This thesis project stemmed from my interest in the notion of ambiguity, the fundamental uncertainty of being human, and its endless potential to open doors to spontaneous, unscripted experiences, revealing what makes us human.
The objective of this project was to create a bridge between the abstraction of the concept and the tangible elements of human life through meaningful, emotional, literal, and physical material experiences.
Additionally, this project takes into consideration the shift in the user’s behavior and expectations, as well as the role of design. As Hella Jongerius explains, it is a tool that “connects cultural awareness and social responsibility with practical economics.
“counterpoint” aspires to shed light on the human-object relationship and encourage users to rethink their engagement with the material world. Materials, as an essential tangible element in design, get the meaning and add meaning to objects in the context and through interaction with the user. This intangible dynamic meaning-making through material experiences leads to deeper personal, emotional human-object relationships. With its strong roots in history, culture, and human nature, the notion of ambiguity has significant potential to remodel human-artifacts engagement to create an in-depth empathy between the human and the object with a prolonged relationship through dynamic material experiences.
Finally, such a relationship will bring a new look into sustainability by cutting waste by expanding the durability of the relationship between users and objects.
“counterpoint” is a conceptual and open-ended idea with potential to be expanded and investigated further in different disciplines, forms, and contexts. For example, while this project focused on material experiences, it also sees the potential of applying principles of this concept to the color and finish of a product, which could be investigated through separate projects. “counterpoint” is a sensory experience that invites humans to engage with the world of objects at a higher emotional level.
year
2018
