UNSW Built Environment: Society for Responsible Design Change 11 Exhibition

Three UNSW Built Environment Graduate Designers, Kate Stanistreet, Lily Tandeani and Anthony Papas have secured places in the ‘Society for Responsible Design (SRD) Change 11’ Sustainable Design exhibition, 1-12 August.

Inspire. Promote. Change, is the compelling theme for the graduate sustainable design exhibition presented in an iconic new venue, Coca-Cola Place, 40 Mount St, North Sydney (formerly known as the Ark).

SRD presents its eighth annual graduate exhibition series with over 25 exhibits challenging conventional thinking and showcasing sustainable design solutions across all creative design disciplines and areas of life, from visual arts and communication, architecture and industrial products to high-end fashion and including issues relating to Third World health.

Be inspired with Visual Trajectories by Kate Stanistreet (MArch, 2010) who has successfully dealt with the challenges of design for high rise buildings, while still creating a comfortable and energy efficient working environment.  This has been done by paying particular attention to efficient sustainable measures with air, light, heating and materials which increases the functionality of the space while at the same time alleviating its impact on the environment.

Embrace change with the high density living that comes with Sustainable Vertical City by Lily Tandeani (MArch, 2010). Lily has provided an example of a solution oriented design that deals with our burgeoning population growth in a sustainable way.  Showing how a 48-storey mixed-use tower can be transformed to incorporate strategically arranged office vertical villages, a retail ring, a sky garden and residential units.

Communal Remediation by Anthony Papas (BLArch, 2010) deals with a post‐industrial urban renewal concept developed for Central Canberra, in which his design seeks to resolve the conflict of interests existing between local community identity and the need for urban densification alongside the growing need for regional environmental sustainability.

Come and see these great exhibits from UNSW BE graduates, who join the talented young designers from many other Sydney University Design Schools and selected National Universities.

SRD Change 11 National exhibition, is a must see special project of the SRD and part of Sydney Design 2011 presented by the Powerhouse Museum. Entry is free and open Monday 1st to Friday 12th August. Review the exhibits, speak to the designers and be inspired about positive change for the future.

Click here for more exhibition details.

UNSW Built Environment: Riding the Design Wave

Chris Fox’s first-hand experience of the risks associated with water sports led him to design a self-inflating life jacket, which has just won a coveted James Dyson award.

The ‘9th Life’ wetsuit jacket monitors oxygen levels and automatically inflates when the user is at risk of drowning, bringing them into a safe upright position and signally for help via GPS, explains Chris, 23, who graduated last year with a Bachelor of Industrial Design with first-class honours.

It was the drowning tragedy of fellow Queenscliff surf club member Saxon Bird, who was knocked unconscious in a surf-ski accident on the Gold Coast, that highlighted the need for such a design, Chris said.

“My personal experience is through kiteboarding kilometres off shore in windy conditions – I realised that I’m vulnerable if knocked unconscious with no help close by.”

“9th Life is unlike any other life jackets on the market today. It provides users with a high level of safety without restricting their mobility and fits in with the sporting style and beach culture,” Chris told The Sun Herald.
Chris’s innovation won the silver prize in the student awards, presented recently in Melbourne as part of the 2011 Australian Design Awards.

“I like the challenge of solving problems and looking for solutions that are different and that will make a difference to people’s lives. I also enjoy the hands on experience of designing, testing and building products.”

Chris was one of four finalists from UNSW’s Faculty of Built Environment vying for the Dyson Awards.

Dr Miles Park, Director of the Industrial Design Program, said, “This year’s entries continued a very strong run of student design work – the innovative thinking and attention to detail has been outstanding.”

It follows the outstanding success of Samuel Adeloju, who last year won the international James Dyson Award for his Longreach flotation device launcher

Other UNSW design alumni to be recognised in the Australian Design Awards were Craig Burke who won the Housing and Building category for his recently launched product, Klinch tool tether, which allows the user to carry and use multiple tools safely without the risk of being dropped from heights.

“The significance of Craig’s win is that it demonstrates how a design that he first worked on as a student can be successfully commercialised and be award-winning,” said Dr Park.

