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

My practice explores the relationship between permanent and the changeable through playing with the extremities of contrasting scales, forms, textures, techniques and histories. I seek to create work that’s inclusive and human first; With people themselves acting as an integral element to the architecture, adding to the architectural space and their relationship with it, through the rhythms of their day to day inviting adaptation and involvement. I aspire for everyday design to have an effortless enjoyability and experiential quality, making the potentially mundane special.

Balloch, West Dunbartonshire is a village which lies on the banks Loch Lomond. This project is a Public Music Hall and accommodation for the charity, Sistema, that seeks to transform the lives of children, young people and their communities through music. Inspired by the history of the train line which ran through the town to the end of the pier as my starting point, the project is an exploration of journey, destination and place. I wanted to create a feeling of anticipation through designing the music hall to act as a monument at the end of the pier, an area that despite being naturally scenic views remained neglected. Sites like these are wholly deserving of buildings that create a sense of spectacle, with a strong rooting in community history.

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

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

My childhood unleashed a desire to know how things work, this soon developed into a more specific interest in Design, Technology and later Architecture. While looking for inspiration I discovered how architecture can enhance people’s everyday experiences as they move through and interact with a building. The right building can be both functional and beautiful, so that people feel engaged with it instead of being restricted.This strengthened my desire to be an architect, observing your hard work turning into a reality and having someone to not just admire it but use every day, I believe, is surely one of the best feelings in the world.

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

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

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.

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

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

Part 1 Architecture Student

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

In the educational process of becoming an architect. Awarded the 2017 Harvard summer School scholarship.
Inspired by nature and the beauty of elegant simplicity.

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

Ingrid Wennemo
Stage 4

I have been an architecture student at the Glasgow School of Art since my first year in 2015. This year, I will be graduating my Bachelor of Architecture (Hons)

The two projects presented here are parts of my work from my 4th year. One is a housing project from the first semester, and another one is my thesis project from the second half of the year which, unfortunately has to be cut short.

Despite the halt in the teaching, I have continued to work independently on the project to the most of my ability with the limited facility and resources.

For more information, CV or complete portfolio, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

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

Martha Duncan is an Edinburgh based Stage 4 Architecture Student who has spent her past 4 years of study at the Mackintosh School of Architecture. Between Stage 3 and 4 she gained valuable experience in practice at Threesixty Architecture before returning to complete her Bachelor of Architecture with Honours.

Urban Building Thesis:

The library assumes the best of people. The services it provides are founded on the assumption that: if given a chance, people will improve themselves.” (Taylor, “BBC Radio 4 – Thinking Allowed, Palaces for the People.”)

Currently, there is a great disparity of civic buildings in Merchant City. Subsequently this devolves into a lack of community in a very socially diverse district. The site for “A Warehouse of Knowledge” sits on the boundary between the upper class and lower class areas of the district, so the building will act as an item of social infrastructure to increase the likelihood of social connections across the district.

With a combination of biophilic design and circulation which creates social connections, this building will use introverted and extroverted spaces to modernise the outdated library into a piece of contemporary social infrastructure for the people of Merchant City.

“A Warehouse of Knowledge” will act as a monument which builds on Merchant City’s identity.

“Biophilic design fosters feelings of membership in a community that includes both people and the non-human environment.” (Kellert, Nature by Design : The Practice of Biophilic Design, 20.)

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

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

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

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

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

The following illustrations have been selected to convey my thesis for the Urban Building project, which explores the hybrid of performance and education.  The design manifests itself as a performing arts venue in Glasgow’s Merchant City, providing an all-encompassing cultural hub accessible to every demographic.

This project is prompted by observations of current performing arts venues in Glasgow, often failing to be inclusive of all in the community and engage a multitude of arts categories in one space.  Supporting spaces within the design are formulated to be utilised by the community for collective and personal development – aiding education and leisure.

