Julia Lohmann Lecture 19 February 2009

MA Design presents

Artist/Designer Julia Lohmann
on Thursday 19 February 2009 at 2pm
in Seminar Room DS2 in Duke Street, Norwich

Julia Lohmann is a multidisciplinary designer. She is interested in unusual and undervalued natural and man-made materials. Lohmann probes our attitudes towards the world that sustains us. Her work is exhibited worldwide and part of major private and public collections, e.g. the MoMA, New York. She teaches at the Royal College of Art in London and is part of the MA Design team at NUCA.

Julia Lohmann will be speaking about her work, followed by a Q&A session. For more information see www.julialohmann.co.uk

Emergency Entrance at Berlin Metro Stations

On a recent visit to Berlin I spotted these 'Emergency Entrance' signs at ticket offices in metro stations. The local public transport provider BVG uses them to inform passengers that their staff will help protect them from racially motivated attacks by providing safe havens in their offices. While the idea is honourable and useful, it is rather sad to think that in a liberal country such as Germany there is still a need for these signs. GG

Student response to Remake/Remodel

We have come to throw things away too easily, everything is packaged and repackaged without much thought about the impact this has on our planet. 

If one starts to consider what else could be done with the amount of 'rubbish' we produce, then a whole world of possibilities opens up to us. 

Below are a couple of examples of what could be done by remaking and remodeling items that would normally be thrown away, or in this case were actually thrown away but then salvaged. 

Alina:

   

Jane:

 

Polystyrene is not recycled due to economic reasons and it is also quite toxic, it is therefore even more important to try to re-use it in some way that doesn't do more damage to the environment; though it would be good if it were never used in the first place. 

It does have some interesting qualities to it that make it suitable for packaging, as well as make it good to re-use. These include it's unobtrusive colour (generally), insulation qualities, water resistance and strength. 

Remake Remodel Recycle

Below a few images of improvised designs found in Korea during the Seoul Design Olympiad 2008. Among them a standardised-looking version of the ubiquitous oil tin dustpan, a broom combining traditional and modern materials, plus a DIY version of a BMW C1 scooter. GG

A quote to kick things off

"One of design's most fundamental tasks is to stand between revolutions and life, and to help people deal with change."

Paola Antonelli, Curator, MoMA, New York, from the introduction to the exhibition 'Design and the elastic mind', February 24–May 12, 2008. Go to exhibition website