Design
Academy Eindhoven – 50 Graduate Projects that Have a Firm Connection with Life
and a Desire to Make Sense of It exhibition curated by Ilse Crawford. The Design Academy Eindhoven presented 50 Graduate Projects that Have a Firm Connection
with Life and a Desire to Make Sense of It the exhibition was curated by Ilse
Crawford. Ilse Crawford is the British designer and curator of the prestigious
Design Academy Eindhoven and this exhibition presented a clear philosophy
“Design is at its best when it addresses real needs.” In this manner she indicates that the current
design projects reflect the needs of society.
The designers of the future make a connection with economic, social and
cultural aspects in our society and shape real matters.
Design
Department Man and Leisure – Drawing the Passage of Time – Niek de Snoo. Just
like a normal clock, Niek de Snoo’s project Time Drawings shows the time. But the big hand holds a piece of chalk that
drops down as the year progresses. This
will fill the space under the clock and literally make the passing of time
visible. After a year the drawing is
full and after changing the chalk the process can start all over again. De Snoo: I wanted to design something that
would change in a positive way during use.
I also had the need to gin a more expansive sense of time with this
clock, to get a grip of time.”
Design Department Man and Public Space –
Weather Conditions in a Glass – Martijn Koomen. In addition to being a designer
Martijn Koomen is a captain of a submarine, and he flies hang-gliders. And in this capacity he is very interested in
meteorology. His Weather, Feathers and
Frost project visualizes temperature, atmospheric pressure and wind. Inside his ‘weather glasses’, downy feathers
float on the air currents, and a drop in temperature will cause crystals to
form. Koomen has used two of these
weather glasses as construction elements for weather stations that visualize
temperature and wind. They provide
information about immediate weather conditions, thus forming a link between two
environments and making those indoors aware of the weather outside.
Design
Department Man and Living – A Shelter Where Nature Reigns – Feike de Jong. A picnic spot for day trippers an overnight
spot for those in search of peace and quiet.
That’s what Feike de Jong’s Biesbosch Expedition is. The steel frame becomes overgrown by willow
shoots taking root. This will firmly
secure the house, also against raising water.
De Jong wants nature to be in charge.
“I tried to think in reverse. Normally everything behind the dikes is
kept dry. Currently we have to leave
when Biesbosch national park is covered in water, which occurs about three
times a year.” He also made a shipping
crate to go with it, holding goods for an expedition of several days.
Design
Department Man and Communication - A Serious Game by Tomm Velthus. Parents
traditionally teach their children not to play with their food. Tomm Velthius now
adds a playful, confrontational gist to this classic parenting
mantra. Hoping to cultivate a better understanding of where the food
on our plates comes from, he designed a toy farm highlighting the unsustainable
reality of the meat industry. The wooden set, called Playing Food, comes complete with 200 pigs, the enormous amounts of
food required to fatten the up, the trees that must be cleared for feed crops,
and the acid rain caused by the pigs' manure. It's factory farming packaged as
an 'innocent' childhood toy. The message is unmistakable.
Design
Department Man and Well Being - An imperfect Shoe Solution - Sebastian
Goldschmidtboing. Shoes lie all over the place; shoes mean chaos. And that is not what people want. It
intrigues Sebastian Goldschmidtboing that people are always trying to order
their environment. Visiting friends' houses he would always notice shoes were
lying all over the place. He went about devising a solution for the
shoe chaos that would not be perfect. Goldsmidtboing: "The Shoe Shelf has seventeen bars to hang
shoes on. It feels organized, even though it isn't. It had to
be a human solution, because there is no such thing as perfection, which
is just as well."
Design
Department Man and Leisure - Together Forever by Noortje de Keijzer.
My knitted boyfriend is a pillow with a story. A pillow with personality. To
hug, cuddle and to have a laugh together. Because this is a man who is always
in a good mood, sitting on your sofa, on your floor or at your kitchen
table. But what he enjoys most is to be in your bed, with your head
on his chest and his arms wrapped around you. So that you will never
feel alone anymore. Noortje de Keijzer has made two Knitted
Boyfriends: white Arthur and dark Steve. With their knitted
accessories you can dress them to suit your own tastes. Will you give him
glasses, a mustache, a tattoo? The accompanying film illustrates the story of My Knitted Boyfriend.
Design
Department man and Well Being – Mini Display Fridge –Eva Smeltekop. Since the
birth some eighty years ago, the refrigerator has hardly changed at all: It began as, and continues to be, a large
steel box with a thick, closed door behind which our groceries disappear. But in point of fact, the refrigerator is not
suited for keeping everything we put in it: for example, it is too cold for
keeping cheese, and mushrooms take on its smells and tastes. Not to mention the fact that attractive
products deserve to be visible. Eva Smeltekop’s Refrigerator 2.0 is a small, transparent storage appliance in which
sweets and snacks not only keep well, but also look good.
The
Netherlands Institute for Design and Fashion – Spring/Excellence, talent and
Inspiration in Design exhibition. Rising Talent: Paul Heijnen, translates the
aesthetics of old industrial buildings into a series of furnitures. A 2009 design academy graduate, he’s
developing his steadily growing collection as a member of Eindhoven’s new
design collective Collaboration O.
Heijnen grew up in the mining region of the southern Dutch province of
Limburg, where the pine forests and robust mining architecture sparked his
imagination and his father, a drawing teacher, encouraged his creativity. His feeling for how to combine materials in
a simple, straightforward manner began in childhood.
Design Department Man and Activity - Disaster
Drum Kit - By Hikaru Imamura. In
the aftermath of a disaster, the presence of a heat source can make vital
difference to survivors. Bearing in mind the lack of electricity or
fuel in such cases. Hikaru Imamura has designed a metal storage and transport
drum that contains relief goods and can be transformed on-site into a stove to
burn any scraps of wood or refuse. Her Heat
Rescue: Disaster Recovery stove thus provides physical warmth as well as
hot water for drinking, cooking or sterilizing. "The availability of
warmth directly improves the quality of life for refugees and offers the mental
solace, as it acts as a social meeting point." she says.
Design
Department Man and Well Being – An Analogue Database – Marthe Biezen. Marthe Biezen is fascinated by the fragmented
way in which autistic people perceive the world. This resulted in her project Extended Drawer: a number of stacked
drawers 3.2m long, 4cm tall and 24cm deep.
The drawers can be stacked endlessly to form a wall. Biezen: “It is an analogue database. I want to show that everyone has their own
way of fragmenting and creating order.”
As there is so little space in the drawers, the user has to think very
consciously about what to save and what not.
And the limited space means you can only save things if they are
fragmented.
Design Department Man and Identity - Ornaments That
Protect - Judith Jans. In her collection of head ornaments, Judith Jans combines different functions and unusual materials. This has
resulted in five sunscreens: The Sun Coat, The Sun Necklace, The Sun Glasses,
The Sun Mask and The Sun Shade. Each item can be worn in different ways.
Sunwear is a geometric, minimalist collection with a monumental, elegant and
feminine look. Bright colors are accentuated by woods in different
shades, sparkling an interaction between veneer, Plexiglas and silk
voiles. A short accompanying film offers. An impression of the
collection, highlights ways to wear it, and presents the materials.