THE UMBRELLA PROJECT: The Architecture of Activism
The Umbrella Project is an initiative that mobilizes collective making as a form of care, grounded in volunteers collaboratively fabricating reimagined umbrellas to support those protesting ICE across the United States. Through shared labor, skill-sharing, and hands-on production, the project enacts care both locally and at a distance—connecting participants through action, solidarity, and material support.
As a designer and educator committed to the social and civic potential of design, I approach this work from the belief that design is an act of optimism and a powerful mode of intentional action. Design has the capacity to synthesize knowledge across disciplines, materials, and methods in response to urgent social, environmental, and ethical conditions. The Umbrella Project invites design to operate not as abstraction, but as care in practice. I invite you to join me in sending reimagined umbrellas—and care—to those who are protesting.
At the core of the project is the adaptation of one of the most provisional forms of portable architecture: the umbrella. Through a series of fabrication workshops held across the country, volunteers work together to produce reinforced umbrellas intended to offer portable shelter and protection during ICE raids, protests, and public demonstrations. Centered on anti-ICE protesters and organizers, the umbrellas function as immediate tools of collective safety—providing bodily coverage, visual buffering, and a shared sense of presence in moments of fear, vulnerability, and risk.
Each umbrella is reimagined as both a protective and communicative object. Designs incorporate reinforced frames; high-durability, impact-resistant fabrics such as Kevlar that can extend downward and be secured around the body to slow the effects of pepper spray; heat-reflective mylar to offer limited thermal protection; and integrated pockets for identification, essential legal language, and other critical resources for protesters. These adaptations position the umbrella not only as shelter, but as an interface between the body, the crowd, and the forces acting upon them.
All umbrellas will be distributed through the grassroots network of Women’s March, with GoFundMe donations used solely to support materials, workshops, and shipping. Led by Rachel Paupeck, the project unfolds through fabrication workshops in Hamilton, NY; Brooklyn, NY; New Haven, CT; and Los Angeles, CA, in coordination with members of Legal Aid NYC.
The Umbrella Project is intentionally open-source. All patterns, fabrication specifications, and assembly instructions will be shared publicly so that others may adapt, modify, and build within their own local contexts. Deep gratitude is extended to Makwa Studio in Minneapolis for their partnership, generosity, and shared commitment to this work.
This project does not claim to be a comprehensive solution to the many dangers and injustices protesters face. It is not perfect, nor does it resolve the systemic forces that necessitate protest in the first place. What it does offer is something more modest—and equally vital: a means of bringing people together in solidarity; a shared, material practice through which communities are formed; and an opportunity to teach the next generation the importance of participation in the democratic process. Through making, participants gain not only tools for protection, but frameworks for collective care, civic engagement, and mutual responsibility.
Please consider joining a workshop (dates forthcoming), offering a space to host one, donating through the adjacent GoFundMe to support materials and shipping, or participating directly in the making of umbrellas. Supplies and instructions can also be sent to those unable to attend a workshop but interested in contributing.
Share it. Teach it. Adapt it.
This project belongs to everyone.
Website forthcoming