Part 1 Architecture Student

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

I think my initial motivations for studying and practising Architecture stemmed from the idea that Architecture intrinsically has the potential to shape its occupants and hence society. Throughout my studies I have considered and questioned this concept, and thus the role of the Architect in contemporary society.

Zoë Hyatt is a RIBA part 1 graduate of The Mackintosh School of Architecture. She approaches every project with empathy and care and is concerned with community empowerment and site specific sensitivity. Zoë’s projects often reference the vernacular with particular emphasis on Scottish heritage.

Zoë prioritises the needs of the client and skilfully combines efficient design with creative solutions for social sustainability.

Growing up in Glasgow she is passionate about giving communities a voice and has been involved with community engagement throughout Scotland. When working with WAVEparticle she helped with workshops and a series of government-supported charrettes. Being part of the arts organisation taught her to approach her own projects more creatively and with an open mind.
She prioritises context specific design and tailors each project to the specific needs of the local community. She believes sustainable architecture should empower and celebrate the community in which it is sited.

She is interested in the use of traditional craft and knowledge in a contemporary context. She has taken part in 1:1 builds including a Lime burning ‘working party’ with The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. Through practical experience she seeks to gain a better understanding of the materials and construction and is eager to build upon this skill set.

Zoë has a pragmatic approach to design and has fostered a practice based on investigation and understanding. She is compassionate and navigates her work in order to enrich people’s experience of landscape, culture and community.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

Emily Ireland is graduating from stage 3, at the Mackintosh school of Architecture. The past three years have allowed her to explore and develop a design ethos that encompasses people. Seeing architecture as a fundamental to life, and as society evolves the space we occupy must do so also.

Sustainable architecture is an approach to design that motivates her greatly. Recognising improved means of design/construction that will reduce the environmental impact architecture can have.

Throughout my time in stage four and the project shown I chose to analyse the foundation of home design, that being the nuclear family, and how this foundational assumption could be modified to provide a more modern and successful outcome.

With peoples living conditions becoming less permanent, roommates coming and going and people waiting on average longer to have children I wanted to design a small yet adaptable unit with could be adapted by its resident to suit their needs. and although the private spaces are small they are arranged around much larger common spaces which will be shared and inhabited by all residents equally which include communal kitchens, living/dining spaces and play spaces which would encourage and support a strong social bond between those within the building.

The project was completed within a group masterplan from which the output was to revitalise the area through the lens of a fragmented school, with each building of the master plan containing a feature of the school (sports facilities, assembly halls, dining etc.) and residential space above, giving the newly occupied area a function in its own right, to use as a foundation from which to interact and function with and within the wider city.

Micro Production and Shared Commerce

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

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

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

ShihLin Tseng, stage 4 architectural student.

Occasionally love architecture.

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

The following images are from my first project of Stage 4. This project explores homeless housing which questions and redefines the relationships between labour and domesticity.

During my Part 1 year out working at MAST Architects in Glasgow, I worked on a variety of social housing projects. I found that the skills I learned here helped me with my exploration of social housing typologies and design strategies.

Every day in Scotland, 18 people are made homeless. In Glasgow, there is a lack of housing for these people. By changing our approach to social housing, this could be changed.

One of the leading causes for homelessness is the loss of work. By integrating work and living into a new form of co-living and co-working social housing I hope to eliminate this problem. This can be done by creating a space in which skills can be learned to enhance the working life and help educate homeless people, allowing them to reintegrate into society.

Homelessness affects many different types of households. In Scotland annually 70% of these household types are individuals or couples and 30% are families. These two household types have different requirements and often different responses to labour, therefore they require different cell types. Spaces where all of these household types can coexist and encounter will allow them to benefit from learning skills from each other.

Isolation is a problem within the homeless community. I aim to eliminate this through the creation of a sociable space, where interaction is encouraged. By creating a community through a sociable space, people will support each other. In addition, community spaces which allow other homeless people out with the programme to visit, will allow residents to support these people and teach them skills.

By creating a self-sufficient space, with the facilities to grow their own food, the finances will no longer be a priority and the focus can be placed on learning skills. Through the use of built-in furniture in permanent spaces, this reduces the users need for furnishings.

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

Urban Building Thesis:

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

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

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

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

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

Rihards Saknitis is a Stage 4 Diploma in Architecture Student at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, who has been awarded a Bachelor of Architecture with Honours from the Birmingham School of Architecture and Design. Professionally, he has experience working on architectural projects in a variety of scales and contexts in the UK and Latvia.

