I pursue architecture as I hope to tackle current issues head-on and help evolve our industry, designing for the benefit of communities and society, with sustainability and conservation among my main concerns. I enjoy the technical challenges of architecture and the intangible qualities that go towards creating a building with atmosphere. I am known for my constant curiosity, enthusiasm to learn and motivation.

I am looking for an innovative and varied practice to gain valuable experience on my year out, please feel free to contact me, and check out my social media accounts for some photography and previous work.

I currently have some works in progress while I finalise my third year work and will display them here as they are completed. Please check back!

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Lily is a RIBA part 1 graduate whose work is unique and playful. Social commentary and strong conceptual strategy inform her practice. Lily’s recent projects are highly polemical. With a spirit of invention and interrogation, she seeks to create inclusive spaces that will engage with the richness of a site’s community, landscape and history.

Lily’s achievements include Young Creative Awards 2016 for Architecture & Design and multiple ERASMUS scholarships to live and work in Germany, Romania and Slovakia. As well as working on many 1:1 builds, Lily is passionate about craft and heritage and is skilled in a multitude of disciplines including illustration, textiles and jewellery design.

Lily is primarily concerned with the social sustainability of the built environment and creating empathetic and accessible designs that facilitate empowerment.

Rachel is a third year student of the BArch programme. Her practice is driven by sustainable design, having been awarded the Krystyna Johnson Prize in the second year of her studies for displaying exceptional ecological thought and intent to her practice from the outset.

Passionate about equal opportunities and broadening the routes of access to the profession, in the summer of 2019 Rachel worked under DisOrindary Architecture as a teaching and supporting staff member for UCL’s Architecture Beyond Sight pilot scheme commissioned by Professor Alan Penn, Dean of The Bartlett Faculty.

The project brief was to create a retreat for Sistema Scotland, a charity who tackle social inequality through musical education by fostering a sense of wellbeing, self-esteem and aspiration among the young people taking part.

Developing her response through orthographic drawings and an iterative model making process, Rachel responds sensitively to the landscape, drawing on both architecture and geology to unite the land with the Loch.

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.

Part 1 Architectural Assistant

In response to our brief to design a performance space and accommodation for the music charity ‘Sistema Scotland’ in Balloch, I have proposed a linear building which acts as an extension of Balloch Park. This acts to connect the train station and main road with Loch Lomond and ‘The Maid of the Loch’. The positioning allowing for performance to spill out of the hall spaces and into the park, harnessing it as a musical destination.

The overall concept reflects the linear park with the accommodation placed directly behind the performance hall to allow students to have maximum freedom whilst remaining safe within the building. As a result the building provides a deeper feeling of security as you venture further through its layers into the bedroom spaces. A break out space in the form of a raised external courtyard separates the two buildings and provides a stopping point to reflect upon the surroundings. This also provides private access for students from the accommodation into the performance space.

Debora Gyimah works with a range of digital software to create architectural designs that tell a story. This project is a Residential Retreat resting in the unruly environment of Balloch. The retreat is a place to which children, teens and adults escape to learn and celebrate music in addition to building their social skills. The themes of this project are landscape, energy and culture.

The project explores landscape through materiality and placement. It deals with how the building instills itself into the environment and how it interacts with it. It also examines how the building can amalgamate its environment outside with that of the inside. Furthermore, the notion of placemaking is explored through landscaping. It allows the history of Balloch, the existing community, and the retreat to connect to one another.

Materiality also bleeds into the notion of energy. It is a factor that works in conjunction with form to create a design that conforms to the zero-carbon approach. Careful considerations were applied in the buildings form and materials for a design that is more sustainable.

Lastly, culture is explored by understanding those that will utilize the building, and their main goals, which are musical education and building communication skills. Tailored spaces are provided to accommodate these interests as well as other needs.

Finn is currently on exchange to the Universität Liechtenstein. The last semester has undoubtably been challenging; starting the semester in a new country and choosing to stay through the pandemic. The work shown here is from this period, under Atelier Urs Meister and Carmen Rist.