The design delivers a venue to experience performing arts in a variety of circumstances.  Permeable in nature, visitors enter from all angles of the building – emphasising its identity as a destination within the city.  Abundant void space in the venue affords the opportunity for sub-division, generating informal performance spaces.  Concrete stairs appear dense and sculptural within the light and open architecture, generated by the steel framed structure, resulting in a visual contrast between solid and void.  This contrast is employed further to convey visual legibility within the design, informing visitors of the function of spaces.  Ascending the building, spaces become increasingly “solid” and introverted for isolated practice to take place.  Polycarbonate curtain walls and glazing portray movement within the building to the streets as animated shadows, engaging the external context of Merchant city.

With boutique stores, galleries, annual festivals celebrating the arts, and many creatives basing themselves there: Merchant City is renowned as the cultural heart of Glasgow.  This venue is synonymous with this context and provides a civic space to cultivate a collective experience of performing arts to inspire personal growth, and collaboration.

Jorge Velasco holds a Bachelors in Architecture from the University of Guadalajara, Mexico. After working and beginning his own architecture firm in Mexico he has decided to expand his knowledge and experience by journeying across the pond.

His work in Mexico was varied, creating projects for the residential sector, the retail sector and even an experimental theatre. His move to Scotland, and his studies at GSA, is fuelled by an interest in how culture, geography and history has an impact on architecture, with a particular interest in conversions and reutilising spaces.

Yichen Li is a RIBA Part II student studying in Mackintosh School of Architecture. His works are focusing parametric design and sustainable structure strategies.

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

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

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

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

Lauren has been studying at the Mackintosh School of Architecture since 2014, and during that time has attained her Bachelors with Honors and Diploma in Architecture. She has worked on a variety of projects from housing, community buildings, educational institutions and city master plans. Her most recent work is a study of community, culture and politics within the city of Antwerp, Belgium.

‘Scaffolding the City’ is a project which inhabits underutilized land across Antwerp. The spaces are filled with an unorthodox architectural language which speaks of informality, community engagement and adaptability. As an inhabitable scaffolding form, the proposal takes on a series of incisions into the urban landscape where normality is fragmented and boundaries, physically and politically, can be breached. The scaffolding incisions will inhabit gap sites across the city for the duration that the site is vacant or until thegrowth of a permanent sub-district community infrastructure. In its lifespan the structure will facilitate a socially stimulating landscape for the sub-districts of Antwerp City. The programme for this is based on key strategies which encourage the growth of a politically and culturally stimulated programme: Exchange, Peoples Forum, Knowledge, Cultivate and Play.

Laurens work encompasses an interest in the social aspects of architecture. For her dissertation she studied Glasgow tower blocks and the social aspects of vertical living. Employing the concepts of community and shared spaces researched during this, she has built from these themes to lead all of her projects since. By documenting social aspects which could benefit architectural design, her work aims to address the larger social issues in the industry such as discrimination and design equality.

Fluid/ Terra:

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

Architecture embedded in place has been a pivotal line of enquiry throughout Nancy’s practice and therefore the vernacular and both listed buildings and structures have become a focal point in the progression of her career. This thesis therefore considers the ruinous post-industrial landscape as a place-less fragment of the modern city and seeks to reconnect it reinforcing its historic connection to the cities economic growth from the industrial revolution. Sustainability can no longer be ignored through architectural practice and has also played a part in driving the design thesis.

The Anthropocene and climate change are in urgent need of addressing. The Anthropocene is the current epoch that some define as the point in which we have altered our environments on and irreversible planetary scale. This is greatly linked to the Industrial Revolution and the push for development within the Great Acceleration from the 1950’s onwards. Within Antwerp this is conveyed through the industrial externalities of modern and disused mass petroleum refining sites.

The thesis addresses issues within the Anthropocene with the intention to improve upon contamination left behind by the petroleum industry within the soil and air. This is done through utilising mycology (the study of fungus) as a biotechnology for bioremediation and CO2 down-draw/carbon store. Overall the thesis considers how architecture can be used as a tool to educate, facilitate and reconnect the city to its polluted landscape as a symbol for a new future built on the ruins of industrialism.

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.

Throughout my architectural education I have learned how to analyse both positives and negatives within built spaces, as well as developing solutions to existing problems. Instead of single-handedly trying to ‘solve’ these issues I aspire to make these places better by giving people the foundation and surroundings to do so. My approach is to build upon existing qualities by creating spaces that encourage the growth and the celebration of these values, while at the same time bringing the user closer to nature through the use of sustainable building solutions and natural materials.

