Pikku-Finlandia started as a student competition entry in 2019 at the Aalto University’s School of Arts, Design and Architecture, but quickly became much more, eventually being realised and built as part of a three-part graduation thesis. Its authors, Elli Wendelin and Jaakko Torvinen, collaborated on this impressive feat, titled ‘Part I: From Finlandia Forest to Pikku-Finlandia – Design for a Transportable Wooden Building’.

Pikku-Finlandia (‘Little Finlandia’) is situated in Helsinki’s Töölönlahti bay. It is planned to host an event and meeting venue filling in for Finlandia Hall (the iconic building designed by renowned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto), which is set to undergo renovations between 2022 and 2025. The initial concept of the project was developed by students Jaakko Torvinen, Elli Wendelin, Havu Järvelä and Stine Pedersen in collaboration with their professor Pekka Heikkinen and architects Arkkitehdit NRT Oy. The building is designed to be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere afterwards. ‘[It could be] for example, an educational space in other parts of Helsinki for at least 30 years,’ suggest the team.

Its structural columns, constructed from 95 Scots pine trunks, were handpicked from the forests in Loviisa, on Finland's southern coast. Torvinen was interested in exploring the principles of Reversible Building Design through this project: ‘My aim was to design how Pikku-Finlandia can be dismantled and transported to the next location in Helsinki to serve for example as a school or kindergarten.’

Wendelin adds: ‘I was initially interested in the life cycle impacts of a wooden building, and the temporary nature of the Pikku-Finlandia case gave an interesting perspective for the study.’

The two graduates share a design ethos rooted in a sensitivity for environmental issues. Wendelin hopes to collaborate with designers who value ecological sustainability. ‘I think that carbon footprint assessment should become a solid part of decision making in architectural design, within any country or practice,’ she says.

Torvinen adds : ‘I would like to change the thinking of architecture from static to dynamic. It should be seen as a flexible and mutable process.’

Today, both Wendelin and Torvinen work as architects based in Helsinki, while the latter also teaches at the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. 

Dream collaborators: Kunlé Adeyemi and Francis Kéré 

INFORMATION

jaakkotorvinen.com

Our Next Generation showcase of outstanding new talents appears in the January 2022 issue of Wallpaper* (W*273). Subscribe today!

Kamal Ranchod explores ‘phantoms of the past’ as he investigates colonial remnants of Cairo’s modernisation period in his graduate thesis, ‘Hyperreal Perspicuities: Multi-Narrative Reconstructions of Modern Egypt’. Ranchod graduated from the University of Johannesburg Graduate School of Architecture in 2021, with a series of architectural explorations depicting ‘colonial hauntings’ and the subsequent multiple narratives surrounding key events in Egyptian history.

‘I am intrigued by figuring out ways architecture can draw the invisible’, and ‘the way we tell stories and reconstruct memories’, he says.

The thesis uses a series of beautiful, intricate drawings, modelling, projection mapping and immersive video as mediums to critically engage with the past, reworking different representations at the same time. By adopting views that aren't fixed, his method warps perspectives and builds upon new panoramic vistas, allowing for new cartographies to form.

He explains: ‘These changing viewpoints make us question what we thought we knew, by allowing us to approach an embodied experience through multiple viewpoints.’ Through the visual overlapping of events, he can examine ‘ways in which people can collectively fill gaps within the historical archive’.

Growing up in Johannesburg, Ranchod was first inspired by the playful designs of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. ‘His work inspired me to really push what I imagined. Ever since starting my journey I have grown more fascinated with how architecture intersects with so many facets of life while creating and manifesting the nuanced and hidden ephemerality around us,’ he says.

Ranchod is currently working as an architect in Johannesburg. He continues to develop his research in augmented and virtual reality: ‘I find architecture is a powerful tool of dialogue, creation and reflection. I would like to develop further in the field of speculation and history to find new ways of working that can reveal new information and experiences,’ he adds.

Dream collaborators: film industry professionals working with ‘imaginative and speculative approaches’, and architectural research studios, such as Forensic Architecture.

INFORMATION

thekamalio.wixsite.com

Our Next Generation showcase of outstanding new talents appears in the January 2022 issue of Wallpaper* (W*273). Subscribe today!

‘Cripping Architecture’, the powerful thesis of Shaina Yang, reimagines our world for a ‘different assumed “neutral” body type’. Yang received her master of architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2021, where her thesis project was jointly awarded the James Templeton Kelley Prize for best final design project and the Clifford Wong Prize for best housing design project.

‘Cripping Architecture’ subverts the world’s current, predominantly exclusionary spatial designs, and asks: ‘What does architecture designed for a completely different archetype of body look like?’ Yang explains: ‘As a verb, reclaimed from the slur, “crip” has been in use by the disabled community since the 1960s to describe the act of applying a disability lens to able-privileged spaces, conversations, and practices.

‘The discomfort the term can spark in able-bodied people is exactly the kind of space I wanted to put them in, as they were assessing the project: acknowledging the radicalism behind designing explicitly for a community that has long been excluded from the entire practice of architecture,’ she says.

