Tobias is currently on exchange to the Accademia di architettura di Mendrisio in Ticino, Switzerland. The past semester has been a unique challenge to navigate; starting a semester in a new country and staying through the pandemic. The work shown here is the product of that semester in Atelier Martino Pedrozzi; guided weekly digital tutorials in a bedroom/ studio/ workshop.He believes in the profound interrelation between the practice of architecture, a wider theoretical discourse and other allied fields. His academic work has been driven by a rigour and obsession with process as a means to test and produce critical and provocative interpretations of context and condition.

Hakki Tuna Taylan graduated the Saint Joseph’s French Highschool in Izmir Turkey where he is from. He came to Glasgow at 18 to study architecture. Interested with ancient antiquity sites, history and urban design since childhood he after considering archaeology as a major he understood he didn’t just want to discover the and study the past but was looking for a way to leave a physical mark on the world. Urban design and restoration are the two subjects he is most interested in and would like to further study after his bachelors.

Kacper Ryske is a Polish artist and prospective architect currently studying architecture at the Glasgow School of Arts. In 2018 he went to Germany to do his exchange semester at the Bauhaus-Universität where he completed a project that challenged conventional working patterns. Based on building flexibility and the optimisation of evolving working dynamics, Kacper explored the impact of rapid technological development on creative industries and data storage. This seminar became a profound influence on his architectural style and approach to building design since. After the semester, Kacper trained as a Part 1 Architectural Assistant at Studio LIN Architects Urbanists in Berlin run by the German architect Finn Geipel. LIN is a laboratory for architecture, urbanism and design that focus on creating flexible and adaptable solutions that continue to intelligently and sensitively respond to the specific needs of their users and environments over time.

In his recent projects, Kacper strives to find the balance between the measurable and immeasurable. In the soulless, technologically induced environments full of repetitive forms that we experience today, Kacper seeks to harmonise the human scale and satisfy the complex spiritual needs of humanity in his projects. He believes in order to achieve an atmospheric quality, design based interventions within the built environment should resonate with human action, place and cultural context. The concept of Stimmung by Martin Heidegger has influenced Kacper’s design solutions and has become the atmospheric vehicle of his design intent to “carry the human language” through architecture. Taking his inspiration from phenomenological other figures like Kenneth Frampton, Studio Mumbai and Alvaro Alto, Kacper endeavours to explore if sustainable, efficient and flexible solutions may coexist with the poetic phenomenological architecture in order to achieve a holistically fulfilling environment for its users.

Jordon Lim is a RIBA part 1 graduate born and raised in Singapore, who explores architecture as a medium for social engagement.

Being raised in a rapidly developing country, he acknowledges the disjunction of architecture. He believes that architecture should be thought with inclusiveness, to allow a whole community to thrive.

His works are based on research focused on experiential spaces, to enrich a given context with the opportunity of seeing and learning how environments can tell stories and communicate emotions, create formative moments, and provide a stage for public life.

I am a Belgian-British student in third year architecture at the MSA. I like to take on ambitious and innovative projects and take pride in my work. At this stage I am currently finalising an 11 floor pyramidal housing complex in central Paris for my Erasmus at the École Nationale Supérieure de Paris Belleville. I am also looking for Part 1 internships between August 2020 and August 2021.

I have greatly enjoyed studying Architecture over the last three years.  Throughout my last year, my interest has been focused on philosophical thinkers in architecture and I have sought to understand some of their processes and theories. This has had a considerable impact on my work and thinking. It has pushed me to be more concerned with the process and the understanding of such, rather than, simply, the resultant set of drawings. I am currently working on a design book for the shown project. Having completed three years at the Mac, I am now looking forward to joining a practice as a Part 1 Architectural Assistant and gaining an understanding of other architects’ processes and how they allow a project to manifest itself in today’s age.

The project shown is of an activity’s centre and residential retreat, in Balloch, designed for Sistema Scotland. Sistema focusses on transforming children’s lives through music – offering group musical tutoring and social guidance to children and young adults in some of Scotland’s challenged areas.

The site stretched approximately 680m from the tourist office on Balloch road to the beginning of Loch Lomond and mostly consisted of green areas and forestry. I chose to design near the tourist office and engage with the urban material. Ultimately it was asked what this place meant to Balloch and what this place would mean to the children attending Sistema.

For the children it was a place of release, practice, and celebration: release from the day-to-day city life and a chance to experience a rural environment, of forests and picturesque views; practice of their instrument and social development within the Sistema program; and the celebration of the practice, by their performance in the activities centre hall.

To the people of Balloch the place served as a threshold between the urban and natural landscapes. It consisted of an uninviting gravel car park just off Balloch road. At the back of the car park was a grassy earth berm, that once you passed over, you were alleviated of all urban sounds, with no rumbling of cars or zinging of hedge trimmers. All that was left was you and a quiet path through a forest to the start of the loch.

I aimed to build on this change of scene, by placing two objects in the landscape that are experienced differently from opposite sides.  The two objects inform pedestrian movement and enhance the threshold between the urban and natural environment. Their material and structure take on a poetic quality that influences the experience of the passer-by and the child attending Sistema.

Pauls studied architecture at the Glasgow School of Art as well as the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Parralel to his studies, Pauls works with printmaking and investigates the technical drawing as a communication medium.

Pauls’ third year work at the Mackintosh School of Architecture looked at developing a venue and accomodations for a music education charity.

Project description:

Instead of taking place in sparse acoustic venues, Sistema orchestras have always dwelled in non-specialist settings directly within communities in need, prioritising social action over education tradition. How can a venue custom built for Sistema maintain this notion? To address this, Sistema’s methods were compared to those of Levi Strauss’ bricoleur. Similarly to a bricoleur, who “creates structures by means of events”, Sistema defines a venue by holding orchestra recitals in the available settings. By doing so, Sistema is shaped by the conditions and accessible resources, but at the same time can create new meanings and events within the environment. The response to the brief is not a design of a new building to be placed on the site, but rather an assemblage of the honest and mundane objects of the River Leven. A frame of one of warehouses on the riverbanks is dismantled and moved to a parking lot on the Balloch pier. There, it is furnished with rooms akin to giant bunkbeds and inhabited by the orchestra. A place to celebrate the education program and the unspectacular River Leven.

This project is an accumulation of two separate parts comprised of a residential retreat and performance hall that together create an approach for a sustainable, sociable and environmental masterplan. In situation with the Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond, the concept is for an exciting client known as ‘Sistema Scotland’. Sistema is a charity programme that aims to transform the lives of children from challenging communities through the power of music. Whilst the primary aim is to develop core musical skills such as listening, concentration, teamwork and rhythm skills the secondary aim of the programme is also to develop social fluency and health and well-being. With such inspiring targets an equally aspirational and multi-functional building is needed: a building that is first and foremost a safe space; as well as an idyllic retreat where they can contemplate and reflect; a space where staff and pupils can free themselves to become immersed in creative experiences; and somewhere that can easily be personalised to suit the needs and preferences of the various individuals who will visit.
On my first site visit to the town of Balloch, enthralled by the picturesque landscape, the question occurred to me; in which way as a designer can I create a concept for a building that captures and compliments the natural untouched beauty already present? This burning question, along with my innate desire to create environmentally conscious creations was the catalyst for my completed design. To study the important relationship between Architecture and nature, I embraced the study of Phenomenology, which, when interpreted by and through human consciousness, seeks to understand the outside world. The belief of German Architecture theorist and Phenomenologist, Martin Heidegger, is that all man and nature are connected. He suggested that the best way to create an experience is to be more in touch with the mystery of existence. In architectural terms it is my challenge to create these experiences, which in turn create lasting, tangible memories. To make these memories more vivid I engage all of our human senses by manipulating materials, space and light. To truly embrace the theory of Heidegger my design also strives to bring man and nature closer together. By creating opportunities where we can submerse ourselves in nature Heidegger believes the more we will truly experience phenomenology and be at one with our consciousness, and once experienced, will have a lasting effect on how we view our world. It is my hope that through various design techniques and choices, a strong essence of the contextualism of nature and the experience that comes with that can be appreciated throughout the imagery of my Project.

The “Residential Retreat” is a project embedded in the surrounding landscape of the river Leven and the national park. It is a place that allows children and teens to escape the hardships of everyday life, providing a place to practise music, play and, most importantly, build a strong sense of community.

The retreat follows the concept of “designing for wellbeing”, heavily influenced by Charles Jencks’ Maggie’s Centres, and puts emphasis on the relationship with the surrounding landscape and the power of nature with its stress-relieving abilities and positive influence on focus and concentration. The building is blending the line between indoors and outdoors, creating an illusion of living in the trees’ canopies.

It also aims to achieve a zero-carbon goal; carefully selected materials and systems strive to create as self sustaining building as possible.

Stephanie Reid believes that successful design is empathetic. Understanding the people around her and the way they navigate the world is what fuels her growth as a designer.

The project brief was to create a retreat for the charity Sistema, who tackle social inequality using musical education. The response, ‘Elevate’, focuses on empathy towards its context and its inhabitants. It is based in Balloch, in the Loch Lomond National Park. Serenity rules in this place, which is relatively unchanged by the passing of time. Beyond this little town, the influence of time is merciless. The modern world is a clamour of excitement and outrage ceaselessly mingled.

Balloch´s connection to Loch Lomond makes it a perfect home for any institution seeking comfortable quiet without solitude or isolation; a careful balance which a retreat must possess. The site is worth guarding against the ruthless progress of the modern world, but protecting the site does not mean allowing it to stand still. ‘Elevate’ intends to guide Balloch’s evolution toward true sustainability. It aims to utilise the advantages offered by the site, and in return provide the site with a sustainable role to play for benefit of the community.

In summary, the goal is the elevation of the site, and of the experience Sistema is able to offer to its students. Sistema seeks positive social change and uses music as a tool to achieve this goal, making its message to the world of as unending value as the hills and valleys of the National Park.

Jonathan’s research project, A Complex Whole: Kyrka to Kulturhuset, attempts to understand the varied architectural language developed by the Swedish architect Peter Celsing. The photographs shown here were taken whilst visiting each building during a research trip to Stockholm and Goteborg.

Celsing was an underrated architect who deployed architectural language with wit and intelligence. Even a brief glance over his work highlights this, from the deep and tactile language of the Helsingborg brick used at Harlanda parish church to the light and transparent language of glass stretched over steel and concrete at the Kulturhuset complex in the centre of Stockholm city.