The semester began with the development of a pedestal, which set the parameters for the project.

The primary design move – reflecting the past, by literally enveloping the footprint of the old courtyard, reflects this idea of a palimpsest. What was negative space becomes ‘space’. The scheme avoids, by mimicking the pre-existing, becoming a pastiche. On the other hand, it strives to not disregard the site, and its social/historical requirements.

The studio manifests a rigorous method of designing at every scale, starting from the micro to the macro, and this is reflected in the complexity and ambition of the proposal.

During the four months spent in Liechtenstein Finn has managed to expand his skillset in CAD and renderings in Rhino, producing work that is accomplished, despite the constraints created as a result of the pandemic.

Vivien Wan Ting Neoh has just completed Stage 4 at the Mackintosh School of Architecture. The following images are taken from the Urban Housing project, sited in Merchant City in Glasgow. Often housing is planned with the nuclear family unit in mind: two parents with children. As society evolves to become include new living situations – multigenerational families, single parents, young urban workers, the traditional three-bedroom apartment may no longer be suited to the needs of everyone. This project considers how apartment types for three different groups of people: multigenerational families, live-at-home professionals and artisans whose dedicated workspace is located in proximity to their homes. The project also explores the inclusion of levels in a single living unit, in contrast to typical flats which spaces are spread out on one floor.

I am a 4th year Architecture Student at the Mackintosh School of Architecture.

I have completed an internship at OZ Architects in the Netherlands.

I am enjoying the course and I am passionate about creating functional buildings which are politically, economically and socially robust and sensitive at the same time.

Maisie Tudge – Graduated with First Class Hons from Oxford Brookes University in 2017. Worked at Shoreditch based practice, HÛT Architecture, between July 2017 and August 2019. Collaborating on a range of large and small scale residential and commercial projects, lighting installations, internal refurbishments and furniture design.

Jemima Harold-Sodipo is currently a Stage 4 Diploma of Architecture student, having completed her Part 1 BArch degree at The University of Nottingham.

The following is the thesis statement of the project showcased here.

In a society where many are separated or isolated, this scheme looks to retain community. Creating a place in the city catered to all ages and abilities, promoting inclusion and integration. All in light of the Glasgow City Council’s goal to repopulate the city centre.

It seeks to strengthen community infrastructure through shared experience and shared resource, creating a diverse and immersive communal space to engage with others. This is primarily achieved through participation and collaborative design within the immersive theatre space and craft facilities.

Tool hire, DIY advice workshop, and a community kitchen with a cooking workshop, share skills often shared within families and communities. Providing essential facilities for people from different social and economic backgrounds.

The program looks to support existing social infrastructure, with workspaces provided for existing networks that also seek to sustain community, boosting their reach.

A holistic approach to sustaining a community is advocating for longevity and sustainable practices. This is achieved through optimisation of passive technologies and natural resources.

Lillianne is a Norweigan Part I student, and has attended The Mackintosh School of Architecture since the beginning of her Bachelor. Her professional portfolio includes work from London as well as freelance work in various places of Norway.

Her stage 4 work is an exploration of how a building may serve as an asset in creating a sense of community, and how it can engage with the public creating interest of the program of the building.

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.

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.

Digitalization & Physicalization

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

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

ShihLin Tseng, stage 4 architectural student.

Occasionally love architecture.

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

As an advocate for the natural environment and the conservation of wildlife, Gabrielle Buckley takes the premise that an empathy and understanding of nature should be at the root of good design.

At this moment in the shared global environmental crisis, she believes that every architect has a responsibility to do their utmost to change the current mindset from focusing solely the ‘built environment’ to the ‘environment’. This will enable the creation of places which harmonise both the urban and natural realms.

This years final design thesis titled “Act Natural: can mankind live harmoniously with nature for a healthy functioning ecosystem and planet through the medium of architecture?” explores ways to integrate urban development in nature sensitive and environmentally conscious manner.

