Excursions

Excursion report of the Product Design competence field to New York

Parallel to Design Week in New York City, 15 students and 4 lecturers from the Product Design area of expertise visited the most exciting metropolis in the USA in May 2023. In addition to the largest American furniture fair icff (international contemporary furniture fair), the design fair Wanted Design and the design festival NYCxDesignx, the group visited the annual exhibitions of the Parsons School of Design and the Pratt Institute. They also visited the MAD Museum, the Cooper Hewitt, the MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum.

The excursion participants gained insights into everyday working life through studio visits to Huemen Design, INDEED Design and Pensa. The surrounding area was also explored. On a day trip on the silver Amtrak trains along the Hudson River, the group visited the neon light manufacturer Lite Brite Neon in Kingston, New York. In addition to exciting insights into the craft and history of fluorescent tubes, the participants learned a lot about the humour and warmth of the locals on a turbulent return journey by bus.

A trip to Brighton Beach on Coney Island brought the cultural phenomenon of the amusement park closer and helped to reflect on and understand the citizens and the urban-geographical interplay of New York City more comprehensively.

Excursion report: Prof Matthias Ries

HAWK Product Design Students Show Their Work at the Milan Furniture Fair

The Salone del Mobile in Milan is the largest furniture fair in the world. As one of only a few universities and colleges, the HAWK Faculty of Design was given the opportunity to exhibit its work with students from the Product Design competence area. Thirteen students were able to present their work to an international audience as part of the project "A Magic Touch in a Magical World" under the direction of Prof. Matthias Ries.

„We try to get to the bottom of the mysterious something that gives objects a special quality on different levels in different ways and follow its traces. We have designed furniture, lamps and accessories that tell stories of hidden worlds and forgotten cultures," explains Prof. Matthias Ries.

¡Bienvenidos a Bogotá! ??

The "Color & Future" project course was warmly welcomed by the Colombian students. All students explored the city together. The course was able to use the many exciting impressions for trend scouting. The students are looking forward to the intensive exchange at the Universidad del Bosque!

At the Universidad El Bosque in Bogotá, the students discover the colorful campus life and get an insight into the workspaces and workshops. Together with the Colombian students, they work on a workshop about megatrends. The collection of 4,000 scouting images from Colombian and European magazines, blogs and websites will help. The coming together of different design disciplines and cultures creates an inspiring exchange for all participants with an exciting result.

Report and photos: Ronja Podesky

To intensify the partnership with the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB) in Medellín, we traveled to Colombia with a group of students to the university. We got to know the country and its people, gave lectures and held a joint workshop.

The campus life at UPB is impressive. It is a matter of course that people work there every day from morning to evening on campus - for the most part in the fresh air.

You don't have to leave the campus either, because a gym and swimming pool are right on the premises. During our time there, we were also able to make interesting connections with agencies we visited in Medellín.

On the occasion of the exhibition of the Rapid Racer, a 3D-printed vehicle made by HAWK and exhibited at the MAD Museum of Art and Design, we traveled to New York with a group of students. In addition to exhibitions, visits to agencies and offices were also on the agenda.

When you look at the Japanese flag, you know what good design is. To familiarize ourselves with how Japanese designers work, we traveled to Tokyo and Kyoto with a group of students. We established connections with universities, galleries and agencies there and were able to take many impressions back to Hildesheim.

Since 2014, the university partnership between the study programs and fields of study Architecture and Interior Design of the Faculties of Building and Conservation and the Faculty of Design with the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in Vancouver has existed. A very good occasion for the two universities to review the last five years together at a small celebration.

During these years, around 350 students from both universities took part in the various joint activities such as semesters abroad, workshops and excursions in Europe and North America. On this occasion, the German Consul General Dr. Klaus Schmidt from the German Consulate in Vancouver had also agreed to visit. The ceremony took place during the annual "HAWK WEEK" at BCIT.

Dr. Marc Hudy, President of HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen, sent a video message, the deans of all study programs and the partnership coordinators highlighted the successful joint projects in their speeches. The 43 participating students of this year's workshop presented their results. Consul General Dr. Schmidt emphasized the special character of the partnership, which is particularly designed for students to meet and work together.

As part of the partnership, students can study at the respective other university for one to two semesters. In addition, the faculties organize one or two joint workshops each year in Vancouver and Europe. The contact persons for the faculties are Dipl. Ing. Thomas Kauertz at the Faculty of Building and Conservation and Prof. Günter Weber at the Faculty of Design.