Our assignment was to imagine a time far away from now when we had run out of land that we are living on now. We were assigned to create wearables for alternate living situations and ours was underground. The closest experiences humans have with living underground is cave mining, and so our first step was to research the greatest accidents and harm that people have delt with when cave mining. We found temperature and light but the biggest recurrence issue was the danger of rocks. Rocks underground and in caves could fall on us at anytime and once they fall its usably to late for you do escape them. We decided we wanted to create a project that would project you from these rocks falling. We began to brainstorm items that already existed that blocked the outside from what  was unprotected on the in. Our biggest inspiration was a shark tank, blocking the sharks from the people in the cage. After lots of sketches and pondering we came with the idea of a dress that blocked out the rocks, protecting the persons wearing the dress.

For our first iteration we experimented with the shape of our design. We knew we wanted an exoskeleton like design that used progressively larger unconnected shapes such as rings which would give us the desired effect. Our first idea was the ring shape which we were the happiest with and worked the best. Even though we were set on using circles, we experimented with other shapes just to try out some other ideas. We experimented with some more creative shape ideas like circles that resembled sunny side up eggs and more simple designs like squares. for our iteration that used ovals, we agreed that the designs had uneven proportions that wouldn't flow with the overall body of our design. When constructing our egg shapes, we liked that they added a more creative and fun design element, though the overall design of the shapes weren't as aesthetically pleasing. Though we didn't use the egg shapes, we used the design idea of having the circles gradually become larger and larger towards the bottom of the dress. Our last design idea to try were the squares which we were hesitant to even put into production because we knew they would be too unwieldy.

Our ideas for the next iteration including adding fabric in between the disks that would help protect the body even more from falling rocks. Before we had this idea, we took a look at the obvious problem our dress had. The hoops only protect you from falling rocks that hit exactly on the hoops, and if rocks hit between, under, or on top of other areas of the dress, you wouldn’t be protected. To fix this problem, we experimented with the idea of placing a stretchy but sturdy fabric in between all of the hoops so the problem of falling rocks would be fixed. This solution worked pretty well and was much more protective than our first iteration. But while this solution worked, it restricted arm and body movement so much, that it would be impossible to move in the garment when underground. Even though the fabric worked but was bulky and restricting, we wanted to take this idea to the next level and alter the design so it could work. We stuck with the fabric like idea and used thick string that was woven in a tight criss cross design to make a cage like structure that would be placed in between each of the rings. This solution worked a lot better and allowed for more arm and body movement, while still protecting the body from falling rocks.

For our third iteration we wanted to find a way of decorating the wood to make a more ornate look. At first we though of the idea to mirror the images found in ancient cave paintings to connect back to the idea of living underground. we decided this did not look as interesting as we thought seeing as it would not look like anything unless you were up close at the right angle. We than thought of cutting out diamonds to connect to the idea of living in mines. the diamond shapes created a beautiful look for the wood that was both intricate but also simplistic like the rest of the design.

Our final idea had the same concept of our first prototype, with the rings in use for protection and attachment. It has 5 rings particularly placed for ultra protection of the body. The first for the shoulders and neck, then chest, then waist, then shins and knees, then the feet. These 5 rings are attached evenly with wire to make the dress flexible while keeping the same structure.  

We wanted our underneath fabric to have a pattern but we didn't want it to take away from our rings and the design on those. We also have a small black slip under our lazor cut fabric to make it less sheer and see-threw. These fabrics and to protect of your skin and help the visual appeal of the project.

The studio focused on creating wearables for a future when habitable land is scarce and humans have to live in harsh environments.  Our design was made for future humans that might be living on steep mountains. Humans are not naturally adapted to be comfortable in this environment so we made a wearable tool to help them be hands-free. We wanted to create a belt with legs attached to help the wearer climb a mountain more safely and easily and to be a fashionable accessory someone in the future would want to wear.

We got our inspiration from Doctor Octopus a legendary villain in the comic books, who has four arms attached to his back. Each of these four arms is capable of lifting several tons, provided that at least one arm is used to support his body. The reaction time and agility of his mechanical appendages are enhanced far beyond the range attainable for normal human musculature. The arms allow Octavius to move rapidly over any terrain and to scale vertical surfaces and ceilings.The four legged belt would go around your waist making it easy for one to hang on to high steep hills or just to reach things that are heavy and out of reach. We used a simple but wide black belt as a base for our design. We had 20 pieces attached to the belt, separated by spacers to serve as a structure for the legs to attach to. The four legs were evenly spaced, two on each side and the front and in the back. They were made up of two pieces which made them movable.  

