Part 1 Architecture Student

Sistema Scotland transforms the lives of vulnerable young people through music. My aim was to provide a safe and inspiring environment for these students. The Stage 3 project addresses both the practical and the poetic aspects of placemaking while creating a residential retreat and performance hall. My intention was to link past, present and future by placing my proposal on an old, existing public pier in Balloch, on the shores of Loch Lomond. The buildings needed to be responsive to the local and cultural context of their setting. By using the old pier the buildings are already ingrained within the existing framework of the village and provide continuity, a connection to history and a sense of place. The creation of a ‘retreat’ as a place of rest and nurture was paramount. Incorporating the Maid of the Loch prompted my decision to extend the pier over the Loch in order to take advantage of the spectacular scenery and enhance what already exists. Level changes heighten the sensory experience: the performance hall descends towards the water, adding drama and establishing a visual connection to the outside; the viewing platform ascends, showcasing the landscape. The idea of duality was important to my concept: the need for private and performance spaces; and the natural and built environment co-existing in harmony.

Lily Sinclair, a Stage 3 student of Architecture at MSA, GSA. Born and educated in Newcastle Upon Tyne with a strong allegiance to the city and love of its coast and castles.

This year the Stage 3 Architecture Project brief was to design a residential retreat and music education centre in Balloch. The client was SISTEMA Scotland, a charity which takes young underprivileged children away from the stresses of everyday life on residentials to teach them music. The main theme of the project was ‘How Low Can You Go?’, this meant creating an eco-friendly build within a budget.

I brought to this project my experience in music education, which includes performing in various performance spaces from large venues such as the Royal Albert Hall and The Sage, Gateshead to smaller more intermate spaces, together with the experience of rehearsing in a residential setting. I loved this project as it felt very personal and learnt a lot about my style in architecture and where my strengths lie.

Currently, I am seeking 12 months placement in a RIBA certified practice for my Part I year out.

Stephen Brown is graduating stage 3 at the Mackintosh School of Architecture. This exhibit pulls the key representations from a year-long project that addresses sustainability and contextual engagement through the design of a concert hall and a retreat centre that accommodates performers. The proposal is situated in the Trossachs National Park on a narrow strip of land that runs from the town of Balloch to the south shore of Loch Lomond.

The project engages the themes of energy, landscape, and culture, as an exercise in rethinking and expanding ideas around sustainability. The proposal’s environmental strategy goes beyond the sourcing of local and renewable materials, to consider wider criteria including low energy/passive design, prefabricated construction, and longevity in the buildings’ relevance to the cultural context of the locale. In this sense, aesthetics, adaptability and intuitiveness are paramount to the designs, ensuring their sensitivity to their natural surroundings and their capacity to serve the requirements of their users and the wider local community.

A key design challenge was integrating sustainability into the structural fabric of the two buildings. The exhibit is presented in such a way to show how this is achieved through the use of simple volumetric forms, around which hinge modular elements to make up the secondary structure. This approach seeks to establish an equilibrium in spatial arrangement that is both efficient of space and materials, whist being optimal to the scale and movement of the human body.

Born in London, Rachel moved to Glasgow in 2017 to study Architecture at The Mackintosh. Her practice explores methods of architectural drawing, combining hand-drawn elements with CAD. She seeks to portray impressions from the surrounding environment through forms and building materials, often exploring these themes by drawing.

Her latest project is a performance hall and retreat accommodation on the banks of Loch Lomond, in the centre of a vast valley. The building seeks to frame the view as its approached through the town of Balloch. Studying and photographing standing stones, perhaps the earliest form of intervention in the Scottish landscape, lead to experimenting with the simplest form of composition, solid and line, and how this frames the surrounding environment.

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.

Maeve Corke Butters is a third-year architecture student who enjoys exploring complex forms and communal environments. Her work focuses on the core ethos of empathetic design, sustainability, and fun. This was developed through the exploration of critical theorist Doreen Massey and Jane Jacobs leading to a better understanding of placemaking and the social systems that underpin them. She has developed her projects with careful consideration of client needs and requirements, offering creative solutions through complex spatial structures and communal spaces.

Maeve achieved a commendation from the Glasgow Institute of Architects Student Awards in her first year and is a current regional finalist for the Women in Property Awards.

Maeve is passionate, hard-working, conscientious, and independent. She always works to the best of her ability and strives to create the best result. She enjoys taking on tasks especially those that challenge her. She also enjoys working in an environment where she can work with others to refine and develop creative ideas.

Having completed the BArch programme at the Glasgow School of Art, I will begin establishing myself as an intern in Vienna, Austria.

I hope to learn from the construction methods and materials applied to European projects and expand my knowledge on sustainable building methods.

Athia Syed
I am in final year of my bachelor’s degree at the mackintosh school of Architecture GSA.

I am Jules Régis, student of architecture. I did my Bachelor degree at the Mackintosh school of Architecture. Currently in the 3rd year, I am finishing my study cycle this semester as part of an ERASMUS exchange in Spain at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura in Madrid.

I am now back in Paris working at distance because of the current situation.

