In collaboration with designer Raya Kassisieh, the Amman Design Week team took initiative to recycle one of last year’s major Hangar Exhibition installations “Entrelac”, re-designing it into blankets that were later distributed to underprivileged Syrian refugee and Jordanian families.

“Entrelac” is an installation piece created through a joint collaboration between local fashion designer Raya Kassisieh and NADAAA, a Boston-based architecture and urban design firm led by MIT professor Nader Tehrani.

The monumental 350 kg wool-weaved installation is an architecturally scaled garment consisting of many hand-knitted strands and woven as a single cross stitch piece. Descending from the order and geometry controlled in the digital realm, the wool-knitted strands created a dialogue between digital design and traditional craft.

The local craftswomen who knitted the piece dismantled it themselves and transformed it into 38 finished individual blankets that were handed out.

The recycling initiative is an integrated concept that redefines the way people look at design. It is to raise awareness about conscious design and the positive impact of craft on community development.

As a part of Amman Design Week's focus on social and environmental responsibility most of the materials used in the exhibition’s installations, including all flex posters, have been reused and recycled, to benefit community members. The aim is to minimize waste of all sorts and to have designers respectively create a sustainable community together.

Aside from the “Entrelac” recycling project, Amman Design Week distributed the watermelons that made up the distinctive “Rujm al Batteekh” installation by Karpouz Collaborative. All leftover watermelons were given to local families, and any perished watermelons were given to needy horse stables.

Special thanks to NADAAA and Wadi Finan Gallery