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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Having completed my undergraduate degree in University College Dublin, I moved to Glasgow to broaden and re-contextualise my architectural education. My work focuses on presence and the balance between heavy and light taking particular interest in materials and what they offer the user over time.

I aim to think of the built environment as a living, ever-morphing realm and carefully consider time passing and a building’s continuous existence through it. True sustainability and usefulness comes not just from fulfilling a brief but imagining the brief in many years to come and taking ownership of your responsibility to design for humanity.

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.

I have a strong interest in conservation and restoration architecture, having loved my experience in my year in practice, working for a conservation practice, Simpson and Brown.

I am also interested in designing for children and enjoy using my experience working with children, as a Rainbow Guide leader, to influence my work.

During my fourth year, I was part of the editorial team for MSA’s student-run magazine, MacMag and helped produce the 45th issue of the publication.

In my spare time I enjoy singing as part of the Glasgow School of Art choir, climbing and hiking in the Scottish highlands and I am learning German.

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

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

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

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.

Thesis Title: ‘The Haptic Storyteller’

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

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

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

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

Thomson Lee is a passionate young architect who aspires to continue his architectural journey in the UK, working in the UK and being qualified as an Architect by the RIBA.

I am a Canadian born Hong Kongese, I believe my international background facilitated my sense of design and aesthetics greatly. My design language and architectural interests is a collective blend from my multicultural background. Having worked in various multilingual professional environments, it well equipped me to communicate with colleagues and clients under all circumstances. I strongly believe the combination between my architectural knowledge, ability, and experience allows me to be a productive member in any environment.

Having the opportunity to study in GSA throughout my whole architectural tenure has been nothing but memorable, this school was able to provide me with countless tangible and intangible skills and knowledge.

Architecture has always been my passion and life long dream, and I look forward to continuing my professional journey in the UK. I am a hardworking, self-motivated, and fast learning individual. I strongly believe that providing me with an opportunity to work in the UK would not be a disappointment.

Leanne is a Scottish part II architect and artist. She graduated with a Master of Arts in Architecture from University of Edinburgh before attending the Glasgow School of Art. She has an international portfolio, with work in practice from offices in Amsterdam and Taipei, Taiwan. Here she also completed an intermediate course in Mandarin Chinese through attending language classes in the evening at Tai Da University. Previously, through her studies in Scotland, she won first place in The John Byrne Award for the submission of a series of portrait painting and a play. Since then she has always used a combination of art and technical drawing to communicate her projects.

Through her childhood spent in the national parks of America, she has developed a keen curiously in the topology of space, both natural and urban. This is portrayed in her Stage 5 project,

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.

Antwerp Fashion Revival
How can the establishment of Antwerp Fashion District recreate the success story of ‘The Antwerp Six’ in the 1980s? By reclaiming underutilised public space, can the district reactivate the once prosperous industrial southern district?

Antwerp was one of the most influential fashion cities in the late 20th centuries following the uprising of ‘The Antwerp Six’. However, the decline in the Antwerp fashion industry has failed to compete with the traditional giants, including London, Paris, Milan, and New York. It has since been replaced by other promising cities such as Barcelona and Berlin. Although the Royal Academy of Fine Art Antwerp is one of the best fashion school in the world, it suffers from strict entrance requirement that repel international talents. the current institutions have strict language requirements for Dutch. For talented international individuals, going to an English-speaking prestigious institution, such as Central Saint Martins (London) and Parsons School of Design (New York), would be much more attractive. Also, a lack of spaces and opportunities has led to harsh environment for the new graduates and young designers to flourish. The Zuid (south) has a reputation of being trendy already serves as a location for independent designers, galleries and museum. The south dock currently serves as an elongated carpark that does is not suitable for public use. The former dock provides a missing opportunity for creating a social gathering platform.

Final Design Thesis presents the South Dock of Antwerp as the new fashion catwalk. The former industrial dock is split into three zone referencing the three former shipping bays. The first zone as a “Making” platform for emerging designers to work from. The second zone at the other end of the south dock is an Art School specialising in fashion design, serves as a platform to cultivate the young. Flanked by the school and workshops is an event space, working in adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art to celebrate the Antwerp talents.

