International Summer School of Design
16–26 August 2018, Sigulda, LV
PUBLIC LECTURES AT SIGULDA CASTLE COMPLEX
Friday, August 17, 10:30 - 13:30
“NEWSPAPER WOOD”
Mieke Meijer, Roy Letterlé “Studio Mieke Meijer“ (NL)
Designers and teachers at “Design Academy Eindhoven”
“SUSTAINABILITY AND OBJECTS - A CRITICAL VIEW”
Karina Vissonova (DK)
Educator in sustainable design and design philosophy
"Institute of Advanced Design Studies" (HU)
“AN EVERYDAY ABSTRACTION”
Amanda Karsberg, Gabriel Kanulf (SE)
Design duo from Stockholm
Free admission. All lectures will be held in English.
BIOMIMICRY
Human ingenuity may make various inventions, but it will never devise any inventions more beautiful, nor more simple, nor more to the purpose than Nature does; because in her inventions nothing is wanting and nothing is superfluous.
Leonardo Da Vinci
For the majority of our time on the planet as a species, we have been hunters and gatherers. As hunters and gatherers (harvesting nature) and then as agrarians through pre-industrial times (harnessing nature), we paid a great deal of attention to natural systems as a source of knowledge.
Today, when we try to address problems arising from old-economy technologies (such as filtration, adhesion, desalination, energy harvesting), we tend to study the way human’s have problem-solved, rather than looking to nature for advice. However, combining our knowledge of processes with our knowledge of natural systems, we now have the opportunity to build products, artworks and services that are in harmony with natural systems. During these 10 summer school days we will seek for ‘Biomimetic’ solutions for human health and nutrition problems. MAD approach is to combine nature studies with practical hands on experience in 5 workshops assembled within traditional crafts and modern technologies, located in 19th century Sigulda castle yard and it's nearby surroundings.
MAD PHILOSOPHY
To understand design and craftsmanship to the bone, we must take action—do work, create things, experiment with space and materials. Design theory must be tested in real life. Only creative work can produce new values.
An important feature of the environment that can promote creativity at MAD is the nature of the relationship between tutors and students, including high expectations, mutual respect, modelling of creative attitudes, flexibility and dialogue. Student creativity is closely related to opportunities for working collaboratively with tutors, which can productively extend to students self-assessment.
MAD brings together designers, artists, craftsmen and scientists–people who are unlikely to meet under different circumstances. Theories and hypotheses are tested in practice by creating new things and experiences. MAD embraces soft definitions of design and art, by creating useful and aesthetic objects during irresistible authentic work by treating materials, where rules and discipline of crafts evoke a challenge and creativity.
The name MAD for the International Design Summer School is derived from the keywords describing the concept of the school—Man and Design.
PROGRAMME
From the very first day you will find yourself among open–minded people that are ready to die for good design. You will meet designers, craftsmen, artists and engineers as well as design, art and architecture students from all over the world. It will be a gathering of strong personalities that can rarely be found in one place.
The teachers and mentors of the summer school will become your friends; they will share their professional experience and knowledge with you. In their free time while playing football they will reveal how to navigate the uncharted waters of leading your own design studio.
You will have a chance to work in woodwork, blacksmith, bark, ceramic and weaving workshops and get to know the traditional techniques. You will also have access to a design laboratory equipped with 3D printers.
You will be working and staying at two 19th castles in two of the most beautiful towns of Latvia - Sigulda and Krimulda. The diversity of nature will inspire you to work.
Besides workshop activities and lectures about design, crafts, art, science, environment, sustainable lifestyle and nutrition you will go on exciting trips in the valley of Gauja river to get to know your colleagues and teachers better, discover nature, local lifestyle and traditions.
TUTORS AND LECTURERS
SISSEL TOLAAS (NO)
Sissel Tolaas has been working, researching and experimenting intensively with the topic of smell since 1990. She is a pioneer and unique in her approach to smells. She has developed a wide range of revolutionary projects worldwide with smells based upon her own knowledge - organic chemistry, linguistics, and the visual arts. Tolaas established the SMELL RE_searchLab Berlin in January 2004, supported by IFF Inc. Her research and projects have won recognition through numerous national and international scholarships, honours, and prizes. She is very capable at collaborating intensively with those of other disciplines across the globe. Tolaas has shown her projects in many museums and institutions including MOMA, NGV, DIA, CCA, TATE. She has worked with universities such as MIT, Nanyang Technical, Harvard and Oxford.