UNSW Built Environment: UNSW Industrial Design Student Joseph Louis Tan Named one of 50 Finalists for VIVID Awards

The VIVID – Vibrant Visions In Design Awards is a furniture design competition held in Australia, as part of the Furnitex exhibition event, running in tandem with the State of Design Festival in Melbourne. It features the 50 most inspiring and talented designers in Australia for the year with their unique product designs. There are four different categories to participate in: Commercial, Concept, Student and Green.

This year UNSW Industrial Design student Joseph Louis Tan has been named as one of the finalists in the student category with his design MEW Modular Coffee Table. When asked about his reasons for entering the competition Joseph said “ VIVID presented to designers and design students like me an opportunity to showcase and share our designs in Australia’s largest furniture and furnishing trade fair to over 17,000 trade visitors. I hope that by entering VIVID, not only will I be gauging myself against Australia’s talented designers, but also be given a chance to meet and network with them, exhibitors and trade visitors. I was always curious about the underlying process of participating in a huge exhibition like Furnitex and hope to use it as a platform to learn and experience valuable lessons that cannot be taught in university lectures and tutorials. I am also interested in the potential of possibly commercializing my design and VIVID will be an ideal stepping stone in that direction.”

Joseph’s design of the MEW Modular Coffee Table was inspired by traditional Japanese wood joinery and modern cutting technology capabilities. The design is a simple, versatile and interactive modular coffee table that can be rearranged to suit different individuals needs with its three smaller separate tables. Made from water-jet cut locally sourced Hoop Pine plywood, it uses various types of unique slotted connections that allow it to be easily assembled without fixtures or fittings and comes flat-packed for easier transport and storage.

We would like to congratulate Joseph on his achievement.

Click here to find out more about the VIVID Awards.

UNSW Built Environment: Saturday In Design

Saturday in Design is an annual trade event for the design community, which began in Sydney in 2003, and now alternates each year between Sydney and Melbourne. This year will see Sydney showcased on 19 – 20 August 2011.

This event is an opportunity to see what Sydney has to offer in the field of furniture and design. It involves Australia’s premier designer furniture, finishes, fixtures and lighting showrooms opening their doors on a Saturday to allow architects, designers, students and design-savvy members of the public to enjoy these companies’ products in an ‘open house’ environment.

Saturday in Design has traditionally been an opportunity for local and international products from hundreds of reputable brands to be launched to thousands of members of the design community in one day.

To enable hassle-free travel in between showroom venues around the city, a number of complimentary shuttle buses run on pre-arranged routes for the entire day.

Click here to find out more about Saturday in Design.

UNSW Built Environment: Eric Chau

 

Hi my names Eric Chau and I’m currently studying industrial design in my fourth year at UNSW. Entrepreneurship has always been lingering in the back of my mind but I have never had enough confidence to pursue it at this stage of life, however things have changed since I entered the TIE Clash of the titans youth pitching competition. It all started when I enrolled into the entrepreneurial course and was notified of a pitching competition and its prize – A trip to Silicon Valley to attend the TIECON 2011 with expenses paid.

Entering the TIE Clash of the titans youth pitching competition has been an experience which has been life changing ever since. The whole process from the preparation of the pitch to meeting successful entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley has enabled me to learn so much in a short amount of time. Everything has happened so quickly, from having 1 week to organize my trip to the USA and having up to 6 assignments due when I was to arrive back in Australia. This has taught me the value of time management.

The whole trip to the TIECON in the valley entailed so many highlights. The whole conference was packed with a variety of like minded people which ranged from entrepreneurs to venture capitalists all gathering around pitching business ideas and networking. I loved the atmosphere, environment and the drive everyone at the conference had, I also took advantage of this and networked with people from all over the world who attended this conference. The other main highlight attending this conference was the amount of information I have absorbed in from the various keynote speakers and guest panel speakers. All of the speakers were very inspiring in giving talks on their insights to the highs and lows of becoming an entrepreneur.

 

UNSW Built Environment: Electrolux Design Lab 2011 Semi-Finalists Announced

Modern day living means that time constraints and changing lifestyles are altering consumers needs for household products. Innovative designs are required to cater to these changing needs. This year the Electrolux Design Lab has asked industrial design students and recent graduates worldwide to create home appliances that consider intelligent mobility; their designs need to show a combination of lateral thinking and ingenuity.