This project was important because its always necessary to be thinking about and planning for the future. Although many have guesses no one knows for sure what it is going to be like. Especially with the climate changing because of global warming we have to start preparing for the future now. Although we may not live on steep mountains in 1,000 years this project is looking forward and could help future civilizations.  

The goal of this studio was to create a wearable tool to help future humans living in extreme conditions to survive and thrive. Our environment was steep mountainsides and we wanted to make something to help people climb up, move around easier, and grab onto things.

Iteration 1: Our first iteration was just a piece of cardboard that we cut out free hand with pieces sticking out. We got our inspiration from Dr. Octopus in the Spiderman series. It looked very spidery and was basically just a very rough idea of what we wanted to accomplish. 

Iteration 2: For our next iteration we made a corset shape around a manequin and attached legs to it through slots. This looked very interesting with the legs all spaced out and we really liked the basis of it. Obviously with this there were some attachment issues and we would have to work more on the range of motion and asthetic of it. 

Iteration 3: Next, we started thinking about different materials that the idea could be made out of. We expirimented with tubes on a miniature model and attached them to another piece of cardboard with holes in it and some hot glue. We decided to steer clear of the tubing idea for visual and assembly aspects. 

Iteration 4: Our next iteration was a belt on a miniature manequin with three legs coming of of it. Our idea was that the legs would be able to move up and down and there would be spikes on the end to help climb. This is the protorype that started to resemble our final the best.

Iteration 5: We then made a bigger version of the 4th iteration with hinges so that it was movable and attached to a belt. While the idea was strong the look of the design lacked asthetic so we decided to revamp it a little bit by adding some cutouts and extra things sticking out of it. Adut and I really liked the look of this and just thought it needed some more dynamics to it.

Iteration 6: We looked at some claw models and decided that the cutout idea was a good fit and we looked at some different shapes. We made these movable by separating them with a divider. We then decided on the triangle look and made it a little visually better. We then cut this out of wood with a claw piece on the end and really liked how it turned out. We just wanted to make the top part a little more interesting and the cutouts also. 

Iteration 7: Our final iteration took many little pieces strung around the belt spacing out the revamped top pieces. Some of these have legs coming off of them and the size gets bigger as it goes around the body. We had to play around with the number of little pieces many times ranging from 7 to 10. We decided on 10 and also played with a design with string going through the holes of the project. We didn't like how this worked so we decided to ditch that idea. 

Our final product will allow future people to live on steep mountains so they can climb up and down, lift heavy rocks and grab on to the mountainside.

What is the main idea? 

The point to out product is to keep someone warm. What keeps someone warm? A tent! So by creating one that is wearable, we eliminate building and placing a tent in a harsh condition, like the arctic, and make it "wearable."  The "cocoon" feel on the Wearable Tent is meant to insulate someone, while at the same time look interesting and esthetically pleasing.

What is the design problem? What are you trying to solve?

We are trying to solve the problem that people face living in harsh weather conditions, like the severe cold. By creating a wearable that can be used in such climate, our group has eliminated the hassle of putting together a tent, and the struggle of finding the perfect place to put a tent. Tents also keep you warm using insulation and barriers from the wind and cold air. 

Why is this project important?

This project enables people to have barrier between themselves and whichever harsh condition they live in. It is specified for the cold because the enclosed/ bundled feeling of a tent is helpful when dealing with cold weather.

To start our project off, our group began brainstorming how to keep warm in freezing conditions. We thought of multiple ideas that would enable a human to stay warm and survive in freezing temperatures. Some of these ideas included a heating pad that would wrap around the body under a person's clothes, a sort of windbreaker umbrella that would cover a person's torso, and lastly,  a mechanical contraption that would dispense hot wet towels. We soon came up with the idea of having special wings. These wings would be made out of a thick or warm material and would be able to wrap around the whole body, therefore keeping one warm. This is the idea our group used as inspiration for the rest of the project. Jesse started sketching as Justine brought it to Rosie who liked the idea. She adapted the idea to more of a cocoon like structure that permanently encased a person. This would become our final product. Our product was specifically designed to hide and protect a person from the extreme cold that may surround them and is known to us as “The Wearable Tent.”

Iteration 1

After we created the first miniature iterations, which were only made of wire and tape, we realized that the design could be further developed. Our first iteration proved that the product we were making was going to be a successful piece. The only problem we had was we had to make a large scale model that was made out of a sturdier material. We also had to wrap some sort of cloth around it to make it tent like. After our first iteration was made we decided that the frame of our project would be made of dowels connecting to two rings, one around the waist, and the other above the head. We learned a lot from out first iteration, which ultimately bettered our final product.