‘I dreamed of what the world might look like if it was designed to different assumptions,’ she says.

Drawing from her own experience as an able-passing person and rejecting the imposed universalisms of what bodies should be, she carves out an architectural language centred on the ramp, ‘the crux of wheelchair accessibility’ as ‘a tool: for empathy, for liberation, for dialogue, for wonder. By rejecting “access” altogether, it creates a cripped architecture for us, by us.’

Yang’s route to architecture is a less conventional one. ‘I applied to the MArch programme whilst working full-time in London as a trends analyst and insights consultant,’ she says.

It was during that time that she became interested in architecture's relationship to various networks of power, particularly in housing. ‘It’s inseparable from other core issues of class, racial inequality and environmental crisis,’ she says.

For Yang, architecture ‘means being extremely judicious and equitable with one of our most precious finite resources today: space’. She wishes to work ‘carefully and collaboratively’ with a range of organisations, from Nasa to her peers from both the architecture and development fields, but also communities that exist outside of these establishments, such as mutual aid networks and marginalised communities. 

Today, Yang works as an architect at Adam Sokol Architecture Practice and lives with her husband in Los Angeles. She has also co-founded a design research collective and mini-studio called yangboydvu. Dream collaborator: Nasa

INFORMATION

shaina-yang.com

Our Next Generation showcase of outstanding new talents appears in the January 2022 issue of Wallpaper* (W*273). Subscribe today!

Matthew Avallone explores notions of displacement and reclamation of land in his graduate project ‘La Sagrada Familia: The Collective Unification of Tijuana’s Displaced Youth’.

The Royal College of Art (RCA) graduate’s thesis was subsequently nominated for a slew of awards, including RIBA’s Silver Medal, The Architect’s Journal Student Prize, RCA’s Head of Programme’s Prize, and RCA’s Image/Drawing Prize. 

Avallone draws on his own upbringing. He grew up in San Diego, on the US side of Tijuana’s border, which is one of the most hostile international borders in the world for asylum seekers, he says. ‘I observed first hand the divide created in this context and the resulting physical and emotional displacement.’

His project zooms into the youth of Tijuana through La Sagrada Familia (‘Holy Family’), a group of artists, designers, and musicians who occupy and repurpose empty infrastructures across the city for artist studios, fashion shows, exhibitions, parties and protests.

The design is a 10,000 sq m vacant ‘inhabitable park-scape where DIY occupation manifests, allowing for uninhibited congregations, parties, protests, music, art and self-expression’.

It is realised through a choreographic ‘participatory excavation of the site’, explains Avallone. This digging ‘acts as a form of subversion to the politically charged locale’ as a mirrored inflatable canopy floats above the structure.

The drawings elaborately distort the horizon and site in such a way that structure and land become ritualistic excavations of liberation, not bound by border politics and therefore ‘unifying displaced youth and fighting feelings of limbo’. 

Avallone is currently based in New York City. His research asks ‘what does it mean for architecture to be human centred?’ as he aims to bridge holistic and empathetic architectural design methods. He hopes to incorporate ‘localised research and relevant human stories into a project, while maintaining the design and artistic integrity’ in his practice. 

Dream collaborators: Food New York and Playlab in Los Angeles, in line with an open, community-led approach.

INFORMATION

mattavallone.com

Marcus LawsonCoventry School of Art and Design, UK

Lawson's 'Eurybia' is a conceptual fire-fighting plane, an increasingly pressing need in this era of rapid climate change, inspired by the iconic Bombardier 415 'superscooper' with an efficient 'closed wing'. Lawson is also predicting a post-combustion engine future for our roads, citing Volvo as a current pioneer, as well as drawing inspiration from the creations of Lego.

Dream collaborator: Peter Horbury, Head of Design at Geely
behance.net/Marcuslawson

Jude FanCoventry School of Art and Design, UK

'I'm inspired by the great cars of the early 2000s,' says Fan, 'the BMW Z4, Lamborghini Murcielago, Aston Martin DB9.' Fan also rates contemporary designs by Mazda and Volvo, as well as the new auto start-ups, and expects the end of conventional car ownership and a greater emphasis on efficiency. Fan's conceptual ecosystem blends architecture, technology and mobility. 'I designed the house floorplan around the vehicle to provide with a seamless experience, improved people flow and connection linking private, public space.'

Dream Collaborator: Jony Ive
behance.net/Judedesign

Haoyue JiaUmeå Institute of Design, Sweden

Jia's impressively conceived Volvo Compact Concept previews a small city car for the year 2030. 'I see mobility as an approach to freedom of movement; it doesn't matter if private ownership no longer exists.' Mixing the Swedish company's purist design language with the practicalities of urban travel, the VCC is small but perfectly formed. 'At Umeå I was influenced by other disciplines, like product and interaction design.' Currently working in China, Jia believes an autonomous world is 'just around the corner.'