Rihards Diploma study has been focused on establishing and experimenting with frameworks to identify and address social and environmental issues in the context of Glasgow. His projects explore how the city can function with less detriment on natural systems, by reestablishing and mimicking those systems in the built environment and how architectural planning can support more self-sufficient lifestyles. By designing space for nature, natural systems and principles of democratic production into the urban context, the consumerist culture and its impacts on the world are attempted to be reduced.

Craig Stephens is a Student, Freelance Architectural Consultant, Project Manager and Architectural Developer.

He studied Construction and Architectural Technology at Forth Valley College where he graduated in 2014 before taking up his first post in professional practice at Pollock Hammond Architects where he took on the role of Architectural Assistant for three and a half years, completing range of projects from small extensions to large-scale commercial projects, participating in all stages of the RIBA plan of work from concept, technical stages, procurement and administration.

Craig is particularly interested in the development of housing in Scotland and the UK and believes that Architectural Developers have the potential to transform the housing market to provide better end-results and better value for money. Since 2018, he has been providing Architectural services as a Freelance Consultant, project manager and Developer. 34 Riverside View, Alloa was his first project constructed as a ‘Design & Build’ Developer. Completed in 2019, he designed, costed, and project-managed the project.

Craig Studied undergraduate at GSA on the part-time mode while he worked in practice. Beginning Stage 4, he switched to the full-time mode.

In Stage 4 Studio, he explored the relationship between Life and Work, developing a thesis based on his own experience as a work-at-home freelancer. His findings were that Life/Work is a balance that is constantly in Flux, influenced by individual requirements. A study of his own home environment, the successful implementation of Maggie’s Centres to provide mental stability, and Japanese Architecture as a way of blurring the lines between nature and the building environment, allowed him to focus on key factors in developing a successful design toolkit: Light, Nature and Adaptability. Adopting a Spacio-Structural system, inspired by the works of Kuma and Fujimoto, he developed a dwelling concept that would allow for quick construction and adaptation using 3x3x3m blocks which could be placed in a three dimensional modular layout. The result was a flexible, simple structural system that would allow nature to occupy the street level with dwellings floating above and courtyards to allow light to flood from above. Following this project, he worked on a new building adjacent to the development. This time a multi-storey commercial building that would provide development space for creatives to research, explore and develop their ideas. In order to maximise the creativity of the occupants Craig explored techniques for increasing creativity and productivity through the physical environment as developed a vertical building based on a continuous ramps system which followed the natural development of each project. This project is still in development.

Craig Developed his Dissertation on the viability of the Architect as Developer, as a practise that could improve the quality of social and private housing in Scotland and the UK. As part of the project, he developed his own experimental dwelling designs, based on real-life plots. From these he explored the design process, the construction process and the final costs, using his own experience and successful professional precedence.

Rebecca Hodalova
Stage 4

Urban housing

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

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

Throughout my time at MSA, I have maintained an interest in sustainable practice, pursuing this within a wider context in my part-time work at erz Landscape Architects alongside my studies.

My personal sustainable micro-home build project (from design to construction) has been endorsed by GSA Sustainability (see @studio_occupy). I’m developing my practical skills alongside my research project entitled ‘Occupation and the Right to the City: combining politics and action to reclaim the power of the working class’ to investigate the potential of physical building to unite and politically empower communities; this is a consistent theme in my design work.

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

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

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

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

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

My work is centred around activating spaces that allow for existing cultural life to develop, and new culture to emerge and grow. It is concerned with the intersections between program, social and local architecture and architectural gestures. I’m particularly inspired by how spaces for music, performance, events and creativity bring people together within the city, and interested in the manifestation of community projects and DIY culture in design.

a (counter) cultural edge and island, Antwerp :

How can an architecture for informal performance activate parts of the city which are bypassed, and provide significant platforms for an existing grassroots scene within the city, which is currently physically dispersed and politically ignored? Through contributing to – whilst questioning- the use of public space, how is the ‘island’ and the ‘edge’’s potential realised, and the spaces activated ?

Former graduate of the University of Liverpool, I joined GSA and the Mackintosh School of Architecture in 2018. I have a strong interest in architectural conservation and my projects tend to focus on the preservation of buildings and materials.
I use AutoCAD software to create any technical drawings and SketchUp for 3D modelling and to generate visualisations. This year, I have experimented using concrete as a medium for model making and have enjoyed making terrazzo in my own time.