With a love for art, history, travel and culture, Celsing was an architect for whom reference and imagery could be used freely as an artist would; his buildings were formed by the movement of his hand, pen on paper, brush on board. The language that he developed for each project seems always to have become a study of the relationship between the interior and the formal whole; the constellation of parts becomes something more.

His practice was artisanal and deeply rooted in history, but he did not shy away from international culture and global aspiration, and so his projects, regardless of scale and brief, were optimistic and profoundly civic.

Digitalization & Physicalization

Everything is increasingly passive in this modern world of ours, mostly indicate through image instead of touch and body response. People tend to focus on how physical things being digitalized. However, many are forgetting the fact that we are also physicalizing digital things at the same time using 2D and 3D printing. Thus, digitalization and physicalization are both happening in our society and should be treated equally.

The proposal for this project is to explore and experience both the digital and physical world. In order to provide different experiences, elements such as structure, material and lighting are designed carefully to create different environments. The idea for the physical world is representing by something rigid and solid while the digital world is more like something ephemeral and void.

Cultural and technological shifts in the recent years have contributed to the increasingly blurred distinction between living and working, where we are no longer organised by the traditional 9 to 5 workday. Contemporary forms of labour involve entire life of workers and their spectrum of social relationships- relationships reliant on technology to mediate real-life interactions to a degree to which social isolation and loneliness are now considered a serious epidemic in the UK. These shifts are, to lesser and greater degrees interconnected with forms of living closer together.

The proximity of the site to the City Centre and transport links provide an opportunity where it is able to accommodate various commercial and residential uses where they are able to flourish. With housing shortages, inflated prices and increasing levels of loneliness mean that shared living models are becoming more relevant.

At the basis of this thesis lies the ambition to rethink the idea of housing as an apparatus where form, economy and dwelling converge. The project implies a new social contract in which housing is driven no longer by traditional forms of ownership, but by a cooperative contract among inhabitants that allows them to live together by sharing spaces and facilities that would not be possible within the confined orthodox typology of a “house”.

Chloe Spiess is an American architect in training. Spiess graduated with her B.S.Arch from the Ohio State University in 2017 and proceeded to find work in an architecture firm in San Diego for two years. During her time at Ohio State, her interests in architecture focused on considerate design reflecting the history and needs of a place.

“each of us is not simply a machine “sleeping, eating, drinking, and performing its numerous other animal functions- but also seeing, touching, and remembering familiar associations and all the other intangible activities of the mind and soul; all of which I personally believe are of far greater importance and in far greater need of consideration than our purely practical functions in life.”
– Alexander Girard

The project – a physical critique on the present-day relationship between labour and domesticity, developed in three phases and scales: a cell unit, a masterplan, and a housing block.
For the working parent, navigating the time/interaction between labour and domesticity is crucial, for their own well-being, the well-being of the next generation, and the impact of their labour and dreams. I believe that by increasing living arrangement flexibility, “sharing” the burden of domestic labour between genders and under-employed neighbours, providing opportunities for rest, wonder, and exploration, working parents and their families will have more time to focus on what they deem most important.

The Cell – I started with a double-unit 2-story cell with a shared terrace for an inter-generational family, wrapped around a tree. Crucially, each unit possessed an independent entrance. As I adapted the initial cell to the form generated in the masterplan, the stair-and-tree-well lost the tree and was pushed to the edge of the unit, creating a filtered-light effect and providing a green-house-like effect inside.

The Masterplan — was the result of the collective work of Samuel Us, Tess Hillan, Gabriella Togni, Norbu Verhagen, and myself. Multiple courtyards take the central idea of my cell and expand it with gardens and plazas in the centres. As a prospective development along the high street of Glasgow – Trongate, we felt that such a project had a duty to provide an alternative to the commercialism of the surrounding area. Towards this aim, we imagined a series of public, semi-public and resident-only open spaces to make up for the lack of similar spaces in the Merchant City.

The Block – The block of the masterplan that I chose resides in the South-Western corner of the site. Hedged by the main street of Trongate and the side-street of Hutcheson, the block is a sandwich of dental offices, live/work units, a creche, a grocer market on the ground floor, housing in the middle, and entertainment (badminton court, petting zoo, community garden, café/bar, and therapy offices on the top with a view of the magnificent Merchant City skyline.

Graphic style – During the last few weeks of the project, I was also reading a book about Alexander Girard – pioneering designer of the mid-century modern movement and friend of Charles and Ray Eames. His playful use of colour and texture inspired me to go wild with my graphics, as well as add a kinetic rain-screen to the deck-access units.

Rebecca Hodalova
Stage 4

Urban housing

Nowadays we take pride in the reputation of being busy. Our business defines our social status. Even though, there is scientific proof that this type of overworking lifestyle is causing the rise of mental health issues, none of us are still able to give this reputation up.

This project responds to this problem by reintroducing the currently dissolved barrier between Labour and Domesticity. It does so through physical separation of these spaces and a carefully designed ‘green-belt’. It caters for the need of a working productive façade, while creating a retreat from work, a place where pure leisure is celebrated in the inside. So, you can metaphorically keep your façade of a hardworking busy person, while enjoying the benefits of a hidden labour free oasis.

I am interested in the intersection of architectural practice with environmental and social justice. I believe that the architectural profession is currently out of step with the environmental crisis we are in and that remedying this is the primary challenge of our current generation. We must update our practices to value ecological and social sustainability as paramount, reflecting the impact that the built environment has on carbon emissions, material waste and social inequality. These challenges inform my design work and research, and set a direction for my future career.
This year in my projects and research I have explored ideas of shared living, material conservation and reuse, circular design and structural appropriation. I have also previously incorporated self-build principles and natural construction materials into my work.
I would like to state my support for the Pause or Pay Campaign, which calls for reimbursement of fees or the provision of additional resources (when it is safe to do so) for art students across the UK. Read the full manifesto at pauseorpayuk.org.

Jodie Macpherson is a Glasgow based Scottish designer and recent graduate of the Mackintosh School of Architecture; where she achieved her BArch (Hons) and RIBA Part 1 certification. Throughout her studies, Jodie has implemented her previous background as a painter and visual artist into her work, and has developed a particular interest in architecture visualisation and 3D rendering processes. In 2018, she worked as a free-lance photoshop artist on a project for lighting design firm Kate & Sam (London). Her architectural works have a particular focus on user sensitivity and community integration, and are fabricated with a focus on sustainable design technologies and timber construction.

After completing part one at the MSA, I spent a further three years in Paris and Buenos Aires working in atelier architecture/interior design studios. Having gained this experience I have returned to Glasgow to complete part two.

Micro Production and Shared Commerce

Production Is returning to the urban realm. Over the past 50 years’ the production of goods has largely been outsource to countries that are able to mass produced cheap products. Unable to compete with the outsourcing and low cost of mass produced products, large swathes of the Uk’s production industry closed.

Current trends have shown a reanimation of production in western countries. The current state of the earth’s climate has led to consumers being more interested and involved in the storey of locally produced goods. With the rising cost of space in the urban realm and with a growing interest in sustainability previously separate forms of production have learned to band together to minimise waste and to tell the story of the ingenuity.

Using this as the foundation I hoped to create a community of differing scales operating within the shared economy, creating a lively varying hub of micro labour for entrepreneurs, technical and creatively minded people. To reduce the amount of outsourcing, in the hope of creating a self-sustaining community.

My focus this year was to investigate, analyse and reflect on the themes of imagination, play and education. I’ve developed an interest in design for play as a form of education and have tried to integrate this passion into all three projects of 4th year. Three projects have been included in my exhibition each studying different techniques of architectural design that enhance socialisation, education and play aimed at a range of ages.

Projects remain unfinished but will be updated on both this page and my instagram as progress continues. @g_reiddesign

Project: House of Memories: a feeling of time.
Location: Antwerp, Belgium.
Tutor: Stacey Phillips

Since the beginning, and inspired by Aldo Rossi’s readings, I was interested in the idea of the city, its memory over time, and the combination between the old and the new, the contemporary and the vernacular. When I traveled to Antwerp I discovered a vibrant and diverse city where the architecture reflects the character of the inhabitants and retains the history in its fabric.

This thesis explores the role of Architecture as a socio-ecological device expressive of its time. Using the idea of Architecture of time, the thesis researches the themes of fragments, layers, and contrast, derived from the study of the city and its architecture concerning the political, economic, and social history. These themes develop an architectural language that helps to understand and transform a specific locale which the only aim is to strengthen the social and collective fabric of the place, in other words, to create affections derived of the shared collective experience to reclaim the importance of the cultural and civil space as a place for citizen participation, encounter, and exchange.
The Project is developed in a block, located in the medieval and historical centrum of the city, it was, in origin, occupied by one of the most relevant medieval monasteries that resulted in the construction of Sint-Pauluskerk, one of the most significant Baroque Churches in Antwerp situated in the Sailor Quarter. Over time and history, the city has grown around the monastery leaving behind a series of hidden buildings, ruins, and fragments, most of them appear to be abandoned, redundant, or poorly transformed. The thesis investigates the idea of layers creating several architectural contrasts; the close observation of time progression; and the transformation of an old monastery that was once an important religious and cultural center of collective organization and ecological character.

Kee Yu Xuan is a passionate designer and painter who interested in all fields related to the architecture and urbanism. After graduated from Taylor’s University with Bachelor of Science in Architecture, he has accumulated 18 months of working experience under architecture design studio in Malaysia. Graduating from postgraduate studies at Mackintosh School of Architecture, he always positions himself towards provocative design and realize fictional ideas to improve urban environment. As a passionate designer, he is interested in participating more architectural competitions to explore more intriguing design ideas. His goal is to be a licensed Architect while continuing to deepen his expertise in architectural design and develop his own design philosophy.

To tackle the air pollution in Antwerp and transform the Leien into green urban space, this thesis proposes a new form of public space that combines the qualities of heritage urban park, air filter towers and community space. The idea aims to improve the air quality and public realm by proposing depollution architecture alongside Antwerp’s largest traffic boulevard, as well as acknowledges the Leien as a space for people, events, and air purification boulevard. A few centuries ago, the Leien was built by walls and waters for wartime purposes. In the modern days it is congested with cars, trams and buses. But the potential does not end here to transform Antwerp into a more liveable city. The Leien is the spine of the city and holds the true potential for creating new cultural neighbourhoods and eco city for the future.

