The Designmatters Safe Agua Peru project has been recognized as a laureate for the Katherine M. Swanson Young Innovators Award.
Designmatters partnered with the Latin American NGO, Un Techo para mi Pais and its Innovation Center (now known as Socialab) to co-create innovative design solutions to overcome water poverty with families living in Cerro Verde, a 30,000-person slum [asentamientos] perched on the hillsides surrounding Lima, Peru.
The Safe Agua Peru project, hosted by the Environmental Design Department, was headed by faculty Dan Gottlieb and Penny Herscovitch (Environmental Design), Liliana Becerra (Product Design), Julka Almquist (Humanities & Design Sciences).
Students from Product Design, Graphic Design, Environmental Design and Broadcast Cinema all worked together with families from Cerro Verde, Peru, to come up with viable and cost effective solutions to the water poverty problem in the community. Prototype testing in the field, led by Product Design student Mariana Prieto with the families of Cerro Verde and the Un Techo team was a key driver of some of the success of the award-winning design outcomes of the project such as GiraDora and Balde a Balde, which are the two key stellar innovations from Safe Agua Peru being recognized by this award. The Laureates are Kim Chow, Alex Robert Cabunoc, Mariana Prieto and Jonathan Beckhardt (MBA Candidate 2012 USC Marshall School of Business) who are also now part of the 2 NCIIA E-Teams that continue forward incubating these projects.
The Tech Awards are a signature program of the Tech Museum in San Jose, CA that honors individuals, non-profit organizations and for-profit companies who are using technology to significantly improve human conditions in 6 awards categories. Click here for more information about this year’s laureates.
The Designmatters Department at ArtCenter is deeply proud for the ongoing accomplishment of all involved in the Safe Agua Peru initiative.