With an awareness and interest for the endless possibilities and opportunities created by the cross collaboration of design disciplines and the allied arts, along with the belief that nature has the potential to be the greatest model that mankind can emulate to create a better world, initial research started with biomimicry which informed the building type and program.
This naturally led to further research into low key solutions and a design that retained and enhanced the integrity of the site through a ‘light touch’ approach to form and materials.

I am currently a final year architecture student from Scotland. After studying and receiving a Bachelors Degree from the University of Dundee I transferred to the Glasgow School of Art to complete my studies. During my Part 1 placement I worked for Lorn Macneal Architects based in Edinburgh New Town. During my final year thesis I became particularly interested in the themes of migration and displacement.

My current research explores and aims to understand the various stages of the journey of migrant populations arriving in Belgium and Antwerp.

Antwerp can be described as a patchwork city, not just architecturally but also culturally. This mixture of cultures and nationalities provides a diverse “melting pot”. The proposal intends to integrate migrant communities into the existing fabric of the city using skills and experiences they already posses through the sharing of experience. The concept of narrative is of fundamental importance to share migration experiences with the community to develop interaction and fundamentally integration. By focusing on the value of experience and culture secondary skills which facilitate integration, are seen a natural outcome of the process. The theme of “sharing a migration experience” is facilitated through the sharing of experience and “stories” through theater, and the sharing of culture through food in the form of a restaurant and also a cookery school were locals can experience different cuisines. The chosen site aims acts as a “hinge” between the various neighborhoods and enables a connection to these districts. These connections will be strengthened by the use of landscaping to create routes as well as water connections.

The architectural forms of the primary countries of origin have been researched and subtle references have been incorporated into the design. Courtyards are used to provide a degree of privacy in an external space with cloisters to reference religious architecture as well as providing shelter from the elements. The “layering” of the facade can be seen with the inclusion of the cloisters around the courtyard which provide shelter from the elements as well as picking up of cultural architectural references. Brick screens are used to allow a degree of privacy whilst allowing light to enter. The use of screens references middle eastern architecture whilst brick being “the material” of Antwerp – represents the merging of two cultures.

The element of Water is fundamental in the historical development of Antwerp and can be seen as a symbol of migration, able to transport people. Referencing the water cycle, water can be used to thermally control spaces by the means of evaporation, condensation, thermal mass and so on. Understanding the significance and symbolism of water
in different cultures and religions is of fundamental importance. Expressing that water is something which we all share a relationship with-which manifests in different ways. Reflecting the idea of a journey in the integration of water within the design and incorporating different “components” that form an overall water cycle.

The workmanship of risk’ is a term used by David Pye to describe the process of making ‘where at any moment, through inattention or mistake, the work could be ruined. In opposition to this is the workmanship of certainty, in which the quality of the result is predetermined and beyond control of the operative’. It describes the process of mass production which focuses on speed and quantity rather than quality.

The thesis seeks to investigate how the workmanship of risk can be refocused on within the modern city and how architecture might facilitate and encourage this. The thesis aims to explore how people’s value of goods can be reinvigorated by means of exposing and celebrating making and workmanship, and perhaps, to interrogate throwaway culture and the nature of consumerism today. Against the backdrop of the current climate crisis, there is an emerging shift in the way in which we consume goods, whereby there is a higher demand for sustainable, high quality, ‘made’ goods.

Antwerp’s history as a merchant city, has centred around craft and trade. From the craft guilds of the Golden Age to the global network of large-scale industry today, the city has evolved and morphed alongside the trends of consumerism and trade for centuries. Historically, places of trade and exchange were numerous within the city. Marketplaces, where makers of all descriptions made and sold their goods, were focal points within the city. The following quotes taken from ‘Antwerp, In the Age of Plantin and Brueghel’ by John. J. Murray, describe the diversity of trades and makers within the city and the constant presence of these places of exchange:

“ I saw a procession pass along the street, the people being arranged in rows, each man some distance from his neighbour, but the rows close one behind another. There were the goldsmiths, the painters, the masons, the broiderers, the sculptors, the joiners, the carpenters, the sailors, the fishermen, the butchers, the leatherers, the clothmakers, the bakers, the tailors, the shoemakers – indeed workmen of kinds, and many craftsmen and dealers who work for their livelihood ” – Durer

However, today, this vibrancy and diversity of trades and crafts has been removed from the city’s fabric and the vast majority of trade and industry has been pushed to the outskirts of the city.