We all, I think, instinctively feel, and rationally assume, that buildings last for generations. However, we build them of concrete; liquid stone set around steel. Into these concrete cages, we set our most treasured stories. Stories about work, education, health, wealth and family. But stories are liquid, they move much more rapidly than these fixed frames can bear. We have forgotten, in how we build, that in previous eras the façade of a building; its public gestures; and spaces were the lasting elements. From palaces to factories, simple frames were adorned in rich material compositions, allowed to become recognisable and enduring characters by having the flexibility to change inside.

Now a drastic turnaround has taken place in the approach to our cities. The façades have become novel and sacrificial surfaces and the interiors tightly packed with fixed ideas. The result of this inversion is all around us. Demolition is a daily occurrence in the city, with the average lifespan of an urban building now 30 years.

This year, I have developed a position concerning urban buildings, their life, their death and their composition. I have considered the relationship between facade and structure, between use and appearance, between construction and services, materials, resource efficiency and environment, and have develop a critical perspective to how, where and when one should build.

Although Oslo was the inception of my studies, Glasgow became the test-bed of my research. This comparative tale will explore the dynamics of the two cities; building on the foundation of understanding developed through the research investigations in Oslo I developed a new framework for the city that responds directly to the present challenges of density, durability and flexibility.

The conflict in Antwerp is recessive, hard to notice in corners of city. However, they lie within the crowd of pedestrians, lie across the infrastructures and among the religious buildings. 48% of inhabitant in Antwerp has immigration background. The mapping of religious buildings indicated that those inhabitants lives within their enclosed neighbourhoods with similar religion and culture, separated by physical boundaries.

The thesis is about proposing a spiritual space at the city centre of Antwerp. A model of the Church of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, indicates the territory of several denominations by colours. And the dome in white is shared by everyone as a sacred place. A neutral and spiritual space is needed in a city like Antwerp, as same as the Church of Holy Sepulchre.

What is spirituality ? What lies between spirituality and architecture? The research came up with a conclusion of ‘Time’. The self-transcendence experience could always match to specific perception of different moments in architecture through the use of light and shadow. They imply time and thus spirituality in architecture. The journey of time offer a retreat from the conflict, from the city and chaos, where speed of vehicle, reflection from curtain wall and noise interfered the perception of time, and bring spirituality with the expression of different moments and self-transcendence experience.

The design occupied both sides of the site and connected through underground space. It breaks the physical boundary, ie. the traffic and infrastructure, between enclosed neighbourhoods. The design goes deeper into underground progressively, as thresholds between the spiritual space and the (physical and visual impact of) the city. The journey of time start from ‘Chaos’ (city), then ‘Authenticity’, to ‘Eternity’ and finally arrive ‘Transiency’, forming the compress process. Then it would go through a decompress process, from ‘Eternity’ , to ‘Authenticity’ and finally back to ‘Chaos’, no matter which side the visitors start their journey.

Reusing existing knowledge and materials is integral in order to promote a sustainable future for architecture. My thesis concerns reuse, and designing for disassembly in order to facilitate this.

I am defining reuse in two ways. The first is the physical reuse of existing components. This is not a new concept, but it is something that must be made more available in order to be readily accessible within new designs. By creating a framework for the circular economy and reuse of materials within one area, this allows for a similar structure to be set up elsewhere. This should include a place for salvaged materials to be stored in between disassembly and reuse, as well as each new building’s design being well documented and detailed in order to facilitate future disassembly if the building is ever to be taken apart.

The second definition of reuse, is the sentimental reuse of a place and it’s memory. By recycling the materials within the same area and detailing where they came from and where they go, you preserve a place’s history within the reuse. By creating more localised hubs for reuse, you preserve the material memories of a place whilst still revitalising and building on what is already there. The current culture of demolition without any effort to preserve the materials through salvaging or documenting them, is not only wasting resources but also wasting the chance to learn from what has already been done. Frameworks should be put in place to aid the preservation of reuse on a local scale.

My project compromises of three sites all within walking distance of the other in the University district of Antwerp. They are all gaps sites; there were many gap sites in the area and all of them left behind footprints of what was previously there, which parallels the idea of preserving an area’s memories through it’s materials reuse.

