DAE Graduation Show 2024 – Photo by Max Kneefel, courtesy of Dutch Design Week.
Design. Dutch Design Week 2024 is probably the world’s most influential design event for emerging designers. For the DAE Graduation Show 2024, 201 Bachelor’s and Master’s graduate projects by students of Design Academy Eindhoven were on display at Microstad. The next generation of designers engaged with a radically changing world in terms of environments, social practices, and identities. Check out these ten brilliant projects we liked the most!
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The Mathematical Designer by Amina Zemouli
Photo by Nicole Marnati.
Who said Mathematics is intimidating? It can be a poetic tool, says Amina Zemouli. Using digital modelling software, the designer explored the geometric beauty of equations, transforming them into sculptural objects. “Sines, Cosines, Exponentials, and Square Roots shaped a collection ranging from basic forms like circles and cylinders to more complex objects.” The designer explains.
The Blue Flower Syndrome by Benze De Ream
Photo by Nicole Marnati.
How do algorithmic systems shape and confine social, cultural, and political interactions? Benze De Ream presented The Blue Flower Syndrome project, which warns against machine learning based on discriminatory data classification. The project cites the classification algorithm for flowers by the British eugenicist Ronald Fisher (1934) and analyses influencers online. “At a time when right-wing politics have a stronghold, it is important to recognise how the hidden values of these systems are shaping our lives.”
A Ceremonial Space for Funerals by Mai Rødtnes
Photo by Femke Reijerman.
Spatial designer Mai Rødtnes created a non-religious funeral space “free from cultural and religious symbols, honouring life and its end with dignity.” The ethereal architecture can be adapted for intimate gatherings or a large event. Sand-filled pillars represent the passage of time, while charred wood chairs resting on shared legs enhance solemnity.
Landscapes of Intelligence by Elena Marie Dagg
Photo by Ronald Smits.
AI technology is not just virtual. It has an environmental impact! The Landscapes of Intelligence graduation project by Elena Marie Dagg spotlights servers’ water consumption to cool down and generate one AI image. A continuously operating plotter within a server rack draws lines using an amount of water that reflects water consumption. “These watercolour-on-paper images evoke landscapes, illustrating how water’s agency can transform abstract algorithms into forms that suggest a natural world beyond the technocratic order.”
The Friendly Fence by Ezra Vollmeier
Photo by Ronald Smits.
Exploring construction sites as places of play and exploration, together with a fascination for skating culture, Ezra Vollmeier‘s project transforms fences into urban furniture people can climb, skate, lay, sit on, and play football with. “Former barriers become obstacles to interact with. They contribute to a new narrative of public architecture, turning our streets into playgrounds.”
Transformative Furniture by Yeeun Lee
Photo by Ronald Smits.
Children’s furniture often becomes obsolete or loses appeal. With a simple flip, Yeeun Lee‘s design project doubles as both a coffee table and a playful object. Grown-ups might use it to serve tea; flip it over so kids can rock on it. Transformative Furniture is designed for the entire family and bridges the gap between adult and kid’s design.
Movement Matter by Mova BoRee Aske Rijzinga
Photo by Nicole Marnati.
With a background in circus arts from an early age and an interest in working with metal, BoRee Rijzinga has created a collection of unusual apparatuses for performers eager to explore dynamic, improvised movements. “The simple, elegant shapes become partners in play through a creative approach to exercise.” The collection was developed in collaboration with trained circus artists.
Ornamental Folds by Myeonga Seo
Photo by Ronald Smits.
Industrial production often uses complex machinery to bend metal sheets, limiting design possibilities. Why not explore origami? Wondered Myeonga Seo. The designer explored a new method of crafting sheet metal, giving objects a soft, ornamental appearance that contrasts with typical metal furniture. “Industrial metal fabrication, digital design tools and laser cutting come together to propose new craft possibilities.”
Unfixed by Remi Reniers
Photo by Femke Reijerman.
“In today’s fast-paced consumer culture, natural stone’s enduring beauty and potential are often disregarded.” Explains Remi Reniers. Using reconfigurable steel connectors, the designer developed a method to transform off-cut discarded material into modular ‘building blocks’ for a furniture collection, including a side table, bench and shelf cupboard.
Memnotpe magazine by Lilou Angelrath
Photo by Ronald Smits.
Lilou Angelrath presented Mnemotope, a community magazine that operates on a broad, un-themed open call, allowing submissions ranging from essays and poetry to transcribed voice notes. “Mnemotope delves into the current climate of independent publishing and the transformative potential of collectivity.” At the DAE Graduation Show 2024, the designer presented an interactive installation documenting the magazine’s development. The showcase invited visitors to contribute as well.
Other standing-out projects include a heated chair by Jade Fritsch and an adaptable seat for people of different heights by Lynn Gong [Find out more HERE], a project visualising the potential of solar energy through algae by Katharina Ammann and a sustainable plaster material upcycling cow manure by Antonia Schreiber [Read more HERE].
DAE Graduation Show 2024. Movement Matter by Mova BoRee Aske Rijzinga – Photo by Max Kneefel.
