MA International Design Enterprise – School of Architecture & Design

February 3, 2015Catherine Chibnall No Comments

David Bramston’s Illuminating Exhibition Opens in China

Our very own David Bramston has produced an illuminating exhibition in China; the exhibition is the first of its kind and showcases a collection of 100 lights created from waste materials.

David, and his team of nine design students from Guangzhou Institute of Technology, created each of the 100 lights at the headquarters of Guangzhou Valuda Group Ltd in China in just three weeks. The lights have been constructed entirely from waste materials from various factories across China.

The sustainable design project has been running with support from the British Council, as part of its ‘upcycling’ campaign to encourage young designers to turn discarded materials into attractive and useful new products.

David Bramston, who leads the MA International Design Enterprise programme at the University of Lincoln, said: “This has been an incredibly exciting project to work on. We have been involved with a number of upcycling schemes led by the British Council in the past; however the experience of creating 100 new products entirely from waste materials in just 21 days has been unlike any of our other design initiatives.

“New design professionals need to recognise that their decisions to engage with more considered and environmentally friendly practices can influence cultural change. The British Council in China and their sponsors provide a valuable international platform for doing this, which we are delighted to be associated with. It has been a pleasure to work with a very exciting team of young designers here in China, and these practices continue to feed into our work in Lincoln.”

The 100 Lights exhibition opened in Guangzhou on Thursday 18^th December 2014 with a launch event that was attended by guests from education, industry and the British Council. The collection will be shown in Beijing throughout this year, and could also form part of the British Council’s China UK Cultural Year in 2015.

One of the light creations – a five metre high construction entitled ‘Bamboo’ – has also been selected by an art gallery in Guangzhou to form a centre piece in its new gallery space.

Vanessa Li, Higher Education Manager for British Council China, said: “This 100 Lights project is one of the direct outcomes of the International Higher Education Collaboration on Upcycling of Industry Left-overs organised by the British Council. The University of Lincoln first joint the Upcycling programme in 2012 and has participated in each of the derived programmes since then, establishing links with more than 28 Chinese Higher Education institutions and companies.”

The 100 Lights project has been supported by sponsorship from a number of lighting companies in China, including PAK Lighting, which has supplied most of the LEDs used in the creation of the collection.

Following the success of the 100 Lights exhibition, David Bramston is now planning to create a second collection ten times as large, called 1000 Lights. This ambitious project would support charities across China, providing opportunities for disadvantaged young people to help design and create the objects.

March 5, 2014Catherine Chibnall No Comments

MAIDE went to Philadelphia

Some of our MA International Design Enterprise (MAIDE) students visited their design counterparts at Philadelphia University to present their ideas to the design director of Canadian company UMBRA. Umbra, meaning ‘shade’ in Latin, are a world leader in modern, original, casual and affordable design for the home and are therefore a terrific company for developing designers to get involved with.

The MAIDE students worked with their Philadelphia colleagues to develop a range of ideas ready for pitching. After all the presentations, a total of four were taken back to the UMBRA design team for their consideration.

Relationships like this, with other universities and leading design firms, are great for our students and are a good footing for further similar opportunities to arise in the future.

January 30, 2014Catherine Chibnall No Comments

MAIDE for the future

The University of Lincoln is set to play host to a network of industry leading designers, artists and educators as they contemplate the future of our creative industries.

The Jobs 2050 Design Learning Challenge will see some of the biggest names from the design work look ahead to what the future might hold (particularly by 2050, hence the title) and work together to anticipate what things could look like tomorrow for the next generation of creative minds.

Taking place over three days, from the 11th to the 13th February, the Challenge will task participants with contemplating an increasingly entrepreneurial society.

Doris Wells-Papanek, one of the founders of the Challenge and Director of the Design Learning Network in the USA, said, “By 2050, students who graduate from high school in 2015 will be over 50 and babies born today will be in their 30s. The university students and school pupils who engage in this challenge with our network of professional designers will therefore be addressing the learning needs of the next generation of creative problem solvers as well as their own.”

Over 500 participants, from both universities and secondary schools, are set to attend the workshop programme and will be offered a unique opportunity to work with their peers sitting over 5,000 miles away via real-time Skype conversations.

David Bramston, another of the Challenge’s founders and Programme Leader for MAIDE at the University of Lincoln, said, “International communication is central to our MAIDE course here at Lincoln. Our postgraduate students are already participating in projects with design partners around the world; in Beijing, Philadelphia, Toronto, Shanghai and Gaungzhou. The programme actively encourages students to engage with the international design community, creating new proposals for a wide range of clients, trade fairs and exhibitions. We are delighted to be bringing the creative sector together again with our second Design Learning Challenge. Here at Lincoln we share a vision with Doris; to create effective and sustainable links between designers and educational institutions on a global scale. We hope this project will encourage the community to embrace new forms of communication, to help solve design challenges of the future.”