Jillian Nadolski is homeward bound
As spring quarter crested towards commencement, Jillian Nadolski (B.F.A., preservation design, 2021) focused on completing two key projects.
Her collaborative vision “Suyay,” a vaccine storage unit, was being readied for submission to the 2021 Biomimicry Global Design Challenge. Meanwhile “Homeward Bound,” her plan for transforming decommissioned South Shore Line train cars into Little Free Libraries, conceived and completed in Studio VII: Luxury Design in the Built Environment (PRES 410), was due for presentation at Popular Culture Virtual Conference 2021 mere days after graduation.
“Having prided myself on being a pragmatic person, I initially faced the luxury design assignment with a little bit of resistance, because I was unsure how luxury fit into what I deemed to be a world of functionality,” says the summa cum laude alumna. Tasked with creating a meaningful experience for end users, “I discovered the pure simplicity that can lie within the notion of luxury. I learned that knowledge itself is a luxury.”
Jillian Nadolski:
I’m from Saint Joseph, Michigan directly east across the lake of Chicago. I’m born and raised on Lake Michigan, and when I wanted to be culturally enriched, Chicago was the place to go. I remember one day in a snow storm my dad insisted we jump in the car and go to Museum of Science and Industry. I recognize how lucky I’ve been to have parents who’ve fostered my creativity and thirst for knowledge and who helped me get to SCAD.
“Suyay: For a Better Tomorrow” was a group project for the class Biomimicry: Collaborative, Nature-inspired Innovation (SUST 439), part of my design for sustainability minor. The word “suyay” means hope in Quechua, the native language of Peru, where my teammate Marialejandra is from. Naming our project “Suyay” represents our commitment to deliver Covid-19 vaccines to the most vulnerable and remote communities in Peru. Our goal is to bring attention to the vaccine disparity that affects developing countries all over the world.
We looked at strategies of different organisms in nature. We studied the goldenrod gall fly, which chews into the stem of a goldenrod and creates an insulating gall, which helps protect it from external conditions. We took inspiration from the fly and designed a vaccine storage box with a mechanism that acts as a plug for the vial. To emphasize sustainable innovation, “Suyay” has a secondary application whereby the twist mechanism can be replaced with a water tap, so the box becomes a potable storage unit. Professor Scott Boylston guided us with positivity and expertise.
Those of us in developed countries usually don’t have to struggle to have access to basic resources like running water and medicine. Here I am 22 years old, fully vaccinated, whereas elderly people in vulnerable communities around the world don’t have the advantage that I have. It’s truly a privilege check. It’s not only knowledge that’s a luxury, it’s general access.
With “Homeward Bound: Little Free Libraries from Decommissioned Train Cars,” I leaned into the idea of the luxury of being cared for with compassionate design. I sourced information from the Chicago Literacy Alliance, including the fact that 61% of low-income households do not own any children’s books. I designed a Little Free Library with a café, a place where visitors become as enveloped in the stories they’re reading as they are enveloped in the books around them, a place to encourage and facilitate literacy. Professor CT Nguyen, chair of preservation design, was an invaluable resource as I refined the design.
My projects were influenced by circumstances I could not have predicted. Members of my graduating class know that the reality of the past year made our SCAD experience unique. We really, truly made the best of it. As a pioneer for a sustainable future, I’m looking forward to designing a better world.
Congratulations, Jillian!
Written by Peter Relic.