Sissel has done 52 City SmellScape research projects since 1996, of, for and with major cities. She has build up several types of smell archives such as Smell & Language; Smell & Coding and is currently working on smell molecule preservation /conservation archives on the world’s oceans, decay in Detroit, and Australia’s indigenous past. Tolaas’s collections of smell molecules and smell structures from 1990 till 2018 include 10,000 samples. Since 2014 Tolaas has participated in various start-ups, i.e. in the fields of the senses and education; senses and technology.
STUDIO MIEKE MEIJER (NL)
Studio Mieke Meijer is Dutch design studio founded by Mieke Meijer and Roy Letterlé. They work on self-initiated and commissioned projects from their workshop in Eindhoven (NL). Constructive imagery, tangible materiality and tectonic detailing are the fundamentals of the studio’s strong and recognisable signature. These specific characteristics often relate directly to their architectural references.
Meijer and Letterlé both lecture and give workshops at various educational and cultural Institutions. Currently they are teaching at Design Academy Eindhoven and HKU University of the Arts Utrecht. Furthermore they are co-founders of NewspaperWood BV.
Building methods and construction principles as applied in industrial architecture are an endless source of inspiration for the studio because of their consistency in structure, material and experience. By scaling down components and changing materiality, objects arise that can be used in a domestic or commercial environment but still keep their architectural and autonomous character. The liminal field between architecture and product design enables the studio to move freely, regardless of architectural restrictions and outside the boundaries of the traditional product.
KARINA VISSONOVA (HU)
Karina is the founder of the Institute of Advanced Design Studies in Budapest, Hungary, and a design researcher, creative thinker and an innovation strategist with 20 years experience. Karina has managed and collaborated in game-changing Research & Development, education, community development and multidisciplinary design projects, working with a wide range of businesses, producers of goods, architects, engineers, designers and entrepreneurs in the Nordic region.
Karina attained her PhD in Design at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (2012-2016). Her field of research is Philosophy of Design with the focus on Sustainable Design.
In 2014 and in 2015, She was a guest PhD student at the Delft University of Technology, Ethics/ Philosophy of Technology section.
Since 2014, and in between the projects and free time, Karina attends to her family’s organic winery, permaculture garden and a home restaurant on the St. George's hill (Szent György-hegy).
TŪRS SELGA (LV)
Lead researcher at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Biology, associate professor of the Faculty of Medicine.
CLAUDE OPREA (UK)
"Claudiu Oprea is a multidisciplinary force of nature" - Angelo Vermeulen, Artist and Space Researcher.
Claudiu is a queer artist and a certified permaculture designer, facilitator and educator, member of the Permaculture Association, UK. He facilitates permaculture design courses, runs workshops in universities and schools, foraging walks in cities as well as acting as consultant for various permaculture and educational projects around the world.
His heart is in alternative education, facilitating learning exchanges aimed at finding solutions to the problems we face as a species. His work is inspired by mimicking biological systems and processes.
The forest is his teacher.
AMANDA KARSBERG, GABRIEL KANULF (SE)
Amanda Karsberg is a product and furniture designer. Her work is often permeated by her fascination of the surreal in everyday life, seeking the unexpected in the expected by stretching the common perception of materials, form and functionality. Amanda is one of the co-founders of the design group Cray Collective founded in Stockholm 2013. Gabriel is an artist and graphic designer educated at Konstfack University and Critical Architecture at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm.
Gabriels research oriented artistic practice investigates the relationship between ideology, production, form and content. As well as publishing in public space as liberating action and collective resistance. Gabriel has experience from collaborating in interdisciplinary settings, both his design and artistic practice as well as tutoring at Konstfack University.
Amanda and Gabriel are working both together and individually with various projects utilizing their different backgrounds and skills. They work in the intersection of design, art and architecture.