The chosen site is located in the North Den Dam area of Antwerp. The site is largely desolate and is characterised by disconnection. It is disconnected from the city by major roads, rail and water. All of which bypass the site creating an island within the city. Secondly, it represents a larger disconnect within Antwerp as a whole. The disconnect between three major districts comes to a point at this site. Through the development of a programme centred around the ‘workmanship of risk’, production and exchange, this site has the potential to connect these areas.
The design aims to create a blur between what is public and what is productive and aims to encourage public engagement and visibility of the making of goods which have been produced through the workmanship of risk. The design introduces the Albert canal into the district to create a new dock which would serve the district, it acts as a spine which ties a series of proposed buildings and public spaces together. With an intention to demolish as little of what is existing on site, many of the sheds which characterise the area, are to be used for storage and for trades and crafts which may not necessarily need very specific servicing or bespoke spaces.

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

The Agonistic Assembly.
(September 2019-Ongoing)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

With a strong interest and awareness of the possibilities and opportunities of new technologies, Marco believes that architecture should be more attuned to our future needs and way of life.

His final thesis project ‘Human-Machine Interaction’ critically explores how artificial intelligence and the robotization of labour market is affecting the current society, leading to a growing inclination towards automation and replacement of human jobs by machines.

The proposal is set in a future scenario (2055) where Antwerp, the second largest port in Europe, will be hosting the World Expo, an international exhibition designed to celebrate the achievements of the future automated Port of Antwerp. The event will lead to the construction of a new institutional building located on the strip of water that separates the city and port, establishing a new dialogue between the machine and human environment.

The project critically reflects on the changing role of production in relation to society and what that might mean for an urban scenario and built environment perspective.

By 2040, most of the world will have a severe supply to demand issue regarding the surface water. The purple represents countries that will face the struggles the most. As 97% of the world’s water is saltwater, 3% is frozen freshwater held in the glaciers and the remaining 1% is liquid water. Though in that 1%, some of it lies underground, making it very expensive to extract, with the only choice but to deplete surface freshwater.

What the speculative aim is to critique the careless free-flowing faucets which humans leave on; to reflect and to preserve a natural resource that we would die without. From research to realisation, the hypothesis opposes to a utilitarian architecture having so little attention. A promise of childish pleasure – city as a playground. Marrying to a combination of an eco-consciousness of water with the appeal to a desire that people have of their surroundings, to engage and excite them. The really impressive achievement is to respond to that desire with infrastructures that have more than one function.

Antwerp has a lack of designed urban green spaces within the dense urbanised blocks. Finding a way to incorporate a way of green living with natural resources.

A framework and narrative for a heterotopian place that critiques the real value of the natural resources which surround us, the most important natural resource to humankind: water. People who live in cities have access to taps, but the true value of this commodity is lost through it ease of availability, it isn’t valued the same as gold or diamonds.

Heterotopia comes from Greek “Hetero” – other/opposite and “Topos” – place

Utilizing preservation as a driver and bringing the idea of this crisis closer, from global to macro. We begin to reflect, be good to the planet, and have a laugh. Function follows fun. The combination of an environmentally conscious public facility with inhabitable architecture.

To be spectacular, blatant, and memorable, opposing to the idea, and culture which cares so little about aesthetics invests so little indignity in the beauty which supplies and powers our towns and cities.

A counter to the medieval city core, to produce a heterotopian place on the left bank – Linkeroever.

A public facility with the water desalination plant. Bringing a social integration of play and environmental consciousness together. Allowing the interaction of traditionally separate functions to operate and unite as one singular holistic approach.

Against Aseptic Corporeality.