Iteration 2

The structure and design of our next iteration was everything it needed to be. Although it was made out of cardboard, it was the perfect shape and size to fit around a person's (Emma and Justine’s) waist. We had to split the belt into four separate pieces that would be held together by bolts. The next step was 3D printing the belt rather than laser cutting it. We would also have to make slots for our dowel frame to fit into the belt. moving forward, we had to make holes to fit the dowels into the two ring pieces.

Iteration 3

In our next structure we solved the problem of the frame in two separate parts. First we had to create a piece that would allow two dowels to connect to each other and still fit into both rings. We created this by making a bent tube with a 100 degree bend. When both dowels are inserted into each side of the tube and put into the belt, the result is a jointed pole. When we fit multiple jointed poles into the belt, we had created a tent like frame. Next we needed a way to attack cloth to this frame. We brainstormed an idea of a clip that would fit around the dowel and be threaded to the cloth connecting the two. This was created in rhino and had to be perfectly fitted to the dowels that were painted black after being fitter to the connector pieces.

To finish our piece, few changes had to be made. We needed to cut the spandex so it could seen out of and used as an interior cloth for the dowel frame. We also needed to attach the spandex to the clips and the top ring creating the tent like model. The Spandex is a stretched out cylinder inside of the frame, creating an enclosed environment to protect someone from the extreme cold.

Our group was assigned to create a wearable that would make desert life easier and more habitable. The common problem we sought to solve was both protection from the glaring sun and the protection of the eyes from sand and dust. To combat this, we created a concept for a wearable with a base in the chest/torso area that would hold up a barrier to protect the face. 

The first iteration of our chestpiece was simply two oval shapes held together by tape. We improved upon this design in the second iteration by making curved pieces in between, along with laser cut hinges to give our piece an angle to fit nicely over the shoulder. Nuradin and I had to try out a couple different angles on the hinges in order to find which angle gave the best balance of snugness and accessibility to be put on. We then added several small rectangular holes that would allow for us to hold our rectangular blockades upright. 

Mollie's initial design for the "forest rectangles", as we call them, were large rectangles with patterns, such as medium-sized circles covered all over it. After modeling it in Rhino and laser-cutting it out of cardboard we realized it was very dull and did not relate to the design look we were going for as a group; and decided to change both the shape and pattern of the design. For our second iteration, Mollie worked on more of an abstract pattern that reflected the blank space between tree leaves and as for the outside, Molliefree-formed it to make it look like the outline of a tree. After mocking it up in Rhino and laser-cutting a prototype, found that the scale was too large, so I went back into Rhino and scaled it down. Unfortunately, it still looked off and did not envision what we wanted the physical design to look like; we scratched the tree-leaf pattern and came up with a new idea. For our third iteration, Mollie designed a slots pattern and shaped the outline similar to a geometric configuration. After laser-cutting prototypes both out of cardboard and thin wood, everything seemed to fit/function perfectly except the slots were a little too big and were unable to fit in the wooden chest plate. For the final, we scaled down the slots on the "forest rectangles" and slightly evolved both the pattern and the shape to make it resemble more of a forest.

After several lengthy laser cuts our group was finally able to assemble the pieces for our final product. Several things worked out quite differently than we had first anticipated. We went through a couple iterations of the "forest rectangles"/face protectors before deciding upon the final square design. The final chest piece also went through a subtle change by shrinking the width of the rectangular slots by a couple milimeters in order to make the joint pieces fit more snug and wobble signifficantly less. In terms of practicality there are several things which could be improved upon. The protection on the shoulder section, for example, does not face the ideal angle towards the outside which takes away from the original bowl/dome shape we had hoped to create around the wearers head. If given more time, hopefully we could also be able to impliment some sort of glass or see-through barrier in the holes we made in order for our design to actually be practical in a sandstorm situation. 

In this studio we will be looking toward the distant future when all habitable land is filled and humans must move to unlivable areas of earth. We will be making wearables and clothing to push the limits of what human capability to deal with extreme conditions on the brink of life and death,

We'll look at Superheros, Animals and Machines.

We'll imagine High Altitudes, Deserts, Super Deep Seas, Steep Mountainsides, Underground Living, California Forest Fires and Extreme Cold.

Antlers was showcased as part of NuVu’s Fantasy FashionTech Collection on the runway at the Emerging Trends Show during Boston Fashion Week 2014.

Antlers is a wearable sculpture inspired by antlers found in the deer and antelope family. Antlers explores the comparison between armor and attraction. The sculpture consists of three main pieces; the chest piece, the shoulder pieces and the antlers. Each piece is made of laser cut plywood designed in Photoshop and Rhino, then layered to create the intricate effect.