Elderly Walker
Design Research for Physical Products
Hester Diamond, mother of Mike Diamond (“Mike D”) of the Beastie Boys, commissioned a small group of art and engineering students from The Cooper Union to redesign the elderly walker. Hester is an avid art and furniture collector, and owns some of the most interesting chairs from around the world. As such, she felt that the elderly walker could be pushed further, in both form and function.
After a three month intensive design process, our collective designed, developed, and produced working prototypes of three walkers. I led the design and development of one walker -- “The Chair Riot,” pictured below. Hester used the results of the Cooper Union design collective to kickstart her own elderly walker company.
