Feed

Type

Course

Know-how

Years

2006 2024
Excerpts from Master Type Design theses

TYPE DESIGN

Excerpts from Master Type Design theses

with Anniina Koivu, Roland Früh, Wayne Daly

Excerpts from Master Photography theses

PHOTOGRAPHY

Excerpts from Master Photography theses

with Anniina Koivu

AUTHOR: Sara Bastai TITLE: How to build a collective memory in the digital realm? SUBTITLE: Depicting humankind through methods of preservation It seems, sometimes, like today’s main focus of interest lies in how future societies will perceive us. The traces we might leave behind can significantly impact the history and interpretation of our current present. Can we rely on digital preservation? What should we document for the future? How can we represent and preserve society in the 21st century without being reduced to mere computational information processing? This master thesis is a speculative reflection on our current and past methods of preservation of social history. ------ AUTHOR: Maeva Bosko TITLE: Dream worlds SUBTITLE: What happens when we’re asleep? Since my early childhood, I have dreamt a lot. Sweet, pleasant or strange dreams, nightmares, sometimes even lucid dreams. Night is when I escape to these virtual worlds. But what are these worlds? Why are they so different from my ordinary waking world? I’ve even gotten to the point, on various occasions, when I preferred these dream states to my everyday reality. This is a research project into the world of dreams as an attempt to decode the unconsciousness in relation to the virtual universe and reality we experience at night. ------ AUTHOR: Natalie Maximova TITLE: Walking the landscape, in video games With a focus on landscape representation in video games called “walking simulators”, this thesis attempts to uncover questions related to a complex and ambiguous notion of landscape, from its original conception to today. During my research, I applied the interpretive approach of “reading” and decoding landscapes that have been used by geographers, as well as sociologists, artists and historians. Video game landscapes could be thought of as a system consisting of natural, man-made and cultural forces which can be identified and studied. The landscape in this case plays as a medium that combines, holds and channels these forces. If video game environments exist as part of our culture, what kind of connections do these virtual spaces form? This thesis tries to uncover processes behind the construction of the “natural” in video game environments. ------ AUTHOR: Joanna Wierzbicka TITLE: Why should our bodies end at the skin? SUBTITLE: Rethinking bodily matter beyond a humanist imagination This thesis follows the turn to matter within the fields of body studies, posthuman feminist theory, and new materialism in order to rethink the definition of what a body is and, more importantly, what a body can do. The main research objective is to find out how through questioning the definition of a body and the use of metaphorical thinking in this process, we can establish a more ethical living ground among other bodies. ------ AUTHOR: Olivia Wünsche TITLE: Myths shape reality After having lived a deeply transformative psychedelic experience, all previously held beliefs and perceptions which conditioned my relationship to the surrounding reality, suddenly broke free from the prison of mental programming and limited awareness. Different aspects of this internal change manifested through an almost visceral connection to the Earth. I started to direct my attention towards subjects revolving around environmental and humanitarian crisis, simultaneously wanting to find the cause that has led to our current state of separateness, in which we distance ourselves from others and from nature. I understood quite rapidly that socio-political problem-solving is undoubtedly urgent and indispensable, however it remains shallow and incomplete by treating symptoms without curing the cause. ------ AUTHOR: Zhang Manqin TITLE: A diamond-shaped egg This master thesis is based on different tools that can be used to explore the power of memory. Closely related to the author’s “I’m not a loner” photo installation, this research project combines fictional writing with the documentary approach of a diary.