In 1943, Sigfried Giedion, in his essay on “Nine points of Monumentality” described a monument as a link between the past and the future. Monuments as civic structures, are symbols for collective ideals and actions, monumentality can be seen as an architectural language that emphasizes and materializes those ideals.
This thesis aims to redefine and explore the physical and metaphysical (program, space, symbolism) manifestations of monumentality.
In Antwerp, this exploration takes place at the oldest architectural artefact of the city, the Het Steen (the Stone Castle) which contains within its ensemble of components, the fortification wall of the original settlement. Now standing context-less, the “Castle” has been the subject of decades of gimmick face lifts, that evidently do not pass the test of time.
This project seeks to rehabilitate the existing architectural fragment, recontextualize it to the new city, and add a contemporary monument, reflecting the collective ideals of todays society.
The new building, acting as an Athenaeum for the city and the Academic institutions of Antwerp, will focus on environmental research and development, with facilities to connect, showcase and engage with the people of Antwerp and Belgium as a whole, whom the monument is intended for.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Since graduating from University College Dublin in 2017, I have gained a wide range of experience working as an architectural assistant for Hoban Design in London and John Halligan Architects in Ireland, both award winning practices with international profiles.

Project experience to date has involved work at a variety of scales and functions, both nationally and internationally, from residential complexes, civic infrastructure and cultural centers to individual house design and interior fit outs. Passionate about designing places where materiality, detail design and sustainability are intimately connected.

I believe that architecture presents the opportunity for transformation – materially, conceptually and sociologically. The
work I create is driven by the desire to enrich and improve daily life by designing places that aspire to meet the diverse needs of the communities they serve. Inspiration is drawn from many local and global influences, and the work clearly articulates this enthusiasm for issues of place and identity.

Erica Alexis Caballero is a Norwegian aspiring architect. Before completing her Diploma at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, she worked as an intern with two architectural practices in Oslo. Here she had the opportunity to take part on various projects in different stages, as well as competitions. In 2016, she graduated from Newcastle University with Bachelor of Honours in Architecture.

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

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

The Library of Babel

[BRIEF] The mythical Antwerp of the ‘golden age’ and the archetype of the library are examined as platforms for the exchange, exploration and intersection of different ideas and cultures to guide the proposal for Antwerp’s central library – a catalyst within the diverse local community of learning and a vehicle for reimaging the city and its myth.

[CONCEPT] The title encompasses the two main objectives of the project: re-exploring the typology of the library in the era of information overload, reviving the ‘myth’ of Antwerp to focus the direction of the positive change currently going on in the city after a period of decline.

“Library of Babel” is a short story by Louis Borges about an infinite fractal library containing all the possible variants of information. The contemporary library becomes an interface for the search of relevant information, rather than the source of otherwise limited access to knowledge and culture. Simultaneously, ‘Tower of Babel’ is a local masterpiece painted by Peter Breughel as an allegory of the 16th century Antwerp and the issues faced by the rapidly expanding and globalized city, which mirror the challenges of the present day.

The project explores the idea of urban mining – as Antwerp expands into the outskirts of the industrial port, the dismantled warehouses and cranes can provide steel in the form of standardized building elements. The port – a historic platform for exchange of knowledge and ideas becomes the framework of the new city library.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Danielle Macleod is a photographer from the Outer Hebrides. Her work depicts the oral traditions of the Gaidhealteachd where stories are passed down generationally, growing a new magical detail every time they change hands. She gathers these stories through interviews and records them as collections of poetic photographs, re-telling the stories once more and leaving space for their regenesis.

Having been based in Glasgow for a number of years, Danielle’s photographs reconnect her with her island home in a new dimension, where landscapes become mystical and people become the keepers of mythology. She seeks to deepen our spiritual connections to the places we call home by reimagining her own through the lens of living legends.

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“One day whilst droving cattle by the shore at Bayble, my great-great-great grandfather was approached by a small rowing boat. He was kidnapped by the men aboard and put to work in a far away place. Six years later he reappeared, walking down the garden path to his widow.” —Scott Macleod

‘Nuair a Leig i Tharais Thu’ tells the story of a kidnapped crofter and his return home, portrayed in these photographs by his direct descendant Scott Macleod. Whilst tending to daily tasks, he was snatched away by a strange ship from his pregnant wife and island community, making his quiet escape and eventual return 6 years later. In those days, men from the west coast were sometimes kidnapped in this manner for forced labour, because of their hardiness and familiarity with seafaring life.

