Aangan Muses
Working With the Construction Worker Community
Final Year Undergraduate Pre-Thesis Project
Aangan Muses is a product and service design that bridges the gap between the construction worker community and the rest of the population. The women in the migrant construction labour community face exploitation, discrimination, overload of domestic chores, lack of dignity of labour and self-respect.
As a furniture designer, I aim to create a new job opportunity that empowers the women of this community and aids in acquiring skills.
The design concept involves employing and engaging the women in this community to assemble furniture and create unique weave patterns between the frames. The furniture assembled by them will become part of a design collection that aims to promote the talent and creativity of the women in this community. They will have creative freedom during the weaving process, giving them an avenue for self-expression.
The separate furniture pieces are all flat packed, making transportation easy and cost- effective. The Ikea effect has been used as the intent behind the self-assembly of the products. Therefore the parts require minimum to no equipment and effort for assembly. This job opportunity also enables these women to stay at home with their children and flexibly perform domestic chores.
Furniture was chosen as it is indirectly a part of construction and architecture. While women are excluded from processes such as carpentry and masonry on-site, assembling furniture boosts morale and instils a sense of accomplishment. It will also have men and others in the community viewing them as valuable assets as they develop skills and generate revenue. The target market for this product is middle class and upper-middle-class individuals who live in compact spaces between 18 to 45.