This thesis investigates our relationship to, and management of, our bodily excretions, using this subject matter to open up a broader societal conversation about the long term consequences and trajectories of our contemporary hyper-individualism.
This move away from the collective is illustrated by the changing relationship with (human) waste. The individual forgets that consumption, which has become a predominant element of all our lives, results in waste. Brought on by the introduction of municipal sanitization and the flushing toilet was the idea that waste can be moved into unconsciousness resulting in today’s ‘flush and forget’ culture where waste is disposed of, for someone else to deal with. Serviced by an invisible infrastructure beneath the ground.
The sewers are the backbone of the modern city. They are inexorably connected to urbanization, sprawl, and consumption. With the introduction of this subterranean urban landscape, connections between distant sources of water and water discharge in remote areas completely changed our concepts of space and time, expanding the city’s limits underground and thus permanently modifying the landscape. We now deal with our waste in the style of a chemical plant located in an industrial estate outside the city, taking all emotion and physical involvement away from the subject. It is no longer visible in our day to day lives and is now encased in anonymous architecture, hidden away from public view, and no longer celebrates the process of extracting its value.
Prior to the 1840s with the introduction of Bazalgette’s sewers in London, human excrement had not been regarded as ‘waste’. It was part of the working agrarian economy, the workers of the land brought their livestock or harvests to sell in the city, then collected the ‘night soil’ from the city’s streets to transport back to the field and use it as fertilizer. This system was broken with the development of sanitary infrastructure and in the process, the boundary between human activity and natural processes becoming fractured.
The thesis proposes a building that reveals this invisible infrastructure, allowing the individual to see their contribution to the collective and to reestablish a physical bodily connection to their natural ‘waste’. Situated in the city center of Antwerp the main building stands as a research facility and wastewater treatment plant, determining new ways to turn our ‘waste’ into a valued commodity. The end structure is a large public toilet situated in a place for leisure – a waste landscape. This landscape is constructed from the nutrient-rich byproducts produced by the treatment plant.

My thesis challenges the permanence of the city through the speculation of a new type of roaming civic architecture, challenging the centralisation of power and culture in Antwerp, whilst recharging these civic institutions as democratic forces for urban repair.

The idea of a civic centre is here adopted as a vehicle with the potential to shift social and political investment away from the medieval core of the city of Antwerp. The thesis proposes to establish a new civic centrality directly on top of the ring road between Antwerp’s historic city centre and the 20th century belt district of Morkhoven. The ring road is a product of permanent urban scarring inflicted by the medieval fortifications and this has subsequently been immortalised by the motorway that currently circumnavigates the inner city.

The civic centre can be defined by the presence of institutions of both culture and political power within the city. However, it could be argued that these institutions, namely our city halls and national parliaments, have become increasingly ambiguous in their contributions to the civic realm and in turn influenced the public’s perception of what constitutes civic architecture. This project aims to address this ambiguity within a new civic typology where institutions of power can now fully embed themselves within host communities with a renewed civic importance.

Institutions of power and culture are planned to move site every 15-20 years in an effort to repair more of the fabric of the city. Whilst these programmes are free to move, this thesis takes a critical position on the longevity of it’s architecture, whereby a balance is struck between permanent construction and the design of key spaces that are critical to the programme, thus are temporary and bespoke.

When the programmes of these civic institutions relocate, host communities inherit the site, where permanent structure is re-purposed for housing and community facilities. The dismantling of temporary structures allows for public courtyards to adopt new roles, shifting it’s responsibility from from serving the city, to serving the community and the individual.

To be continued.

Abby Bayani is graphic designer working and living in Glasgow. With an interest in underlying structures, she utilises graphic design as a way to explore and visualise them in new ways.

Working across disciplines, her practice is process-led, experimenting with various methods and materials to develop ideas. She makes use of printmaking, bookbinding, and animation to aid her creative process; and is inherently driven by the possibilities of playful exploration and meticulous making.

I’m a graphic designer and image maker based between London and Glasgow with a focus on art direction and process led design.