The theme of my thesis project and broader architectural interest is the capacity for buildings to support ‘mutualisms’, or co-dependency between inhabitants. This has driven my explorations of architectural mechanisms for generating mutual relationships. Throughout the project, abstracted physical modelling and close contextual observation are two approaches which have overlapped with one another to act as a tool for the development and testing of this design idea.

An underlining influence to the thesis is the notion of a paradox, or dualism. This has raised the question of how such a condition could be framed architecturally. Studies of architectural components and their assembly initiated the thesis enquiry into the idea of mutual space, where contrasting user groups can benefit from moderated exposure to each other’s environments. Iterative processes of modelling architectural ‘formats’ for spatial connection and separation have been carried out to generate a set of rules, defining how a mutualism can be articulated between contrasting users.

Also underpinning the thesis is a methodology of framing relationships across a hierarchy of scales and varying formats. Distinguishing spaces by environmental ‘type’ has played a key role in this regard. With two definitions of space – those which are ‘introverted’ and ‘extroverted’, the project is concerned with opposites of character rather than strictly functional differences. The interconnection and friction between these two spatial types is articulated as the primary tool for establishing mutual relationships.

My practice is founded on the idea of plurality, and the conflictual relationships that result from it. Pluralism is a social and political philosophy that is centred on the understanding of society as a heterogeneous collection of overlapping social groups, each with their own irreducibly different identities and interests. This pertinent theme is fundamental to the Western ideals of a liberal democratic system, yet the rejection of it is the crux of innumerable global crises. The acceptance of pluralism means the commitment to sharing a physical and political space with others who we see as equal. It is inherently spatial, and thus inherently architectural. The tension and conflict that result from the negotiation of opposing values is the point of departure for my architectural discourse and the following thesis.

The Agonistic Assembly.
(September 2019-Ongoing)

Politics may be defined as the struggle between opposing forces to which there is no rational consensus. How can a productive conflict between the public and the political challenge the toxic polarisation that is symptomatic of contemporary populist politics?

The Brexit referendum and the election of President Trump have shown the divisive power of populist rhetoric and how quickly it can divide a nation. This good/evil Manichean theory presents the notion that society is divided into two antagonistic camps, ‘the pure people’ and the ‘corrupt elite’. The populist leader claims to represent the voice of the ‘silent majority’, as though they are a homogenous entity with singular common interest. Such divisive rhetorics personalise and moralise the political debate, eliminating any productive disagreement between citizens and contemporaries who do not conform to the idea of the ‘real people’. Populism is inherently anti-pluralist, and as such it opposes liberal democracy. It acts as a force that denies diversity, rejects citizens as free and equal, and it eliminates the conflict that is constitutive of the political. The theorist Chantal Mouffe, states that “the task of modern democracy is to turn antagonism into agonism” – a conflictual relationship of adversaries not enemies.

The Agonistic Assembly is an exploration into how architecture can influence the present and future political discourse. Through the confluence of opposing programmes, objects, and materials, a pluralistic architectural language is developed that rejects the proliferation of the populist political rhetoric, in pursuit of new forms of productive conflictual encounter.

Karina is a recent RIBA Part 2 Architecture graduate, also a holder of a degree in Architectural Technology.

Karina worked in Vietnam and the United Kingdom. Studied in Denmark, Scotland and Japan.

Her interest is in community architecture and art projects, build for and with local communities using recycled and eco-materials. She also is passionate about illustrations and graphic design, which helps her to present the ideas in a clear and attractive manner.

In 2020 Karina was nominated for RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship with the research topic in Craft Revival.

The final year thesis question stated: ‘How can the participatory architecture in underused sites of Kyoto, bring new notion to the oriental street and its’ communities in a contemporary context?’

It also sought to investigate the relationships between the professional and the user; unintentional and undefined design processes.

My interests are guided by a predilection for urban conditions and the study of context, both physical and cultural. Increasingly I have been drawn to bOb van reeth’s concept of the intelligent ruin, architecture that allows time to pass through it, and does not pass with time. I am interested in an architecture moving towards a renovated continuity of urban fabric, because I don’t believe architecture can be come obsolete.

Central to my practice is a preoccupation for the ‘banal’ or ‘mundane’ as honest indicators of how a city exists. These interests use the city as a knowledge base, through which I learn by looking and see by walking/drifting. My practice depends on narrative, in which I use drawing, imagery and writing as a method for capturing, recording and analysing.

Callum has studied at The Mackintosh School of Architecture since 2018 and received his Part 2 accreditation here, prior to this he completed his Part 1 at The Belfast School of Architecture. He completed his Part 1 year out working at Baker Garden Architects in Dunedin, New Zealand. His Architectural Interests are related to Adaptability in Architecture and the interplay between temporary and permanent elements.

The work enclosed is part of Callum’s Stage 5 Thesis Titled ‘Infrastructure as Performance’. The project was situated in Antwerp; Belgium, on a unique site located on the waters edge beside the historic Loodswezen building.

In the city key Infrastructure points are often closed off to the public which over time become derelict creating non-space within the city. The Hypothesis questions these notions and seeks to provide a hybridity to flood Infrastructure within Antwerp, and allow it to become a stage for performance / events that encourages social cohesion and activates the waters edge. These key ambitions are achieved through an acknowledgement of the quays qualities which inform the architecture. The notions of performance / events, transparency and the procession to the stage are important. How does this hybrid Performance Infrastructure come together and can it change common notions of Infrastructure within the city to engage the public?

A range of Analysis and research are enclosed with a detailed synopsis that highlights the main Architectural aims.

Hailing from the tropical island of Jamaica, Ryan is an architectural designer who earned a Bachelor of Art in Architectural Studies from the University of Technology, Jamaica with first class honours in 2015. Since then he has worked in two of the countries’ leading architectural practices and gone on to attain his postgraduate degree in architecture from the Glasgow School of Art. His architectural interests include biomimicry, sustainability and disaster relief design. While he’s not working on his next proposal, Ryan can be found outside surfing, hiking or playing sports. His love for sports developed from early childhood and led to him being awarded a sports scholarship at his alma mater. Ryan is obsessed with travelling and learning about different cultures and the architecture born out of those environments. His love for travel has helped him develop a keen eye for good design and discovering the underlying issues they seek to resolve.

He is deeply interested in self-build, semi-permanent adaptable structures. These structures have the potential to be revolutionary in the Caribbean where natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanic activity destroy millions of dollars of property every year. For his final year developing the idea of creating inexpensive, durable and adaptable structures was his intention, however the project location chosen (Antwerp, Belgium) is not affected by any of the previously mentioned factors. Though the thesis has less to do with the ‘disaster relief’ associated with this type of architecture, the structures have proven to solve many of the social and cultural issues facing a residential community. Through multiple iterations and testing of this project, he have uncovered another way in which these structures will impact the Caribbean Society as well as maintaining the original idea of self-assembly and adaptability.

An ‘Absolute’ Truth?

Institute of Political Objectivity
Steenplein, Antwerp, Belgium

“If truth is thought of as a goal that can never be attained, those who rather conspicuously do not care about it will seem that much less villainous than they are”
– Simon Blackburn, ‘Truth: A Guide for the Perplexed’

“Public Truths are precious collective achievements arrived at…through slow sifting of alternative interpretations based on careful observation and argument and painstaking deliberation by trustworthy experts”
– Sheila Jasanoff, ‘Back from the Brink: Truth and Trust in the Public Sphere’

In a near and not implausible future where society’s descent into a maelstrom of misinformation has obliterated the boundary between fact and fiction, and populist rhetoric and emotive language become evermore prevalent, an Institute of Political Objectivity is proposed as a global exemplar in Antwerp. The international outcry against King Leopold II’s abhorrent reign over the Congo Free State is the genesis of the proposal’s objectives: the holding of political parties and institutions to account, and the promotion of objectivity within society through didactic teaching, active discourse, and procedural transparency.

Fundamental to the proposal’s programmatic inspiration are the key figures who brought King Leopold II’s atrocities to a global audience through various forms of media, lobbying, and discourse, including Alice Seeley Harris, a photographer; E.D. Morel, a journalist; and Roger Casement, a diplomat. Their actions ultimately exposed Leopold’s intricate web of lies and deceit with damning, irrefutable evidence, holding him to account, and forcing him to cede the Congo Free State to Belgium. Crucial to our knowledge and understanding of Leopold’s reign are the late twentieth-century publications of Jules Marchal, a Belgian diplomat, whose work brought previously unseen archived information to light, ensuring that Belgium’s colonialism was not misremembered or conveniently forgotten. Ultimately, it is this ability to reassess information which gives confidence in institutions and sources of information.

The proposed Institute of Political Objectivity is simultaneously concerned with the synthesis of objective truths regarding current events and topics on a daily basis; and the transparency, openness, and trust generated by the knowledge that its archives can be accessed and evidence revisited at any time. Objectivity and truth are reached not through judgments made by an omnipotent organisation, but through conclusions reached by individuals via a critical analysis of all viewpoints, and a collective reassurance that all information can be revisited should new evidence or arguments materialise.

Spatially, discrete yet intrinsically linked volumes facilitate dialectics, discussion, and the pursuit of objective truth through the examination of all hypotheses, as asserted in Plato’s Analogy of the Divided Line. Galleries and exhibitions; accommodation for visiting experts; and debate spaces of varying formality and scale encourage the formation of theses and antitheses within visitors. In analysing and discussing a multitude of viewpoints, visitors form well-informed opinions. Objectivity is sought through the careful analysis of all relevant information on a given subject or event, in order to prevent the mishandling, misinterpretation, or misrepresentation of said information. A subterranean, digital archive holds a record of all events within the building, accessible by anyone who seeks objective information on a given subject. The archive ensures that the Institute itself can be held to account, and is trusted by society to protect information in a time where public trust in institutions, media outlets, and political figures continues to dwindle at an alarming rate.

My project is called: “Fired up: Seductive Ceramics for Antwerp”. In it, I aim to show that craft has a role in contemporary architecture as it can connect architecture to place and to people. I have chosen to look at ceramics because of the rich history of ceramic making
in the city: Delft tiles originated in Antwerp, and then during the 1800s there was a huge industrial ceramics boom,started by the Boch family.Antwerp’s geographical positioning between the Scheldt and the Rupel rivers makes it an ideal centre for ceramics production because it sits on a band of clay rich soil. Clay is the basis of all ceramic products, and sour- ing locally has benefits for sustainability and giving regional distinction.

