Latest Student Projects
hashtag #hakolamama, Anatomy of a Finnish wooden chair by Samuli Helavuo
The topic of this masterās thesis is the design of a wooden dining chair for Hakola Huonekalu Oy. The aim was to design a chair that can be industrially manufactured in the Jurva area in Southern Ostrobothnia. The chair should complement Hakolaās existing product line in a natural and fresh way, adding more content and value to the customerās brand. The choice of topic was influenced by the authorās need to diversify his product design expertise and challenge himself to design a product that had not been completely designed before by himself.The focus of this thesis was also on increasing professional knowledge of wood materials, wood furniture production methods, the potential of the domestic furniture industry, ecologically and ethically sustainable design and seating ergonomics.
Kuulas: Examining the design processes behind the development of a chair prototype with practice-led research methods by Joshua Krute
Through the designing and making of Kuulas ā a wooden low chair with textile components, I examine the development processes by which iterative and explorative methods are employed with research tools through a practice-led research framework. The development of woven textiles and the development of the low chair are narrowed with step-by-step process descriptions and reflections thereof. These foretell how research tools were employed to examine the iterative, explorative processes behind the project development, and to convey the decisions emitted towards the form-language of the Kuulas chair, which the name comes from the Finnish meaning: clear or pure. Throughout development stages of the project, communicative tools and form-finding techniques are developed to best examine furniture/textile making and design processes. These studies indicate the importance of documentation and reflection, as they are present in communicating how thinking and making has evolved throughout the project. Furthermore, this thesis examines how an artist-designer can employ his/her experiences and personal histories to develop abstract concepts for design projects.
Soil Care: Symphony Rehearsal by Tzuyu Chen
Soil Care: Symphony Rehearsal is a Masterās thesis project that takes soils as its fundamental focus in a collaborative craft practice in order to reclaim attention for soils in an age of ecological challenges. When focused on soil care, craft making can be considered a dialogical practice for establishing conversations between humans (makers), soils (materials) and the human-soil interaction that exists within the local environment. By utilising the practice-led approach, this research is driven by inquiring into whether collaborative craft practices would provide a different way to re-think and re-evaluate our relationship with soil.
Weaving Landscapes by Mariana SolĆs Escalera
āWeaving Landscapesā is a research through design thesis that explores the relationship between craft and design, by using concepts from the material culture, with(in) the landscape. Landscape in this thesis refers to the environment(s) in which humans and nonhumans interact. Meanwhile, material culture is the concept that brings together activities from human society and natural ecosystems (natural culture) into one culture. Furthermore, this thesis examines the collaboration that exists between craft and design, which is studied on the notions of preservation and revitalization. In order to find a way to revitalize craft and design I have reviewed craftās knowledge, values and relationships with the landscape and the raw materials it provides. The context of the thesis is situated in Finland, in the relation that birch bark weaving technique has with the natural environment and with the society.
Materials and Living Systems
As biomaterial is a broad and currently widely used term, the students learn to explore and discover new perspectives to biomaterials within their systems and understand how to create their own creative approach towards these materials.
Twig Lady by Salla Luhtasela
Twig Lady is a series of ongoing works executed outdoors as a way of taking care of myself through the repetitive and meditative action of making by hand. Working with new materials, mainly twigs and reeds, forced me to really get in tune with them, feel their will in my fingertips, and forget my own designerly ambitions - and just have fun.
Kuuleeko metsƤ? by Miia Lƶtjƶnen
"As we humans are big beneficiaries in our relationship with nature, my goal was to give something back in return. I wanted to use music to help the spring forest grow. Studies have shown that music affects the growth of plants as it is enjoyed by humans in general. Could we use music as a way to re-connect and coexist with nature?
Crown of Thoughts by Joel Levander
Crown of Thoughts is animated short film made with stop motion technique. It follows a figure created from various materials and its encounter with a humanlike head. Through a coalescence, the head changes the figures perception of time and their surroundings.
Objects of Care by Sofia Guridi
Our days are full of silent care. Care for others expressed through small gestures and actions like combing a child`s hair or cooking for the family, which are accompanied by objects normally considered trivial. This collection explores the beauty of these everyday objects and the relevance of this invisible care that is usually taken for granted, but that is so fundamental for everyone's wellbeing. Through the repetition of small hand made porcelain items, jewelry pieces are created to show the value of these marginalized actions usually asociated with feminine care, while being in contact with our bodies.