My design style falls between graphics and illustration as my practice often includes some kind of image making element. This even translates into my lettering and typography with my interest in decorative and bespoke type design, which is best illustrated through my work with FATHER. This stems from my love of process, whether that be the carving of Lino or the sketching of letterforms, I really enjoy the journey from the initial spark of an idea through all it’s iterations until it’s final form as well as the constant learning that comes with the discovery of new techniques relevant to my projects.

Printmaker, illustrator and schemer.

Elisabeth is most immersed when getting tactile with ink, making drypoint engravings and woodcuts. it is a process-oriented practice; chipping and burring, scraping and turning. tranquility is the result.

Looking for a press, for images to make, and finding ever more thrilling means to produce prints.

Georgina Bailey is an illustrator whose recent practise with pen and ink depicts our inner thoughts and narratives as intruders to a mundane space: a confrontation between the mini universes lived in our minds and the physical one we exist in.

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.

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

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.

Mairi Louise Caldwell is a Glasgow based illustrator, and recent graduate of the Glasgow School of Art.

Characterising the main themes of her practice as ‘Hidden’ Histories, Memory and the Mythological (that is, concerned with untold stories, folk knowledge, superstition, personal recollection and the unwritten history) her work typically combines analogue drawing, writing, collage and photography.

✆ +44 7477851832
✉ phoebe.kerr97@gmail.com

I am a graphic designer based in Glasgow, primarily focusing on motion and identity design. I enjoy constructing user focused narratives that draw people in, encouraging engagement and a sense of experience within my design.

Throwing myself into my research process helps me achieve this. I don’t tend to start any designing until I have thoroughly – and perhaps a wee bit exhaustively – torn open the brief to explore every visual concept, historical relevance, social aspect and practical use. With this process I feel more informed in decision making, confident I have left no stone unturned.

I believe that having an appetite for knowledge of the worlds surrounding your own is vital for a designer in navigating the design process. Being able to reference a multitude of perspectives, stories and experiences allows us to create a more conscious, kind, inclusive and sustainable experience for everyone.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This project revolves around people from different fields working in one building and occupying shared spaces. The aim was to create a workspace tailored to the needs of a specific profession while simultaneously allowing them to use shared spaces with other workers. This in turn would encourage them to learn, discover and inspire others.
My inspiration came from my personal experience while studying at GSA where I had students from other fields around me. I would also share facilities with them such as various workshops where I got the opportunity to discuss my work.
The biggest challenge I faced while designing was to find the right combination of professionals to occupy the space together and to create small interrupting points where people could take a break from their work and discuss it with others.
The main focus point in my design was the void, which allows light and sound to travel through it as well as providing a subtle peak into the workspaces of other people.
The void allowed me to explore different planning possibilities; on top of that it created an opportunity for me to explore different CAD softwares and Addobe packages to create a visual language for my project.

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

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

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

I 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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

I’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!

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.

I am a Maltese Product Design Engineering student at the Glasgow School of Art and University of Glasgow. An MEng in Product Design Engineering at the two institutions has been an exciting and challenging journey, which has provided a multitude of opportunities in both engineering and design cultures.

My final year project, flexIV, was an exciting venture into the world of biomedical devices. flexIV is a stabilizing intravenous cannula for comfort and freedom. The device protects against dangerous accidental administration of an intravenous fluid into the subcutaneous tissue. This is known as extravasation, which is mainly caused due to movement and instability of the intravenous cannula. Extravasation causes painful side effects, as well as permanent cosmetic damage, loss of function in limbs, and potentially fatalities.

The flexIV device is an innovative redesign of the intravenous cannula. It introduces flexibility to the device to prevent internal catheter movement. With patient comfort in mind as well as extravasation prevention, the user is free to move comfortably without the worry of the catheter becoming displaced.

This project was an excellent opportunity to execute and improve my research skills, build professional relationships with a multitude of professions, and integrate my work ethic from my summer internship at ExxonMobil.

My Product Design Engineering final year project is an Accessible Auto-injector Dispenser for people who suffer from severe allergic reactions. The product is designed to be installed within indoor public places such as shopping centres and restaurants for emergency situations where an adrenaline auto-injector is immediately required. The presence of this product will bring more awareness of anaphylaxis (severe allergic reactions) and potentially save peoples’ lives.