In my project, I intend to express the idea of ceramics in both the form and the programme. I’ve chosen a site in the Schipperskwartier.Walking through this area during our visit in September it felt like a ghost town, disconnected from the rest of the city despite its central location. Images and videos found online show recent open days held in the area trying
to encourage people to use the area more. I believe that creating a community hub based around the making of ceramics will help the area feel more like part of the wider city and connect people to each other.

I want to express the idea of ceramics in both the form and the programme of my build- ing.A light earth handcrafted wall, which houses the functional elements of the building gives orientation to the user. Brick is used to clad the exterior. Tiles and ceramic display are incorporated onto the facade of my building, with a ‘storage cabinet’ glazed wall expressing the function of the building.

I am an observer! Through both photography and film, I explore landscapes and those who seek the outdoors and the adventure it brings. Thriving in challenging conditions, I aim to capture moments in which humans interact with the environment, whether it is through athletes pushing their bodies to the limit in extreme conditions, or simply as an onlooker to a landscape.

I am a multi-disciplinary designer and I love working with type with a passion for editorial design and branding.
I am a believer in an insightful strategic approach and putting audience engagement upfront in my evidence-and-context based design practice but I believe these traits should be a given. It’s truly my will and ability to innovate pushes me to find a fresh solution towards experiences that impacts peoples daily life positively.

I love working under pressure with tight deadlines as well as collaborating with other creative, playing the role of a team player and strive to not just better myself but those around me.

My name is Katie Muir and I am a graphic designer and filmmaker. My work centres around the themes of the intersection of nostalgia and current world issues. The film ‘Sequoias are Dying!’ is a documentary short about human effect on the giant Sequoia trees in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. The film was made with the aim to see how nostalgic archive imagery behaves when placed within a modern context, and the effect this has on the topic itself. The project was expanded on with a series of satirical postcards. The film ‘Eastfield Jam’ also uses archive footage, and acts as a moving collage for the 10-minute musical piece it was made for.
The logo development and leaflets are part of a project reworking the identity of grassroots Glasgow-based charity Urban Roots. The project began by investigating current identities of smaller, not-for-profit companies, and aimed to create a visual identity that has a playful, professional and easy to use set of visuals that can be translated throughout the all aspects of the identity, and can be used by anyone in their offices and remain consistent.
The final project is an ongoing commission for a children’s book. It was made in collaboration between the author and another Communication Design (Illustration) student Bethany Millican, whose black and white ink paintings are featured.
I have also included an image from the Pause or Pay campaign in solidarity with the graduating class.

Bel Docherty is a self taught CGI artist and student in Graphic Design (Communication Design) using digital mediums for object, space and image creation. The works explore future potential design processes and the visualisation of scent and the culture that surrounds it. With experience in textiles and sculpture, the work researches the digital materiality of objects in aim to appear realistic and engaging. It takes visual reference from luxury fashion, technology advertising and contemporary graphic design in the venture to create clean, inventive graphics.

Balancing a sensitive and camp visual language, I explore the artificiality of photography through constructed image making. With colour, form, and semiotics being main components of my process, I tend to allude to elements of staging within my photographs to explore the relationship between photography and reality.

PLASTIC PHOTOGRAPHY & TWIN(S)

Plastic Photography is an ongoing body of work that examines and scrutinises this conflicting relationship between photography and reality by representing familiar objects in unfamiliar still life constructions. I have used the camera to challenge the idea of the real by creating a disconnect between reality and what is depicted in the photographs.

Twin(s) is an unresolved project that questions ideas surrounding the creation of self through both nature and nurture. By photographing myself and my identical twin, I wanted to better understand where our similarities and differences originate, with specific focus on the origin of our differing sexualities. Working thematically, this body of work dissects our relationship.

My work this year is an attempt to process the emotions relating to eco-anxiety. Environmental crisis is too big a problem to really digest, and at night I’ve found myself trying to deal with these pains in my dreams. In one dream, I was disturbed that something was wrong with the sun and no one else seemed to care. In another dream, I was cleaning up plastic from a beach, when I realised that all the plastic, ‘disposable’ items had once been my very own, and had ended up in the ocean. Helplessness, guilt, and grief are the main emotions related to my own eco-anxiety, and I decided to draw them, using the short stories my subconscious was telling me. In this showcase, I present some draft sketches from an excerpt of a longer comic I am currently working on, based on my eco-anxiety dreams.
As much as I may have quietly hoped, the goal could not be to find ‘the cure’ to eco-anxiety. I believe that the only real longterm solution to eco-anxiety is the radical dismantling of destructive systems in our society, and a revolution of human consumption on Earth. The point of my comics became simply to tell a story, to portray something of the emotional core in this existential matter. I am interested to continue my work exploring environmental issues further, moving through the stages of individual and collective grief, to find a place of personal meaning, community empowerment and continued action in the face of threat.

In my final year at Glasgow School of Art studying Communication Design specialising in Graphics where I have immersed myself in a wide range of subjects, undertaking independent research projects, answering design briefs and finding creative solutions to problems within tight deadlines.

For most of this year I have been working on a short film on the improvement on mental health and well-being through football — with the focus on physical and emotional well-being and how they are interconnected.

Through mental well-being, I have tackled underlying topics such as anxiety, depression, addictions and how football (particularly the football community) can play a vital role of support for coping with such problems for some individuals. Emphasising that team spirit, and being part of something bigger than yourself, can help people gain confidence and self-worth through community support and the camaraderie of the game itself.

Commissioned by the SFA I have been working with Stenhousemuir Warriors which is part of Stenhousemuir Football Club one of the most community-active professional football clubs in the UK.  Warriors in the Community is the community arm of the football club which aims to have a positive impact on every household in Stenhousemuir and the surrounding areas; either directly through club activity or through the Tryst Community Sports Club partnership. They strive to encourage more boys, girls, men and women to participate in regular physical activity and to be an active part of their local football club and community; regardless of their level of ability.

Due to the current situation I have been unable to finish this project. I plan to upload the finished film in due course.

If you would like to reach out please feel free to get in contact.

Thanks

Mark

I am a graphic design graduate of The Glasgow School of Art looking for opportunities within the field. My interests in graphic design are shaped through the ways the domain is present in all visual communication aspects of our lives; through the transmission of information and the influencing of intellect. Good graphic design for me is a social, cultural and interpersonal navigational matter.

I like to gather inspiration from a broad range of fields across the arts, design and technology. Looking at a publication, I enjoy when I hold a piece of quality in my hands. Similarly, I find delight in looking at digital media that both communicate to me, and serve as food for thought in our daily lives. It gives me great joy when I get to work on a project that has an extra layer of meaning. I believe in collaboration and the sharing of different perspectives, skill sets and knowledge. Good dynamics and a positive working atmosphere mean a lot to me.
My portfolio includes a variety of self-initiated and collaborative works.

Molly Lindsay is a Communication and Design graduate, specialising in photography.

The work presented centres around the theme of walking; tracing and tracking the journey by drawing into the landscape. The red line continues into the project Uses of the Erotic, a visual response to Audre Lorde’s essay, challenging classical depictions of the nude in attempt to reclaim a definition of the erotic through a female photographer’s eyes.

I’m a photographer and multidisciplinary artist born in Brighton (1996) and based in Glasgow.

My current projects focus on human intervention, exploring globalisation, public space, British culture, urban environments and social behaviour.

Through contemporary photography I attempt to extract new meanings from within the landscape and materialise ideas, tensions or emotions that are otherwise unseen. Interested in the reciprocal relationship between human and environment; I often manifest my ideas through reoccurring motifs and patterns found in people and objects. My work has become more socially and politically motivated in recent years, a natural response to our current climate. Conveying the human condition through a sense of unfamiliarity, I attempt to reveal new interpretations of ‘truth’.

My current project ‘In Moleca’ documents the events and effects of the ‘Acqua Alta’ (high-water) which transpires annually in the city of Venice, Italy. This tidal activity is a natural occurrence, however in recent decades it has been aggravated by the effects of human activity. Mass-tourism, global warming, urban expansion and industrialisation are damaging factors which have influenced the deterioration of the Venetian lagoon, this has led to the increasing tide and subsidence of the ‘floating city’. Exploring issues caused by human intervention; this series highlights the tender balance between urban inhabitants and the environment. ‘In Moleca’ questions how cities like Venice can harmonise this interdependent relationship and adapt to the age of the Anthropocene in an increasingly globalised world.

This year I worked on a short film commissioned by the Scottish Football Association (SFA). This documents United Glasgow FC, a club who campaign for refugees rights and champion the ideals of inclusivity and accessibility in Scottish football.

In recent years my work has been published by Intern-mag, CNN, Public-Source XYZ and Issues-mag. Please contact me via email for any enquiries, commissions or collaborations!

Born in Germany, Isabell is a Glasgow based designer and seamstress. After successfully finishing an apprenticeship as a seamstress she moved to Glasgow in 2014 and will graduate with a BA (Hons) in Fashion Design summer 2020. Isabell gained a wide range of knowledge for manufacturing and garment construction, throughout her studies and work in the bridal, costume and performance sector.
Especially through her work for bespoke bridal gowns and creating her own collections at the art school, she developed creative problem solving and pattern cutting skills.
Isabell herself is outside the studio passionate about a wide variety of outdoor activities. Her connection to nature and her creative way of thinking is her drive to push sustainability in the sports industry forward.

With an enthusiasm for story telling and cultures of the past, Caitlin Fraser is a unisex designer from Glasgow. Whilst studying her BA in Fashion Design, Caitlin has had a keen interest in garments of the past and how they could convey so much information about the person wearing them. This interest has spanned from the tudors of the 1500s to the punks and skinheads of the 1980s.

Caitlin’s current project is about exploring her own heritage and identity by focusing on the city where not only she grew up but also her family generations before her. The main inspiration behind this project comes from old family photographs, poems and film as each garment aims to tell a different story through the cut, silhouette and fabric choice.

I, as a graduating student at the Glasgow School of Art, would like to state my support for the Pause Or Pay campaign. To read the full manifesto click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MwdvZfLTp1udaASJ1EAmRT9XR-OPQIyU/view

Zoë Ward is a womenswear designer from Brighton, currently based in Glasgow, Scotland.

She appoaches design and making with a visceral exploration of craft and craft history resulting in textiles and garments rich in detail.

Zoë prioritise’s a slower approach to making – isolating techniques, such as hand smocking and appliqué that would enforce a more mindful and meditative approach. By applying honest, traditional craftsmanship, the garment can be seen as a narrative object; it tells a story of time and care before its even worn. Zoë believe’s considering clothing in this way we come to respect and value our belongings in a deeper sense. Applying this philosophy she hopes to re-address the relationship we have with what we use and what we wear.