How can I unsubscribe from patriarchy? by Vertti Virasjoki
We at war.
We at war with racism, sexism, but most of all we at war with ourselves. In this complex situation the enemy is invisible and the weapons we use are not made of steel.
Through exploration into the past environments, emotional atmospheres and cultures Iāve lived in Iāve tried to make sense of how they have shaped me as a person and how to accept the fact that it has not always changed me for the better.
Maja by Julius Rinne
āMajaā in Finnish means āshelterā or āblanket fort.ā A shelter is a place to feel safety and care.
In my project I wanted to fulfill a childhood dream of living in a self-made fort. I built a blanket fort in my apartment from materials I already owned and spent a week there taking care of myself, by doing things I have not had time to do in a long time. Maja offered me a safe place to be relaxed, creative and playful.
Earthly bonds by Linnea Kilpi
Earthly bonds is a series of sculptural vignettes studying relational dynamics and the complexity of care. Each scene depicts a relationship inevitably compromised by notions such as power, trust, and dependency. Their varying stages of decomposition question if and how the relationships function without tension holding them together. Who is dependent on whom?
Weight lifting by Jenna Lee Shenyer
'Weight lifting' is an ongoing process between human and nature and the weight we put on the land. By walking through memorable islands, finding objects of affection that don't belong to the landscape, and doing an exchange between the land.
I've taken the objects back where they belong, replaced their form in unfired clay and left it for the land to absorb in its natural way. In this process the land gives me an opportunity to ground myself, to study and enjoy everything it has to offer, and in exchange I thank the ground by helping it recover from the trash that doesn't belong there.
Place to be by Sirena Nieminen
āāPlace to beāā is an experimental painting process, in which the journey is more important than the final artefact. The main thing was to paint mostly blindfolded, to get deeper in touch with paper and paint to forget rationalisation and overthinking. I mind-travelled to the places and freedom of my childhood to let go of the stress and control of adult-me.
Underwater traces by Julia Strand
It clears the sea by eating plankton but it is not native to our ecosystem and causes harm by attaching to any surface. What is left from it is the small round traces and beautiful details.
It is not always clear what is best for nature, but most important is that we care for and pay attention also to the smallest details of the world.
A Manifesto in my room by Aura Latva-Somppi
This is a manifesto for myself, to be presented in my own room with the dust and hair lying in the corners, next to my messy bed and piles of clothes, letters and drawings, with the houseplants and fruit-peels and the smell of my biodegradable. It is not still or silent; there is light reflecting from a window of a neighbour house, the shadows of trees of the nearby forest and the sounds of buses and dogs and bicycle bells skipping around the neighbourhood. This manifesto is born from within myself but also from the outside, readings and discussions and perceptions, and it is to be presented and projected from and to all these directions.
Threads, Forces, Web of Entanglements by Tzuyu Chen
This video explores the intertwined relationship between human and non-human forces involved in a conceptual care network. Red threads are used to point out three different concepts that co-exist within this entangled relational web; its unforeseen forces, its tension of co-dependence, and its convergence that interweaves the living and non-living into other forms of being. By following these threads and forces, I want to express care as relational thinking. If our lives are tangling with many other forces, how would it affect the way we care for many non-human others?
"Iām always happiest alone" by Sini Henttu
"I'm always happiest alone" reflects on loneliness in a society that pressures us into sociality. Everyone feels an individual need for loneliness and each of us is alone in a different way. The desire to be alone is also a privilege that can be safely felt, when social networks and relationships are plentiful and healthy. Itās easy to want to be alone, when you donāt feel lonely.
Cocoon by Iines NiemelƤ
When a caterpillar coils a silky covering over itself it surrenders to a process of breaking apart and arising as a new beautiful being. The current situation of the world has forced us to curl up into our own cocoons and question our ways of living. So how about us humans? Are we willing to transform?
Forms of Care by Irene Purasachit
Forms of Care is a collection of care in the form of vases. In contrast to human-centric design, these pieces are formed by having flowers in the centre of the making. As the flowers continue growing, their postures are constantly changing. The same vase they were comfortable in yesterday might not be the right one tomorrow. By observing and caring for the same tulip, alstroemeria and freesia throughout the course of two weeks, the eight vases in the collection were made in dialogue with the flowers, responding to their needs for support in each stage.