aims to establish and revitalize these relationships through a unique process aimed at connecting collaborative design with hand making. Nine participant groups (three pairs and six individuals) have been invited to partake in this project to have objects made specifically for them through these participatory processes.

The objects are created with multiple materials and parameters in mind, including the user’s functional needs and the environment where the object will reside, both of which determine the object’s final form. These objects are also designed to consider pre-existing habits and patterns of the users, encouraging connections between the object and the user that become important symbolic evidence of ways in which users define themselves.