Sustainable practice is at the core of what Zoë does. Utilising second hand, up-cycled, found, or in some way repurposed cloths and materials. The resulting textiles and garments reflect this history, the provenance; the landscape they come from and the people who created them.

Zoë hopes her collection honours the communities that have inspired her, that it recognises the traditions and processes of generations of craftsmen, and that it celebrates narrative in the objects we own and treasure.

I, as a graduating student at the Glasgow School of Art, would like to state my support for the Pause or Pay Campaign.

Melody Uyanga Ramsay is a Scottish-Mongolian fashion designer whose work focuses on heritage, ethics, sustainability and its intersections using fashion.

After gaining invaluable experience in the Concept Design Department at Ralph Lauren, she has honed her own creative vision working between fashion, installation, performance and video.

As you start to figure out her visual language; the process of theoretical and historical research becomes evident as a form of figurative expression, transporting you with tailored British narratives and a homage to Mongolian horse-riding culture. This melting-pot of culture and art forces to overwhelm and define you.

Through her research, she has developed a design process that involves a rich cross-pollination of sources, bringing together literary, material and visual references.

Her 2020 graduate collection is presented as a meditation on cultural narratives, presented within a carefully considered scenography and casting.

Drawing upon the images and textiles of authoritarian dress in a transnational dialogue, she moves across time and space by bringing these references under the lens of a new era in postcolonial critique.

Exploring the role of place as the cause and outcome of social action, Gibb’s work examines how the multiple and dynamic identities which emerge from and within place impact the past, present and future. Her work primarily comments on the influence of Christianity in the shaping of social relationships, attitudes and outcomes within the context of her native Northern Ireland.

The graduate collection featured, Where There Is No Vision the People Perish, explores the influence of strict Christian morality in our affinities to each other, ourselves, our bodies and our space. Gibb scrutinises the manifestation of creed in the sculpting of societal ideals of sexual virtue in contemporary Northern Ireland and respectfully commemorates the subsequent detriment with the objective of equality. Through the study of changing bodies, posture and psychology, healing and mending Gibb presents this relationship to materiality through the creation of genderless, slow fashion.

As a graduating student of the Glasgow School of Art, I won’t be using this platform to present and promote my practice as an act of solidarity with the Pause or Pay Campaign. If you would like to see my full works please follow this link to my website: gibb.cargo.site

Sophie Marshall is a Womenswear Designer and Pattern Cutter based in Glasgow. Throughout her studies, Sophie has developed a keen interest in tailoring which has become a fundamental component of her graduate collection. Sophie is passionate about the physical aspects of the design process, particularly creative pattern cutting.

Her graduate collection, ‘These Will Be Our Pink Days’ is a womenswear tailoring collection which aims to challenge society’s construction of femininity. By deconstructing sexualised representations of women in the media, it is possible to instead create a flattened sense of sexuality- leaning towards androgyny- which will allow women to exist outside of the confines of their gender. Sophies research consists heavily of female artists whos practices are fuelled by a desire to emancipate women from the patriarchal gaze of our heteronormative society.

Sophie’s practice involves using traditional tailoring found in menswear, alongside silhouettes and fabrication techniques from women’s lingerie. Her design process involves analysing the cultural significance and sartorial power associated with certain items of clothing- namely, traditional tailored pieces-and using these symbolic references to distort and subsequently rewrite society’s idea of how a woman should dress, look and behave.

The aesthetic drive for this collection lies within the highly sexualised and auto-erotic representation of women in 1990’s/early 2000’s advertising and the media in general. Sophie is interested in the individualist portrayal of women in postfeminist imagery, which suggests that women are empowered and in control through consciously conforming to a heteronormative, patriarchal construction of sexiness. This collection has been influenced by feminist theory and an in depth understanding of the need to disturb and breakdown stereotypical representations of women in the media.

Even when worn by a woman, it is difficult to see a suit and not also have an attached idea of that suit belonging to menswear. For this collection, Sophie takes specific elements found in tailoring and uses these in nontraditional ways to grant women the power which belongs to men’s tailoring, without there actually being any notion of gender.

I, as a graduating student at the Glasgow School of Art, would like to state my support for the
Pause or Pay Campaign. To read the full manifesto click here

Zach Mason’s work investigates the relationship between digital and physical spaces through design research across both spaces. The liminal space created between these environments is experimented with in order to reproduce objects in alternative forms. This subverts their purpose, and reduces their forms to better understand them, and the process of object reproduction.

Hoping to break down the stigmas associated with digital space, he uses 3D modelling and machine learning along with 3D printing to move objects and ideas from one facet of space to another. Using surreal and intangible notions, he aims to break down engrained barriers within the spaces we inhabit, in order to invite users to approach them in a less fragmented manner. He sees mental, physical and digital space as a continuous realm to be explored, made tangible through a symbiotic trifecta which allows for the creation of objects in liminal space.

Rebecca Lindsay is a digital artist and designer who in her recent work explores the act of cognitive offloading and the trust we place in technology storing information without error. We often misremember things as our memories change over time and can be altered due to outside influences. As our minds are fallible we take pictures to remember events which we backup to computers and phones under the assumption that this information will remain unaltered. Many of us use memory apps through social media to remind us of events. However, as our devices and apps can be hacked our information can be compromised – could we remember clearly enough to dispute that our information and consequently our memories had been altered?

Inspired by artists such as Zbigniew Rybczyński and Sophie Calle, her recent work uses machine learning and coding as a method of generating imagery. Using personal information uploaded by others and herself ranging from text to images Rebecca’s work explores our relationship and reliance on technology to both save and express aspects of our lives and identities within a non secure digital landscape.

Throughout her practice, Ailsa’s work focuses on the subject of identity, which has been explored in several different mediums. Many of the works focused on the face; specifically how history, culture and similarities passed on through the generations help to define us as individuals.

This year Ailsa’s work consists of various studies looking at the gestures that we all use to accompany our dialogue, predominantly centering around hand movement. People often display nuances in their movements, emphasising how gestures are specific to that individual. It is Ailsa’s belief that these subtle differences in gestures can convey as much information and emotion as the spoken words they accompany.

Starting with detailed pencil drawings of hands, Ailsa progressed to several small studies. These included looking at contrasting performing arts and exploring the ways people use hand gestures to express themes and passions. Through a series of interviews, she scrutinised the way in which people’s bodies responded to her prompts and guidance. Experimenting with both digital machine learning and physical plotting devices, Ailsa’s work continues to explore the use of sculptural materials as a means of data visualisation.

YongWon Choi is an artist based in the Glasgow, United Kingdom and Seoul, South Korea. He is working on various subjects of art and science conflict, reality and virtual, immersive content, brain-computer interface, data visualisation, and user experience based on the question of human essence and humanistic knowledge.

His latest study, “Implementation of Interactive Content in Virtual Garden with Application of Personal Data,” is questioning about “Can future immersive content, such as virtual reality, be used as a form of art?” and “How can we use reactions such as the mind and the emotion of human nature to provide a different experience in art?”

His work is a virtual garden space where you can experience a new form of multisensory (visual, auditory, tactile) as an immersive content, and implements a responsive brain-computer interface based on theoretical backgrounds such as immersive content, simulation, and user experience data. His work consists of a brainwave recording device (EEG) and a virtual reality headset, and that produced in the Unity programme.

The new value presented by his proposal is that the user’s creative response (sensory experience) to virtual reality, emotions and empathy can be interpreted and understood in a new way by integrating into the art in the form of ‘data’, and this value can lead to new forms of creativity that are different from existing art. His work says that the act of seeing in the future will be an active process based on interactive communication, not a passive process that unilaterally accepts transmission from a two-dimensional screen. This change of experience will eventually change the future beyond our conventional and general perceptions and lives.

Valentine Scherer is a French/Australian interaction designer who is interested in finding and making connections between generative and organic processes, analogue and digital, material and non-material, to discover new lenses on sense-making in a world of chaos & disinformation. Her most recent research and work were initially inspired by some of Richard Sennet’s writings on craft and how we live in the built environment.

Her work interrogates processes in making, production and consumption in the networked digital society. Allusions to the circularity of the economy are made throughout her work as an attempt to make a playful commentary, drawing from a broad range of inspirations such as Dadaism, George Brecht’s instruction art or more contemporary artists and designers like new media artist Philipp Schmitt. Much of her research and work on the ecology of modularity stems from a fascination with the role of craft as a means of sense-making in society.

Much of this work is based on a set of images of hybridised furniture pieces which were produced using Machine Learning algorithms via Runway ML software. This process enabled the generation and computational ‘imagination’ of a new set of furniture designs based on standardised IKEA graphic instruction covers.

Seeking to critique flat pack and modular furniture and the IKEA model which is hyper-dominant for all students and young people worldwide, she uses machine learning, 3D modelling and printing methods to uncover the flawed value system underlying the culture and production ethos. Using a playful and absurdist spirit of inquiry, she developed a way to auto-generate semi-functional modularity which shows just how ridiculous it is, and how it is just creating toxic landfill at an exponential rate, how this culture in itself is a huge driver of economic externalities that can only be eliminated by thorough system change.

Callum Blair is a Scottish born creative technologist who is interested in discovering how design and technology can be used to convey movement in sports, particularly in tennis which he has a passion for. By comparing the elegance and beauty of the movement in tennis to an improvised dance he can see the relation to art. The skills required to perform at highest levels allows players to develop shapes and styles while they move on court which Callum transfers into his design practise.

Callum’s work looks at how he can turn this motion into data visualisation, by listening to radio broadcast of past tennis matches he turned the language used in the broadcast and turned it into data. With inspiration from Brian Eno rule based thinking, Callum explores how rule-based patterns could influence his work using them to direct his design choices when using data to create his visuals.

Along with the data visualisations of past matches, Callum experiments with machine learning, feeding a computer algorithm text from radio broadcasts. He taught the machine how to reproduce its own tennis points. By interpreting the points made he would draw the interpretations and create prints and calling it a collaboration between human and machine, drawing the interpretations and creating prints.

Sally’s practice primarily focuses on ideas and issues related to mental health. From experiencing mental health problems herself, Sally has become passionate about using her personal lived experience and creative practice to open up much needed conversation and challenge existing stigma and ill-informed perceptions of mental health problems. She uses technology to develop interactive and immersive audio and visual experiences that communicate the often hard to explain realities of living with a mental health problem.