I have gained experience throughout my time at university working on various projects within GSA as well as volunteering with a start up business in my free time. In addition I have acquired skills in website creation, creative photography and the conducting of effective user testing.

In the future I would like to explore this area of design further and be able to use my knowledge and skills to design and create unique and beneficial products.

Sarisa Leelayouthyotin is a BEng Product Design Engineering graduate. Her final project, Communicare aims to integrate technology into healthcare.

Communicare aims to provide an effective meltdown and shutdown prevention system for autistic children through modular 3-lead ECG monitoring and stress analysis. It connects the ECG wearables to the caregivers’ devices, allowing them to detect the upcoming meltdown and shutdown, in order to provide the right support at the right time.

Jonathan Maillie is a creative young student working towards a Bachelor of Engineering in the discipline of Product Design, delivered collectively by the world renowned institutions of the Glasgow School of Art and the University of Glasgow. Jonathan is also from Glasgow, a city synonymous with engineering innovation, and throughout his educational career has consistently taken an interest in the sciences and design. Always keen to understand how products work, on discovering the course in PDE he relished the opportunity to combine the dynamic mediums of engineering and design. Jonathan looks to develop the skills and knowledge he has gained through this course and multiple work experience positions to forge a career in product design. To further expand his skill set he will be embarking on a Design and Marketing postgraduate course in the coming year.

Alongside technology and design, the biggest influence on, and constant in, Jonathan’s life has been sport. From a young age he participated in rugby, hockey and swimming and now is member of the Glasgow University Tigers American Football team. Throughout his studies, the opportunity to influence the fast paced innovation in engineering and design in sports has been a key driver, allowing him to combine his two passions.

Precision Contact

A long list of injuries eventually prevented Jonathan from playing the sports he loved most, namely rugby. This, coupled with a strong desire to remain involved in the sporting world, inspired Precision Contact, a smart sports wearable designed to approach the increasing injury rate in modern rugby and other contact sports, and the response to it.

Precision Contact aims to tackle this problem through accurate visualisation of the impact on athletes in contact sports and create a better informed, streamlined injury recovery/rehabilitation process. It boasts thousands of pressure sensing areas, fitted to a compression style garment, whose data output is powered, collected and transmitted by an unobtrusive hub incorporated into the sports wearable. The product maps the various impacts given and taken by a professional or amateur level player and produces a visually engaging, informative pressure map displaying highly technical insights into the wearer.

As a product designed to address injury at all levels of the game, this could not only make players more injury conscious as they play, but also improve their interaction with team staff and sports researchers as they look to recover and return to play quicker than ever.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Finley McNamara is a 21-year-old free range artist. Raised in Burlington, Vermont and studying Silversmithing and Jewelry design in Scotland at Glasgow School of Art. Their work is influenced by the things they love, bright colors, walks in nature and listening to music, they are rarely seen without a pair of headphones on their ears or around their neck and a pocket full of interesting things they found on the ground. Their pieces are abstract interpretations of everyday life, focusing on intuition, and growth over time. These pieces are created using paint, canvas, textiles, thread, and beads, as well as precious metals.
All are one off pieces but commissions are welcome for new pieces with similar appearances as well as dreaming up fun new things.

Melissa McNeil, BA(HONS) Silversmithing & Jewellery, Glasgow School of Art, 2020.

Fossils are the remnants of previous lives lived, the ossified remains of a once vital life force, now petrified and suspended within a many-layered crust or hardened stone. Rather than encounter the fossil as a ‘dead’ entity, however, in my practice, fossils represent the spark of life, memories of life as it once was. The particular tactility of these objects and their display as palaeontology, entomology, and archaeology, provide an especially appealing aesthetic quality, easily transferable and reproducible as objects of jewellery, in precious metals. In a sense, my design process is an attempt to create a ‘micro-museum’ of personal, often nostalgic memories, with meanings that are both individual and universal.