In action>> Design for Africa

Industrial designers Frank Hofmann and Staffan Weigel took on the mega-slum of Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya for a design initiative to tackle the problem of trash disposal and accumulation with their field project, Design for Africa [DFA]. Kibera is thought to be one of Africa’s largest slums and does not have an official municipality or local government, leaving it with dire public amenities. Some estimates project more 250,000 people per square kilometer in the settlement.

Setting up with some of Kibera’s organized community groups, they began to instruct community members in the basics of design and pushed it into design solutions for alleviating garbage and potentially making it a profitable venture of some sort. Different groups varied in their initiatives ranging from awareness through entertainment, a garbage collection and salvaging program, the design and production of collection bags, and bone jewelry production.

Sources:

www.designforafrica.com/en/home/

[Image provided by www.designforafrica.com]