Excerpts from Master Product Design theses

PRODUCT DESIGN

Excerpts from Master Product Design theses

with Anniina Koivu

AUTHOR: Adam Huxley-Khng TITLE: ON in the absence of OFF On and off – at the flick of a switch, or the touch of a button. We are able to switch between the states of being of an object without thought, rarely questioning what makes an object ‘on’. Is it the presence of electric power? A sense of agency, or animism? What if on-ness is a state of being reflected by the cultural, rather than technological, capacity of an object – the embodiment of a moment of possibility? ----- AUTHOR: Alessandro Simone TITLE: What is next? SUBTITLE: The evolution of mountaineering and human limits This research examines the mountain landscape in the context of the evolution of mountaineering. Starting from the activity’s origin, the research investigates the shifts in technology, mindset, and limits that enabled the transformation of a destination for challenging expeditions into a place for second homes and weekend enthusiasts. How were humans able to overcome their limits, and what were the motivations for this drive? Products and objects played an essential role in guiding the story of mountaineering from the old ages to nowadays, making the user and his/her experience safer, but subsequently opening this terrain to mass tourism. This research retraces historical events and technical innovations to better understand mountaineering’s evolution, imagining a possible approach to this form of high-altitude tourism for the future. ----- AUTHOR: Alexander Schul TITLE: Visual language of sustainable design Different “sustainable” design proposals have been made in the past decades: from (literally) green looking objects, to normal looking ones, to objects whose visual language speaks to sustainability in their own individual way. In this research, I analyse a few examples in regards to the way the visual language of sustainable products has been approached in the past, what sustainable design looks like today, as well as what it will look like in the near future. The essay is led by the question “How does a sustainable approach to an object influence its visual language?” ----- AUTHOR: Charlotta Åman TITLE: Waste matters SUBTITLE: Valorising secondary products for a resourceful future Throughout history, humans have been expert in utilising every element of a given re­source. The heritage of husbandry has been car­ried from generation to generation – until today. Now, we are more disconnected than ever from original assets. In present manufacturing processes, secondary matter from production is often considered as waste rather than as a resource – an unfortunate conclusion as we are running out of raw materials and landfills grow. What does it entail to fully utilise a resource by valorising its secondary products, and how does it relate to the practice of a designer? The loose connections in manufacturing chains provide an opportunity to re-think: by considering the source, the scale and the system, design can be used as a tool for transition. ----- AUTHOR: Grace, Ka Yin Cheung TITLE: Japanese miniature culture: netsuke and gachapon SUBTITLE: Why are we so fascinated with small things? Miniatures are smaller than a normal objects, and include small replicas or models. Miniatures are present in different cultures all over the world and throughout time. The miniaturisation of mundane objects is recurrent, and has been an integral part of the memory of a culture. Among the different international miniature cultures, Japan has one of the most distinctive and apparent spirits of miniaturisation. To understand why people are so fascinated with miniatures, this research looks for the answers by delving into the miniature culture of netsuke and gachapon in Japan. ----- AUTHOR: Hsin Hung Chou TITLE: Unpack flat-pack SUBTITLE: The value of ready-to-assemble furniture This research studies flat-packing from its origins in the mid-19th century to its contemporary form as one of the prevailing typologies of the global furniture industry. Guiding questions have been: If the objective is to design and produce products from a logistical and sustainable point of view, is there any other solution to knock-down furniture? Does furniture lose its aesthetic and value in the process of being flat-packed? If the future is flat, could we make it better? ----- AUTHOR: Jimin Jeon TITLE: Soft, small and far, far away SUBTITLE: Our understanding of software Fire is the first profound tool in human history that cannot be grasped with the naked hand. Fire was considered a mysterious or religious thing – a gift from God, or punishment. But it was also an essential tool for human evolution. Today, we have found another tool surrounded by mystery and misunderstandings: software. It doesn’t smell, make noise, or come in any fixed form. It just occasionally flickers through a screen. This new tool takes us to another world, beyond physical limitations, that no caveman could have imagined. But, first, we need to understand the nature of software in relation to hardware – that is, the tools we are already familiar with. ----- AUTHOR: Jisan Chung TITLE: Assemblage in design Assemblage is mainly considered an artistic technique. However, by reviewing works of various designers, we can see that the same technique has been used in the field of design, too. This study aims to examine the characteristics and the meaning of “assemblage design” and its potential. Assemblage can trigger innovate manufacturing processes and create its very own aesthetic. ----- AUTHOR: Jonas Villiger TITLE: About repairability SUBTITLE: Rules, incentives and approaches to keeping things in circulation We want our products to be durable. And, if they break or become outdated, they should be repairable and upgradeable, too. It can be a very satisfying feeling to make something work again, or to make it work even better than it did before. Unfortunately, the industry does not make this easy for consumers. Not being able to intervene when something goes wrong with an object, consumers end up simply buying new things. However, giving a device an extended lifespan keeps us from wasting valuable resources. Starting from recent legislation and