Dream collaborator: Waymo, Google's self-driving project
behance.net/bigbian

Marc FaulhaberHochschule Für Design, Pforzheim, Germany

Marc Faulhaber's VW Concept encapsulates his view that 'many people see the car changing from a status symbol towards a pure object of utility.' The modular design can swap out a passenger compartment for freight and vice versa, with lines evolved from VW's crisp contemporary approach. Faulhaber cites recent Mazda designs as being especially strong and is currently working at design and engineering specialists Volke.

Dream collaborator: An open-minded, innovative and future-oriented company
marc_faulhaber@t-online.de

Saurabh NimsarkarArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, USA

Nimsarkar's Mod-Liv is 'a home on wheels for an autonomous era,' a fusion of automotive design cues with a modular mobile home approach. 'It questions our current day dwelling and placemaking practices and embraces nomadic and minimal lifestyles,' he says. Like many other Transportation graduates, Nimsarkar envisions a future of improved infrastructure and smarter connectivity. 'Car brands will embrace and offer personal mobility devices as a part of their eco-system'. Inspiration comes from the work of Ora ïto and Superflux, as well as a world beyond commercial and marketing agendas.

Dream collaborator: Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby from Dunne and Raby
be.net/saurabhnimsarkar

Thibaud PorcherotStrate School of Design, Paris, France

Porcherot's Land Rover Icelander looks forward to a world of automotive experiences, driven by brands and technology, but distinct and different from conventional car owning. 'Mobility design is no longer about designing a beautiful car or object – it's about about creating meaningful vehicles.' Porcherot admires the interior-focused concepts developed using 'outside-in' design. 'I try to be curious. The social aspect is becoming more and more important in mobility, and I think that's something we can learn from architecture or product design.'

Dream collaborator: Raphael Le Masson, automotive interior design at Citroen
behance.net/thporche1216

INFORMATION

SEE MORE OF THE 2019 GRADUATE DIRECTORY

Corentin LerouxÉCAL, Switzerland

Inspired by Ukraine’s political situation, New Dawn Fades questions the West’s fascination with former Soviet Bloc aesthetics. Focusing on image-building ‘for economic, cultural or political purposes’, Leroux examines the fine line between truth and entertainment.

Dream collaborator: Thom Yorke
corentinleroux.com

Jesper HouborgLondon College of Communication, UK

Houborg’s We Are Still Here is a visual investigation into the zeitgeist of postcolonial Zimbabwe, now emerging from decades of political oppression and financial hardship. His considered documentary images build an empathetic picture of everyday difficulties and hopes.

Dream collaborators: The New Yorker, MoMA
jesperhouborg.com

Hugo YuThe School of Visual Arts, USA

Yu’s practice seamlessly combines studio works and street photography. While Yu meticulously composes his still lifes himself, his street shots use the world around him to create a dialogue of form and colour, blurring the line between authenticity and fiction.

Dream collaborator: Peter Saville
hugoyu.com

Alex ColleyUniversity of South Wales, UK

Drawing on archival material from his parents’ roles as civil servants within the Ministry of Defence, Colley has created a performative series on monotony, stress and detachment. Guy Debord’s Marxist theories are also a point of reference in this curious integration of photography, video and sound.

Dream collaborator: Jack Davison
alexcolley.co.uk

Eugénie FrerichsThe University of Hartford, USA

Turning an obsessive eye to the overlooked, Frerichs’ Water Salad imagines a Californian’s daily experience during a severe drought. With visceral depictions of water, we are confronted with wilting vegetables and floods. There’s clarity, and murkiness too, in keeping with the liquid itself.

Dream collaborator: Pina Bausch
eugeniefrerichs.com

David BarreiroThe Royal College of Art, UK

By subverting the norms of labour in a series of staged photographs, Barreiro’s A Breach of Margins reflects on the ‘tensions between technology and manual work, the performance of masculinity, or the human body as a material in production processes.’

Dream collaborator: Roman Signer
davidbarreiro.com

Josje van StekelenburgRoyal Academy of Art (KABK), Netherlands

The formative transition into adulthood can be difficult as we move from the comfort of childhood into an unknown, complex future. Van Stekelenburg’s Growing Pains captures this trepidation expressively; she describes the work as a ‘safety blanket’ that reminds her there is no clear path to follow.

Dream collaborator: Susanne Sundfør
josjest.com

Angela BlažanovićThe Cass, UK

Blažanović’s project Fragments of a River reimagines forgotten narratives of objects salvaged from the banks of the River Thames. Rhythmic sculptural arrangements breathe new life into bottles and pipes, while repeated images of the river itself reflect the water’s flow and form.

Dream collaborators: Fischli and Weiss
angelablazanovic.com

Justin CarterNova Scotia College of Art, Canada

With a preference for the book form, Carter produces in-depth sequences such as Camp. Shot intensively over a week, it is an intimate look at the microcosm of a kids’ summer camp. It’s a half-real world of card games in the sand, naps in rubber rings and whispers between friends.

Dream collaborator: Lydia Davis
justincarterphoto.com

Yilin WangRoyal College of Art, UK

Wang’s moulded silver wire undergarment is designed to bear tension and is surprisingly resilient. When worn, its intricate weave embosses the skin. ‘I wanted to conceptualise the beautiful and delicate nature behind the archetype of the submissive and silent East Asian female,’ says Wang.