The three sites will also work together showing how the materials from one building can be reused within another for a different design and function. Two sites will work as case study A and case study B. The materials from A will be designed and detailed in a way that can facilitate the reuse within B, whilst still providing a unique design for a different programme. The third site will act as a Material Library; this will be the in between point where the reclaimed materials can be stored before reuse, as well as displayed to showcase and preserve the components of an area.

In summary the three sites should show how reuse can be facilitated within a local scale, in order to preserve the history of an area whilst also aiding to it’s growth.

Please not, the thesis is ongoing and will be updated as it develops.

An aspiring designer interested in adaptability, metabolism within an architectural/ urban framework, future technologies and sustainable systems. I explore architecture mainly through photography and it’s manipulation as we currently live in a world in which our smartphones are an altered perspective of our collective realities.

An ‘Absolute’ Truth?

Institute of Political Objectivity
Steenplein, Antwerp, Belgium

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

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

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

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

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

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

Originally from Sweden, I am a detail-oriented graphic designer focusing on typography in all of its forms. For the showcase I have decided to share three projects from my fourth year at Glasgow School of Art.

TEMPLETON
Type Design

Templeton is an uppercase-only typeface inspired by Glasgow’s historical past in the carpet design. The main source of inspiration is the ‘T’ which can be seen in the company Templeton’s old logo, and the Arts and Crafts movement. It is a new take on the Glaswegian typeface, with sharp edges and decorative swashes.

TYPOGRAFI
Editorial Design

Typografi is a bilingual type magazine aiming to highlight and promote type designers from the Nordic countries. It features Or Lemmen as the issue’s typeface, alongside projects such as Sweden Sans and The Pyte Foundry.
Throughout the process of making the magazine, the page size and layout changed progressively. This can be seen in the work-in-progress image, which features four iterations – with the last one being the first printed mock-up.

COMMUNICATION DESIGN WORK IN PROGRESS SHOW 2020
Exhibition Identity
Group Project

With the initial idea of creating a poster as an intervention of a space, this identity took the inspiration from warning tape. The letters used in the poster are made from manipulating a typeface found in the caseroom at Glasgow School of Art, with a playful take on the spine of the S. The captions and the rest of the visuals for the exhibition incorporates the design guidelines established in the poster, such as condensed type and narrow formats.
The identity of the exhibition started with creating the poster, which went through a large amount of iterations before arriving at the final ones.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks

Mark

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

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

Marrying tradition with tale, ‘Cleansing Rituals’ explores customs with fable aspects.
The work investigates premarital ceremonial ‘cleansing’ with natural elements; soot, salt and feathers, all thought to possess holistic virtue with purifying properties carrying protective and fertilising powers.

Scottish writer Margaret Bennett’s Customs: From the Cradle to the Grave yielded the body of work with biographical narrative. Bennett’s interview material and manuscripts notes describes archival recounts involving soot being rubbed onto the skin prior to ‘feet washing’ in order to cleanse and bring luck. Other occurrences describe finding the ring of a woman who has been in an enduring marriage in a chamber pot filled with salt. The events have been adapted with a lyrical approach, telling an unknown past by using natural elements.

The body of work began with large format nude self-portraits, exhibited in ‘Pt.2 – Com Des WIP Show’. The images were created through photo etching, which is a highly precise corrosion process used by chemical etching. The intaglio printmaking method was originated as Photogravure. The pairing images were printed with handmade ink from soot and linseed oil.
Following this was an exploration of Salt Printing, a photographic process involving wetting paper with a solution of table salt then brushing it with light-sensitive chemical, silver nitrate.
The reoccurring trope of the soot, salt and feathers throughout ‘Cleansing Rituals’ is integral to both the subject matter and the making of the images.

Throughout my studies in Communication Design, I have explored a broad range of interests, working with both digital and analogue photography. I have particularly liked working on documentary projects that have allowed me to embed myself within a community. It is rewarding to be able to represent people I’ve met and places I’ve explored with my images.

During my final year, my practice extended to working with staged photography. The new challenge allowed me to have more control over the outcome and overall aesthetic of my work. I enjoy working in the photographic studio but also on location, embracing the use of additional lighting or utilising daylight.

