Field Studio

ISABELLE POWELL (she/her) / RETURN TO THE OUTDOORS
In a world where children look at screens an average of 6 hours a day, unstructured and outdoor play has been left out of most children’s weekly routines. Return To The Outdoors explores what a neighborhood would look like with communal, outdoor play spaces that include collected, donated and found objects that encourage imaginative play.

KIERNAN GRISSOM (he/him) / WHO STEALS THE GOOSE OFF THE COMMONS
Who Steals the Commons From Off the Goose is a narrative based project exploring the means by which commoning practices occur, and the actions and tactics used to [re]gain these spaces. Through studying commoning movements through history [most notably the Charter of the Forest, the Solidarity Movement, Mai 68, Zapatista Movement, and the Hong Kong Protests], common narratives were investigated, where recurring situations between actors [commoners and oppressing powers] could be identified. A narrative was produced from surveyed said common[ing] situations to enact a speculative publication in which situational tactics could be examined in a derived world. Physical artifacts from the narrative were produced as a means of both telling the story of commoning, as well as a means of further research into the subject. These artifacts work in tandem with the publication to fully explore commoning as a practice.”

NIKKI BENNETT (she/her) / PROSTHETIC HABITAT OF RENEWAL
In the year 2025 the Great Salt Lake will reach a salinity level of 32% making it impossible for Brine Shrimp to survive. An estimated 2 million Eared Grebes are coming to feed on them. With no food source and no way of leaving they are trapped here. A prosthetic habitat is introduced to revive this stolen resource and allow for the Eared Grebes to survive without having to change their natural migration habits.

JAKE WELCH (he/him) / FOLDERS: COLLECTING RESOURCES IN THE DIGITAL COMMONS
As a new designer, learning new software & finding the resources you need can be complicated. Current existing methods for finding & collecting resources are not always efficient, & often leave users to figure out things on their own. For my project, I have designed a website that allows designers to easily save & maintain an archive of found links. Through saving new links, an algorithm works to suggest recommended resources that align with the user’s interests. The website also offers a group-based chat system that allows users to find groups that align with their interests & chat with other designers to share & find resources.

ZOE WUTHRICH (she/her) / TO GATHER, TOGETHER: COLLECTIVE URBAN FORAGING
Gathering provisions in a developed environment in a collective way is an equal right. Urban environments may appear to be sterile but there is diverse plant life that can be used in a common way and provide education, food and community. This system exists on its own but providing a “tool” to people who live in urban environments is a way to allow them to connect and develop a deeper understanding to the native and non-native plants that exist alongside them. My concept is an all encompassing “tool” for urban foraging that identifies plants and their edible and medicinal purposes where members will be able to document findings and have community discussions. This tool exists in the form of a kiosk where there are many parts that are interconnected that rely on self and group documentation.
My goal with this design is to introduce urban communities to plants in an accessible way so that they will be able to identify the same edible plant in the future and share their knowledge in addition to building a connection to the environment they inhabit.

FINN REDDISH (he/him) / THE GRIZZLY HUT PROJECT
Grizzly gulch, located at the top of Little Cotton Wood Canyon in the Wasatch Mountain Range is a world class destination for winter athletes and the home of a beautiful outdoor community. With hundreds of beautiful zones to ski and hike comes consistent hazard and avalanche risk. As skiing and backcountry exploration becomes more accessibly and popular, so does avalanche safety equipment and education.The Grizzly Hut Project is a network of small informative shelters made to pass information through the community and provide backcountry users with small covered spaces to re-group when needed. The hut system will consist of three different spaces, all built
with a different user goal and purpose.

MORGAN DOANE (he/him) / COMMON HARVEST
Feeding oneself and one’s family is central to life and wellbeing. A society's collective wellbeing can perhaps be measured by each member’s ability to feed themselves and their family.However, the industrial food system of the United States is not designed to serve us all. Nutritional food access in this system is predicated on car ownership, wealth, and class.This project therefore proposes an alternative to industrial food production, specifically catered to meet the needs of food-marginalized communities.

LEAH SCHUTZ (she/her) / ECHELON
Echelon is an activity created as a system of equal social commoning specifically for high school students. Based on research on the social structure of geese and their flocks, and also proxemics in human social situations and games, it is designed to promote communication and remove barriers to commoning due to differing social capabilities.

SARAH EDMUNDS (she/her) / ADOPTION
The Role of Family Integration within Adoptive FamiliesThe foster care system and adoption system has become an increasing issue within our society because it has grown out of its’ means. There are lots of children being born and taken into the adoption system, but many cannot find a home. When children do find a home with adoptive parents, it can be difficult for them to adjust or learn that they are adopted.This entire system is flawed and I can’t tackle it all, so I have decided to focus on the moment when a child is finally adopted and brought into their adoptive families and how they can easily integrate into these families at any age through an online platform and experience.My topic fits into the Commons of Reproduction, where there is a focus on care of oneself/others and family.

ELI AGUTTER (he/him) / A COMMUNITY OF FIRE
A Community of Fire is a system and product designed to switch the responsibility of land and fire management in WUI areas from existing fire agencies to the people living in those areas. These WUI communities will be using prescribed fire not only to increase the health of the surrounding wilderness but also to reduce their risk to wildfires in the future. These prescribed fires will be done using the tools already in their possession and the gas can attachment I have designed.