The Design Research Lab is a network of people, organisations, and non-human agents engaged at the intersection of technologies, materials, and social practices. Our aim is to design socially and ecologically sustainable tools, spaces, and knowledge that support people’s participation in a digital society – based on common principles of inclusiveness and respect for the planet. This puts the basic democratic right to take part in the digital sphere into practice. We start our research from individual lifeworlds and the needs of minoritized groups, beyond consumer majorities.
We are an interdisciplinary team of designers, researchers, tech-enthusiasts and critical thinkers from Berlin University of the Arts, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, as well as Einsteincenter Digital Future (ECDF).
Facing the global corona pandemic collectively means adapting, collaborating and sharing – and experimenting with new concepts, materials and production possibilities is an essential part of Do-It-Yourself and Do-it-Together culture. We all find ourselves questioning how we can best protect one another, as both individuals and the healthcare sector find themselves grappling with a massive shortage of protective equipment.
As we are also experimenting with making our own masks out of what we have at hand – we would like to share an ongoing compilation of DIY/DIT resources that we have been collecting. Perhaps it might inspire the making of your own masks or the participation in taking action and being part of the movement of making them for others!
Vacuum Cleaner Bag Mask: 10-minute mask with PDF instructions
Coffee Filter Mask: YouTube tutorial for DIY mask-making using 4 coffee filters
Kitchen-Towel Mask: YouTube tutorial from Consumer Council: University of Hong-Kong-Shenzen Hospital
Paper-Mask: YouTube tutorial for how to make a foldable mask out of paper
Collection of disposable masks: This page presents ideas, concepts and suggestions on how to make a face-mask for yourself and others from simple household items and without a sewing machine
Washable Textile Mask + Filter: Sewing instructions (PDF) of reusable fabric face-masks with opening for filter-Serger directions
Essen-Mask: PDF instructions of face-mask from city Essen
Mask + Filter: Improved face-mask sewed with filter and nose-fit wire inside
Protect-Others-Mask: Instagram instructions from a statement mask from cotton bag in about 5 min without sewing
Scarf-Mask: YouTube tutorial for how to make a mask in one minute using a scarf and little towels
T-shirt mask: YouTube tutorial for how to make a face-mask out of an old t-shirt
Cotton-Cloth-Mask: 10 min mask from old cloth without sewing
Textile-Mask: Reusable textile mask-cut for men and women for download
Fabric-Mask: Designers provide DIY mask-cut for download
Folding assistance: Aids for mask building from cardboard
Mask On Collective: A community of professional product, fashion and textile designers from Berlin (Kunsthochschule Weißensee) .
Maskeauf: Maskeauf initiative, supported by celebrities
Open Source Mask: Open source platform for 3D printed masks
machBar-Potsdam: Fabrication Lab in Potsdam calls on other labs for support in producing 3D printed face shields
Maskenfueralle: Masks for all refers to tailors to risk patients, their carers and small institutions (non-profit)
Maker vs. Virus: Network for masks, signs etc. with distribution hub in Berlin
100.000 Masken für Deutschland: The crowd-helping action with mediation of face masks
Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks: Would They Protect in an Influenza Pandemic?
Authors: Davies, Thompson, Giri, Kafatos, Walker and Bennett, Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health (2013)
Wann ist das Tragen eines Mund-Nasen-Schutzes in der Öffentlichkeit zum Schutz vor SARS-CoV-2 sinnvoll?
Information from the Robert Koch Institute (in German)
Professional and Home-Made Face Masks Reduce Exposure to Respiratory Infections among the General Population
Authors: van der Sande, Teunis, Sabel (2008), PLoS ONE 3(7)
Simple DIY masks could help flatten the curve. We should all wear them in public
Author: Jeremy Howard (2020), The Washington Post
Covid-19: Why we should all wear masks — there is new scientific rationale
Author: Sui Huang (2020), Institute for Systems Biology Seattle
Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks
Authors: Leung, Chu, Shiu et al., Nat Med (2020)
This list was compiled by Katharina Bellinger
UdK Berlin / Weizenbaum Institute