Several projects by Victoria University architecture and design students are finalists in the 2014 Best Design Awards, an initiative of the Designers Institute of New Zealand to recognise outstanding graphic, interactive, product and spatial design.
Holly Bradshaw-Clegg, a third year Bachelor of Design Innovation student, is a finalist in the Product category for her project, Pascal Stool (http://bit.ly/1v3fwMu)—a modern, simple and elegant stool that shapes to the contours of the body, activating an overhanging light when pressure is applied.
Sitting down to read a book, getting comfortable, then realising she had forgotten to turn the light on sparked Holly’s idea. “I thought how useful it would be if when you sit down, the light turned on automatically,” she says.
Working under the supervision of Ross Stevens, a senior industrial design lecturer, and alongside Metco Engineering in Lower Hutt, the pinewood and metal stool was crafted using computer controlled cutting (CNC) manufacturing and many hours of labour.
“For weeks, I practically spent from 8.30am until 10pm in the workshop individually sanding hundreds of rods. A lot of hard work went into the stool,” says Holly.
Joining Holly from the School of Design is Adam Ben-Dror, who studied design at Victoria, with his project the Abovemarine (http://vimeo.com/104899925)—a mobile fish tank controlled by the fish's movement, which is tracked by a webcam.
This is the second year running that Adam has been a finalist in the Interactive category. Last year, he and a cross-disciplinary team of media and industrial design students won gold for their project, Pinokio (http://vimeo.com/53476316).
Representing the School of Architecture, Mountain Market (http://bit.ly/1q42MDs) by Master’s student Logan Swney is a finalist in the Spatial Design category.
Mountain Market explores a unique architectural response to Wanaka which, in the past 30 years, has become increasingly suburban bringing with it standardised buildings driven by efficiency, and resulting in a disconnect between architecture and space.
Logan offers a solution that responds uniquely to the place, connecting a market, car park, accommodation and a juice bar, while also providing a public space with awe-inspiring views.
His project was created under the supervision of Sam Kebbell, a lecturer in the School of Architecture, who received a silver award in the Spatial Design category last year for his design titled Resn's Office (http://bit.ly/1qG8auq).
Also among the 2014 finalists are Bachelor of Architecture student Amelia Hoult with her project Duel Realities (http://bit.ly/1ud8umT), Simon Crane, who designed his entry C5 Aid Brace (http://bit.ly/1q4fsKI) during his bachelor’s study, and a number of other Victoria University graduates.
Winners to be announced at a ceremony in Auckland on Friday 10 October.
For more information visit http://bestawards.co.nz/school/victoria-university-of-wellington/