MĀRCIS ZIEMIŅŠ (LV)
Mārcis graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven ‘Man and Living’ Department in 2012. For his graduation project he created a backpack-size sauna, which presumably is the smallest sauna on Earth. Since then he has worked on various interdisciplinary projects experimenting with gastronomy, design, theatre, music and technology. Mārcis is the Creative Director of gastronomic performance series Untamed Dinner.
RIHARDS FUNTS (LV)
Rihards is industrial designer and have been running design studio since 2007. The specific character of studio was formed by combining design, craft, art, science and social responsibility, simultaneously ensuring high quality of the product. Besides his work at the studio Rihards is a tutor and mentor at international design, art and entrepreneurship workshops. He has been a lecturer of design thinking at the Design Department of the Art Academy of Latvia and at the Wood Design Department at Riga School of Design and Art. His design studio has been awarded in several local and international product and graphic design competitions, his work has been published by Gestalten, Laurence King Publishing, Rockport Publishing.
MASTERS
JĀNIS STRAUPE (LV)
Jānis Straupe’s objects can make us rethink everything we know about furniture design. Among his works is A Chair within a Chair, The Double Table, the one with a tilted surface top, The Sharp Chair, which is included in the collection of the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, and the internationally recognized cabinet The Beetle. For the master himself the biggest joy is a chance to challenge—his colleagues and gravitation.
The great woodworker’s workshop in Vecmīlgrāvis, Riga is where he does two types of projects: one is exclusive commissions, furniture and interior objects; the other is his personal creative pursuits: installations, tables, chairs, chests of drawers, etc., inspired by surrealism and made with the precision of a mathematician. Straupe recalls what he once heard from restorers: medieval craftsmen believed God saw everything, including the inside of every work, so it also had to be done with care. This sort of perfectionism is what describes Straupe’s work, but what drives him is his own maximalism.
RIHARDS VIDZICKIS (LV)
The work of Rihards Vidzickis perfectly merges seemingly different industries—craftsmanship, science and tourism. Having studied the nuances of woodcraft for a lengthy period of time, he then went on to study for a doctoral degree in Engineering from the Riga Technical university. At the same time Rihards set up the Vienkoči Park in Ligatne, with the carefully curated Woodcraft Museum as its central object. Rihards talks about wood, and particularly solid wood pieces, with great enthusiasm, but he also has something to say about craftsmanship, it's outlook in Latvia and it's relationship with design in a broader sense.
The idea on creating a Woodcraft Museum came to Rihards in 1999, when after graduating from the Riga Secondary School of Crafts, Faculty of Woodwork, Rihards began his studies at the Riga Technical University. Rihards was supported by his father, a wood craftsman himself, who not only encouraged his son’s interest, but had also gathered a solid collection of pieces to start an exposition. The nearly ten–hectare wide territory under the name of Vienkoči Park has been open for visitors for over 10 years. The master’s signature pieces are made of one–piece wood—log boats, kneading troughs and other bowls. Although this seems very niche, Rihards is not lacking in clients. He is a member of the Northmen craftsman guild, and the majority of pieces he creates are commissioned from abroad.
MASTERS
JĀNIS STRAUPE (LV)
Jānis Straupe’s objects can make us rethink everything we know about furniture design. Among his works is A Chair within a Chair, The Double Table, the one with a tilted surface top, The Sharp Chair, which is included in the collection of the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, and the internationally recognized cabinet The Beetle. For the master himself the biggest joy is a chance to challenge—his colleagues and gravitation.
The great woodworker’s workshop in Vecmīlgrāvis, Riga is where he does two types of projects: one is exclusive commissions, furniture and interior objects; the other is his personal creative pursuits: installations, tables, chairs, chests of drawers, etc., inspired by surrealism and made with the precision of a mathematician. Straupe recalls what he once heard from restorers: medieval craftsmen believed God saw everything, including the inside of every work, so it also had to be done with care. This sort of perfectionism is what describes Straupe’s work, but what drives him is his own maximalism.
RIHARDS VIDZICKIS (LV)
The work of Rihards Vidzickis perfectly merges seemingly different industries—craftsmanship, science and tourism. Having studied the nuances of woodcraft for a lengthy period of time, he then went on to study for a doctoral degree in Engineering from the Riga Technical university. At the same time Rihards set up the Vienkoči Park in Ligatne, with the carefully curated Woodcraft Museum as its central object. Rihards talks about wood, and particularly solid wood pieces, with great enthusiasm, but he also has something to say about craftsmanship, it's outlook in Latvia and it's relationship with design in a broader sense.
