The MakerKit is a design response to a crisis of displacement. It emerges from an urgent need to provide agency and purpose to asylum seekers during one of the most uncertain and disempowering periods of their lives. This innovative solution redefines waiting not as stagnation, but as an opportunity—transforming the asylum process from a time of isolation into a period of personal empowerment, skill development, and community connection.
Global Design & Architecture Design Awards 2025
First Award | Interior Design Elements (Concept)
Project Name: MakerKit
Category: Interior Design Elements (Concept)
Studio Name: HKS, Inc.
Design Team: Ailin Wei, Madison Merwine, Adnan Fakhouri
Area: Ailin Wei – Atlanta GA, USA; Madison Merwine – Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Adnan Fakhouri – London, UK
Year: 2025
Location: N/A
Consultants: N/A
Photography Credits: N/A
Render Credits: Adnan Fakhouri
Other Credits: Diagram Illustration credits – Ailin Wei, Madison Merwine, Narritive credits – Madison Merwine
The inspiration for the MakerKit grew from the troubling reality faced by displaced individuals seeking asylum. Often unable to work due to restrictive immigration policies, they are trapped in limbo for years—sometimes five to seven—awaiting decisions that will define the rest of their lives. During this time, access to employment, structured education, and basic agency is severely limited. Without the legal right to engage meaningfully with their surroundings, many experience a collapse of self-worth, autonomy, and hope.
To reframe this critical waiting period, our design team asked a powerful question: What if you could carry the solution to your problems on your back? The MakerKit was developed as a direct answer to that question—a lightweight, modular, portable workstation that turns any space into a place of making, learning, and earning.
Designed as a mobile makerspace, the MakerKit reframes this waiting period as a time for growth, creativity, and self-determination. Weighing under 6 lbs and roughly the size of a backpack, it unfolds into a personal workstation tailored to the user’s craft—whether sewing, woodworking, electronics, or art. It includes a solar panel for energy independence, weather-resistant materials for long-term use, and customizable modules for tools and materials. Magnetic pegs allow for personal expression of identity.
With three core configurations—Backpack Mode, Work Mode, and Display Mode—the MakerKit supports a variety of uses, from home-based creation to selling goods in public markets or collaborating in community spaces—whether it’s at home for personal craft and learning, in public parks as a micro-entrepreneurial market stall, or in refugee camps with added features like emergency blankets, flashlights, and first-aid kits. Its flexibility allows it to meet makers wherever they are—physically, emotionally, and professionally. The future of the MakerKit includes a modular workshop model, where individual kits can connect to form larger collaborative stations. This allows for community exhibitions, shared resources, and collective creativity.
The MakerKit functions as both product and platform. A companion mobile app connects users to local makers, tool libraries, skill-sharing opportunities, and job listings. Distribution is embedded within libraries, refugee centers, and community hubs. A “Buy-One, Donate-One” model ensures that each purchased MakerKit directly supports someone in need.
This design empowers individuals to reclaim agency, build skills, and generate income, transforming a static experience into one of momentum. At its core, the MakerKit delivers not just tools, but dignity, opportunity, and the infrastructure for displaced people to create a future on their own terms.
