De Makerbox is an educational tool made entirely out of waste materials of the creative makers in the Vierhavens district in Rotterdam. By combining waste wood and 3mm material from a laser cutting company, we created building blocks. The goal of De Makerbox is to teach children something about these waste materials, and to show them what it means to be a maker yourself. The box can also be used within an educational setting to help children think about the future of the Vierhavens district.
De Makerbox is an project of Lisanne Meester, Evie van Velzen and Jill van den Brand.
What did you learn during this project?
De Makerbox is probably the project in which I learned the most during my entire study! First of all, I learned to work together with students from other disciplines (Spatial Design) and even from different schools (Fashion and Branding). This is one of the best things about the whole mixed learning system at the WdKA, if you ask me. You learn from each other, but you also get the chance to see what your role is in a mixed team.
As the product designer of the team, I was responsible for making the building blocks and the box itself. That’s how I also gained a lot of woodworking skills in this project. I even learned to use some machines I hadn’t used before, which came in handy for my graduation project as well.
What didn’t you expect to learn, but experienced as a bonus?
Actually, I didn’t expect to be able to spend so much time working with my hands. Usually when you work on your own this can get squeezed to the background, because there are so many other things you need to think about (design a logo, contact people, write a concept text, and so on). But now there were plenty of opportunities to explore the more practical role of a product designer!
I also saw how much you can benefit from involving external stakeholders in your project. A workshop we gave at a primary school in the neighbourhood generated many useful insights that we could use to improve our building blocks.
You learn from each other, but you also get the chance to see what your role is in a mixed team.
Did you gain any insights that can be used in your further life and study? (Could be anything)
You can turn literally anything into a great project, as long as you believe in it and work extremely hard to achieve what you have in mind!
What kept you awake at night?
I spent so much time in the wood workshop that I kept visualising how to use the machines the most efficiently, even at night. On the other hand, we worked so hard that most of the time I was tired enough to immediately fall asleep.
What was the greatest obstacle?
Connecting loose ends into a cohesive concept. This required a lot of thinking, which wasn’t always fun, I must say. But actually this might be the greatest obstacle in every social project, since there are so many aspects you need to take into account to make it work. It takes quite some time and effort, but that’s exactly why it’s oh-so-satisfying if you succeed!