Art direction is another area of interest and since the lockdown, I have had the opportunity to invest more time in my collaborative work, with my friend Grace Elder. Named Crown Gewelz, we strive to create vibrant imagery using playful and surreal sets.

Moving forward, I would like to begin my career with a creative internship, ideally in London.

Aside from that, I hope to have the opportunity to revisit The Isle of Eigg to further develop my project documenting the community there.
Finally, I will continue to make work for Crown Gewelz to expand my experience as an art director and staged photographer. We have been loving working on our tongue-in-cheek recipe card series and have much more to come!

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.

I am Rosa Sawyers, a Graphic Designer, Image Maker and Film Maker based in Brighton/Glasgow.

I’ve recently been exploring my interests in moving image through various animation exercises, focusing on movement and growth within the natural world. My work tends to mix digital and organic processes, creating confusing and surreal imagery with lots of visual pleasure.

Léa Mariella is a freelance Photographer completing her last year of Undergraduate studies in communication and Design at the Glasgow School of Art.

Her practice, influenced by a background in environmental and behavioural sciences, focuses on the definition of ‘the body’ in a political and cultural context.
From physiological studies of boxing practice to the documentation of physically limited artists, Léa’s use of visual language aims to highlight the inherent link between scientific and artistic disciplines.

As a photographer, Léa constantly questions her practice with a clear emphasis on ethics and empathy.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

I 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Hi there 👋

I am a designer whose work explores the relationship between the virtual world and online spaces. I am specifically interested in the sociological aspect of the continuously advancing technology and how this impacts our interior environments. Throughout the past 2 years, I have been exploring how digital media, social media, and the internet has affected people, their mental health, and daily lives, through Interior Design and academic writing.

I have designed PLATFORM, a centre striving to support young people’s interactions with the continuously growing virtual world. Enabling the visitors to PLATFORM to feel empowered by the knowledge they have gained, to intelligently navigate social media and other online spaces. The centre offers counselling services and other education spaces where visitors will learn interactively.

PLATFORM tests how wrapping the built environment with a precise material pallet and technology enables questioning the boundaries between the physical and the digital worlds

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.

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.

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

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

“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.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

Having been born and raised in Hong Kong for the best part of my life, I have been able to appreciate technological marvels all around me; from the behemoth skyscrapers and the array of luxury vehicles roaming the streets, to the smaller gadgetry in home devices and telecommunications. I have always had a passion for knowing how things work, learning about the inner processes behind products and taking them apart to better understand them. From as early as I can remember, I have used creativity as an outlet for self-expression, whether that be through sketching, painting or designing weird and wonderful products as a child.

Product Design Engineering was an incredibly well balanced course for me as it enabled me to combine my love of using artistic methods and fascination with technical engineering challenges to produce a fully realised product, working from conceptualisation and concept generation to prototyping and creating a final item to solve real-world problems.This balance in design and engineering coupled with the broad array of skills learned and honed throughout this degree has enabled me to feel confident in the future to tackle design challenges in different disciplines, with the goal of creating innovative solutions to dealing with real-world issues and make a meaningful impact in people’s lives.

The “Helping Hand” is designed to be a portable
solution to emergency medical scanning using
ultrasound at the scene of an accident. Emergency
services will utilise this in a last case scenario
where the life of the patient is in imminent
threat. The device uses ultrasound imaging to
diagnose any internal injury due to either blunt or
penetrative trauma that resulted in severe internal
haemorrhaging. It then uses high intensity focused
ultrasound to cauterise and seal the wound non-invasively. The two forms of ultrasound transducer will be led autonomously by an onboard AI software which utilises a reference library of images of both healthy and unhealthy scans of key points in the human body. These will then determine the injury and provide the diagnosis, then serving as a guide for the HIFU beam to cauterise the damaged tissue within one cell thickness.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Isabella Gonzalez is a Venezuelan final year Product Design Engineering student at GSA and the University of Glasgow. During her degree, she developed interest in sustainable and environmental engineering which led her to follow her studies at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, getting an offer for a Master’s course in Sustainable Energies.

