There are more than 30 different nationalities among the 181 graduates at the Design Academy’s Graduation Show 2019. Among all these graduation projects is one that deals with the city of Eindhoven – Sense of Place, by Bloeme Groenewold.

Bloeme has divided Eindhoven up based on emotions. She asked 150 people from Eindhoven how they feel about certain places in the city. Stadhuisplein, for example, is a bit of a sad place. But at the same time, it gives a feeling of freedom. This is because of the skaters who skate there every day.

In Woensel, there is a feeling of belonging, thanks to the people from a wide range of cultures that live in the area. At the same time, those people sometimes miss the customs of their homeland. Each area in Eindhoven has its own feeling, and Bloeme has mapped this out using colourful objects.

Intense

During Dutch Design Week (DDW), the Design Academy’s Bachelors and Masters students present their graduation productions. This takes place during the Graduation Show. According to graduate, Anne Kamps, the students work towards this event throughout their studies.

“It is very intense,” she says. “You get up in the morning and certainly do not feel completely rested”. However, she enjoys it enormously. The visitors are involved and ask a lot of questions. They sometimes even have a viewpoint of her work she had not even thought of yet.

Six-winged chicken, rotating pig, and meatless milking goat

Anne’s graduation project is in response to news about a six-winged chicken. The fast-food chain, KFC, is said to have developed a six-winged chicken. This is so they can get more wings from fewer chickens.

Many readers believe the news; among them, Anne. She wonders what kind of fantasy creatures can be imagined and what kind of fabulous animals actually exist.

The result is a book with a rotating pig ‘of which you can cut slices off more easily’. The meatless milking goat has also been given a place in her work. “I do not have a very strong opinion about my subject at all. I eat meat myself. Not so often, but sometimes I do. It is more about making visitors think about the meat industry. As consumers, they have the power to make their own choices. Sometimes they do not realise that”.

Not only abstract ideas

Many of the projects exhibited at the Graduation Show are abstract. They zoom in on society and make visitors think about social themes. But self-proclaimed ‘very down-to-earth’ graduate Malou Kremers thinks differently.

She made a sleeper-chair. This is a sofa bed which can fold into a chair. In no time at all, you can have a bed or an armchair in your living room. Practical, with no deeper meaning – just a handy, stylish piece of furniture.

The graduates’ works all vary. However, according to Marc Ruis of the Design Academy, there is indeed a connection in the exhibited work. Students are increasingly concerned about the future.

Nature and the environment, for example, are recurring topics. One graduate made new products out of flower waste. Another used human stools as manure. All 181 graduation projects can be seen during DDW in the old Campina factory on Kanaaldijk-Zuid in Eindhoven.

Source: Studio040

Translator: Bob

Editor: Melinda Walraven