This year's Design Week took place in Milan from April 18 - 23. We were there with part of the team. There were many opportunities to gather new inspirations, to exchange ideas and to make new contacts.

The Sustainability Design Lab started the new year 2023 with a public event at the university. The eight designers presented their project progress and provided insights into the diverse topics. We had the opportunity to meet many interested people in this context and entered into a lively exchange.

Julia Dankmer hat mit ihrem Projekt „PI – The Children’s Urinal“ beim Hessischen Staatspreis für Universelles Design den zweiten Platz erreicht. Herzlichen Glückwunsch! Bei ihrer Abschlussarbeit handelt es sich um ein Kinderurinal für Spielplätze. Bei der Preisverleihung hat Julia Dankmer nun von Wirtschaftsminister Tarek Al-Wazir, Staatssekretärin Anne Janz und Lutz Dietzold die Urkunde in der Kategorie „Nachwuchs“ erhalten.

Fotos: Christof Jakob ©

The annual exhibition of the Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts. To create access to the complex and diverse content of our program, we opened our rooms as part of the annual exhibition. We organized an open day and a round table discussion on the topic of "Sustainability in Design". We temporarily transformed the work and group room into an exhibition space. Prototypes, material samples, patterns and a poster exhibition offered diverse insights into the project plans and design processes.

On invitation of the Muthesius Transferpark, during the September Academy, we jointly developed a supporting program with presentations, an exhibition and a closing event for the Thursday evening of the conference. We used this opportunity to invite designers from the "GreenLab", the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art. The Berlin counterpart for sustainable design strategies also links university projects with practice-oriented research and industry, with the aim of inspiring and developing innovative concepts for sustainable and environmentally friendly products and services. Three young designers, Enzo Agger, Nelli Singer and Malu Lücking, accepted our invitation.

Marei Schippmann was invited by Professor Martin Postler, the Industrial Design program at Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts, to participate in a research and networking trip to Japan. From September 09 to 21, Marei was able to deepen her research on traditional woodworking techniques and give a lecture on the SDL at Kobe Design University. We hope to establish a long-term international partnership to Japan together with the industrial design program.

From June to September, Max Boll, Bashar Zapen, Mika Siponen and Peer Kohlmorgen presented their designs and concepts in the exhibition hall in the "Sustainability and Transformation" sector. The festival offered the four exhibitors the chance to come into exchange with companies, start-ups and universities.