Jing JiangCentral Saint Martins, UK

The ancient Chinese technique of tian-tsui, where blue kingfisher feathers are used to inlay and cover the surfaces of ornaments, is subverted in Jiang’s designs. Her modern, sustainability-consious take utilises discarded poultry feathers to create exquisitely technical jewellery pieces.

Erinn M CoxEstonian Academy of Arts, Estonia

Cox’s satisfyingly weighty designs are constructed of hundreds of tightly wound rings of oxidised copper. Pieced together with thick slabs of metal and crafted silver, her work expresses the suffering and burden of grief in physical form.

Zihan ZhouBirmingham School of Jewellery, UK

Zhou’s tags in brass, gold, steel and diamonds are an observation on the unending nature of desire. Rather than remaining unworn, they become a precious adornment in their own right, ensuring every shirt is permanently new.

Micah BarrettYale School of Art, US

Barrett’s variable font experiments explore text’s relationship to imagery, in an attempt ‘to infuse graphic design’s legacy of “text as image” into a contemporary digital environment’.

Hugo Dumont and Anthony VernereyENSAD, France

The French duo devoted their joint project to the world of Instagram, using graphic design to imagine alternative futures. ‘We questioned the fact that this social network could create a fake world where appearance takes over from content.’

Aurelia PeterZurich University of the Arts, Switzerland

‘My interest in ritual masks was the starting point of this project,’ says Peter of her work, Through the Mask, which embraces graphic and textile design. It includes a scarf that is designed to swathe and conceal or open up the wearer to the world in a ‘graphic transition’.

Maximilian HaslauerABK Stuttgart, Germany

Haslauer’s vibrant poster designs splice the aesthetics and sensibilities of pop and jazz using only typography. ‘Niklaus Troxler is definitely an inspiration; he taught at ABK and is the number one poster designer when you think about jazz,’ he says.

Sapir ZivCentral Saint Martins, UK

Ziv’s ‘Dynamic Grid’ uses random forms to change typography and layouts. ‘I was prompted to think about systems to manipulate and defamiliarise existing letterforms.’ Ziv’s 26 booklets take you through the alphabet, with each letter altered by a machine-generated code.

Dávid MolnárÉCAL, Switzerland

Molnár’s typographic work explores an early family of serif typefaces named Didot, after French printer and type pioneer Firmin Didot. Molnár’s own take on Didot reinterprets the history for modern mediums and needs.

Tania Alvarez ZaldivarYale School of Art, US

Focusing on the Japanese philosopher Kitarō Nishida’s aesthetics of nothingness, this compilation includes texts by the likes of Kengo Kuma and Richard Neutra. Alvarez Zaldivar illustrated the essays with dense drawings of interpolated lines that evolve through the book.

Vitek SkopUMPRUM, Czech Republic

Written, illustrated and typeset by Skop, Madame Monsieur is a limited-edition novella set in Lyon and focusing on the ‘changing roles of men and women in society’. The Czech designer, who has owed text around the bold graphic illustrations, ‘wanted to create a graphic novel’.

Laura CsocsanMoholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Hungary

Csocsan describes Zorn as ‘a typeface that I had not planned to design’. The letterforms were shaped by the desire to capture the dynamic feel and contrast of sketches. ‘The contrast is not always consistent, so the letters have this somewhat odd feel to them,’ she says.

Xiaotu TangLondon College of Fashion, UK

Tang’s accessories collection incorporates recycled packaging to propose ‘new directions for luxury goods’. Classic shapes have upcycled updates, like a bucket bag made from milk bottles or an umbrella holder formed from a stack of Diet Coke cans. Andy Warhol also provided inspiration.

Dream collaborator: Hermès
@xiaotu.t

Natalie RushtonLondon College of Fashion, UK

Rushton’s fluid, gender-subverting menswear collection draws on her British and Japanese heritage, referencing pictures of her grandparents from the 1950s. Suiting appears oversized in sugary tones, blousons have dandyish pussy bow collars, and silk wool halternecks are paired with pearls.

Dream collaborator: Tim Walker
natalierushton.com

Mirjami NymanAalto University, Finland

Inspired by dentist uniforms, Nyman’s collection features oversized, medical scrubs-toned plastic suiting, paired with plastic-swathed court shoes. ‘I like to take humorous references but produce something that is taken seriously,’ she says.

Dream collaborator: German band Easter
@mirsuke

Adam SwärdBeckmans College of Design, Sweden

To categorise fashion into male or female is to hinder creativity,’ says Swärd, whose collection includes high-waisted trousers, transparent beaded tops and asymmetric blouses. ‘No silhouettes, materials or styles are o limits,’ says the designer, citing Grace Wales Bonner as inspiration.

Dream collaborator: Tilda Swinton

Alvaro MarsIED Barcelona, Spain

‘I wanted to create something contemporary from my Spanish roots,’ says Mars, whose multi-buttoned Puritan collar coats, claret-panelled bodysuits and bulbous dresses draw on amenco culture, Baroque theatre and the sartorial heritage of 19th century Spanish couturiers.