Concerning my design, I’m inspired by architecture that brings dreams into everyday life. I also enjoy attention to places and materials as well as the freedom in design.

Currently in my third year of studying architecture I have developed a passion for sustainable and simple living. The brief to design a music retreat including a performance hall and accommodation for SISTEMA Scotland in Balloch was refreshing and challenging. It was important to consider energy, landscape and culture and bring them all together. With the site being so close to home i wanted to capture the feelings and memories i had of visiting the site as a child; taking the train to the last stop in Balloch where ironically the journey only just began, discovering Loch Lomond only a footsteps away. Inspired by my trip around Scotland visiting the Maggie’s Centres’, I further looked into the work of Frank Gehry. The curvature in his architecture and abstract angles led me to creating two very different buildings which were to contrast but also compliment each other.

My name is Sandy, I’m a stage 4 student of Architecture. Below are texts relating to each project from my stage 4 projects.

Urban Housing
The Anisotropic Grid

Today the digital world gives everyone access to a vast network of resources and connectivity. New formations of labour are arising, operating as a ‘gig economy’. This has led to a blurring of labour and domesticity from home to the city. Reordering domestic and labour activities into a spectrum from social to private, a greater flexibility of living and working can coexist. Inhabited walls scale up to form populated blocks punctuated by a series of public and private spaces. Separation between the dwelling and free labour programs is formed by the mass sitting perpendicular creating a series of hierarchical courtyards.

Urban Building

Primarily Labour was a Fordist approach, where workers and resources would arrive at the place of work, and revolve around a rigid framework. New formations of labour are arising such as the ‘gig economy’, where free-lancers, home-workers and temporary jobs are more common. The industrial city was built around places of labour and at the heart of the civic realm.

“Glasgows history is in making, in craftsmanship. Its legacy is in buildings.” Toby Webster

My project attempts to create a new civic building in Merchant City, Glasgow, that accommodates space for creative practices to occupy and adapt. By bringing the act of crafting and creating into the public realm, the process can become the performance itself.

ShihLin Tseng, stage 4 architectural student.

Occasionally love architecture.

You don’t need to know me, contact me, if you want to know me.

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.

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.

For this Urban Housing project, the relationship between domesticity and labour is represented as a social space within the city. By sharing a circulation, and therefore a threshold from the public to the private realm, the domestic shares a space with the labour.

Could the intertwined existence of domesticity and labour in the same built environment form a social connexion? The ritualised entrance through the social enterprise is organised with that purpose in mind. Heading up to the circulation, inherent boundaries are formed through more private social spaces.

As a series of thresholds is increasing the privacy of both the domesticity and labour, every space is intended as another filter from the public realm. The boundary is here intended to by physical and not visual, as the spaces gravitated towards the greater social element that is the courtyard.

Indeed, every layer of private space is polarised by a more social space, such as the shared kitchen is facing the circulation, as well as the shared living space is in direct relationship with the kitchen. And, in an opposite manner, the most private bedroom faces the other way.

Yik Yeong Look is an architecture student from Malaysia. He received his architecture degree from a local university and spent 2 years working in local architecture firm before moving to Glasgow in 2019 to pursue Part 2 in Mackintosh School of Architecture. His design approach focuses on challenging the conventional architectural typologies and the boundaries of urban realm.

When Glasgow first started off as a bishopric and then later burgh, domesticity and labor were inseparable where craftsmen and family worked and lived together in timber structures. During industrial revolution, the emergence of factories separated work from domesticity. Factories at that time were in the center of the city with collective dwelling structures built around them to cater the massive immigration of laborers. After the war and economic depression, factories fell into decline and were being zoned out of the city. The industrial buildings in the city were later converted into flats and offices. The primary reason factories are moved to area outside of the cities is because of the noise and pollution. However, factories now are getting smarter, cleaner and quieter. They are more ready than ever to return to the city. Factories in the city would be closer to skilled workers and urban amenities. This design thesis investigate the relationship of domesticity, labour and the city through exploring the idea of factory being brought back to the urban fabric, as a generator of the city, in the form of hybridization with urban housing.

An architecture student from Borneo, Malaysia, Sonia has achieved her RIBA Part 1 while studying at Glasgow School of Art. She has gained working experience at two local Malaysian firms and HBA Architecture in Singapore during her Professional Practice Year Out.

While Sonia spends most of her time as a student by day, she also enjoys spending time doing other activities. Her hobbies include hiking, Muay Thai, travelling, reading, and film photography.

I am a fourth year Architecture student at the GSA, recent graduate of the BArch. Hons. Programme. It is a challenge to describe a consistent theme of my architectural work, as I am aiming at being flexible with whatever project brief and site I am given – one could say that adaptability is, in fact, the main objective in my works. But I also want, and strongly believe that, as an architect, no matter the type and size of a project, to come up with a vision and create spaces which are welcoming to everyone, working at a human space; places that feel good and peaceful to be at.

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.

Somebody would consider Architecture as something fancy. In my opinion, architecture is something that comes from the people, hence well-connected to their daily life. We are both users and designers simultaneously. It would create various kinds of atmosphere after combining different kinds of key elements of space such as the feeling of materials or design of space.