public movements that call for the right to repair, this research questions the role of designers within these changing circumstances. ----- AUTHOR: Julian Ribler TITLE: The Factory SUBTITLE: An investigation into modern design principles The Modernist movement promoted the appreciation of the advancements of industry. Modernism went on to integrate industrial advancement as part of the fundamentals of the movement as a whole. The principle of applying an engineer’s perspective was thought to inform the practice of designers and architects. Exploring modern factory environments and investigating the advancements in manufacturing technology today can help us revise these principles and examine the changing factory context. ----- AUTHOR: Kwan Ming Sum TITLE: Stagnation and innovation in the wheelchair industry A wheelchair is an essential tool for people with mobility issues to perform everyday tasks and achieve social participation. Unfortunately, modern manual wheelchairs hardly satisfy the emerging need of a well-resolved wheelchair design. A fundamental shift in understanding of today’s needs and innovation in this field are urgently required. Given the growth of the aging population, a rethink of wheelchair design is critical. Through conducting several interviews with different stakeholders, including wheelchair users, producers, and designers, this research aims to investigate the underlying reasons behind the stagnation in the wheelchair industry, and looks at how that might change. ----- AUTHOR: Maxwell Ashford TITLE: Fractions SUBTITLE: Cost-effective recycling A fraction is the result of any recycling process. It refers to the amount of materials from an object that can be recycled cost effectively, and is used broadly across the recycling industry. Objects are by standard practises designed independently from any end-of-life system and inevitably, the result is that objects cannot be effectively recycled. Historically, there has been little incentive for producers, and thus designers, to deal with the death or disposal of objects. But this is due to change, as incoming legislation from the EU will force producers to use recycled materials and create more recyclable objects. In turn, this demand will affect designers. So how can we work to create more sustainable goods? ----- AUTHOR: Nadav Goldenberg TITLE: Empire State of Play SUBTITLE: Playground design in the urban environment How did the design of playgrounds evolve throughout history? And how does the urban environment play a part in their evolution? To answer these questions, I look at New York City. Here, we see a dense urban space for play development, with a long history of constant shifts in play ideals, safety regulations and the pioneering of playground design. ----- AUTHOR: Oscar Kwong TITLE: Comfort and the curve The curve exists in all ranges of expression, from the flamboyant to the modest. In the past decade there have been multiple studies that have set out to confirm our instinctual desires for the curvaceous shape, proving in every measurable scenario that humans prefer the round compared to the rectilinear. This intuitive response to the curve has been hard-wired as part of our evolutionary bias. The relationship that connects comfort and the curve will be the premise of this essay: from the buildings of Sanaa that employs the familiar curve, as a reminder of our connection with nature; to trace the postures supported by the comfy lounge and its intimate bond with the human body; to the conforming contours of everyday objects. ----- AUTHOR: Silvio Rebholz TITLE: TV studio sets SUBTITLE: A space for reality and fiction TV studio sets are spatial constructions in which TV formats such as news, talk shows or game shows are produced. On these sets, hosts interact with guests, newsreaders broadcast informa­tion and hosts entertain – always with the intention of reproducing the scene on screens. Focusing on the designs of TV studio sets, it is striking how unusually shaped they are. Elaborately sweeping curves of sofas; LEDs highlighting the edges of a desk. Remarkably, these and other exceptional elements aren’t isolated cases, but repeat across shows, broadcast genres and national borders. Their similarities suggest that it’s about more than free formal expression. What are the parameters for consideration in a “good” TV studio set? How did this unique style develop? ----- AUTHOR: Thomas Manil TITLE: The typology of coins This research project explores the history, production and formal language of coins. They are part of our lives and accompany our daily gestures. We give them, we receive them, we pocket them, or we place them carefully in a wallet. We have the impression that we know them very well, and yet, we have a hard time describing them with precision. It is an integral part of the country’s identity and embodies the link between art, design and technology. In a society that is gradually seeking to dematerialise money, the coin deserves special attention. ----- AUTHOR: Till Ronacher TITLE: The robotic arm Industrial robots have been involved in the manufacturing of products since the 1960s. But over the last decades, industrial robots have been moving out of the factories into new contexts such as architecture and design. Now, in some experimental contexts, digital fabrication is explored with the help of industrial robots. In such laboratories, the cooperation between humans and industrial robots is being investigated and applied in a design context, within which new forms and transformative design processes emerge. In this thesis, I examine some of these developments with regards to the possibilities of their integration into the design process. ----- AUTHOR: Trolle Rudebeck TITLE: A writing and drawing instrument In the age of typing, scrolling and audio-recording, cursive writing might seem endangered, particularly among younger generations. As handwriting has become more and more obsolete, it has come to be considered as a poetic or romantic act rather than a fundamental tool. Looking back to ancient civilizations and their instruments for drawing and writing, the pen’s stick-like shape has remained surprisingly constant. By looking to the past, could we predict the future of the pen?