Incorporation of the grid shell into building design as a lightweight structure. The structure provides opportunity to create dynamic canopy that references the fluidity of the Antwerp fashion industry. As the fashion design concentrates on hand crafted, custom made design. The grid shell structure of the fashion district uses natural material (mostly Glu-lam timber, that can cope with large spans). Although the grid shell structure flows according to the height required for each building program, as a nature of the dynamic roof, no two buildings are the same.

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

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

Samuel is an Australian-native, completing his Bachelor of Architectural Design at the University of Queensland. Relocating to Glasgow in 2016 and now graduate of the Mackintosh School of Art, he won the school’s annual dissertation prize in 2019 for his thesis ‘The Ambivalent Sublime.’ As co-founder of Chez Etym., a multi-disciplinary body of work exploring architectural place and time, he has hosted both panel discussions and exhibitions in Glasgow featuring local and international names, and is currently editing a forthcoming publication, ‘Chez Etym.’

A foundation of Samuel’s process is a deep intrigue in considering macro- topics often outwith standard architectural discourse, be they social, aesthetic or technological. Focuses have included the intersection between corporeal society and ‘virtual place,’ etymological exploration of poetry in architecture, and most recently, the architectural expression of contemporary societal nihilism. His final thesis at the MSA concerns this philosophical musing, of an architecture of active nihilism, in an ambitious and multi-programme scheme. With a love for thorough research and its morphing into novel propositions, Samuel’s aim is for clear, purposeful and considered design.

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.

About me

I am curious about transformation of underused spaces, co-creation, rootedness, connection with nature, finding creative ways of working with communities and facilitating balanced urban developments.

I worked as architectural assistant with O’DonnelBrown Architects in Glasgow, Konishi Gaffney Architects in Edinburgh and EFFEKT Architects in Copenhagen. Also, I am a co-founder of Un/Common Glasgow (Architecture Fringe 2019 programme participants).

I would be pleased to discuss my thesis work or a future collaboration. My contact details are below.

Estate of Change

The thesis seeks to bring the diversity of urban life to Antwerp’s peripheral modernist social housing estates by improving the quality and equality of everyday spaces. Normally demolished as part of comprehensive redevelopment plans the four slab blocks of this proposition will be retained thus respecting the unique character of the modernist housing and allowing the existing residents to continue to occupy their flats during construction.

This proposition to transform modernist blocks in Luchtbal neighbourhood will focus primarily on re-working the ground level, which is so typically underused in modernist urbanism. Between the blocks and their existing pilotis the principles of shared commons, mixed use, gradation of scales, distinct spatial identities and lasting quality of design are explored.

Identified needs of the ethnically diverse and economically deprived residents were used to inform a new masterplan and related architectural interventions at multiple scales. The existing situation of a private dwelling, a common stair and an overwhelming open space outside are mediated in this proposal by adding the ‘missing’ in-between spaces, thresholds encouraging stronger social relations and trust between the residents of the blocks and the wider neighbourhood.

The proposition includes:

1. Additional ground floor housing to redefine the public realm. Existing flats are provided with new sunrooms to increase desirability and common stair landings are made more generous to provide space for conversation between neighbours;
2. New pedestrian streets with active façades linking major attraction points in the neighbourhood (for example, train station and leisure destinations) to create spaces with distinct architectural identities and reduce car dependency;
3. Affordable work spaces, community education facilities and the associated civic spaces are proposed to address unemployment and bring more visitors to the area;
4. Clear distinction between public streets and semi-private courtyards shared by the residents of the blocks in order to encourage ‘ownership’ of the underused green spaces and create opportunities to strengthen trust between neighbours. This introduces ‘fronts and backs’ to the serially planned slabs;
5. Shared community facilities such as kitchens and laundrettes in the semi-private courtyards to allow the possibility of residents to re-think their daily lives on more communal terms;
6. Architectural language, design code and materials of the newly formed spaces are respectful of the existing buildings, ease navigation and give a sense of scale, ‘warmth’, comfort and lasting quality.

Prior to attending GSA my interests in architecture were primarily focussed on the realness of the discipline, how materials came together to form buildings, spaces or objects. My process always began with developing an understanding of context and place, that being the complex mixture of physical, social, economic, historic and environmental influences.

Having formed this approach to architecture, I spent a year working in Copenhagen for the firm, Tredje Natur (Third Nature), who have a strong sustainable agenda and a portfolio that spans a broad range of scales and programmes. Here, I spent my time working on competition entries, public projects and also speculative research projects. This helped me to broaden my interests within the discipline.