Despite the numerous regulations for architecture, it would not be convincible to propose a ‘correct’ way to create great architecture. Though we can always chase and creating the answer to it. Yet one thing for sure is that great architectures are timeless. It originates from the past, lives in the present, and creates the future.
The course I took during my BA degree at the University of Liverpool, coupled with my practical experience as well as the Diploma of Architecture I’m taking in the Glasgow school of arts has helped me to develop a unique appreciation for the complexities of the subject matter.

During my studies I have been interested in how the context would influences the architecture, hence the dialect relationship between human beings and the habitation instead of people being manipulated by space.

Living in the contemporary world, architects need to consider the relationship between physical and social spaces, which related to subjects of relevance to society and social issues. Combining the critical and pioneering thinking of the city with the elegant design of materials and joints in order to create architecture with great experience and quality is what I aim to do. I do wish to become an architect who is taking part in the design of architecture which takes social responsibility and with well-considered joints and materials.

ABOUT_
Prior to Part II, Ben worked for three years in practice in Birmingham, UK. After gaining experience in many Listed Building and adaptive reuse projects, Ben has a particular interest in working with existing fabric. This is a theme which he was keen to explore in his Part II studies and in particular his thesis project.

THESIS_ REUSE//REVIVAL//REINVENTION
The project looks to engage with existing structures and questions how they may be better utilised. Key to the project is the idea of reuse – critiquing contemporary construction practice and a preference for demolition.

The site which the thesis is based in is a city block bound by the streets Tulpstraat_Visestraat_Klamperstraat. It borders Park Spoor Nord and is an eclectic collection of buildings of different scale, styles, usage and merit. A pair of pitched red brick factory buildings are most prominent on site and behind them stands a large chimney – components that nod to the former use of the site.

Since the renovation of the Park – a former railway depot – a band of gentrification is sweeping around the park’s borders. Due to the site’s location within this band, it stands to be demolished or altered to a point where the historical narrative the city is lost. This loss would be amplified due to the factory being one of the few its type left in the area.

Antwerp Noord, is characterised by large, dense city blocks. They create poor quality and cheap housing units. Local planning has identified the dense city blocks as problematic and unhealthy. There is therefore a plan for the district to ‘pit’ these existing city blocks, creating outdoor space for houses which have been extended to the point where no external space exists. As such the existing built conditions are poor and suffer from limited light, air and ventilation. The pitting also proposes to create amenity and public spaces where possible.

The programme embedded within the thesis aims to use the architectural agenda to enable economic, physical and social development within the 2060 postcode.

A range of programmes which repurpose ‘waste’ building fabric will aim to engage with as many people as possible, both in number and in breadth of background and status. In this way the proposal becomes a point of social cohesion and community.

The selected site is completely correct for this programme due to proximity of ‘pitted’ blocks and therefore availability of recycled materials and also lack of social and educational skills in the area.

The ‘waste’ materials created by pitting of existing city blocks allows for a programme to be created to physically reuse // repurpose // reinvent them. In this way the programme is a direct response to Antwerp, contemporary practice and the architectural idea.

By employing architectural strategies, a dense and underused city block is reimagined and becomes useful once more whilst the historic integrity and city narrative are kept in tact and legible.

Thesis Title: ‘The Haptic Storyteller’

In the modern age where there is a decline in belief in metanarratives, people share fewer common beliefs. Research has revealed that folktales can form common ground in this regard as they connect to people’s fundamental experiences, regardless of culture and have the potential to bridge divides between isolated communities.

The thesis building uses rammed earth as its primary construction material. The haptic qualities of rammed earth have a universality and can be understood regardless of cultural or language barriers. Touch can be considered ‘the mother of the senses’ and is our ‘oldest form of communication’. By appealing to the haptic sense an architectural language can be formed which allows for a cross-cultural experience, ideal for the multi-ethnic setting of Amandus-Antheneum, in the north of Antwerp.

This thesis, for a storytelling centre in Antwerp, proposes that rammed earth architecture provides a multi-sensory encounter that allows for a cross-cultural experience and enriches the social interaction of storytelling.

The thesis considers the traditional spaces for storytelling; gathering around the hearth, the darkened room with a single light source. The architecture replicates the character of these spaces using a stereotomic spatial quality paired with the security and comfort gained from the haptic experience of rammed earth and the warmth associated with the material. The building caters for a wide range of ages from children to the elderly. The thesis takes lessons from Herman Hertzberger’s design criteria for educational buildings, avoiding linear corridors in favour of play corridors with breakout spaces for chance encounters and social interaction. The design also incorporates his principles of visual links between spaces and opportunities for immersion in nature.

