Innovation & Technology Product Design
Adrian Avellaneda
Born to a French mother and a Colombian father, I was raised around their workplaces. Seeing my father design jewellery and my mother work in a Bang & Olufsen showroom, I grew up in environments filled with inspiration. This has influenced me to this day and now I set out to leave my mark in the design world.
I hope to provide the world with new sensorial experiences, modern-day rituals and beautiful objects that improve lives. To me, design does not just provide temporary remedies, but life-long benefits.
Plantilla
Fashion is one of the most polluting industries impacting climate change due to the amount of consumption and waste produced. Having been at the forefront of this consumption and even adding to it, I realised how grave the problem was and so, I decided to make it the focus of my final project.
Global statistics show that on average, people own seven pairs of shoes.
Based on my research, people in Glasgow own drastically more, at twenty pairs on average.
This number starts to become alarming when we begin to wonder if the owners do indeed wear all twenty pairs, and if they don’t, what happens to them?
Unfortunately, the likely answer is – Landfill
Plantilla deals with this problem through a very simple system.
Imagine a shoe with replaceable soles which can be changed over and over again. These soles allow you to wear the shoe for longer and provide you with a variety of styles. Over time, these shoes will age with you and become more comfortable and beautiful. That is my design.
By researching traditional footwear making, I came across a structural component found in the mid-foot of a shoe – which isn’t common in modern-day footwear. By using this structural component and altering it, I created an anchor point to allow for a clip to be attached. This is how my design works.
By providing the consumer with the option to buy shoes as components i.e. – upper, outsoles and clips, a new system of consumption is created. Instead of buying one shoe to throw away in a year, the consumer can purchase an upper and a pair of outsoles of their liking, accompanied by a clip that holds the shoe together.
This results in a shoe with a dramatically improved life cycle, as when the outsole is worn and ready to be binned, the wearer can return the sole to Plantilla for recycling and order a new one in the same or different style. Due to the quality of the materials, the upper does not deteriorate but improves over time. This means that the more the shoe is worn, the better it becomes.
This project allowed me to realise how complex we are, with habits good or bad. If I can’t change people’s consumption habits, then I have to work with them in a way that will not harm the planet any further.
Plantilla suggests a solution.
Vida Pearl & Monumento
Vida Pearls and Monumento is a speculative project that looks to a future where green burials are widely used to contribute to soil health and overall leave a smaller carbon footprint as compared to other types of burials.
However, they do not offer a clear demarcation for the person who has been buried and so, the heritage of this person risks being lost.
In order to maintain the memory of our loved ones who may be buried this way, a Vida Pearl is introduced at birth. This wearable artifact acts as a wireless memory bank for the wearer. Throughout their life, the user can upload photos, videos, voice recordings and the like to the pearl. Upon death, the pearl is passed down to the inheritor for them to wear proudly. The new wearer will receive a custom silver connective piece which allows them to wear the pearl the way they want.
To access these memories, the new wearer can ceremoniously place the pearl onto the Monumento and begin a new remembrance ritual. A Monumento acts as a firewall breaker, which allows the new user to access the data within the pearl. A phone may be connected to the Monumento and the memories found within the pearls may be seen on screen.
Like an heirloom, Vida pearls represent those we have lost and loved and offer a way to reminisce about their life in a quiet way.
