Designing
Between Worlds

Designing
Between
Worlds

Designing
Between Worlds

RISD Masters in Industrial Design Thesis | 2024-2025
Professors: Ayako Takase|
Jess Brown
Exhibitions: Gelman Gallery, RISD Museum 2025, RISD Grad Show 2025

Research Question

How hybrid identities

shape design practices by

utilizing culturally

significant materials to navigate displacement and globalization?

How hybrid identities

shape design practices
by utilizing culturally

significant materials to
navigate displacement
and globalization?

Abstract

People with hybrid identities navigate cultural landscapes shaped by displacement, continuity, and adaptation, where design becomes a way to engage with heritage. It carries both the responsibility to honor cultural roots and the possibility to transform them. The challenge of Designing Between Worlds is not choosing one identity over another, but acknowledging that both shape us. Through design, we can create objects that hold space for both, not to resolve identity, but to honor its complexity. This project focuses on cultural materiality, exploring how materials embedded with cultural narratives can adapt to new contexts while remaining anchored in memory, symbolism, and tradition. By shaping works from the pomegranate, the project demonstrates how material and narrative can embody resilience, belonging, and transformation in a changing world.

The Pomegranate

In Armenian culture, the pomegranate functions as both a symbolic and practical object, representing fertility, abundance, and cultural continuity. Its presence in art, architecture, and ritual has allowed it to accumulate layered meanings over centuries. This project examines the pomegranate as a material resource, transforming its skin through design processes that connect historical significance with contemporary applications.

Abstract

In an increasingly globalized world, designers with hybrid identities navigate complex cultural landscapes shaped by displacement, continuity, and adaptation. This thesis investigates how hybrid identities drive design practices that utilize culturally significant materials—such as Armenian tuff stone and the pomegranate—to express and reclaim layered identities. Drawing from memory, heritage, and symbolism, these materials serve as physical connections to culture, allowing designers to reinterpret tradition in ways that feel authentic and contemporary. Through a series of design explorations, this research examines how these materials embody resilience, continuity, and belonging, fostering a dialogue between heritage and modernity. My Thesis aims to demonstrate the role of design as a tool for cultural expression and continuity, offering insights into how hybrid identities shape a design practice that honors both heritage and transformation in an era marked by displacement.

This project challenges the idea that cultural symbols must remain static. By transforming pomegranate skin into material, it extends the life of tradition beyond representation, turning remnants into resources. This is not just about preservation, it is about innovation, sustainability, and the ongoing reimagining of heritage through design.

The Process

Pomegranate skin that would be traditionally waste is collected, shaved down into thin individual pieces, then carefully arranged between two drying boards and dried under compression. Once dry they are moved into a laser cutter where they are cut into their final shape before they get assembled like a mosaic and glued together to form the final material.

Collected as waste byproducts, the pomegranate skins are carefully shaved into thin, delicate pieces. These are meticulously arranged between two drying boards and pressed as they dry, ensuring a smooth and even finish. Once dried, the pieces are precisely cut into their final shapes using a laser cutter. They are then thoughtfully assembled like a mosaic and bonded together, forming the final material.

Ongoing Work

This work is still unfolding, an ongoing exploration of material, culture, and design. As new ideas take shape, the process continues to evolve, uncovering new possibilities along the way. Updates will follow as the journey moves forward, shaping what comes next.

To see earlier stages of this project click here