After graduating with an Honours degree and embarking upon the final year of Architecture, I sought to build upon skills and interest from the previous Honours year. With a particular interest in Sustainable design and Passivehaus, the final design thesis for Stage 5 focused on an educational institution within the urban landscape of Antwerp.
Taking the concept from Hermon Hertberger’s Space and Learning and applying it to the site, a project is proposed which creates a “Learning Landscape”, sculpted from the tools and measures which promote social interaction. This is achieved through designed space which embodies the idea of inhabited circulation that is given equal importance to the classroom with regards to space and lighting. By providing a communal area to bring together the different cultures of users, a catalyst is created for greater social networking.

Fluid/ Terra:

A climatic architectural response to place within the extreme environment of the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard; which addresses concerns of economy, geographic insularity, energy dependency and the physical sufficiency of place together with the historic relationship between land, ocean and human interaction.

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 thesis as you will see, focuses on the reduction of material wastage in our environment and construction industry. This thesis was a chance for me to explore areas of architecture that I have always been interested in. The key themes of this project are Natural Construction, Sustainability, and Adaptive re-use.

These topics are areas of Architecture that I am most interested in persuing and learning more about. As such I hope to potentially continue this focus into a Masters program and furhter into my professional career.

The aspiration of this thesis is to create a connection between Den Dam and the rest of Antwerp thus making this community feel included and not excluded. Not only creating a connection within the local area/district, will reduce the sense of isolation for the people.

The role of the architecture is to create a relationship with the land (market space) and the water (the dock) and examine whether if it is possible to utilise this resource to help generate the produce for this community led and ran market space, thus making it more sustainable for all the factors involved, whilst also reducing the reliance on the citiy’s mains water structure which can be utilised elsewhere within the system.

The scope of this design thesis will be able to benefit the community by connecting them with one another through the creation of this market and urban farm; therefore creating a desire for the public to visit therefore re-establishing a connection to this area and community with the city and re-purposing this once vibrant area, which bands together the community.

It is a place where cultures clash, which can be a valuable resource to act as a seed to foster a vibrant society. In conjunction with the artist could create a cultural hub and space for the north of Antwerp thus connecting to the rest of Antwerp and feel included and not excluded.

Through connecting the community together via a food market/hall which will be community lead and ran providing the people with jobs and therfore a source of income and the ability to share their culinary knowledge between themselves and the rest of Antwerp, thus benefiting all the people, the workers, the businesses and organisations within this community, hence connecting the people together and sharing this gift with Antwerp bring this community closer together with the city.

Ruoyi Wang is a Stage5 architecture student with more than one year of architecture practice experience. She studied both undergraduate and Diploma at GSA, adhering to the school’s restrained and rigorous design spirit, mainly focusing on elderly architecture, medical architecture and urban planning. From 2017 to 2019, she joined the Shanghai branch of AIA Life Designer Practice and has participated in architectural works in many fields, such as medical health, residential, industrial architecture and urban planning.

With the impact of global aging, she tried to reevaluate how the elderly are treated within society and explored the possibility of establishing an “old-aged friendly city” in Antwerp.

Christopher Michailidis is a RIBA/Part ll postgraduate. He completed his RIBA/Part l at Northumbria University, and holds a qualification of character design and concept art from ESCAPE studio in London.

He has worked as an architectural assistant in Cyprus and London. His main areas of interest are residential architecture, western history of architecture and phenomenology.

Miguel Espinosa Cancino is a stage 5 student from the Glasgow School of Art. His thesis explores threshold spaces between a private plastic recycling factory and public facilities in an urban environment.

The plastic recycling factory open to the public aims to bring
environmental awareness to the city. Since the 1950s, around 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been produced worldwide and currently accounts for 73% of beach litter.

The combination of both an otherwise alienated and unwelcoming industrial process with inviting and engaging public amenities aims to create new opportunities that help change the negative connotations surrounding waste facilities.

This innovative thinking promotes strong bonds with the immediate communities in the Cadix District, Antwerp and the public’s inclusion to the recycling process through accessible and transparent architecture.

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.

Type design and interactivity have been the underlying themes of my practice during my final year at the Glasgow School of Art. Throughout my Third year on my graphic design course i began to learn basic coding skills. This in turn opened up a whole realm of possibilities for my practice. It engaged my interest for the potential that lies between the border of communication design and interactivity.

Thus this drove my final years work. Scene 3.0 is a typeface I have designed which is reactive to the spoken word. It is a three Axes variable typeface. The parameters change in reaction to the sound. Focusing solely on the qualities of the human voice it measures the Volume, Pace and Pitch of the audio that is fed through it. Words are read to be spoken with this in mind i wanted to challenge the perimeters of type design to expand the capabilities of communication in letter form.

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.

Rebecca Ashton is a multidisciplinary illustrator with a heavy focus on film and painting. She uses a culmination of stop motion approaches, drawing frame by frame, as well as creating props and costume to create an authentic yet often disturbing reality within her film. This exchange of mediums through out help to create a collage like feel, playing to her referential approach to narrative. She is currently working on a pixilation animation exploring the concept of virginity.

Originally from Spain. My background in advertising influences my illustration work. Solving the problem while telling a story is my aim.

For this showcase I selected a movie poster project that I will be updating.

Ollie Scott is an illustrator whose practice explores the topic of silence and noise in public spaces through a medium of writing, drawing, drypoint etching and book making.