Mémoires

FINE ARTS

Mémoires

Jury 2020 Paul Bernard Stéphanie Serra

Benoît Jeannet - Theoretical thesis

Benoît Jeannet - Theoretical thesis

with Joël Vacheron

Vanja Jelic- Theoretical thesis

Vanja Jelic- Theoretical thesis

with Alexandre Balgiu

Relevance doesn’t express individuals’ needs to organise the mess instead it is an expression of homogenization in the digital space. Algorithms are helping me to rapidly come across information and I’m starting to imitate it. Giving keywords, skim and repeat. But I’m human and therefore I make content disappear. The data I look at is fluid and impermanent, the instability forces me to take it out of its context and save it. As I take everything out of context in order to understand it better, the content gets destructed through all the filters.

Pierre Bouvier – Theoretical thesis

Pierre Bouvier – Theoretical thesis

with Constance Rubini

Inès Dal Soglio – Theoretical thesis

Inès Dal Soglio – Theoretical thesis

with Alexandre Balgiu

Jimmy Rachez – Theoretical thesis

Jimmy Rachez – Theoretical thesis

with Joël Vacheron

Margaux Renvoisé – Theoretical thesis

Margaux Renvoisé – Theoretical thesis

with Constance Rubini

Mateo Broillet – Theoretical thesis

Mateo Broillet – Theoretical thesis

with Alexandre Balgiu

Clara Dalbéra – Theoretical thesis

Clara Dalbéra – Theoretical thesis

with Constance Rubini

Lisa Guedel-Dolle – Theoretical thesis

Lisa Guedel-Dolle – Theoretical thesis

with Alexandre Balgiu

Léa Chetot – Theoretical thesis

Léa Chetot – Theoretical thesis

with Constance Rubini

Marceau Avogadro – Theoretical thesis

Marceau Avogadro – Theoretical thesis

with Constance Rubini

Anaïs Benoit Dignac – Mémoire – Theoretical thesis

Anaïs Benoit Dignac – Mémoire – Theoretical thesis

with Constance Rubini

Melina Wilson – Theoretical thesis

Melina Wilson – Theoretical thesis

with Alexandre Balgiu

Jean-Vincent Simonet – Theoretical thesis

Jean-Vincent Simonet – Theoretical thesis

with Joël Vacheron

Benoit Le Pape – Theoretical thesis

Benoit Le Pape – Theoretical thesis

with Constance Rubini

Philippine Chaumont – Theoretical thesis

Philippine Chaumont – Theoretical thesis

with Alexandre Balgiu

Daniel Hättenschwiller & Thomas Petit – Theoretical thesis

Daniel Hättenschwiller & Thomas Petit – Theoretical thesis

with Alexandre Balgiu

David Colombini – Theoretical thesis

David Colombini – Theoretical thesis

with Christophe Guignard

Baker Wardlaw – Theoretical thesis

Baker Wardlaw – Theoretical thesis

with Stéphanie Moisdon

Coming soon

Jean Bourgois – Theoretical thesis

Jean Bourgois – Theoretical thesis

with Stéphanie Moisdon

Daphné Mookherjee – Theoretical thesis

Daphné Mookherjee – Theoretical thesis

with Alexandre Balgiu

Camille Ringenbach – Theoretical thesis

Camille Ringenbach – Theoretical thesis

with Constance Rubini

Jacques-Alain Demont – Theoretical thesis