Kinethics is a product designed to provide independence to campers on how they get energy to power their devices. Applying a BLDC generator and a planetary gearbox, this power generator offers a simple and efficient way for users to produce their own electricity. With a detachable and portable power bank, the product becomes versatile for different situations, charging devices safely with the battery as an intermediary between the generator and the user’s devices. The user just needs to extent the crank, slide the power bank into the slot of the generator and start turning the handle. A red LED indicator will let them know the battery is being charged. After 2min of constant turning, the power bank will be charged ~3%, enough to make an emergency call on most smartphones. It comes in a small, lightweight, and ergonomic structure for ease of turning without the need of a surface.

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

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

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

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

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at GSA and learned a lot on the PDE course. Last summer I did an internship with Scottish Power Renewables where I was able to put some of my Mechanical Engineering skills from the University of Glasgow into practice. I spent my final year working on a user centred design project and ultimately created a product to aid mobility in Parkinson’s Disease sufferers. Various research, user engagement and iterative prototyping and testing led me to my final solution and I gained invaluable skills working alongside the end users and key stakeholders throughout the whole process. My final design ‘Cammino’ is an assistive device that predicts and prevents one of the most debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease known as ‘Freezing of Gait.’

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

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

Alice is a multi-award-winning jeweller and silversmith who celebrates the chaotic beauty of crystal and mineral formations through the medium of metal. Trained in both traditional and contemporary fields of metalwork and design, Alice’s work re-imagines rare mineral specimens as functional jewellery and objects, without depleting precious resources.
To create these rock-like textures and forms, Alice uses ancient techniques of chasing and repoussé. Alongside developing this technique, she has spent much time studying the effects of incredible metals, titanium and niobium, that provide bursts of colour to her jewellery designs, using the modern technique of anodising. Now acknowledged as her specialism, she is one of only a handful of metalworkers in the UK working with niobium. From 2020-2021, Alice will be studying at Bishopsland Educational Trust, a prestigious residential course specialising in ancient crafts of jewellery and silversmithing.
If you would like to discuss a commission, please use the links below to contact me.

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.

My practice encompasses a range of ideas and skills derived from my experiences as cook, host and maker.
The processes leading to the designs for this collection involve an immediate correspondence between the kitchen and studio; an acknowledgment of the transferable craft skills required in making meaning from natural and sustainable produce.

This is no easy assimilation and my collection, Féasta, challenges specific values inherent in the possibilities of food as material, as well as sustenance. Féasta recognises deeply-embedded cultural significance in food sourced from remote, Scottish estates, farms and kitchen gardens,reflecting social habits surrounding the cultivation and preservation of the production of food over many generations. The collection, in the form of functional and sculptural pieces, captures an eternal life-cycle, from produce, plate, object and experience.

Since Féasta, I have launched my brand, &ILC as a development of my work with food as a material.

&ILC is Jewellery for the conscious consumer; Using raw egg shell from Scottish kitchens I create pieces with delicate egg shell inlay, forming intricate yet minimal designs. I want to challenge our ideas of waste and make people appreciate the beauty in these unique and in abundance materials. My dyeing methods are devised from vegetable compost allowing for my whole process to be organic, inspired and made with food. I work with Brass, Jesmonite, wood and Cotton, a further conscious decision to maintain this sustainable stance on materials.

Practicality meets aesthetic to create statement yet minimal jewellery.

Paige Baitey, BA(Hons) Silversmithing & Jewellery, The Glasgow School of Art, 2020

Positivity of materiality in objects of design is the focus of this collection of wearables. How emotional support, through tactility, functionality, wearability and manipulation, might be offered to users, is explored in these artefacts. Specifically, materials such as cork, balsa wood, paper, card and other palpable features are incorporated within the base of the designs to achieve the desired illusionary experience. The final results are realised by means of digital manipulation, with each pattern worked up in adobe illustrator, creating a networked, pre-prepared plan that translates into finished pieces with maximum movement and connectivity with each component, including acrylic, leather and laser rubber. Ultimately, the collection presents the user/wearer with a multidimensional experience, pieces of jewellery that can be deconstructed, to act as autonomous objects that exist alone comfortably, while remaining supportive, physical and substantial when worn or handled.