In her most recent project titled ‘Observations of Strangers’, she delves into the interactions with strangers that often seem insignificant, exploring feelings of awkwardness and shared discomfort within the infra-ordinary.

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

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.

My name is Annie Kobyluch and I am from London but currently live in York. I studied communication design with a specialism in Graphic design. My aim as a designer is to forge my own creative path towards unique solutions that solves the problems. The type of design that interests me is editorial, how graphics can create interesting ways of visualising current news stories. This philosophy also applies to how I view branding, as I aspire to be a designer that can take important and relevant brands and articles and both do them justice and elevate them with design that reflects their values.

Dominic is currently based in Glasgow, finishing his final year studying Communication Design, specialising in photography at Glasgow School of Art.His interests are a combination of portraiture as well as documentary photography, in particular questioning masculinity within the modern age.

His project ‘OUTVIE’ explores the annual game of Royal Shrovetide Football based in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. A brutal yet, significant event for locals where over two days, the town is divided by the river into two teams, with goals spanning a stretch of three miles. With its limited rules, hundreds of men sprawl in huddles across the Derbyshire town, brawling for a touch of the ball. To score is a momentous achievement within the community due to the game’s illustrious legacy. Therefore, it is the responsibility of future generations to act as custodians for the game. Though respecting the unification and inclusivity Shrovetide brings – alongside its aggressive nature, my works questions the line between tradition and patriarchal dominance and considers the idea of whether this allowance of men to temporary fulfil their desired image of masculinity is positive in the long run. With younger generations in particular, in the context of a society that now questions norms specific to gender more than ever, will they emulate the traditions of the past to keep this game alive? 

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I started my Interior Design journey at the City of Glasgow College where I studied HND 3D Interior Design for two years. I progressed to The Glasgow School of Art to obtain a BA (Hons) Interior Design degree which has allowed me to grow as a young designer through developing my knowledge and pushing boundaries. Alongside my studies I have maintained the same part-time job where I am now a member of the management team after years of progress and determination.

Throughout my studies I have developed an interest in hospitality design, not only aesthetically but operationally and how individuals interact in this environment. That said, I am a willing young designer who is hungry to learn more about the interior design industry. During my 3rd year of GSA, I was a finalist in the Student Awards at the Retail Expo 2019 for my collaboration with Costa Coffee which I am grateful to have been a part of.

My final project – The River Hotel – is a boutique hotel in the heart of Glasgow’s City Centre, reflecting its surrounding picturesque views of the River Clyde. Selecting a location for this project was vital as it had to be easy to access, large enough for my design intent while having a unique edge. Building an interior palette from the surrounding architecture and natural elements allowed me to create a versatile interior which plays with the boundaries of private and public space. Allowing guests to enjoy a luxurious, peaceful or playful stay while being immersed in Scottish culture The River Hotel has a lot to offer.

As a designer I enjoy combining imagination and speculation with logical and rational outcomes. I am passionate about exploring disciplines outside my own such as illustration and textiles and incorporating them into interior projects. I am eager to explore numerous aspects of design both within and outside the realms of Interior design. The House Of Stories is a project which intends to restore engagement with Scottish Mythology whilst also encouraging users to engage with oral culture. Scottish myths have evolved organically from generation to generation for thousands of years and this project aims to create a space to continue this practice. The building allows users to learn about myths whilst also evolving and building on them. The creation of new stories is also encouraged and users have the opportunity to document and archive their own myths. The design of the building symbolises the myth ‘The coming Of Angus and Bride’ which tells the struggle of ‘Beira- Queen of winter’ with her son ‘King Angus’ (the physical embodiment of Summer) and ‘Bride’ (the embodiment of Spring). The tale, which was created by the ancient people of Scotland to humanise and rationalise the unpredictable weather patterns, represents the battle between storm and calm, spring and winter, growth and decay, light and darkness, and warmth and cold. This is conveyed throughout the space through various design choices such as, moss, rust and flowers cast in resin which are a preservation of both growth and decay.

The activities within the space are also inspired by the tale, the main body of the design is taken up by the mythology library which is a reference to Beira’s knowledge and age as she is the goddess of all gods and goddesses for she is all knowing and seeing. The creation of new stories is inspired by Angus and Bride as they symbolise youth, spring and summer which can be interpreted as the blooming of new ideas. The building should remind the visitors of the strength and great presence of nature. This is done by numerous structural implementations which connect the building to its surroundings as it is situated on the edge of the River Clyde as it flows through Glasgow Green. This is also done in less overt ways, by using forms and patterns which have been constructed from the topography of Scottish mountains and weather graphs. The main structure of the building echoes that of a Tholos, which is a type of Greek temple. The application of ancient Greek architecture is important within the space as the House Of Stories should encompass a modern day temple in which to celebrate and honour Scottish mythology and storytelling.

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.

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’m Namy who is from South Korea.

I like the place connection with nature. The moment of connection between space, nature and I makes me feel the most comfortable.
I want people to stay in their own comfortable space and time even for a moment. It can be in any place, such as real or imagined. This is because I believe that the expression of proper emotion begins with comfort. This is why I work the priority of providing various comforts through different spaces to me and many people. To give comfort, I explore and project myself first.

