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About
Arden is a Human Centered Design student at Cornell University. Her education builds on an interdisciplinary curriculum with an emphasis on real-world examples and technical skills. Through an evidence-based, empathy-driven approach, she fosters strategic, sustainable, and healthy futures by design.
As of , Arden is working on adapting her studio project prototype, WeFrame, for installation on Cornell’s campus in order to improve the health and well-being of the entire Cornell community.
© Arden Van Hollebeke 2024
Threads of Yesterday
OBJECTIVE Lead a team in designing and constructing an art installation
TIMELINE
Feb - Mar 2024TEAM Ashley Herrera (co-lead) & Incubates subteam of 11 students
01 PERSONAL OBJECTIVESStepping into my role as co-lead of the Incubates subteam of Medium Design Collective (MDC), I had several goals:
- Restructure subteam work patterns in order to increase member engagement, collaboration, and overall satisfaction
- Integrate a structured design process to guide weekly objectives and facilitate the production of portfolio-ready deliverables
- Incorporate an interactive element in our project
Working closely with my co-lead, Ashley Herrera, and a multidisciplinary team of eleven students from various majors, I was able to achieve all of these goals and more.
02 IDEATIONWe started by directing our subteam to brainstorm ideas for the concept of our project. We instructed members to compose a single slide with images and/or text communicating their idea, which they presented at the following meeting. Then, members voted on a concept to move forward with. Considering resource limitations and our time constraint of only about two months, Ashley and I decided to progress with the concept of childhood nostalgia through the interplay of fabric and shadows. We spent much time communicating with the College of Human Ecology’s Technical Services Technician in order to understand the available resources for showcasing our installation.
03 CONCEPT DEVELOPMENTAt the next meeting, we divided students into two groups: construction and shadow elements. I presided over the shadow elements group. Each member of my team was tasked with designing a specific shadow element for the exhibit. After discussing the overarching ambiance of the space that we intended to produce, I instructed the group to sketch their ideas.
Charlie McDonell
Tej Shah
Asya Wise
Keira Huffman
In the following weeks, students received laser cutter training and laser cut their designs out of cardboard. We also brainstormed different exhibit layouts, arriving at a design that led visitors through a journey, with a new element unveiled at the end of each partition. Our implementation of this layout aimed to foster a sense of discovery in visitors and simultaneously encourage them to slow and appreciate the student artwork. In order to make the exhibit more interactive for visitors, we devised the idea to include a drawing prompt toward the exhibit’s end whereby visitors reflected on an important environment from their childhood. I also proposed the idea of composing a montage of members’ childhood videos, giving the exhibit a more authentically nostalgic feel and sound.
04 SOURCING MATERIALS
Sustainability was a prominent consideration for our endeavor, as the majority of our materials were sourced on our weekend trips to a local thrift store: Ithaca ReUse Center. There, we acquired fabric, pillows, and lights. With the exception of some cardboard, safety pins, and two hula hoops, all other resources were garnered from our own homes or the College of Human Ecology.
05 CONSTRUCTING THE FORTTo construct the fort, we planned to unite the fabric around a hula hoop base. To do this, we first conjoined two hula hoops and reinforced the weak points with tape. Initially, we considered sewing the fabric around the hula hoop. However, we soon found this process to be incredibly time-consuming and difficult; members reported challenges using the sewing machine because the hula hoop was so large. So we decided to restart and instead use safety pins, which guided our approach in uniting fabric for the rest of the fort’s construction. First we joined white sheets to the circumference of the hula hoop. Then, to add more dimension, we added colorful fabric. The partitions were manifested in a similar manner by safety pinning several layers of sheer sheets together.
06 INSTALLATIONFinally, after weeks of work, we installed our exhibit in the College of Human Ecology’s Jill Stuart Art Gallery. It required about two days to complete the installation.
07 RAW: PRESENTING OUR WORK
Every semester, MDC hosts a design exposition, RAW, where each subteam—and other design clubs—displays their work. As the co-lead of Incubates and a member of e-board, I helped organize and host the event. The exposition attracted around 75 students from various backgrounds.