Best of #StudentsProjects

Universities and schools are often places of experimentation, but also to address in an ironic and provocative way themes of actuality. In December 2016 Domus publishes the 2015 edition of the Europe’s top 100 schools of architecture and design, and Domusweb proposes 10 projects that tell how academia is a fertile ground to discover, to innovate and to challenge.

– Four students of The Bartlett School of Architecture used the traditional art of stitching to transform a flat sheet of felt into structurally strong, intricate, fluid shapes.

– Martin Hertig won the ECAL’s Award of Excellence with a project that explore the issues of “confidence” surrounding data collection systems: fun in exchange for personal data.

– OFIS architects and AKT II with thirteen students faced the challenges of designing an innovative yet practical shelter to meet the needs of the extreme alpine climate, also investigating the symbolic aspect of the bivouac.

– Karim Adduchi’s fashion collection She Knows Why the Caged Bird Sings is about translating the symbolism and the perception of Berber women and wants to give them a voice.

– For her final project at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Dana Douiev explores the African and Ethiopian culture in relation to agriculture and food.

– After a theoretical research and a case study in Guatemala, Berlin-based designer Jonas Hasselmann took a critical look on how souvenirs represent places and memories.

– A “one grain at a time” rice fork, a too large spoon, a holed spoon, and a weak knife: with her absurd cutlery set Firdaws Fourcroy turn us schizophrenic, disrupting everyday rituals and drawing us back to an unproductive state.

– For her final project at Saint Martins Marta Monge imagines travel tools an illegal migrant could design to cross EU borders, using design objects as props to render possible futures.

– Chinese product designer Chao Chen took inspiration for the pinecone to develop a water-reacting material that can be used for a lot of applications.

– For his thesis project Antonio Cascos Chamizo address global issues such as lack of resources, over population, issues around consumerism with a fictional and controversial solution.

Top: Marta Monge, Border Crossing