Initially, I had intended to salt print these images using seawater from the locations in the story, but due to COVID-19 that has been put on hold. This project is on-going; I plan to collect more stories and turn it into a series.

Printmaker, illustrator and schemer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Hi there 👋

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

I am a Product Design Engineer with a specific interest in the mediums of furniture and sculpture. I find fulfilment in the design and physical construction of my work and strive to expand my knowledge in both, as I continue to create.

Outwith my studies at the Art School, I have interned with London based designer Faye Toogood during the summer of 2019, where I worked on a plethora of furniture items and other home goods. I also collaborate closely with designer Geo Owen as we work towards a release of physical items in the near future.

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

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

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

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

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

I 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.

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

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

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

Precision Contact

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

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

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

I am in my fifth and final year of the Product Design Engineering integrated masters programme, split over Glasgow School of Art and the University of Glasgow. Learning across these two institutions has helped me develop an invaluable wide variety of skills, from technical engineering knowledge to following the design process and how to centre this around the user.

I have been fortunate enough to develop and apply this knowledge, firstly during an internship in New Zealand, working for an electronic design company that manufacture assistive devices. My final year project has also been a key factor improving these skills, where I set myself the task of designing a car seat insert for premature babies to reduce positional asphyxiation. Stork is an adaptable product that alters positioning through various regions of support. It is designed to be supplied by a hospital to assist a baby on their discharge home and increase their safety whilst travelling in a car seat. Consistent contact with professionals and stakeholders throughout the project was the main driver and confirmed the benefits that the product would have to both the healthcare system and the users. This, for me, was the most rewarding aspect of the project and confirmed my passion for designing for purpose, with the potential of helping people.

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

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

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

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

post_fossil_production_labs:

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

post_fossil_toolkit:

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

The post_fossil_age.

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

To do this, the right tools are needed.

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

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

My practice is informed by the natural world. I am particularly interested in the ways in which nature persists in city environments, despite the overwhelming destructive power of pollution, toxic atmospheres and micro-climates. I have established a making practice that focuses on the relationships between materials and sustainability.

For my final year collection, I designed and made jewellery that relates to a classical idea: res in urbe. This describes an environment where nature is as important a feature of urban design as monumental architecture. The phrase seems particularly relevant today as some city planners and architects have realised the health benefits of green spaces in cities. My jewellery in Finding Nature reflects the textures of leaves, grasses, vegetables and other natural produce. The pieces are intended to evoke sensory experiences when worn or touched; to perhaps act as de-stressors in hostile environments.

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

My work for this collection is the culmination of interests in a range of ideas and themes I addressed in both my personal and professional roles. Previously, I worked as a costume and jewellery designer in film and subsequently, in training to be a silversmithing & jewellery designer, I learned how such objects perform as part of a narrative in people’s lives, both in fiction and in everyday encounters. I grew up in the Dorset countryside, remote from the kinds of popular culture that I enjoyed: film, animation, cartoon characters, pop stars and celebrities and have sought out forms of avant-garde culture during my student years. Therefore, this collection summarises these personal and professional views, especially ‘drag’, which is a powerful influence on my work more generally. Incorporated within bold, over-sized floral patterns and pastel colour schemes are ideas of the performance of gender identity, emphasising notions of ‘femininity’ in this series of jewellery pieces.

I would be delighted to accept commissions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Alaitz MM. Gavilan is a visual artist originally from Barcelona now based in Glasgow. Inclined towards jewellery making as mode of expression, Alaitz also engages with other self-taught artistic practices, like illustration and collage, to present her work.

The series of objects designed for this collection derives its meanings from social movements and reflects on how the fundamental rights that we take for granted today have always been achieved by public protests and demonstrations on the streets, and very often with violence involved. To create an aesthetic of resistance, of a type of distressed materiality, the jewellery pieces have been abused or damaged; putting the enamel under the pressure of a press form, for example, and creating a crackled texture, as metaphor of a broken individualistic society, characteristic of neoliberal economics and politics. The objects here call for empathy and solidarity, a demand for a more community-minded society, symbolised in these small-scale works. Importantly, this collection is part of a broader personal project to expand silversmithing & jewellery designs and bring these closer to a wider spectrum of people, from different social classes, a goal of many previous generations of craft-activists.

The works shown on this showcase are works in progress, (the completed pieces will be shown at a later date) yet the artist is open to commissions.