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.

I am an Interior Designer from the Highlands. I have studied Interior design at The Glasgow School of Art for the past three years. During my studies, I have researched the history of social housing, with a particular focus on Glasgow and have developed a passion for affordable, sustainable and high-quality design that can improve the quality of peoples lives. For my graduate project, I developed a social housing scheme which I named LYCHEE.

LYCHEE Housing stands for Light, You, Community, Health, Education and Environment. Its main goals are to provide tenants with a high quality of life by focusing on sustainable, affordable living that encourages a community spirit and sociable behaviour.

To provide a sustainable, affordable and high-quality environment, a range of energy-saving products and systems can be installed to achieve this.

Internal insulation, new energy-efficient doors, windows, lighting, and water-saving plumbing will be used to increase the energy efficiency of the building to also keep the cost of living and running the flat to a minimum.

Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery can be used to improve air quality and keep heating costs down. An MVHR system removes moist stale air and delivers fresh air to a property, in an energy-efficient way. It works by extracting warm, moist air from around the home, putting it through a heat exchanger to extract the heat and then expelling the cool stale air to the outside.

32.7% of households live in fuel poverty. Tumble drying is the healthier option for drying clothes but this is energy-intensive and indoor drying increases mould spore count in homes and can lead to health problems such as asthma and eczema. With a communal laundry room, this allows homes to have better air quality and also save money on energy bills by using the wastewater from washing machines to heat communal clothes dryers and louvre windows to ventilate the space for air drying clothes.

The communal laundry also acts as an opportunity for tenants to socialise and get to know one another encouraging the idea of community living. The focus of social space is considered throughout the building, dedicating the top floor to entertainment for tenants of all generations, in addition to wider corridors, to accommodate the voids through the centre of the building, which provides the corridors with natural light. This decision has been made to bring the sense of the streets indoors, giving peoples doorways personality and also providing a boundary between public and private space with the use of curved walls doubling up as storage on one side and a light void on the other.

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.

I joined the GSA Interior Design programme in 2016, having received my Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at Newcastle College.

In my time at Glasgow School of Art I have worked on a range of conceptual and live interior design projects. In this time I have developed my studio skills including sketching and model making, with a view to exploring spaces . I have developed digital skills that allow me to convey my designs, using Vectorworks and Adobe programmes including Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

In June 2019 I was a Student Ambassador for the GSA Overseas Immersion Project, which involved working in collaboration with interior design students from GSA Singapore.

In July 2019 I worked as an intern with ICA Architects in Glasgow, assisting the interior design team with a number of hotel projects. Working with ICA provided valuable experience of working in the industry.

My final year project is a proposal for a new Hotel and Cook School in Glasgow. The concept occupies The Wheatsheaf building at Speirs Wharf, which was once a part of the Port Dundas Whiskey Distillery. A structural void throughout the building plays with verticality, allowing light to travel throughout and create a visual connection to the cook school from the floors above. The ethos of the cook school is founded in the seasonality of Scottish ingredients. This is expressed throughout the project in the materiality, aesthetic and atmosphere of each key space.

“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.”

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.

Zilin Dong is an international student from China, she has studied at the Glasgow School of Art on the MDes Communication Design specializing in graphic design and illustration. During this two year period, her work has covered type and publication design and iconic mask design using a combination of illustration and graphic design. Works always begin with an element of hand-rendering to then be developed and finessed digitally.

Zilin explores the concepts of uncontrollability whilst to reach an outcome combining dreams and three-dimensional book works. Another topic has been identity and personality in contemporary culture—particularly those of political figures—and drawing links to masks used in Peking Opera.

Žarko Dumičić is a graphic designer who is exploring and re-imagining ways we communicate by creating more immersive modes of information exchange through a hybrid of design, sculpture and installation art. Influenced by the Radical and Critical design movements, the work developed as part of the GSA Master’s programme is a reaction to the current social and political environment riddled by misinformation and distrust, as evident by the spread of conspiracy theories and anti-science movements online.

Žarko’s GSA design work encompasses research on the impact of physical dimensionality on graphic design, especially within the field of data visualisation. His primary focus is on experiential and emotional aspects of communication that aim to create a conducive environment for critical thinking. As part of his research he developed a series of sculptural graphic design work constructed out of abstract data, statistics, as well as typography. By grounding communication in a three-dimensional physical form that one can interact with and experience in relation to their body, the work aims to slow down the consumption of information and create a tactile reference of the data presented. The resulting tangible objects and multi-sensory environments engage the audience emotionally and invite them to critically examine the information.

