Design master’s students exhibit at Vandalorum

The twelve students who are exhibiting study the first year on the master’s programme and are currently studying the course Design Process and the Complexity of Sustainability: Sustainability and Design. The course involves collaboration with society.

“This year, we were invited by Vandalorum to collaborate with companies and exhibit the result. The point of departure for the project is designer Jenny Nordberg’s exhibition Active cargo”, says Lena Håkansson, who teaches on the course.

Jenny Nordberg is one of Sweden’s foremost designers and in her exhibition she studies transports and presents artworks through which she questions whether transports of goods must be passive, or whether they can actually be part of the production.

The course started with a visit to Vandalorum and a lecture and workshop with Norberg. After this, the student groups made study visits at the companies.

The group that consists of the students Sebastian Orehovacki Månsson, Garance Etienne Roussel, and Paula Schneewindr is pleased with the project start.

“It was interesting and inspiring and we felt very welcome both at Vandalorum and Byarums Bruk, our collaboration partner. We had a good flow in our group from the start”, says the group.

The assignment has been to focus on transports at the collaboration companies and present proposals for how these can become more sustainable.

“In our group we have explored alternative ways to design products that involve minimal levels of transportation at all levels”, Schneewindr explains.

The companies have played an important role in the collaboration and the group has really been helped by their partner.

“Byarums Bruk has been a very open, helpful, and encouraging collaboration partner, and they have been quick to provide detailed answers to our questions. They have also helped fund our prototypes and exhibition material”, Schneewindr continues.

During the course, the students have had a very broad approach and worked with different solutions and future scenarios in their design projects. The group presents the following solution for Byarums Bruk.

“With the help of artificial intelligence, we have designed products in a way that makes smarter use of the resources, makes it possible to use local materials, and reduces transports – which enables the company to grow in a more holistic and sustainable way”, Orehovacki Månsson explains.

Lena Håkansson and Anna-Karin Arvidsson, at the Department of Design, teach on the course. They are pleased with the collaboration project and think it is important for the students to use their knowledge and get feedback from outside the university.

“This is a way for the students to expand their circle of contacts and show the companies what knowledge and skills a designer has within areas like sustainability, while also gaining an insight into how companies with different types of production work”, says Håkansson.

When asked what is most exciting about the solutions presented by the students, they both answer:

“The fact that the students have had such a broad approach in their work, and come up with solutions concerning everything from using wrapping in new and more sustainable ways, to reducing transports by making changes to the production process, and changing materials to ones that are more locally produced, as well as changes to production methods”.

“It is also a great opportunity for the students to get to exhibit their work at Vandalorum, where they will reach an audience they would not otherwise meet”, Håkansson concludes.

More information

The exhibition Beyond transportation is on display until 4 December. The companies that are collaborating with the students on the project are Axelent, Babybjörn, Byarums Bruk, and Essem Design.

Learn more about the exhibition Active Cargo at Vandalorum