The idea on creating a Woodcraft Museum came to Rihards in 1999, when after graduating from the Riga Secondary School of Crafts, Faculty of Woodwork, Rihards began his studies at the Riga Technical University. Rihards was supported by his father, a wood craftsman himself, who not only encouraged his son’s interest, but had also gathered a solid collection of pieces to start an exposition. The nearly ten–hectare wide territory under the name of Vienkoči Park has been open for visitors for over 10 years. The master’s signature pieces are made of one–piece wood—log boats, kneading troughs and other bowls. Although this seems very niche, Rihards is not lacking in clients. He is a member of the Northmen craftsman guild, and the majority of pieces he creates are commissioned from abroad.
WORKSHOPS
BLACKSMITH WORKSHOP BY ANDRIS ŠĶEGLOVS
WOOD BARK WORKSHOP BY VIZMA ZVIRBULE
CERAMIC WORKSHOP BY OSVALDS CĀNS, ELIZABETE CĀNS AND GATIS KLEINBERGS
WEAVING WORKSHOP BY LINDA DŽERIŅA-RIEKSTIŅA
ORGANIC FARMS
Weaving workshop by Linda Džeriņa-Riekstiņa
WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES BY SISSEL TOLAAS, TŪRS SELGA AND CLAUDE OPREA WILL BE HELD AT LOCAL ORGANIC FARMS.
INTO THE BODY
MORNING SESSIONS
SABINA ABDULAJEVA (DE)
Sabina is designing and realising learning experiences for adults and children since 2009. She facilitates workshops and interventions within companies, universities and cultural institutions. Her work is rooted in the quest for innovating education and is dedicated to human creativity, collaboration, personal sustainability and wellbeing. Learning tools she uses come from the intersection of embodiment training and visual arts, movement and awareness, contemplation and expression. She also grows laforesta.co - a forest of stories and interdisciplinary encounters based in Berlin.
The basis of this workshop is learning to pay attention to the body, its subjective experiences and how they influence who we are, and thus to be actively responsible for one’s own life and well-being. This process involves paying attention to the present moment, without trying to make it be different than what it is – this way of being honestly present can be described as embodied and unified attention. Training attention we expand our choices: when we become aware of what is happening our choices move from unconscious automatisms to mindful decisions. With our choices we sculpt our lives. This class will combine movement, awareness and other embodiment practices, as well as give some theoretical insights. We become what we practice, so training awareness, expanding our movement and breathing capacities, we learn to embody new ways of being, because body is not a fixated being, it is a process, in constant movement.
CHEF
KASPARS KRŪMIŅŠ (LV)
Kaspars will be the chief in our kitchen and makes our days in MAD much more special and spicy. Kaspars is an open mind chef with more than 14-years experience working in high-class restaurants not only in Latvia but also in Greece and Italy. Kaspars is passionate to use seasonal products from local farmers and he has always the finger on the pulse of when everything is at its best. Kaspar's offer to enjoy unique taste combination crossing with his innovative cooking techniques.
LOCATION
The summer school will take place in Sigulda—a mid–sized town on the ridge of the Gauja river valley. The surroundings of Sigulda have a charmingly aristocratic feel due to the old manors of Sigulda, Krimulda and Turaida. The scenery of Sigulda has inspired many painters and sculptors, and we are confident that it will stir your imagination as well. Sigulda lies only 50 km from the capital city Riga and delivers outdoor adventures in all seasons. The omnipresent nature is the town’s greatest asset, but the old crafts, perfected in tens and hundreds of years, is something to learn from, to study and to apply in new ways.
Sigulda New Castle together with its surrounding premises and a garden creates area for people of Sigulda and their guest to spend time, interact and learn. It provides space and infrastructure for everyone no matter if local craftsman, creative person, thinker or a dreamer. Reconstruction of ancient buildings of Sigulda New Castle area has started, idea of business incubator is just approved and will be implemented till the end of year 2016, four workshops with different crafts and used materials are open and some more are to come. It is a great will and hard work ahead to revive Sigulda New Castle area within next few years.
