The therapist's office can be stressful. loud white noise, complete isolation, often very cold. The most stressful part of all? Talking. A lot of therapists struggle to connect with their patients because often patients find that it's hard to lay out their story in an understandable way. Sob Stories is a module - based board game that allows patients to lay out their stories in a tangible way and show their therapists how they progressed through them. Each module represents a different part of experiencing and processing bulling and together they make up a course that a marble can move through, these modules magnetize to each other to create a path. The patient can then explore their story with the marble, explaining it to the therapist along the way.

Pierre's Brief:

Friendly Circles: a series of habitats built to house a flock of Starlings and to protect them from predators.

Starlings are lowland invasive birds; they nest or take over other birds nests, dryer vents, rooftops of buildings or light posts.  The female Starlings usually lay and incubate four eggs. Along with being invasive, Starlings are often considered the noisiest and social birds, especially during dusk and dawn. The birds tend to soil cars and buildings surrounding the areas of their habitat.  

Starlings cohabitate with humans in cities and towns, and in agricultural areas where there is plenty of food(fruits, seeds, and bugs) and water. Starlings flock together in the sky creating murmurations to protect themselves from predators like the Peregrine Falcons. Predators find it difficult to target one bird in the middle of thousands of hypnotizing Starlings. 

Christian's Brief:

The project is an innovative and new type of nest specifically made to be appealing to the Starling. Large amounts of these birds can be found in urban areas which are mainly where these birds reside. Friendly Circles is a project that was created because of the overwhelming presence of the European Starlings. The Starlings are very aggressive and can be found killing other birds and taking over their nests by force. Starlings nest inside of trees or in the gaps of buildings which was part of the inspiration for Friendly Circles. Starlings are attracted to circular and tubular shapes which played a very large role in how the project was going to look. The project is one installation made up of multiple circular crevasses made for nesting. The nest can be installed anywhere and in any climate. For example in the city on a brick wall or on a tree in the woods. Friendly Circles offers a new type of nesting experience not only for Starlings but for all birds to use and enjoy. 

Abby Brief:  This deployable structure is a small foldable device designed to provide a small escape from open spaces while remaining comfortable. This is tailored to cling to the back of a couch and surround the user with thin but concealing fabric. This device allows users to detach themselves from their environment and isolate themselves completely and comfortably.

The purpose of this project was to create a structure designed to give users a mental break with a deployable and transportable model. In locations where there may not be a space or a place to take a pause in their day, Escape is the perfect solution. This project is made up of wooden frames held together with wood glue and supported by triangular pieces of wood in the corners. The frames are able to move and collapse with a ratchet system that is located on the insides of the mainframe. On the ends of the mainframes are fitted wood clamps that fit the back of the couch perfectly with a little squeeze. The hope of this project is to provide a temporary space to relax and pause when this space is not originally provided.

Charlottes Brief:

Escape: A deployable structure created to make what are often overwhelming busy spaces into private areas. Designed with a compact foldable design that allows it to be easily deployed in various spaces by expanding into a makeshift hood over the top half of one’s body.

Often, when trying to do work or use an electronic in busy spaces there are many overwhelming distractions and there is not always space to separate oneself from the business happening around. The Escape Hood was designed to help combat this. The structure allows people to feel more at home in open and busy spaces. It has a foldable design that allows for easy transport, and when opened it acts as a makeshift large hood that goes over one's head. Made of wood and fabric, it creates an enclosure around one's head without making them feel too secluded or isolated from fresh air. The Escape Hood was created for those who enjoy spending time with the people around them while providing an enclosed space if anything becomes overwhelming.

Big, Bold, and Beautiful is a clear and white semi-circular wearable piece that was created for Corey, a Broadway performer with partial spinal paralysis. The piece aims to highlight himself and his dancing while on stage. It was inspired by the feathers of a peacock and theater curtains. The piece was made in two parts. First, the fabric section that was made by "sandwiching" a piece of interface, to allow for a stiff yet movable look, in between two pieces of cotton. The second part was made out of clear acrylic. The two pieces were nailed/bolted together in a pattern of increasingly large pieces of acrylic on top of the fabric. The piece has features including a string to make the piece compress and decompress. It also has handles/sleeves to allow for several ways for it to be worn. 