Jacques-Alain Demont – Theoretical thesis

with Stéphanie Moisdon

Download pdf

Romain Collaud – Theoretical thesis

Romain Collaud – Theoretical thesis

with André-Vladimir Heiz

Mathieu Daudelin – Theoretical thesis

Mathieu Daudelin – Theoretical thesis

with André-Vladimir Heiz

Zoé Blanchard – Theoretical thesis

Zoé Blanchard – Theoretical thesis

by Zoé Blanchard

Giulia-Amélie Chehab – Theoretical thesis

Giulia-Amélie Chehab – Theoretical thesis

by Giulia Amélie Chéhab

Jeremy Déruaz – Theoretical thesis

Jeremy Déruaz – Theoretical thesis

by Jeremy Déruaz

Meili Gernet – Theoretical thesis

Meili Gernet – Theoretical thesis

with André-Vladimir Heiz

Jules Delaveau – Theoretical thesis

Jules Delaveau – Theoretical thesis

with André-Vladimir Heiz

Manon Beriot – Theoretical thesis

Manon Beriot – Theoretical thesis

with André-Vladimir Heiz

Axel Crettenand – Theoretical thesis

Axel Crettenand – Theoretical thesis

by Axel Crettenand

The Chicken And The Egg. In this essay, I worked on both the form and the content. As a ground, three main subjects : LSD, romanticism and the swiss Alps. As a form reference, the Mnemosyne Atlas of Aby Warburg. The goal was to create a field of pregnant interactions between the subjects themselves, and also between different epistemology.

Claudio Sprugasci – Theoretical thesis

Claudio Sprugasci – Theoretical thesis

with André-Vladimir Heiz

Douglas Mandry – Theoretical thesis

Douglas Mandry – Theoretical thesis

by Douglas Mandry

Sylvain Aebischer – Theoretical thesis

Sylvain Aebischer – Theoretical thesis

by Sylvain Aebischer

Flora Klein – Theoretical thesis

Flora Klein – Theoretical thesis

by Flora Klein

About the German artist Günter Fruhtrunk Download pdf

Justine Schaller – Theoretical thesis

Justine Schaller – Theoretical thesis

with André-Vladimir Heiz

Anna Schudel – Theoretical thesis

Anna Schudel – Theoretical thesis

Dramaturgie im Buchdesign  Graphic design

Fabrice Schneider – Theoretical thesis

Fabrice Schneider – Theoretical thesis

Photography as object. Between sculpture and instrumentalisation Photography

Matthieu Minguet  – Theoretical thesis

Matthieu Minguet – Theoretical thesis

User friendly Media & interaction design

Juliana Stadelmann – Theoretical thesis

Juliana Stadelmann – Theoretical thesis

Bad faith Fine arts

Philippe Fragnière – Theoretical thesis

Philippe Fragnière – Theoretical thesis

News item Photography

Dimitri de Preux – Theoretical thesis

Dimitri de Preux – Theoretical thesis

History already-never Fine Arts

Nathalie Perrin – Theoretical thesis

Nathalie Perrin – Theoretical thesis

Alexandre Grognuz – Theoretical thesis

Alexandre Grognuz – Theoretical thesis

Simplicity in graphic design Graphic design

Matthieu Rohrer – Theoretical thesis

Matthieu Rohrer – Theoretical thesis

The sound of wood Industrial design

Filter