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Ceci n’est pas une Schrank – design workshop

Storage space which does not look like one – developing a surprising storage furniture which can be a camouflage, a blend with the environment or maybe
something entirely different – an impostor who is something different in reality.

It could belies our expectations in volume, size, material, style and function. Perhaps it is also a transformer which different spaces that adapt requirements and perspectives.

A workshop inspired by the title of the painting by René Magritte “ceci n’est pas une pipe”. The students of the second semester industrial design of the Brunswick university of arts have to creat a storage with a story behind. After three days of workshop which is also accompanied by Katharina Wahl, the students have to come up with a concept and 1:1 model.

Get some impressions how it looks like in the workshop and the design studio.

The studio – material and ideas

the mid presentation is to present the ideas and to talk with the students about their idea and how they can realise and improve it

having lunch in between of models and materials in the studio

the designer’s grill made of a flower bucket – finding solutions is our job

sometime you have to see it from a different point of view to get a new idea

building models is also fun

a model for a folding bench made of cardboard

inside the workshop

LINGA workshop

Due to the demographic change especially in countries like Germany products and services has to change too. That is why the LINGA made a workshop to develop new ideas and needs for the year 2020. Working one week in interdisciplinary groups we created concepts which improves mobility and/or social life.

why does not a robot teach us exercises at home?

The LINGA (Landesinitiative Niedersachsen generationengerechter Alltag) was founded 2006 and has cooperation with more than 70 industry and research and developement partners as well as the federal state government of Niedersachsen.

At first you have to understand how it feels like not to be as flexible as you are used to. That for we used MAX which is a suit that limits your movement and power to move – also interesting for the germany tv as you can see on the picture.

An other problem is that your eyes are getting worse. Just to give you an example how the difference looks like I made some photos of colors and packaging. Even without any interferencethe small text is heard to read but with some it’s nearly impossible. How can you know what is really inside?

Cornelia Rundt, social minister of Niedersachsen, came to see the final presentations in Hildesheim

 

for more information about the workshop click here.

about San Francisco

Since the first moment I liked SanFran even the dirty corners in the area we stayed. All the painted walls were like histories, the one way street which reminds me of Valencia in Spain and the people in the streets – it is a living and honest city.

The north Californian city has many different faces – the haight street is my insider if you are looking for something special. There are so many vintage store and boutiques. Downtown is were  you can find the big buildings and the old cable train. This might be a really touristic thing but do it – the best is being a “stepper”.

Downtown is close to china town – unfortunately the chines culture got lost in a single hugh souvenir shop. In case you find a real authentic store, they will have shark fins and other things to discover. The pier is also really nice and especially during the time of the sunset – you can see the golden sky behind the golden gate bridge while eating fish and chips.

If you just need a place to relax and to see nice houses go to North Beach as well as Telegraph Hill There is nothing special, it’s just lovely without tourist and with a great view.

the non-touristic pier where you meet fishermen

the pier 39 in San Fran

one of the real chines shops in china town

seen in Haight Street

there are a lot of home less people in the streets of San Fran. This guy is selling flowers

this man does fitness in front of the sport studio – every day two hours

Going to California

As a designer you are always looking for new inspirations. What could be a better place than California to see what is trend and to open up the mind for new ideas. Due to this I am travelling around in the US for two weeks with people from university.

During this time we will meet with design studios – Continuum, Designworks, frog,… – and automotive design studios – Tesla, Volkswagen, GM, BMW,…
In the end of the travel I will post the “must have seen” and some personal statements. But now, let the American dream comes true 🙂

education is important

winner of the cluster contest

Agnes Günther wins the spanish packaging design contest cluster_envase y embalaje. The design of the stand-up pouch valve convinced the jury. EMSUR Saymopack, one of the biggest packaging companies in Spain, is working on the realisation of a prototype.

The cluster contest was tendered by the Cluster Association of Packaging in cooperation with the Instituto Tecnológico del Embalaje, Transporte y Logística (ITENE) to get new ideas for products and applications as well as process design and process engineering.
The stand-up pouch valve did not convince the jury only because of its technical quality but also because of the high level of innovation.

“The idea makes the product” and the product solves more than one problem. It closes automatically, uses less space while transport and storage, weights less and the volume is used better.

“Why should a soft packaging have a hard screw cap? This didn’t make sense to me, it seemed to be more like a thorn in someone’s flesh. That’s why I used a pressure valve as shutter in my version of the stand-up pouch.”

the challenge of material

Making jewelry is not just about making something beautiful. There is a story behind each piece and each collection.
Sometimes it’s just that you are thinking about something you saw or you felt the day before… and sometimes you want to know how far you can go, the challenge of the material.

The collection pearl histories is inspired by a ring I made seven years ago. I always liked this ring, simple, one pearl which collects all the light, and when you but it off you will notice that the ring looks like a flower.
The second inspiration was a lecture about titanium. Actually it was not the ranch of colours of the material that quickened my interest. It was the sound of a piece of titanium that fell to the ground.
Titanium is a magic metal which is not that common for jewelry – pearls are. The balance of different elements. But does balance really exists? No. Nothing is totally in balance. The pearl seems to fall, to move inside the setting – and this is what piques our interest. .

melting silver

melting silver on your own permits you a better feeling of the material. You know exactly what you did with the material and you can decide the size and the quantity. There are different technics of melting – do you have pieces or saw dust?

here is an example of melting 80 grams silver pieces

for other works in process click here

glass workshop

glass as material for jewelry. some impressions about the work.