Abstract:

The effects that COVID-19 has generated in the whole world have been accentuated by a series of collateral phenomena where the shortage of raw materials and decrease in the productive chain is one of the most important at the time of health emergency, lack and uncertainty, among other important factors of the pyramid of needs on which our society is sustained (Maslow, A., 1943), (Loxton, Trukket et al, 2020).

On the other hand, the environmental impact generated by the pandemic is high. The production of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks, gloves, aprons and face shields, goggles, to mention just a few, have contributed to the pollution of the planet in a short period of time, a negative aspect of which we have just begun to evidence.

We understand eco-social design as a diverse set of design practices that contribute to the transformation of relationships between people and nature, in order to move towards sustainable, non-, resilient, just and equitable future scenarios, both locally and trans-locally. (Elzenbaumerr , Franz, et al, 2017).

The case of design of PPE gear based on format adaptation and synthetic materials during the pandemic, specifically on FACE SHIELD proposal , has been a clear demonstration that facing adversity and a sense of vulnerability, people are able to generate design proposals based on the generation of geometric patterns with medium design complexity. The ability to convert two-dimensional (2D) sheets into three-dimensional (3D) structures is a surface transformation technique that reduces the amount of material, energy and fabrication process. The ability of people to replicate and follow audiovisual media instruction, having as a common point the development of a big variety of protection gear based on DYS techniques against COVID-19 , has been a sort of creative turning point into models and construction procedure.

The city of Concepción, located 550 kms south of Santiago, is the second most important city in Chile, which has an important port, air and land infrastructure. However, its supply chain to the south and north of the Chilean capital has suffered the consequences of a country with serious centralization problems. This article describes the experience of a model of management and co-design under the criteria of social design and optimization of resources as essential topics in the transfer of knowledge in the teaching of industrial design in Chile. The case study of the ERGO 3 facial barrier in charge of the Design Research Laboratory of the Universidad del Bio Bio will be presented. Chile, from its creative design process, to its manufacturing model, distribution and patenting procedure during worldwide health crisis.

Keywords:

Ergo Face Shield Membrane, interdisciplinary PPE design experience, encouraging undergraduate students into real researcher challenges in the south of Chile