Dream collaborator: Comme des Garçons
@alvaromarsinfo

Vanessa Agostini (pictured left)Università Iuav di Venezia, Italy

Agostini, who recently interned at Raf Simons, references Bernard Rudofsky’s 1971 book The Unfashionable Human Body in her collection, which incorporated digital printing and features ribbed knit bodysuits and oversized trousers that appear undone and fall away from the body.

Dream collaborator: Stella McCartney
@agostinivanessa

Mary Crisp (pictured above, right)Savannah College of Art and Design, US

Drawing on the mismatched interiors in her grandmother’s home, Crisp’s padded silhouettes focus on transforming the wearer into a chintzy piece of soft furniture, with dungarees and evening dresses emblazoned with oral prints, Delftware patterns and tufty fringing.

Dream collaborator: John Galliano
marycatherinecrisp.com

Elin ArvidssonSwedish School of Textiles, Sweden

Arvidsson’s collection of spliced and reformed designs, which features raw edge pyjama silhouettes and underwear dangling with loose threads, has an undone appeal. A palette of delicate pinks, beiges and creams, meanwhile, is a nod to the ‘tones of beautified femininity’.

Dream collaborator: Olafur Eliasson
elin.a_95@hotmail.com

Nensi DojakaCentral Saint Martins, UK

Dojaka’s underwear-inspired collection features mini skirts, bra tops and cycling shorts, constructed from gauzy, ruched, panelled fabrics. She says, ‘I began by collecting 1990s images that translated the mood of a poem I love, Anne Sexton’s Her Kind’. 

Dream collaborator: Melanie Ward
nensidojaka.com

Skye GwillimRoyal College of Art, UK

Gwillim’s accessories collection began with her taking photos of London commuters, some with laptop cases squeezed between their legs or juggling multiple bags. Her minimalist, hardware-free leather accessories, with body-shaped grooves, mould to and become extensions of the body.

Dream collaborator: Marianne Wex
@skyegwillim

Alex LuontoAalto University, Finland

Referencing protective welding uniforms and A Nightmare on Elm Street, Luonto’s menswear collection features tailored jackets in slick buckled leather, shrunken mohair vests in Freddy Krueger-style red-and-black stripes, and metal embellishments formed using nails, nose hoops and key rings.

Dream collaborator: Marimekko
@alexluonto

Shinichi HagaCentral Saint Martins, UK

In Haga’s suiting-focused menswear collection, volume is key; the juxtaposition of shrunken and oversized features references the 1980s Buffalo movement. High-waisted trousers nod to Japanese workwear, and handmadebelt buckles are lacquered using the urushi technique.

Dream collaborator: Henry Poole & Co.
@shinichihaga0310

Gloria RegotzInstitute of Fashion Design, Switzerland

Regotz’s collection features graphic dresses cinched with belts made from computer chipboard, and a stretchy sweatshirt with two necks, to be worn by two people together. ‘I worked around this sense of being connected,’ she says. ‘Even if the wearers try, they can’t get away from each other.’

Dream collaborator: Dimitra Petsa
@gloriaregotz

Camila FukumothiLondon College of Fashion, UK

Fukumothi’s jackets, coats and bags, made from a polyester and paper bre, resemble folded pieces of cardboard. ‘I’m fascinated by layering and innovative construction that emphasises shape and form,’ she says, citing Rachel Whiteread and Hussein Chalayan as inspiration.

Dream collaborator: Craig Green
@camilakfukumothi

Khorshid Naderi-AzadHarvard Graduate School of Design, US

The Jiggly, Chewable, Hardly Reducible San Giuseppe Ball Hall is an imagined counterpoint to its ‘perfectly symmetrical’ neighbour, Foster + Partners’ Apple Park in Silicon Valley. It proposes a new rigour for the ‘bulbous’ and the ‘anexact’, says Naderi-Azad, who currently works at KPF New York.

Dream collaborator: Zaha Hadid, Ian Schrager
khokhonut.com

Valeria Laura SzegalRoyal College of Art, UK

Inspired by a theatrical event on Moscow’s historic Garden Ring, Szegal shows how a one-off happening could be the catalyst for long-term urban transformation with the help of a stop-frame animation film. Russian-born Szegal, who grew up in Hungary, is currently working as a 3D-designer in London.

Dream collaborator: Peter Märkli
valeriaszegal@gmail.com

Yi Jennifer Yip The University of Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, city development is often prioritised over preservation of environment. Since the colonial rule, Hong Kong has relied heavily on reclamation for its urban growth.

Dream collaborator: Dreamers, activists, rule breakers
jyip0203@gmail.com

Meg AndersonUniversity of California, Berkeley, US

Anderson’s project investigates the potential of a maze as the starting point for a communal social housing model. The design acknowledges the psychological impact of collective living, and promotes the act of wandering, getting lost and chance meetings. Anderson currently works for SO-IL.

Dream collaborator: Someone pushing the boundaries
issuu.com/meganderson0; andersme822@yahoo.com

Mathilde Berner and Léa GauchouxEPFL, Switzerland

A ‘sublime and monstrous’ pleasure machine, Berner and Gauchoux’s sex and love palace, Eropolis, explores the role of architecture in the ‘rebirth of eroticism’ and the obsession with the body in today’s society.