Originally from Zagreb (Croatia), Žarko is an alumnus of Parsons School of Design in New York (USA), was a co-founder and co-director of an award-winning and internationally published design studio in Mumbai (India), and has been selected for an exchange to Tokyo University of the Arts (Japan) during his Master’s studies at the Glasgow School of Art (Scotland). As a result of his international experience, he believes in a global outlook and reach of design that strongly influences his practice. For more projects, images and details of the developed work please visit his portfolio website at zzzzarko.com

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

For my final year project, I made the decision to design for death. This presented a challenge as death is a topic that can’t just be approached with arm’s length academic interest because it affects us all existentially. It isn’t simply an event at the end of our lives; it’s the horizon against which our entire existence unfolds. As such, this project became more than simply developing a product to deal with the prolific problems within the funeral industry, which includes a lack of burial space, the environmental damage caused by cremation and the high cost for families. I also needed to develop an understanding of current cultural practises and the meaning of the corpse and how it is treated. This was achieved through close conversation with various user groups and industry stakeholders.

The resulting design focuses on body composting, a process which transforms the deceased into soil. The body is placed inside a vessel, surrounded by sawdust and interred into a chamber. This provides the perfect environment for naturally occurring microbes to break down the body with aeration and slow rotation. The chambers and their glowing doors make up the future cemetery, one which is situated in the city and simplifies the current funeral process.

This topic was vast and complex but hugely rewarding. It gave me the chance to develop a product that functions not only on a biochemical and mechanical level, but more importantly, on an emotional one. It opens up a conversation that I believe many of us need to have, and never more so than right now.

My Project:

On average 4,400 people visit Scotland’s A+E departments every day, with 25% of A+E patients in Glasgow waiting more than 4 hours for care. As each hour passes waiting in A+E, patients become stressed, restless, bored, anxious and frustrated with very little to occupy their minds.

AQUApod is a kinetic aquarium system, populated by biomimetic magnetic fish, designed to improve the physical and mental well-being of A+E users. By bringing an element of nature inside the A+E environment, the modular system engages patients passively or actively, by occupying their minds and positively distracting them while waiting. Passively observing the movement of the fish through water, like real aquariums induces a biophilic response shown to reduce heart rate and blood pressure. The subtle relaxing colours, refracting through the water promote a calming environment to negate user stresses.

The project was awarded support from the GU68 Engineers Trust.

About Me:

From building robotic beer taps in Turkey to designing solutions improving efficiency in industrial power systems in China, I have been involved in a variety of projects across the world, involving diverse teams, different cultures and unique challenges. I enjoy the challenge of developing innovative solutions and thrive during collaborative work.

In addition to my study commitments I have volunteered as part of a small team designing, printing and fitting a custom elbow driven prosthetic for a young boy in Glasgow.

I am also passionate about promoting equality within STEM. This year I was President of the Female Engineering Society at the University of Glasgow; responsible for overseeing and organising events for around 100 members. We work to promote interest in engineering subjects for young people, in particular females, as they are underrepresented in the faculty.

I’m excited to develop and learn new skills within the industry, with the possibility of positively impacting upon the world through engineering and design.

I am a MEng Product Design Engineering student who has a strong passion for sustainable design. Outside of my studies, I volunteer with several environmental organisations, applying the skills I have built though my course towards raising awareness of the current climate emergency.

As a design engineer, I am motivated by the challenge of developing solutions to enhance the user experience of a product or system. I approach design problems with an open mind and from a holistic point of view. My work explores the impact of the external environment on our body and mind aiming to bring harmony into our lives. I follow an iterative process, involving empathic mapping and user engagement.

My product WorkLed is the result of my masters project, A Happier and Healthier Workplace, exploring the application of innovative LED technology in tackling the problem of poor lighting conditions within working office environments. Current workplaces have no regulations for sufficient healthy lighting, and existing products demonstrate impracticalities of form and interaction. The Lighting Research Centre highlights the benefits of specific lighting conditions with emphasis on the sleep and wake cycle.

WorkLed is a new desk lamp which provides healthy working light levels and circadian regulation. My product aims to transform stigmatised perceptions of therapy lamps into an engaging and satisfying yet practical experience for the user. I defined three light settings in order to optimize light throughout the working day. The user can personalise their light by choosing between stimulating blue light, task light and smart ambient light.

Through my Meng degree I have developed both engineering knowledge and design experience, giving me the tools to improve real world problems with future forward thinking.

Striving for sustainability is a big part of my work. Most recently, my masters project focussed on trying to reduce the terrible environmental impact of the livestock agriculture industry by encouraging future generations to eat insects, a much more sustainable form of protein. The result is a unit for primary schools which facilitates the farming and consumption of mealworms in the hopes of destigmatising the consumption of bugs. I like the ‘cradle to cradle’ approach to design and believe that creating circular economies of resources is the best way to reduce our strain on the environment. This approach is most clearly seen in a project where I chose to develop a concept for menstrual cup packaging which was made from recycled plastic tampon applicators.

Other notable projects in my university career include; the design and manufacture of felt hanging plant pots for the GSA shop in which I developed some experience with hand felting and natural dyeing techniques. I was also involved with a live project run by Glasgow City Council aiming to bring Telecare into the 21st century. My team and I were able to design a system of products and sensors allowing adults with profound learning disabilities to be given more independence safely during the night, as well as reducing the cost of their care to the council.