Sally often combines her creative practice with her voluntary youth work role at See Me Scotland. In her most recent work Sally has been working closely with other young people from See Me to develop a series of engaging and interactive works that communicate voices, lived experiences, challenges and stigma that young people face in relation to mental health. This work focuses on three key themes; stigma, medication and barriers to accessing support.

Light is the primary creative medium of Sean Mallon’s practice and he has been increasingly inspired by the technological use of light in invisible wavelengths for networking and data distribution. He is concerned with using visible light to express the effects of connectivity on the psyche. Seminal texts have been drawn from, such as those by Marshal McLuhan, who famously wrote of the interplay between the development of our brains and the media processed by them or as his contemporary John Culkin said; ‘we make the tools and then in turn the tools help to shape us’ (Culkin 1967). His work aims to express this interplay between technology and human experience and to show that we are at a new intersection of adaptation as we are exposed to networked media.
These ideas are expressed with interactive installation work which aims to draw attention to the body / self. An awareness of oneself is created by mirror images of pixel-like white light, transplanting the body with a digital representation of such. Light follows the movement of the viewer, reaffirming the interplay and our close ties with technology; symbolising the technological human condition we now inhabit.

Inspired by the blurring line between reality and the imagination, Ankita Nagaraj’s work is an experimental exploration into our relationship with the technology we have created. Finding the most interest in the journey of research and development, her work branched from the imagery of machines gaining consciousness, free thought and emotions, shown in the music video ‘The Music Scene’ by Blockhead. Basing her work on this science fiction idea, while pulling reference from the concept of singularity in Eastern culture as discussed by Alan Watts, she uses browser extensions, popups and physical pieces of technology to personify and humanise these machines.

Charlotte Holland is a creative technologist exploring the intersection of art and technology. Her latest body of work explores our relationship between the real world and the virtual, through the lens of online gaming.

Her work incorporates the “W”, “A”, “S” and “D” keys, which are a common input when playing computer games. Each letter acts like an arrow key, moving the player up, down, left, or right in relation to its position on the keyboard.

Mirroring these controls, she has used each letter to signify a direction. Generative line drawings are created by analysing a text and then plotting each instance of “W”, “A”, “S” and “D”, moving the line in the corresponding direction.

She developed a particular interest in the unique language patterns used in gaming chat logs. Taking gaming conversations out of their original context, she uses chat-log messages as input data to create these generative artworks.

Chat-log language is typically informal, rude, misspelt, and laced with gaming jargon. She found it humorous to create works of art inspired by this which from the outside seem sophisticated and mature. Her work plays with perceptions of what is worthwhile or important in this new digital age, finding beauty in unexpected places.

My approach to interior design is playful, experimental and investigative and involves a rigorous site analysis, which enables me to take inspiration from local characteristics. In addition, I use model making as a key tool in the development and refinement of my spatial designs. My recent thesis researched social and environmental impact within interior design. As a result, I strive to be environmentally and socially conscious in my approach, specifying sustainable materials where possible and ensuring my designs are inclusive and accessible to all.

After being awarded first prize for my community hub design for the Linwood Community Trust in 2019, and thoroughly enjoying the project, I was keen to further this interest and develop something that would positively impact our society in Glasgow. My project focused on creating a space to facilitate the integration of refugees and asylum seekers into their host community in Glasgow, providing support as they rebuild their lives. I aimed to design a safe, comforting and inviting space for all where enriching experiences could be had, whether educational, cultural or social. The project was highly rewarding from start to finish, challenging me in many new ways. I enjoyed working with local people and organisations on such a multifaceted project, designing a range of spaces with varying functions, requirements and user needs.

Outwith interior design, I enjoy running, yoga, painting and travelling. I also have a passion for foreign languages, and speak French and German fluently.

I am Megan Collins, an Interior Designer from Glasgow. I studied at The Glasgow School of Art for four years whilst maintaining consistent employment throughout. In 2018, I and a group of collaborators designed and produced the school’s Graduate Fashion Week pop-up for that year’s graduates, seeing the development through from a charette based project into a fully realised scheme.

My Graduate Project – “The Waverley Studios”- surrounds the repurposing and restoration of a forgotten community building in Glasgow’s Southside. Originally used as a Cinema, the design aims to showcase several fundamental features that were discarded over time through revealing the barrel-vaulted ceiling and staircase in the building’s main hall. Split into two parts – The Waverley challenges the old and the new. The Entrance Hall acts as a tribute to Victorian Era in which the building was built, whilst adopting contemporary finishes. The Main Hall maintains its element of theatre through the construction of studios on the stairway, creating alien forms which allow glances into the workspaces through slit windows – revealing only moments of what is happening internally. Theatricality is also maintained for the user – with the addition of a louvre roof that when opened allows them to hear the sounds from throughout the building as well as maintain a visual connection with their surroundings.

Overall, The Waverley Studios presents Glasgow’s Southside with a new way in which to gather and celebrate both the Arts and the Local through both the building itself and the Community that inhabits it.

I took advantage of this last year to tackle the themes that obsess me in my design practice.
The themes of memory, psychogenealogy and synaesthesia of the senses have often surfaced in my work in the past, often unconsciously. With this project, I unearth these motivations, these design impulses, and try to dissect them in order to better understand myself as a designer.
My grandfather left a memoir before he died. I used it to explore the possibility of transforming his memories into emotional spaces. in an exhibition context. Visitors would wander through each space and experience the journey while projecting their own emotions and personal grief.
This project aims to address my own grief, to imagine someone’s life, and to challenge the visitor, who in turn would question his own memories and family.
In order to show my ideas, I like to try various mediums. This allows me to communicate sensations that are difficult to replicate with traditional design limits such as technical drawings and CAD. I love to use animations, sculptures, emotional drawings and textiles to trigger the viewer. This more abstract and conceptual approach to design helps me connect my practice to my personal creative obsessions. Making the process more intense and exciting.

Having studied the Interior Design Honours programme at the Glasgow School of Art over the past four years I have been able to explore my continued passion of the way that spaces make us feel.
During my final year, I found a way to express this interest. My project focusses on providing a space for people to disconnect from the stress of daily life and reconnect with themselves both mentally and physically.
The Graving Docks in Govan are a rich piece of Glasgow’s ship building history and currently lay abandoned. The site is an oasis sitting directly on the edge of the River Clyde where one building still stands, Pump House Number One. To create a sense of unity between past and future, connection to water was vital. I therefore shaped this site into a Thermal Reconnection Centre- exploring the varying properties of water in the form of sauna, steam and temperature pools. Ensuring the legacy of this site lives on, I have ensured that it’s past leaks into every bone of my design process. This project injects life into the local area as well as widening this community to create a larger sense of unity throughout the city. This enables the purpose of reconnection to be; personal, communal and historical.
My main interest within my discipline has always been the ways in which users interact with space and the impact this can have not only on their experience but on their wellbeing within these spaces and beyond them. This project allowed a perfect form through which to express this thinking and I look forward to further investigating this marriage of psychology and space throughout my professional practice.

My chosen site, The Crystal Palace, is currently home to a Wetherspoon pub, however I wish to re-establish it as a hotel celebrating Scottish authors of the 19th century and the building’s historic relationship with the Great Exhibition of 1851. The site was constructed five years after the exhibition’s grand opening as a result of the architect, John Baird’s, appreciation for the cast-iron and glass venue, which showcased the best of British design alongside notable global works. I chose to focus on hotel design as I have been keen to look deeper into the hospitality industry – particularly hotels – as I am fascinated with how one space must meet the needs of many, consequently impacting an individual’s experience in a given environment. Books are a great passion of mine so I was eager to explore the country’s storytelling past, researching Scottish writers’ works to enable an investigation into ways I could intertwine their illustrious imaginations within my hotel concept and design.

“As you grow ready for it, somewhere or other you will find what is needful for you in a book.”

George MacDonald (1824 – 1905) in The Marquis of Lossie

I am a conscientious, self-motivated and driven Interior Design student in my final year of BA (Hons) at The Glasgow School of Art.

I have a great eye for detail which is reflected in my visuals and technical drawing skills. My hand drawing skills were recognised by the National Design Competition Costa Coffee, London, 2019 when I was a shortlisted finalist. Interior Design brings out my creativity and gives me an opportunity to express myself which I have shown in each of my projects.

With each new challenge I increase my personal expectations, go over my limits and work even harder to create the best interiors.

I have a natural talent for art which sums up the type of person I am, energetic, always positive and full of creative ideas, either working alone or as a part of a team. Art allows me to put my feelings into my hand-drawings and designs.

I have developed a strong 3D modelling and model making skills as it helps me to get the feel of the space, explore the potentials as well as a variety of different design solutions. My aim is to enhance interiors by injecting colours, materials and finishes to bring it to life.

Therefore, I believe I have the skills, ability, talent and enthusiasm to lead me to a long successful career as an Interior Designer.

Samuel is a graduating designer from Liverpool showcasing a multidisciplinary approach to spatial practice, with a key focus on structural context and materiality leading to an increasing insistence on circular economic principles.

His work emphasises the phenomenology of space to create respectfully adapted and contextually significant spatial environments whilst applying understanding gained from working experience with companies including MADE.com and bluesky.

This year I have been working with a local blacksmith to gain a greater understanding of traditional techniques within ironworks. Through my research, I have discovered a wealth of information on the steel & ironworks of Glasgow, specifically the work of Walter Macfarlane. I wanted to explore how iron could be used in Glasgow today. For one of my projects, I chose one of Macfarlane’s structures that was local to me; Kelvinbridge. The current staircase joining the road to the walkway beneath is well-used and worn out. Redesigning the stairway, I wanted to apply what I had learned to a new connecting structure. My proposed design is wood encased in steel, with windows inlaid to give a panoramic view of the Clyde.

Mikaella Socratous is a multi-dimensional artist born and raised in Nicosia, Cyprus. Her work circles around energy, existence, spirituality and narrational opportunity. It ranges from 2D works, 3D sculptures and installations, video work and performances; as well as art + energetic therapy. The artist’s main focus is the stimulation of creative expression and the introspective methods of time and space apprehension. As a freshly graduated Interior Designer (BA Honors) from the Glasgow School of Art, the long-aim of the artist is to conduct grand scale transcendental and experiential spaces to allow for consciousness to dive within itself and potentially push masses to attain a sense of belonging in this world of ours.
In her BTEC Foundation Degree(Distinction), Mikaella Socratous formed a very successful large scale interactive installation exhibition in Cyprus, with 150 visitors that unknowingly contributed to a social experiment with their interpretations on the table. Something that she thoroughly enjoys doing is triggering the openness of the mind.

