> Mori

> USA

>HONOURABLE MENTION

Team Members:

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Amanda Gunawan,

Joel Wong

Mori is an easily assembled and aggregated product designed to encourage creativity, movement and social interaction amongst society.

The character Mori 森 comprises of 3 of the same characters, ki/moku木 stacked. Alone, ki/moku means wood, a strong, versatile and important material. Combined, it forms mori森, meaning forest, a vital ecosystem whose strengths depend on the synergy and collaboration amongst living things. The more effective the collaboration between these separate habitats, the more robust the forest. Additionally, in the character mori 森, 3 of the characters hito/jin人 are embedded, only visible to the acute observer. 人hito/jin means human. There’s a symbolic meaning that emphasizes the importance of collaboration between people in a society in order to create a harmonious forest/ecosystem. The name森, thus, is apt in outlining the goals and significance behind the product.

Like moku, the single module displays adaptability, structural integrity and aesthetic appeal. It is at its most potent, however, when combined with more of its kind, creating functional and unique components. The module is simple. It comprises of four (1.5”x18”) timber blocks, joint together by ¼” dowels. Nestled between the blocks are connector pieces (3/8”x26”) angled at 45-degrees for directional range, enabling the module to join laterally and diagonally to produce multiple product possibilities, pushing the creative boundaries of users.

With the accompanying app, our deeper agenda is to tackle the problem faced by many contemporary societies-a lack of meaningful social interactions and difficulty establishing friendships. Mori stimulates collaboration. Mori provides the foundation for designing and building. In doing so together, social barriers are broken. Through collaborative building, Mori brings together individuals working tangentially towards the same goal.