There were 1300 entrants and from that 25 semi-finalists have been chosen from all over the world. Three of the semi finalists are from Australia and of those three, two are Industrial Design students from UNSW!

We would like to congratulate Alfred Ching and Saba Zara on their creative and innovative designs. Alfred Ching’s design ‘Honeycomb Modular Induction Tiles’ (pictured above) looks at creating different sized and shaped movable heating surfaces which can be stacked for easy storage. Saba Zara’s design ‘Mywash’ is a communal washing machine with individual barrels which can be controlled via a smart phone.

The 25 semi-finalists will be whittled down to a final eight. The finalists will present their designs to a jury who will consider the entries based on intuitive design, innovation and consumer insight. The winning designer will receive €5,000 ($6,786AUD) and a 6 month paid internship at an Electrolux global design centre.

Click here to visit the website and checkout all the semi-finalists designs.

UNSW Built Environment: Scholars Program

A new initiative called the Built Environment Scholars Program has been created to acknowledge the faculty’s highest achieving students.

The Built Environment Undergraduate Scholars Program is comprised of a group of 20 students who are identified as the BE’s top performing students based solely on their annual academic performance.

For a one year period the BE Scholars will receive recognition from their peers, the faculty and industry professionals. The benefits given to these talented and driven students include a $500 scholarship and vouchers to the UNSW book shop, mentoring and support, special invitations to BE events, a certificate of achievement and more.

The 2010 BE Scholars were formally congratulated at a morning tea on 18 May where they were presented with a certificate of recognition, their $500 scholarship and a $100 voucher for the UNWS bookstore.

We would like to extend our congratulations to all the BE Scholars for 2010.

BIA – Catherine Allington, Tara Christina Gunasekera, Yoshimi Iwaya

B Arch Studies – Mathew O’Brian, Pouwel Frederik Wind, Yun Fu, Cissy Miao Kang, Sean Thien Tran

B Arch Comp – Chor Yan Lau

BCMP – Thomas David Bitmead, Shane Christopher Bleyer, Shane Saba Rouhani, Gary Yaghlejian

B Plan – Ellie-Mae Simpson, Rachelle Ariane Newman, Katherine Louise Tudehope

B Land Arch – Jason Kenneth Cuffe, James Hargrave

B Ind Des – Aryetta Pazpinis, Jason Jian Hao Khiang

UNSW Built Environment: The Good Design Q & A Session

The 2011 Australian International Design Awards are currently underway. For a rare opportunity to meet this year’s judges and view more than 200 innovative products vying for an Australian International Design Award, register to attend The Good Design Q & A session.

The session will be held at the UNSW Roundhouse on Thursday 19 May from 6 to 9pm. Tickets are $50 for corporate and $25 for students.

The evening will be hosted by Michele Elliot, Co Founder of What If! and Director of Inspirate. It will feature a thought provoking and stimulating Q & A session with select members of this year’s Judging Panel including design experts from Mercedes-Benz, Samsung, Designworks USA and more.

Click here to register for this event.

UNSW Built Environment: New Scholarship Opportunities

Two new prestigious scholarships are now open for application. The 2011 AustCham Scholarship information booklet aims to foster the next generation of Sino-Australian business leaders. While the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Awards Student Information are available to students who are interested in a unique opportunity to undertake international study and research related to their Australian degree, and gain international work experience through an internship which will build their professional network in Asia.

Click on the scholarship you are interested in to find out more.

UNSW Built Environment: HotHouse Workshop on Ecological Thinking

The National Institute for Experimental Arts is presenting a HotHouse Workshop on Ecological Thinking on the 19 and 20 May, 2011.

The event will include talks from international keynote speakers Tim Morton and David Gissen.

The workshop will consider ecological thinking and how it transforms the way we understand materials, objects and environments, whilst asking how we might radically rework ecological thought and curate (care for) Tim Morton’s concept of hyperobjects.

Participants are invited to brainstorm about a future exhibition project on hyperobjects for the new gallery complex at the College of Fine Arts.

For further information on this event including times and ticket prices please visit the Materials: Objects: Environment page.