My Project, “My Name Is” is an exploration of the intersection of the past, present and future understanding of my name; Aoife. In making this moving picture and name tag frame, I wanted to take the viewer through the experience of having a name like mine: its origin, why it was given to me and the constant mispronunciations of it. My name can be found in the cross section between external identifiers and internal identity. I have never had the option of my name being an influential and important part of my identity because I have been told who I am or who I am supposed to be for my entire life. As this project is personal and tells my experience, this piece tells a story that many people all around the world can relate to. Because name pronunciation is extremely important to childhood development of confidence, especially for children of color, I knew that this would give a voice to those who are too afraid to speak up and correct. 

Azaria's Brief 

The Fire Wall is an environment with fireflies on the outside and humans on the inside. This luminous threshold alters a human's perspective on the way people interact with fireflies. 

This is a structure with multiple layers of glass. Fireflies are in the middle of the two sheets of glass while people are in the inside. The area where the fireflies exist contains water and soil to maintain a sustainable food source (snails, worms, insects). This design allows humans to witness and experience the lifestyle of fireflies and how they communicate with each other. The LED strip creates flashes of yellow lights to attract Fireflies to the area. Fireflies are always around in warm weather. Located in the Boston Commons (Public Garden), this gives people a chance to learn more about fireflies and how they can make an impact on their lives. 

Henry's brief

The Fire Wall is a lifesize environment with fireflies in between the bordering walls and human seating in the center. This luminous threshold alters a human's perspective on the way people interact with fireflies.

The Fire Wall is an all-glass structure that would be placed in the Boston Commons. The Fire Wall is a multi-layered glass structure, with human seating on the inside. The structure has a layer that consists of a firefly environment: grass, water, dirt, and smaller insects. The fireflies can exist and live their lives in the glass environment while providing flashes of beauty. The constant flickering of the fireflies will light up the structure at night, while humans sit and appreciate these insects from the inside. The design enables humans to experience the life of a firefly. Another precedent of  The Fire Wall is star gazing, over the years Boston has been polluted to the extent where all the stars are hidden behind the smog our city produces, Fire Wall replicates this idea of appreciating our natural world because of the constant flickering lights. With all of the environmental issues, our world endures today this could bring light to an environmentally unfriendly future. 

Maddie Johnson-Harwitz's Brief:

Our-Kendall is an interactive public art installation that is deployed in front of the Koch Institute in Kendall Square in order to engage and bring together the Kendall Square community in a unique way.  The installment consists of a large circular piece that is engraved with the pattern of cells under a microscope, to match the design sense of the gallery inside the Koch Institute. 

The purpose of this installation is to bring to life the people of Kendall Square and engage them in a community activity. Kendall is known for being a "cultural dead spot", as many of the people who live and work in Kendall spend their time behind closed doors and in offices. This project aims to connect and engage the people of Kendall to create a more lively and active community. In order to achieve this goal, the installation is an interactive piece that comes together with the work of many. The structure of the installation includes the engraved cells, with accompanying holes where a cylindrical shape fits. Passersby are invited to interact with the installation by taking a cylindrical piece and drawing a self-portrait using only one stroke. As more and more cylinders are added, one will begin to see the faces of Kendall Square.

Tinna Grönfeldt's Brief:

''Our-Kendall'' is an interactive community art piece that aims to showcase the Kendall Square community. The piece is inspired by the already existing artwork displayed in Kendall but invites pedestrians to engage and co-create an art piece. 

Passersby draw themselves with one line onto a blank cylinder and place it into a circular wall. The wall has a cell-like design etched into it. In every cell, there is a hole for the cylinders to fit into, where the nucleus would be. Overtime as the wall fills up, it shows all the different people of Kendall in a unique and raw way. The piece located in front of the Koch Institute and is inspired by their gallery. This aims to infuse Kendall's culture into its community in a proactive way.