Dream collaborator: Practices that believe architecture can have a real impact on our daily lives
lea.gauchoux@gmail.com, mathilde.berner@gmail.com

Iris Xiaoxue Ma and Christopher YiCornell University, US

Celebrated Encounters envisions a new set of spaces embedded into the walls of Sanskar Kendra, the museum designed by Le Corbusier in Ahmedabad. Water towers respond to the local climate, while markets and festivals enliven the public areas.

Dream collaborator: Caroline O’Donnell Architecture, Thom Mayne
xm84@cornell.edu; christopheryi90@gmail.com

Yiting Zhou and Courtnay IvesManchester School of Architecture, UK

Responding to a local council brief, the Rochdale Bath House Project is a wellness complex connecting two heritage buildings. Zhou and Ives found common interest in architectural history and placemaking.

Dream collaborator? Practices with a passion for beautiful things and a creative approach to building re-use
yiting.y.zhou@gmail.com; courtnayives@gmail.com

Marcos García MouronteColumbia GSAPP, US

Examining the national and corporate players competing for access to the South China Sea, Flickering Sovereignties examines how an ‘architecture of artificial islands’ could help solve territorial disputes. NYC and Madridbased Mouronte is currently part of the Independent Projects team at Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Dream collaborator: Claude-Nicolas Ledoux
issuu.com/marcosgarciamouronte

Siong Yu Hsiang WangArchitectural Association, UK

Exploring post-colonial debates, Wang’s thesis project focuses on the ‘static and centralised’ practice of museology in the West through an often irreverent reclassification of cultural artefacts. Before his studies, Wang worked as an architectural designer in Taiwan; he now works with Meiri Shinohara in Tokyo.

Dream collaborator: Charles-Édouard Jeanneret
w54291@gmail.com

Jerome Ng Xin HaoBartlett School of Architecture, UK

Ng’s project offers an alternative vision for Singapore’s 1970s Metabolist-style Golden Mile complex, currently facing demolition. A fan of visual communication as well as architecture, Ng now works as a storyteller of the built environment, producing drawings and films.

Dream collaborator: A multidisciplinary studio that will allow me to continue my visual explorations.
jerome_ng_xinhao; jerome.xinhao@hotmail.com

Anna ÖstbergKTH Royal Institute of Technology

Östberg‘s Otium public bathhouse project is designed to combat decreased attention spans by engaging the body and mind through sensory awareness. A specialist in wood construction, Östberg is currently working at Urban Couture Architects in Stockholm.

Dream collaborator: Practices passionate about the craftsmanship of architecture
annaostberg.se; annakarolinaostberg@gmail.com

Cheng ZhuTU Delft, The Netherlands

Inspired by a photo of Paris’ Jardin du Palais Royal, Zhu’s Archi-Nature focuses on the renovation of the 1982 AMC hospital in the Netherlands. The design imagines a natural healing community and the development of ‘in-between space’ that seeks to improve patients’ recovery and staff performance.

Dream collaborator: Santiago Calatrava, Foster + Partners
ch.zhu@outlook.com

Jan Farn ChiNottingham Trent University, UK

‘Elaps’ is a glass centrepiece table that evolves with the changing daylight, thanks to its red-hued section that casts a colourful shadow across the oor. ‘As time progresses and the natural light scatters, the shadows create an ever-changing display,’ says Chi.

Dream collaborator: László Moholy-Nagy
chijanfarn.com

Ryo HayakawaTama Art University, Japan

These vessels were formed by pouring resin into rotating moulds, creating beautiful, albeit accidental, patterns (amplified when the pieces are back-lit). ‘I aim to change the image of resin from a homogenous commodity to a material that invokes fascination,’ says Hayakawa. 

Dream collaborator: Kartell
@hayakawa_sebastian

Sizar AlexisBeckmans College of Design, Sweden

The ‘Bel’ bin, designed to be stacked or lined up in rows, and with magnetic flaps inside to hold extra bags for different materials, was inspired by Alexis’ desire to make it easier for us to separate waste at home. He describes the metal and concrete bin as a ‘climate initiative that people like to show off’. 

Dream collaborator: Rick Owens
sizaralexis.se

Josh KruteAalto University, Finland

‘Kuulas’ (meaning ‘clear’ or ‘pure’ in Finnish) is a small wooden chair that takes its cues from Nordic and Japanese design. Its rounded form is carefully composed and features a lower-than-usual seat, which opens up unfamiliar perspectives for the user.

Dream collaborators: Akira Minagawa, Nikari
krutedesign.com

Adriana GutierrezMonterrey Institute of Technology, Mexico

Gutierrez’s ‘Ruste’ clock is made from transparent acrylic, but features a pattern designed to look as though its surface has somehow tarnished. ‘It’s a visual contradiction on the concept of oxidation, alluding to time as one of the factors in the process,’ she says.

