Source: http://micaellapedros.com/About
Micaella Pedros is a social and humanitarian designer based in London.
She obtained her Master’s Degree in Design Product at the Royal College of Art in 2016.
Inspired by the values of democratic design and do-it-yourself culture,
she truly developed her practice and philosophy during her volunteering experience in Uganda in 2014 and her work/travel in Guatemala in 2015.
Through design, she seeks to contribute to society by unveiling ways to play and benefit from local resources and natural forces in order to empower people.
How we/people can play and benefit from the forces and materials around us ?
From the belief that everything we need is just in our surroundings, I aim to reveal the creative potential of local resources through within-reach and transparent technologies. Therefore the object is no longer a consumption-driven artefact but a genuine tool for creation and empowerment.
As a designer, I am clearly following the steps of the economist Fritz Schumacher who developed the concept of buddhist economy in his book Small is beautiful : a study of economics as if people matter. To briefly quote him, he says that “from the point of view of Buddhist economics, production from local ressources for local needs is the most rational way of economic life”.
I am inspired by objects that work on their own, in direct relationship with their environment.
The pot-in-pot fridge designed by the nigerian Mohamed Bah Abba is a very good example. Two clay pots inside of each other, with wet sand in-between, cool down food by water evaporation thanks to high external temperatures. It is a very accessible and empowering technology that promotes local resources and culture.
Joining technique demonstration, 2011, PET bottles, two pieces of wood , pen knife and heat gun
'Joining bottle technique' Is on of the techniques invented by artist to create joineries that holds even better then glue and nails. Plastic bottles hide an incredible property : under heat, they shrink. Therefore, they can join things together and create functional structures. This technique could potentially be an interesting way to join different elements in my project together.
Also, the idea of utilising materials around us is an idea for plastic utopia, whereby everything plastic can be repurposed for greater use :) Using just simple PET bottles which everyone would definitely have access to!
