R3FUGE
// FALL 2026 * STUDIO PROJECT * 5 WEEKS
REFUGE
// FALL 2026 * STUDIO PROJECT * 5 WEEKS
// brief
A daily ration, measured and poured by hand.
Issued to the mission psychologist aboard Reach III. They hold the rum, measure it, and pour it. Nobody gets their ration without another person handing it over.
// brief
A daily rum ration, measured and poured by hand.
Issued to the mission psychologist aboard Reach III. They hold the rum, measure it, and pour it. Nobody gets their ration without interacting with another person.
// why
Earth is dying. Reach I and II were sent to find somewhere else. Neither succeeded. The vessels held, but the crews didn't.
Reach III carries countermeasures against this.
REFUGE is one.
Gunfire tea, black tea with a rum ration, held Royal Navy crews together for two centuries. Mission planning didn't invent a ritual, but they took one that worked, including the part where an officer poured it.
// the set
// history & ideation
-3D scene constructed in blender for renderings
-3D cardboard mockups used to test form language and usability
The oak rum barrel and the tot measure were used heavily as historical references for this design.
The rum barrel that carries the lifeblood of the ritual the rum.
The tot cup which serves from it and measures rations.
// cmf
Deep drawn aluminum, machined bases, formed sheet, wood grips at a standoff, silicone seals.
// reflection
The band and the wood came from two objects I found in research, not from sketching. The research gave the set a logic I couldn't have invented.
The harder lesson was how easily a premise stands in for a design. What justifies this set is whether a measured ration puts a crew in the same room. Which is a question about the objects, not the world.
// renders
// models
// why
Earth is dying. Reach I and II were sent to find somewhere else. Neither succeeded — the vessels held, the crews didn't.
Reach III carries countermeasures against isolation. R3FUGE is one.
Gunfire tea — black tea with a rum ration — held Royal Navy crews together for two centuries. Mission planning didn't invent a ritual. They took one that worked, including the part where an officer poured it.
// the set
Tot — fixed 1.5 oz measure, no second function. The pour is always between two people. Everything else supports it.
Pot — brews for the group. Cast aluminum, machined base, wood grip on a standoff so heat never reaches the hand.
Rum store — the only alcohol aboard. Access is a person, not a lock.
Tea and sugar — canvas pouch, rationed in cubes and doses.
Heat disc — induction. No flame aboard.
Crate — carries everything, locks down, and its lid is the work surface.
// history
Two objects shaped the design: the oak rum tub, bound with metal hoops, and the tot measure that portioned from it under supervision.
The band on every piece is the tub's hoop. The wood is the tub's wood, and sits only where the hand goes. Metal is what the ship made. Wood is what the crew held.
// cmf
Cast aluminum, machined bases, formed sheet, wood grips at a standoff, silicone seals.
Nothing here needs a process that doesn't exist.
// reflection
The band and the wood came from two objects I found in research, not from sketching. The research gave the set a logic I couldn't have invented.
The harder lesson was how easily a premise stands in for a design. What justifies this set is whether a measured ration puts a crew in the same room — a question about the objects, not the world.