2007 News
Read past news stories from the School of Design Innovation's 2007 news archive.
2007 News
Design Students Exposed
With the public opening of TheNewDowse just days away, young designers from Victoria University of Wellington are on edge. With their exhibitions running alongside international shows for many, this is the biggest event in their emerging careers so far.
Professor Simon Fraser, Acting Head of Victoria’s School of Design, says it’s a great experience for the students.
“In the design industry it’s uncommon to be part of such a big event so early in your career. The students are excited that their work is attracting so much interest. That Victoria University has been given so much prominence in the opening demonstrates the quality of the students outputs which in turn reflects the quality of the research and teaching at Victoria.”
Victoria University’s School of Design is represented in a variety of ways at the opening:
Domestic Futurists
It’s 2015. You wash the dishes by burying them in the garden. Your meal is cooked by an oven which harnesses and magnifies the sun’s rays. Your clothes are washed by the waste water collected from your de-humidifier. These are just some of the mind-boggling solutions to everyday household chores from design students in Victoria University’s design-led futures programme. Based around a creative team learning approach, and with funding from design-led New Zealand manufacturers Fisher & Paykel and Methven, design-led futures is an inspiring example of industry supporting young New Zealanders' creative energy – and directing it into commercially successful business.
Design Ambassador’s Showcase
This exhibition showcased the award winning entries of the three 2006 British Council Design Ambassadors. Re-thinking the cumbersome hospital drip attachments to create a portable, intravenous pump earned a recent graduate of Victoria University of Wellington, industrial designer Matt Backler, a position as a design ambassador, alongside a fashion designer and short-film animator. All three designers had a stimulating whirlwind tour of the British design scene, care of the British Council.
Design of TheNewDowse Building
Before joining Victoria University’s School of Design as a Lecturer in Interior Architecture, Sally Woods worked as part of the Athfield Architects team that developed the design that won the national competition for TheNewDowse building.
Design of Display Furniture for Blumhardt Gallery
In July Kebbell-Daish Architects won a national design competition for the interior exhibition furniture of the Blumhardt Gallery at TheNewDowse. Both Associate Professor John Daish and Sam Kebbell work in Victoria University’s School of Design.
Student Success in Singapore
A lamp made from one sheet of white paper with 1,296 cuts designed by final-year industrial design student Caitlyn MacKenzie won a major lighting design competition hosted by the DesignSingapore Council.
Caitlyn's prototype was judged the best of more than 900 entries from 50 countries. The seven finalists were invited to Singapore for a week, and at the Singapore National University had to make their prototypes in three days.
She chose vellum as the paper for its translucent, and soft yet rigid quality. As the paper is rolled layers of thin paper strands bounce out to create the form, with a simple spiralled axis down the middle. A five-watt white LED has been placed at the tip of the top steel piece, and is connected to the thin wires that are connected to the power source.
"The LED allows a subtle ambient glow, in which each layer reflects on to the next, creating a soft shadow," she says. "Below the light, a round. It dances slowly to the rhythmic sways of the light, with subtle spins and turns. The LED is a representation of life and movement, which is being protected within a safe haven."