Designer: Rowan Liivamägi, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver, British Columbia
An elegant take on medical aids, this collection of customizable 3‑D‑printed jewellery helps people with arthritis perform basic daily tasks. The key chain, for example, helps to unlock doors, while the ring buttons shirts and operates zippers; and the double ring keeps a pen or pencil anchored between fingers and thumb to help with writing and drawing. The sculptural items, in a variety of materials and colours, are designed to take away the embarrassment often associated with arthritic aids and instead empower users to develop a unique sense of self. rowanliivamagi.com
Designer: Safira Lakhani, University of Waterloo, Ontario
Bamyan, in central Afghanistan, suffers from an extremely arid climate, causing it to rely heavily on foreign aid. Yet this impoverished town can take ownership over its land resources by storing more water from snow melt. This fundamental idea animates Safira Lakhani’s proposal, which centres on the implementation of light-timber frames throughout the land to capture snow melt and allow it to trickle down into new underground cisterns.
Along this snow fence route, Lakhani en-visions greenhouses and multi-generational homes that would honour the local vernacular – and make the community proud – by paying homage to traditional mud brick courtyards and cave typologies.