Her work mostly portrays fluidity, bold colours and positive energy. A connection to nature is always the case. What she longs for as a designer is a future with people feeling more alive and happier; and Socratous believes that through the evolution of design, that can easily happen. She aims at combining various creative fields when developing a design, whether that be music, theatre, sculpture or dance; in tribute to the power of inventiveness.

My passion for Interior Design stems from the love I have for show homes, seeing the way people manipulate a space in various different ways. The achievement I feel when I see a project coming together is extremely motivating. I particularly enjoy designing domestic and commercial interiors. I have chosen to design a building featuring activities to enhance the learning and play of children. This proposal is a place that suits any type of child including children with learning difficulties giving parents an ideal place to take their children to experience the power of play.The interior features specific areas that expand different types of learning skills. I was inspired to design this type of space as I have a family member who is autistic and wanted to delve into their complex needs this is why I have designed this space within my concept to enhance their education through play.

As a student from China, I have had to adapt to many new ways of thinking and learning throughout my studies in the vast and sometimes overwhelming space that is Communication Design. I don’t think of graphic design as merely a form of utilitarian communication, I consider it a powerful platform for authorial practice and self-expression. My work primarily focuses on social issues, like cyber sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and more broadly, the change of women’s rights in the course of social development.

My work mainly involves posters, collages, book design and other fields. I am good at hand-making stuff. I love to complete the design through hands-on technology, such as screen printing and laser cutting. As a young visual designer, I want to reflect some social problems through my own effort. For example, one of my projects is about the redesign of waste paper. I have been doing research on the reuse of waste paper, trying a lot and enjoying it very much. I try to make my own paper, make posters with my own paper, make books and other things, and make some installations and books from waste newspapers.

Another project is about collage, because collage is one of the things I am most interested in graphic design. In this project, I explored the difference between East and West about collage in my own way, hoping to have a deeper understanding about collage through the combination of materials, numbers or handicrafts.

Whilst my background is in traditional Chinese painting which carries its own skills and theories, I found myself becoming increasingly interested in publication design. This led me internationally from CHina to study here at The Glasgow School of Art on the MDes Communication Design course.

Graphic design for me is an expressive tool to communicate information and it provides me with a clear path to introduce or covey complex ideas and emotions. I believe graphic design cannot always solve problems for everyone but can offer different thoughts and perspectives allowing the on a range of issues.

The 2 years of study at The Glasgow School of Art has allowed me time to observe, research and process and issues that I was not previously familiar with allowing for experimentation with ideas. During this times, I focused on exploring how digital media influence our reading habits and how much it had changed our intake of daily information. The past decade or so has seen a rapid development of information technology has brought great change to our lives. While enjoying the convenience brought by technology, we also suffer from information overload, fragmented reading, and reduced attention. Based on this research and through my outcomes I want to highlight issues that may not have been so obvious to the viewer and I consider a physical publication the ideal vehicle to consider the advantages of paper reading to digital reading.

Suzie Cichy is an illustrator and animator based in Glasgow. As an image-maker Suzie explores themes of gender, censorship and the provocative within her practice. For the last few years this has resulted in focussing on the phallus, and how the male gaze informs reactions to her work. At GSA Suzie has been exploring the ever-growing issue of unsolicited dick pics: something that is rarely discussed, yet happens to over 40% of young British women.

After graduating from the Graphic Arts & Design course at Leeds Metropolitan University, Suzie worked as a graphic designer, before going freelance and working as a print technician and co-operative member at Leeds Print Workshop. Alongside her freelance illustration practice, Suzie works at Print Clan, an open-access textile screen printing studio in Glasgow. She has also completed an internship at Risotto Studio. Suzie is particularly interested in facilitating arts access for disadvantaged communities and groups.

Alessandro Prepi Sot is a highly motivated Italian graduate of The Glasgow School of Art who is deeply interested in editorial and typographic design. For him, graphic design is not a hobby, job or even a love anymore: it’s an obsession. Designing a project means telling a story where the concept is at its core, with nothing left to chance; all details are meticulously attended to and it is hoped projects are timeless but with a degree of tension.

During his two years on the MDes Communication Design course, he has continued experimentation in the field of publication design and production, deepening an existing understanding of layout, materials, printing techniques and bookbinding. During the second year of the course, and in collaboration with fellow course mate Apolline de Luca, he conducted a deep and rigorous investigation in the field of typography which led to the realisation of the DIASPORA typeface. Through this successful collaboration, Alessandro and Appoline have formed GOODEGGS TYPEFOUNDRY, their own type-foundry to continue releasing type related projects.

Alessandro graduated with honours from UNIRSM DESIGN in the San Marino Republic in 2017. He has worked with ROVAIWEBER DESIGN STUDIO (Florence, 2015) and the photographic collective CESURA (Milan, 2017), with a particular focus towards the independent publishing activity of CESURA PUBLISH on which he continues to contribute.

email: alessandro.prepi@gmail.com
instagram: sir_sot
websites: alessandroprepisot.com, goodeggstypefoundry.com

Hannah McInally is a Scottish illustrator and ceramic artist, currently working between Stirling and Glasgow. Her practice pushes traditional expectations of illustration by exploring three dimensional forms and spatial occupation. Through an instinctive approach to making and thematic exploration her work aims to inspire visual engagement and interaction with the audience, whilst still being highly emotive. At GSA her work has been guided by loss and creation, opposing states working in tandem, allowing her practice to be informed by emotion in a conducive manner. Hannah’s practice exists in a shifting state, fluctuating between art and design.

Before completing her Masters at GSA, Hannah graduated from the Illustration course at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in 2018. During her undergraduate studies she undertook a semester abroad at the Alberta College of Art and Design, where she diversified her creative practice and expanded outwards into ceramic sculpture and design.

Having graduated from the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication & Information Design, Qiaojia Song joined the Masters in Communication Design programme at Glasgow School of Art in 2018.

With interests that range from cyber- and youth culture to pop art and feminism, Song’s current work seeks to explore the impact that emerging communication technologies are having on our identities and relationships with one another.

As an undergraduate student, Song’s final year project received an award for excellence and she has exhibited in China, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Apolline de Luca is a graphic designer who focuses on editorial and type design. During her studies at GSA, she experimented with book design and its components such as printing techniques, book binding, and layout design, working both with clients and for her personal research. Her design practice is research based and she finds interest in telling stories through design creating physical or emotional experiences for the user/reader/viewer.
Alongside her graphic design practice, she specialised in type-design. During her final year at GSA, she designed Diaspora (a display font exploring Italian immigration to Scotland) with her class mate Alessandro Prepi. From this collaboration and love for type-design, they are now launching their own type foundry, GoodEggs TypeFoundry, to release Diaspora and future projects: goodeggstypefoundry.com

For her next steps, she is aiming to expand her practice at the intersection of graphic and type design.

Prior to joining the Glasgow School of Art, she graduated in 2018 from ECV Bordeaux with a Bachelor in Graphic Design. Throughout her studies, she completed several internships as a graphic Designer at Bordeaux’s CAPC Museum of Contemporary Art, at Studio Kubik in Bordeaux, and at Glasgow-based studio Cause & Effect. More recently, she was in charge of the design of A New Spirit in Painting, 1981, an art book published in 2020 by Koenig Books, London.

e-mail: apolline.deluca@gmail.com,  hello@goodeggstypefoundry.com
website: apollinedeluca.com, goodeggstypefoundry.com
instagram: apolline.deluca

“My practice focus on the visual expression of internal feelings, observations of environment and society and the space in which individuals and groups inhabit. I use a range of materials and techniques to explore various visual languages to identify the most exciting approach for the subject, its outcome and myself.

By recording the lives of people around me and their surroundings through daily tasks, exercises and experiments I continue to find a firmer voice and search for a world language through the mediums of drawing, painting, collage and digital techniques.”

Leda Bartolucci is a visual designer and storyteller. In her practice, the narrative comes first, allowing her to work with a variety of medium depending on which is more suitable for the message to come across. Her projects include the use of photography, graphic design, illustration, moving image or a combination of the above.

During her studies at The Glasgow School of Art, she researched and consolidated the relationship between activism and her professional practice. Believing in the role of Citizen Designer, she is interested in applying intersectional work ethics to the fields of photography and design.

In 2019, she spent a year documenting climate strikes in Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and Italy, producing a reportage where pictures are paired with the narration of her intimate take on the events they portray. At the same time, she volunteered as a graphic designer and teamed up with youth strikers to develop environmental campaigns such as the global strikes for climate, both at local and international level.

She was the European winner of the 2019 Wunderman Thompson ‘Helen Lansdowne Resor’ scholarship for female creative students. She is currently working with themes such as the climate crisis, migrants and refugees, human rights and the interdependence of these issues.

Competing in ‘The Greener Glasgow’ design competition when I was younger sparked my interest in sustainability. Winning 3rd place, it has ignited my passion for incorporating sustainability with design. Furthermore, by being part of a volunteer group working as a Neighbourhood Improvement Volunteer (NIV) for my local area allows me to see the current environmental problems. This has always been the push for my packaging box design in hopes to change waste consumption in the packaging industry.

I am an international student who has become fascinated with social and environmental development. I have a focus on the barriers faced by citizens when it comes to active travel and the psychology behind people’s behavioural patterns in this field. In response to my research and findings I developed the UpCycle, a product which houses 20 bicycles in a regular car parking space. Users are not required to bring their own bike locks and will have a cycling community to encourage sustainable travel habits. The UpCycle is automated and moves hooks around a carousel which saves space, users have an NFC device to grant them access. UpCycle is protects against vandalism, theft and weather and has a lot of social benefits too.

I am graduating from Product Design Engineering (MEng) a multidisciplinary course with a unique balance of engineering and design philosophy and practice. Throughout my time at Glasgow School of Art I have developed a passion for environmental and social design working both in and out-with my studies on a range of design and research projects in these areas.

For my final year project I began by researching the social-political relationship with rivers as an example of our damaging relationships with natural systems, looking into how design can create positive change. Through a mixture of qualitative, literature research, lab testing and an iterative human centred design and testing process I created a micro-plastic citizen science testing kit and surrounding data analytic system. This combines public engagement and scientific study to improve the understanding and create the foundations for systematic change.