Dream collaborators: Naoto Fukasawa, Patricia Urquiola
adrianagf.com

Alessandra Fumagalli RomarioRoyal College of Art, UK

A furniture series made of interchangeable parts that allows for fun and formal experimentation, Creo suggests that no design is ever finished. ‘It challenges creativity through play,’ says its designer, who is interested in objects that provoke a reaction.

Dream collaborators: Ettore Sottsass, Bruno Munari
alessandrafumagalliromario.com

Zac PepereParsons School of Design, US

Paper and food by-products from the restaurant industry were used by Pepere to create these tabletop vessels. Named Material Values, the collection aims to ‘challenge the value that we give to certain materials’ in the hope of creating solutions to minimise waste. 

Dream collaborator: Max Lamb
zacpepere.com

Tobias BergOslo Metropolitan University, Norway

The bird-like legs upon which this chair stands inspired its name, ‘Kvitre’, the Norwegian term for ‘chirp’. Berg’s functional design means the backrest and seat are easily removed from the powder-coated steel frame, so you can swap between leather and more outdoor-friendly canvas versions. 

Dream collaborator: Dieter Rams
tobiasberg.no

Taiho ShinRoyal College of Art, UK

More than just a pretty face, Taiho Shin’s ‘Puri-Face’ cabinet helps to break down pollutants in the surrounding air, thanks to a clever material covering its front and developed in collaboration with scientist Gi Byoung Hwang.

Dream collaborators: WeWork, 3M
taiho-shin.com

Joe ParrCranbrook Academy of Art, US

Parr wanted to turn traditional furniture design on its head when creating his PlaySetting collection, which provides a kinaesthetic experience. His ‘Roller’ sofa features a rotating backrest and seat that require the body to engage in order to keep upright – ‘otherwise you’ll slide off’, says Parr. 

Dream collaborator: Konstantin Grcic
joeparrdesign.com

Jasmina ČelIkovićÉCAL, Switzerland

‘Woody’ is a child-friendly wireless lamp made from red-stained beech. Its cordless design is intended to be easy to carry from place to place, while an elastic wire running through its middle makes it perform a playful dance when moved, reminiscent of wooden push puppet toys. 

Dream collaborator: Pierre Charpin
jasminacelikovic.com

Simon DéliotENSCI Les Ateliers, France

Déliot used a mix of PVC, silicone, polymer clay, EPDM granules and elastomer resin to create the slimy green skin that covers this bike stand. It is part of a collection Déliot designed to help increase public engagement with street furniture in his hometown, Paris.

Dream collaborator: Gaetano Pesce
cargocollective.com/simondeliot

Mattias SelldénKonstfack University of Art, Crafts and Design, Sweden

‘Mix Sushi #2’ forms part of a collection that explores Selldén’s a ection for the ‘inherent qualities of a tree’. He worked with raw, unshaped planks, using dovetail joints to connect them, while the red paint nish creates an ambiguity about the chair’s materiality.

Dream collaborator: Andrea Branzi 
@studiomattiassellden

Carissa Ten TijeDesign Academy Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Bottom Ash is the name of both Ten Tije’s collection and the residue left by household waste when it is burnt in an incinerator. To challenge our perceptions of this material, she crafted a beautiful side table with blocky legs that cut through into the surface of the lozenge-shaped top.

Dream collaborators: Christien Meindertsma, Atelier NL
@studioctt

Anne-Sophie OberkromeKarlsruhe University of Arts and Design, Germany

Oberkrome’s graduate collection featured a 3D-printed sand vase inside a glass cabinet, representing the boundary between the physical and digital worlds. The piece ‘explores virtual and digital offerings in the design and presentation of objects’, she says. 

Dream collaborators: Charlotte Perriand, Lucie & Luke Meier
annesophieoberkrome.com

Seung Joon SongHongik University, South Korea

Song’s ‘Sienna’ stools are made from metal but lacquered in a red-brown colour reminiscent of earth, with a glossy coat applied to a portion of the perch. ‘I would like to suggest the time over which land has been forming, since the beginning of everything,’ he says.

Dream collaborators: COS, V&A Museum
@seung joon_song

Ivana TaylorUNSW Art & Design, Australia

Combining an interest in wrapping and binding with an aesthetic rooted in playfulness and tactility, Taylor created the ‘Beau’ stool from an American white ash frame swaddled in linen, wool and foam. The result is a seductive, soft seat that ‘hugs and supports the sitter’, she says.

Dream collaborators: Campana brothers, Patricia Urquiola
ivana-taylor.com

Hanna CrondahlHDK Academy of Design and Crafts, Sweden

Crondahl’s ‘Himlakropp’ pendant light is based on the various elements of our solar system. Its mobile-like black steel structure comes complete with decorative elements in mirrored glass, which rotate and playfully reflect natural light around the surrounding space.

Dream collaborator: Nasa
hannacrondahl.se

Elie FazelEcole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne / ECAL

ÉCAL industrial design graduate Elie Fazal’s ‘TLV’ chair is crafted from aluminium, so it is light enough to move easily, and can multitask as table, chair and perch. He is currently interning at New York studio Visibility.