Over the last two years during my time at GSA, I have found myself drawn to urban issues that are prompted by societal change. Therefore my approach has often been to begin with current societal issues, using them to develop a response that addresses a problem across all scales – from macro to micro. This is done through the process of researching and developing a theoretical position that can inform design decisions on every level.

I find that in many ways my interests in architecture are spread across all scale. On a theoretical level, I am driven by understanding our ever changing world and responding to that through design. However, I will never lose my passion for the realness of architecture, the bricks and mortar of the discipline.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

I’m a multidisciplinary graphic designer, splitting my time between Glasgow and the south coast of England. Integral to my practice is a love of craft, which translates into the work I do – spanning editorial, typography, branding and digital design. I seek to challenge convention by adopting a playful and inquisitive approach to solving design problems, to create work that brings joy to the way we see and interact with the world.

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

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

My work throughout 4th year derives from my interest in social action.

The displayed project is my newly-developed typeface, inspired by ancient scripture and designed to be powerful and sacred in appearance.

It also is elegant but has intentionally sharp, lethal-looking features. Altogether, the typeface emphasise the strength and dignity in the chosen texts.

The texts themselves reference cultural appropriation, with the contemporary phrase ‘culture vulture’ and a quotation from black feminist writer, bell hooks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I’m Namy who is from South Korea.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

My 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.

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

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

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

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

I 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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

post_fossil_production_labs:

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

post_fossil_toolkit:

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

The post_fossil_age.

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

To do this, the right tools are needed.

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

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

I’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!

As a student of design and engineering and an amateur musician, learning has been a large part of my life. Learning is a powerful tool, not only for developing our skills and understanding on a topic, but because it comes with a sense of fulfilment, of self-improvement and of joy.

Particularly with musical learning, I often find myself distracted from the recommended learning routes, instead preferring to experiment and play. It took me at least a year of learning guitar before I attempted to tackle a song from start to finish, instead preferring to improvise within simple scales and chords I had attained in bits and pieces. I find that this method is beneficial, as it allows me to express myself more immediately, and ultimately it builds skills, confidence and familiarity with the instrument and theory. This all contributes towards playing more proficiently, in a round-about way, but in the end my personal goal for learning music is not to replicate any particular piece of music but to enjoy myself and express my creativity. In this way I treat learning as a sort of meditation, where the purpose is to lose myself in experimentation and exploration.

Sound & Colour is a project aimed at the casual learner. Music is traditionally taught with some degree of intensity, and while this is unarguably a route to successful musical proficiency, plenty of joy can be gained from simply exploring sound and developing one’s “musicality”. Taking inspiration from childish play, I wanted to design a product that would allow the user to really play around and mess with music without requiring prior knowledge. I put particular focus on how the user interfaces with the device, I wanted to stray away from traditional layouts and daunting “cryptic” musical notation, providing instead a fresh and intuitive interface and feedback system. I placed importance on musical interval relations, using a regular isomorphic layout to provide logical navigation to allow the user to drift around the “keyboard” discovering these interval relations as they relate to each other geometrically.

This project has allowed me to explore this concept of experimental learning within music through my design and engineering skill set, from user interaction and research to digital and physical prototyping, electronics and coding.

My Project:

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

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

The project was awarded support from the GU68 Engineers Trust.

About Me:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Objectification can be defined as seeing and/or treating a person, usually a woman, as an object. Exploration of the female form was the starting point of this research, studying the evolution of beauty standards throughout the ages. Initially, the life drawing tradition marked the beginning of this investigation, that allowed for an exploration of the shapes and movement of the body; extracting form, colour, and pattern directly from drawings and incorporating them into these designs. Each pose has its own fleeting image that has to be captured there and then, and can be interpreted in different ways by the viewer. The collection presented here, focuses on Western ideals of beauty and the extremity of the objectification of women in our culture. In today’s society women are under constant pressure to ‘correct’ their bodies to an ideal image, to the detriment of their mental health. Therefore these pieces form a collection of vessels focussing on the mental health crises in young women reflected in the myriad pressures society places upon them. This collection of smooth, organically-shaped and brightly patterned objects are representative of the character and collective nature of specific relationships.

*Commissions for vessels starting at £350*