Having completed internships at Jaguar Land Rover and COHESION Medical during my time at university I have been able to gain valuable experience with transferring my knowledge and design process into the professional environment.

I am a University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art student who has recently completed an MEng Product Design Engineering degree, of which I was a GU68 Engineers Trust award recipient for my final year project.

I am actively seeking employment in a design or engineering role from September 2020 to begin my career.

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.

My final year project at GSA involved designing an augmented reality app paired with a 3D printed wristband that facilitates independent shaving in men with Down’s syndrome. In the future I hope to be able to apply knowledge and experience gained throughout my time at GSA and UofG in the product design/mechanical engineering sectors.

I’m half Scottish, half German and having grown up in the countryside in both the UK and in France, this was where my love of the outdoors and exploring new places began. Whilst at university this has meant I always prefer to take a hands on approach to solving problems, never underestimating the effect that even a simple prototype can have within the design process.

Although now I enjoy all aspects of design, I have developed a particular passion for closed loop design and considering products as part of a larger service or system for the end user. Finally, I always enjoy the simplest solutions to problems!

Inclusive design is quickly becoming a movement within the sports industry. Big sports brands are becoming more aware and more concerned about providing everyone with equal opportunity to participate in sporting activities. As an advocate of this inclusivity movement, I was eager to address this campaign head on. Through thoughtful and empathetic design, I have been able to produce a considerate, user orientated product solution.
The SLIP N’ GRIP is a 3D printed prosthetic terminal device that enables children with right transradial amputation to participate in hockey at school. The central ball joint mechanism mimics the natural rotation of the human wrist, offering the user full range of motion and hence allowing easy manipulation of the hockey stick during play. An adjustable elastic band system enables the user to alter the resistance of the ball joint, allowing them to tailor the device to suit their own mode of play.
Two of the key issues associated with current sports prosthetics are cost and accessibility. SLIP N’ GRIP aims to tackle these issues by offering a quick, cheap and easily accessible alternative that can be assembled at home.
It was extremely important to me that this project not only solves a problem and makes a genuine difference to people’s lives, but also enables me to explore the field of sports design and engineering. This is an area I have developed a passion for during my time studying at Glasgow and is one in which I hope to pursue a career. Being able to combine my passion for sports with my design and engineering skills has become the ultimate goal. I will be going on to commence a further Masters in Sports Product Design at the University of Oregon this coming September.

The use of ephemeral materials for recording sound registers internally within us as they are signifiers of its impermanence. My project aims to provide a new way of preserving a memory on a precious metal. My work focuses on music and sound’s ability to provoke memories. To create a piece of jewellery that can effectively engage one in an audible way as well as in a visual way. I wanted to create a series of objects which elevates the audio and visual experience and which has the capacity to preserve a memory in precious metal. In order to do this I created a musical box where two detachable wearable rings replace the main tumbler in the mechanism.
For a series of ring boxes that could represent sound I looked at experimental forms of musical notation, specifically the work of Raoul Auger Feuillet. I then designed a three dimensional notation system through the form of finial tops.

Yitong Zhang is an object maker and silversmith. In 2018, Yitong went to California College of the Arts as an exchange student, where she started to practice with everyday objects and materials. In the same year, she won the Friends of the Glasgow School of Art Travel Bursary Award. In 2019, she was shortlisted for the Outstanding Scottish Student of the Year Award, her works have been exhibited in the Itami International Jewellery Exhibition, Japan. Yitong won the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council Award 2020, her work ‘In the Bottle Cap’ has been exhibited in the Goldsmiths’ Hall.

According to Greenhalgh, things we use and make are not neutral objects but embodiments of ourselves and cultural values. This collection of works investigates people’s relationships with everyday objects, exploring the complexity and contradictoriness in people’s desire and character reflected by objects they live with. The processes of thinking and making are stimulated by people’s subconscious way of using objects, and questions that are provoked when objects are incorporated within functional behaviours. How objects “talk” is a question, responding to semiology and theories surrounding how objects might be ‘read’ as text. For this collection, the work of Roland Barthes and Jean Baudrillard is acknowledged by reference to symbolic meanings reflected in the values placed on materials, skill, and effort of objects; with Baudrillard stating that: ‘We live by object time’ (1970). These works ask the viewers and users to connect with their time and space, in a dialogue that invites discussion of agency in human-object relations.

Technology is a subject of fascination and exploration and this collection represents a developing conversation around Artificial Intelligence and the everyday. Applying Artificial Intelligence to jewellery, often considered an everyday object, reveals a number of anxieties and apprehensions in how we might utilise technology in future designs. In particular, our fear of ‘deepfakes’ combined with future generations of ‘trans-humans’ led to an investigation of human faces as a subject matter for this collection. Research for the collection asked whether this technology might be used solely as a tool or source of inspiration; or might it be truly creative in a human sense? This also led to wider philosophical examination of our God-like role in creating forms of digital consciousness that may ultimately be more permanent and powerful than ourselves. By mimicking AI’s function of sculpting, and extruding AI generated faces, the collection consists of wearable artefacts that reflect a conversation between the machine and me.