Safe Agua Chile: Students designing for social change

In August 2009, 12 design students traveled to Santiago, Chile to investigate the water problems experienced by residents living in slum areas or campamentos. The visit was a collaboration between Un Techo para Chile, a non-profit that combats homelessness in Chile by providing temporary housing and other services, and Art Center College of Design, a renowned design school located in Pasadena, California. Over a fifth of Chileans live in urban poverty, with many of them homeless and living in campamentos. These unofficial makeshifts communities lack many basic necessities, including plumbing and running water. A lack of running water can often lead to injury in transporting water for daily chores and illness from consuming contaminated water. The design students conducted field research in the San Jose campamento and got to know the residents and their families personally. This intimacy fueled a passionate search for design solutions to help the residents. The students spent 14 weeks at school developing and testing product designs and then introduced them to Un Techo para Chile and the residents. The products were designed for low-cost and easy construction using locally available material to ensure accessibility to low-income consumers and the possibility of local manufacture to boost employment. This model of direct collaboration with the end user is an innovative approach that directly addresses users' needs and concerns and has considerable potential in the fields of product design, public health, and social entrepreneurship.