Monitum is a speculative project into the world of seizure prediction using next generation technology in ear EEG and mobile processing. Epilepsy is a condition that effect around 50 million people worldwide and causes danger and distress due to the unpredictable nature of seizures. The EEG earpiece was made using generative design in Fusion360 and is custom for each user to ensure a tight fit for the dry contact electrodes. This data is then transmitted via the Bluetooth module behind the ear to a phone or a dedicated processing unit carried by the user. The unit uses a neurosynaptic processor allowing for low power consumption when running deep learning algorithms which is needed for seizure prediction. When a seizure is detected the module behind the ear vibrates allowing the user to get themselves to safety.

I have recently completed my MEng undergraduate degree in Product Design Engineering at the University of Glasgow and the Glasgow School of Art. Within my coursework, I have been able to address, and design solutions for, a range of problems in several industries.

With my final year project, I addressed the effect that a drop in incidents attended by firefighters has had on their operational experience through designing an augmented reality system which displays real-time situational and environmental data.

In my fourth year, using geographical information captured by NASA from the surface of Mars, I designed and manufactured a small batch of jesmonite coasters which were sold at a retail level through the GSA shop. In the same year, within a group of students, I also helped to design a range of smart telecare products which granted the elderly and vulnerable more autonomy and independence within their own home.

During my third year, within a group of my peers, I looked at the potentials of ultrasonic technology from which we developed a product for students that stimulated the brain to induce a relaxing, de-stressing effect. On my own, I continued developing the product by designing it for manufacture. Some of my work from this project was shown in the “Ultrasonic Glasgow” exhibition in the Glasgow School of Art in late 2019.

Alongside my studies I have also completed two internships; as a graphic design intern at CCL Design, and as a product design engineering intern at Cohesion Medical. I continued working for Cohesion Medical throughout my fifth year where I have mostly worked on UI/UX projects.

Studying PDE, I have developed a crucial blend of technical engineering knowledge and creative design practice to deliver successful products. Through a diverse range of projects over 5 years of studio work I have seen how vastly applicable the design process is to problem solving in any sector and love that no two briefs are ever the same. User-centered project work has ignited my passion to tackle overlooked problems and use design to positively impact peoples lives.

My final year project, Elecgo, is a lamppost-connected, e-bike Battery Swapping Charge Station for Urban Cycle Hire Schemes.

Current share scheme e-bike charging options are either logistically difficult or create hefty operational expenses and a pool of untapped value while the vehicles are recharging. These barriers prevent the widespread implementation of sustainable, shared e-mobility for cities of the future.

Elecgo is a lamppost-connected charge station developed to provide secure, on-site battery charging and swapping. E-bike batteries are housed in digitally locked, secure units with 24/7 self-service access for users of cycle hire schemes. The swapping model essentially provides ‘instant’ charging which boosts bike availability and revenue potential. A modular design allows quick install and is flexible to the changing demands of a city.

Ignacio Amui is an Argentinean inventor and engineer. As a product designer, he is a spirited advocate of environmental sustainability. In 2016, Amui entered the University of Glasgow, where he developed his passion for renewable energy technologies. During his stay in Glasgow, he pursued most of his projects in the topics of IoT and renewable energy. In 2019 he was awarded the Best Student Certificate by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Nanode, his most recent project, shows a homogeneous relation between design and technology. By using dye-sensitized solar cells, he created a portable solar charger which benefits form this technology. Amui believes that energy micro-generation can bring numerous advantages to users and guide us towards a sustainable future, as the user has more control over his energy sources.

I’m interested in understanding and improving human experiences. I enjoy engaging with people, learning about new things, and problem solving – all of which I hope to continue throughout my career.

My project focuses on improving patient experience following orthognathic (jaw) surgery. After undergoing orthognathic surgery myself two years ago and having experience working in the orthodontic design and technology sector, I identified an opportunity for a patient focused solution which could improve clinical outcomes. The project involved working with patients and collaborating with the maxillofacial department at Glasgow Dental school, as well as members of the Centre for Medical and Industrial Ultrasonics at the University of Glasgow. Support was also awarded from the GU68 engineers trust.

Around 3,500 patients undergo orthognathic procedures in the UK every year. Following surgery there is a period of intermaxillary fixation where the jaws are banded shut. Patients are unable to eat or speak properly, and there is considerable facial pain, swelling and bruising.

Novo is a wearable system which accelerates post-surgical healing. The reusable adhesive patches apply low intensity pulsed ultrasound to the surgical sites, which has been clinically proven to increase bone density and reduce pain. A shortened intermaxillary fixation period enables the patient to get back to normal life sooner.

As a product design engineering student at the Glasgow School of Art and the University of Glasgow I have acquired a range of skills in the fields of both design and engineering that have been and will continue to be very valuable in my career. The interdisciplinary nature of this degree has provided me with the ability to tackle problems with an open mind and considering a wide range of factors.

Throughout my degree I have also had the opportunity to intern as a product design assistant at SA Equip, a market-leading company in portable Ex equipment for extreme environments, for two consecutive summers. Whilst there I was able to apply and further develop the skills acquired during my studies to industry specific engineering and design problems.

My masters project is a bicycle cleaning and maintenance project in which I have designed a self-contained bike stand and bike mat for indoor use.

Bicycle cleaning and maintenance are essential aspects of owning a bicycle. Performing these tasks without access to appropriate tools, space or infrastructure can be difficult, particularly when living in a flat. Hence, I have developed a self-contained bike stand and bike mat that offers its users a simple, easily stored and easy to use device that eases the process of cleaning and maintaining a bicycle indoors.

A collapsible and extendable bike stand holds the rear wheel of a bike above the ground by supporting the bike using hooks that are placed on the seat stay and chain stay of the bicycle frame. Wheel size variation has been accounted for by offering both stand and hook height adjustment. The surface of the floor is protected by a durable, waterproof mat, dimensioned to accommodate all bicycle sizes. The chosen materials for the components of the product have excellent durability to water and organic solvents, ensuring cleaning solutions used will not cause damage. After use, all components can easily be wiped clean and stored within the base of the product, which in turn fits in a standard-sized cabinet.

Having developed a deep artistic and academic understanding of design and engineering, I feel at home occupying the fertile space in_between. As well as engaging with the design process from an artistic and technical perspective, it has become more and more necessary to also engage with the social, political, and psychological components embodied within the product and production process.

In an increasingly politicised environment it is impossible to escape the socio_political weight of the product. As a designer, it feels necessary to examine how design practice can be used to disrupt the rigid cultural structures that have allowed large scale issues, such as the current ecological_crisis, to form and develop.

By drawing from a wide range of both theoretical and practical understanding, vast problems, such as the climate crisis, can be deconstructed into its technological, social and political roots. In this way, effective solutions can be systematically built and implemented.

post_fossil_production_labs:

We are a collective dedicated to the development of solutions for a post_fossil future. By embracing emerging renewable technologies, new modes of production, distribution and empowerment are generated. Working within a broad theoretical framework, centred around eco_futurism, our work ranges from sculptural projects to material experimentation to practical design solutions. Most recently, we have turned our attention to the energy sector, focusing on the future of renewable, urban energy generation and the much needed socio-political reform made possible by disruptive solutions.

post_fossil_toolkit:

As the world accelerates towards carbon neutrality, the future opens up.
A future beyond fossil_fuel consumption and the failing structures of late capitalism.
Twenty years from now, we will be entering a new era.

The post_fossil_age.

Where the act of energy generation extends beyond the purely functional and into the worlds of expression, activism and empowerment. With this new world comes the opportunity to reform and rebuild the systems of energy generation and distribution to fit a new model.

To do this, the right tools are needed.

The post_fossil_toolkit provides a flexible, means of sustainable energy production to urban community centres and autonomous spaces, without reliance on ridged infrastructure or profit driven industry.

Fully de_constructible, modular generation_units use emerging renewable energy technologies to equip the public to work against the broken modes of capital_driven production and the ecological_damage done by fossil_capitalism. Portable tools to power temporary spaces, community projects and autonomous activity.

Michelle Currie BA(Hons) Silversmithing & Jewellery, The Glasgow School of Art, 2020

My final year show at the Glasgow School of Art, is an exploration of the physical properties of ferromagnetic materials, combining them with the traditions of silversmithing and emerging technologies, exploring the beautiful collision of science and art which takes craft skills and fuses them with scientific enquiry, collaboration and scientific materials. My research includes observations of gravitation experiments at Glasgow University’s Physics and Astronomy Laboratories and exploration of materials used in apparatus for the detection of gravitational waves caused by exploding stars. Combining my interest in physics with my creative process to develop wearable objects using iron particles and iron oxide powder, I document their reactions when subjected to a strong magnetic force. These explosive moments are captured to form miniature static sculptures inspired by the capture of gravitational wave data by scientific apparatus, confirming the warping of spacetime. I employ the use of magnetic forces to warp and manipulate ferromagnetic materials, highlighting the unseen forces acting on our physical experience. These explorations are combined with traditional silversmithing methods such as lost wax casting, 3d printing and granulation to form wearable, interactive objects that aim to encourage conversations around collaboration of scientists and artists engaging in scientific research and discovery. My future aspirations are to continue to collaborate with particle physicists and astronomers in research to promote their work and encourage artistic engagement in the sciences. Ultimately, I would like to undertake a PhD in Silversmithing Techniques and the Engineering of Gravitational Wave Detection Apparatus.

A special thank you to the wonderful engineers, researchers and scientists at the University of Glasgow, Physics and Astronomy Department for their kind assistance with my project research and allowing me access to their amazing labs.

Christine Milroy, BA(Hons) Silversmithing & Jewellery, The Glasgow School of Art, 2020
Goldsmith’s Precious Metal Grant Winner, 2020
Goldsmith’s Precious Metal Grant Skills Swap 2020

Creating the effects of cobbled streets, miniature harbours, sheltered by cliffs, and historic fishing villages in the form of jewellery pieces, may seem ambitious. However, the processes involved in the practice of jewellery designing and making compress such impressions, allowing for the representation of natural aesthetics, of subtle shapes and colour palettes in small details. This collection evolved from my travels through some of Scotland’s historic coastal villages; unique places that combine traditional domestic architecture with a timeless, almost ‘Wabi Sabi’, attitude to seafront imagery, where lobster creels, fishing nets and tiny boats, lie alongside startlingly white-washed walls, below crow-stepped gables. Photographs, sketches and digital drawings were made from these appearances, in an intuitive response to each environment, to form the basis of a series of jewellery objects evocative of time and place, with the structures, colours and shapes of a distinctive Scottish landscape, captured on an intimate scale.