Student: Julie Richoz, École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne (ECAL), Switzerland
Rendering stainless steel as delicate as a textile, Julie Richoz’s masterful tableware collection, consisting of a plate and two decorative bowls, is fabricated by chemically etching ultra-thin sheets of spring steel. The cut pattern forms a wheel of tendrils that Richoz threads together, turning the 2‑D plane into a usable volume, one that speaks elegantly about the merging of industrial and artisanal craft. The pieces are now available through Artecnica.
Team: Carl Emil Jacobsen and Daniel Kowal, Kolding School of Design, Denmark
Like two chefs preparing a sumptuous feast, masters students Carl Emil Jacobsen and Daniel Kowal paid meticulous attention to detail in designing this collection that elevates the ritual of cooking. From the gunmetal cleaver and sickle to the stoneware bowl, they employed various innovative approaches to achieve a hybrid between ancient and modern techniques. They based their shapes on the Fibonacci series; chose such materials as food-certified bronze and porcelain; and realized some models with 3‑D printing. This fusion is exemplified by the steel knives, with their laser-cut blades treated for corrosion using acid from young apples, an ancient Viking method.
Team: Aaron Choi and Diego Valencia, with Brett Berger, Christine Phu, Kim Stevenson and faculty member Philip Horton, Arizona State University
Stained a deep fuchsia and topped in faux turf, this easy-to-assemble landscape of outdoor loungers provides respite from the hot sun for art and design students at Arizona State University in Tempe. The lumber elements were shaped into gentle topographies and unique geometries and clad in oak plywood wedges CNC cut and hand finished to form a variegated surface. The courtyard setting incorporates planters for such desert trees as paloverde and mesquite and doubles as a performance space – should someone wish to stage a modern twist on Shakespeare in the Park.
Team: Arina Agieieva and Dmytro Zhuikov, Dessau Institute of Architecture, Germany
In this ultimate farm-to-table utopia, two students seek to revive an industrial corner of Frankfurt with a symbiotic system of energy and food production. At its centre: a lush terraced greenhouse, which houses a restaurant that serves traditional cuisine. An energy-producing tower (a “pyrolysis gasification plant with cogeneration micro-turbine”) powers the restaurant; enveloped in a lattice-like metal frame, it features an observation deck so visitors can view how this symbiosis works. It’s fuelled by wood from continuously replenished willow parks – public places with such amenities as basketball courts and fountains. This sustainable approach to urban planning would make eco-farming and green energy a highly visible part of the city, in a big and beautiful way.
Designer: Libor Šenekel, Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic
Submerged in the Vltava River, a 75-metre-long trough would pay poetic homage to Václav Havel, the Czech playwright and politician who spent many of his 75 years battling Communist oppression. Installed at a point triangulated between three Prague landmarks intrinsic to Havel’s life (the parliament, the theatre and his home), the volume would be drained by concealed pipes. Intrepid visitors could hire a boat, row over to the monument and step down into it, walking along the grate flooring to be at eye level with the river’s surface. Fourth-year student Libor Šenekel proposes cladding it in green quartz so the water appears evenly hued, rather than frothy white, as it cascades over the edges.