STUDENTS
Adelaide Lala Tam / Graduate of the Food Non-Food department at the Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands
Alexandra Genis / Graduate of the Food Non-Food department at the Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands
Anna Diljá Sigurðardóttir / Studying at Food Non-Food department Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands
Britt van den Berg / Studying product design at Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, Netherlands
Cameron R. Kursel / Studying architecture at University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, United States
Cora Schmelzer, Graduate "Product design" at Hochschule Darmstadt, Germany
Emma Sicher / Master Degree in Product Service System Design (LM12) Faculty of Design at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Franz Siebler / MA studies in Architecture studies at the University of Arts in Berlin, Germany
Gundega Strauberga / Studying at Man and Motion department Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands
Jakob Christian Hubmann / Studying Product design at HTBLVA Ortweinschule, Graz, Austria
Jessie Eeles / Graduate of the University of Brighton in 3D Design and Craft, Great Britain
Jozef Eduard Masarik / Art and Design studies at Academy of Fine Arts and Design Bratislava, Slovakia
Katrina Pelikan / Graduate at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of the Arts Richmond, United States
Magda Mojsiejuk / Graduate of the Industrial design department at School of Form in Poznan, Poland
Marek Głogowski / BA degree in Design at Warsaw Academy of Fine Art, Poland
Mathis Broussot / Studying at Man and Activity department Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands
Merle Bergers / Graduate of the Man and Food department Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands
Moe Asari / Studying Three dimensional design at Camberwell College of arts, Great Britain
Pauline Wiersema / Graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands
Sebastian Sailer/ Studying at Faculty of Design, University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt, Germany
Tamara Pesic / Studying at Faculty of Design, University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt, Germany
Vivian Seffinga / Studying Product Design at the University of Applied Science Amsterdam, Netherlands
Weronika Banas / MA degree in Design at Warsaw Academy of Fine Art, Poland
Zhyldyz Kozhoiarova / Studying Domestic Design at the School of Form in Poznań, Poland
TEAM
RIHARDS FUNTS
PROGRAMME DIRECTOR
Rihards is an industrial designer and has been running his design studio since 2007. The specific character of the studio was formed by combining design, craft, art, science and social responsibility, simultaneously ensuring a high quality of the product. Besides his work in the studio Rihards is a tutor and mentor at international design, art and entrepreneurship workshops. He has been a lecturer of design thinking at the Design Department of the Art Academy of Latvia and at the Wood Design Department at Riga School of Design and Art. His design studio has been awarded in several local and international product and graphic design competitions, his work has been published by Gestalten, Laurence King Publishing, Rockport Publishing.
LIENE KUPLĀ
ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR
For more than six years Liene has been involved in a number of projects that have advanced the growth of creative industries in Latvia. Up until the end of 2015 Liene served as managing director of Riga creative industries business incubator, helping over 150 young businesses grow and create new products. In 2016 she served as manager of Sigulda New Castle area. Liene took 1st place in a competition on the making of the first state–owned creative quarter in a former tobacco factory in Riga as well as won a contest on developing a creative quarter in the Sigulda.
TOMS LUCĀNS
LAB LEADER
After the splendid graduation of Design Academy Eindhoven and MAD, Toms joined the team to boost the power of makers.
KLINTA HARJU
PROJECT MANAGER
After journalist and public relation studies in University, she worked in public TV channel and international advertising agency. Klinta has experience working in a wide range business as a project manager and also with the social influence, managing projects in one of the biggest non-governmental, non-profit humanitarian organization - Latvian Red Cross. Producing of Latvian pavilion for Venice Architecture Biennale 2018 and developing of Latvian fashion brand Cinamon Concept, are just two samples of Klintas works in cultural management and creative industries.
CONTACT
RIHARDS FUNTS
+371 29131152
rihards@designsummerschool.com
LIENE KUPLĀ
+371 26185718
liene@designsummerschool.com
MAD International Summer School of Design
is affiliated with the Institute of Advanced Design Studies
and Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art
MAD International Summer School of Design is in network with Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship
© 2018 MAD
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