Shelter project: Ward

Ward is inspired by the cycle of homelessness, a perpetuating pattern in which individuals or families experience poverty and find it difficult to escape. It involves a combination of economic, social, and psychological factors that create barriers and keep people trapped in the downward descent into homelessness.

The hat features an origami hole created by an accordion shape, or Jabara, in the back of the crown, a pattern adapted from Tomoko Nakamichi’s book Pattern Magic. The hole includes three circular steps, each representing the family's incremental descent into homelessness. These circles are made from repurposed scrap materials, including silk satin and polyester, in bleak hues.