Dream collaborator: Liam Gillick
eliefazel.com

Georgia KnightNottingham Trent University, UK

Arcane has been designed in response to the desire for less cluttered and more curated living spaces. In an age where people are surrounded by instant results and endless new content, Arcane is designed to contrast this and promote a movement towards slow design. By creating a high-quality, modern and shape-shifting storage unit with flexible areas that can conceal or reveal selected artefacts, the screen cabinet is tailored towards a contemporary domestic environment. 

Dream collaborator: Rowan & Erwan Bourroullec, Sabine Marcelis
georgiaknight.com

Teva KohaviParsons School of Design, USA

The Tetra lighting pendant explores the dark dystopian side of design, taking inspiration from Minimalism and imposing Brutalist architecture. The pendant is constructed from modular components allowing for expansion and customizability. In addition, each lamp head can be rotated independently enabling configurations for different spaces.

Dream collaborator: Sabine Marcelis, Oeuffice
tevakohavi.com

Vilde HagelundOslo Metropolitan University, Norway

Pedestal is developed with the aim to communicate the value of combining a crafters hand, an artists eye and a designers’ mind in a process. The tables has a geometric, machine-made form language, and as a symbol of the value of the craft, texture is cut by hand to create a tactile experience and emphasize the properties of the material.

Dream collaborator: HAY
vhagelund.com

Jinya ZhaoRoyal College of Art, UK

Zhao’s intention is to playfully explore how glass can affect the viewers perception of reality and to engender emotional responses. For this collection she uses opaque and transparent layered blown glass to deliberately obscure the interior of the specific enigmatic forms.

Dream collaborator: Olafur Eliasson, Loewe
jinyazhao.com

Seok-hyeon YoonDesign Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands

Yoon’s project aims for actualising ceramic recycling for its re-production through introducing potentials of an alternative glazing, the traditional Korean lacquering material Ott, by applying it on domestic ceramic objects to experiment with its practicalities and aesthetics.

Dream collaborator: Heatherwick Studio, Thomas Alexander Heatherwick
yoonseokhyeon.com

Fu, a Shanghai-based designer and winner of CSM’s Autor graduate award, likes to focus on the intimate connection between jewellery –  her preferred metal is gold – and the body. When worn, her feather-like earrings create, she says, ‘an unexpected pretty, crisp sound’. Dream collaborator: Photographer Tim Walker

yuzojewellery.com

Fresh faces: the jewellery graduates making their mark

Photography: Aditya Babbar. Fashion: Lune Kuipers. Writer: Caragh McKay

Hegney displays a beautifully precise style, but her main fascination is with the colour blue, which she expresses through a varied material palette. ‘Lapis lazuli can be stone set or crushed into a powder,’ she says, ‘while jesmonite and wood can be dyed using powder pigment.’ Dream collaborator: Iris van Herpen.

caitlinhegney.co.uk

‘There’s an assumption that chains are subservient to the main jewel. I enable them to achieve jewellery status on their own,’ explains Fabian, a Hungarian-born Cartier Scholarship winner whose woven chainmail piece displays a craftsman’s touch. Dream collaborator: Someone with good work ethics and humility.

veronikafabian.com

At a loss for inspiration on her last trip home to South Africa, London-based Thijs turned her camera upon her family, and so emerged her project Safe House. ‘In order to examine the foundations of my family, I wanted to photograph my father, who has recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.’ The resulting images are a moving visual meditation on the changing dynamics of their relationship. Dream collaborator: Antoine d’Agata.  leathijs.com

Through the lens of the cutting-edge graduate camera wielders, portrait makers and digital mavericks, as captured by our Photography desk.

‘It’s hard to truly understand where you’re from until you’ve left,’ India-raised and Canada-based Babbar says. After five years away from home, Babbar embarked upon an epic photographic odyssey to unravel the nuances of his identity through the people and places that had shaped his understanding of it. Each of his images is a tableau: the ‘postures, interiors and clothing all offering clues’ to the relationship between sitters. Dream collaborator: Greta Gerwig.

aditya-babbar.com

Taking its name from a necklace made by his grandmother, Shlyk’s vibrant series The Appleseed Necklace nods to the creativity and resourcefulness of the people in his home country, Belarus, during the post-Soviet era. Dream collaborator: ‘A creative person sensitive to the environment.’

alexeyshlyk.com

Planas won gold at Sweden’s Golden Girl boxing championship in 2018 and, over time, the transformative process of her training made its way into her art, which captures both the vulnerability of self-care rituals and ‘the strength and brutality of the fight’. Dream collaborator: Rrose Sélavy.

cristinaplanas.com

Slovakia-born and UK-based, Červeňová was particularly shocked by the EU referendum result. Her project June is a photographic diary featuring evocative images representing the ‘ruptures and wounds’ she felt in the lives of those around her. Dream collaborator: ‘My friend Juillet, a poet.’

terezacervenova.com

Portraying the tottering precariousness of ‘home’, as place and idea, Agostini asked her family to balance household objects on top of each other. Titled A Blurry Aftertaste, the black-and-white images are at once familiar and austere. Dream collaborator: Ragnar Kjartansson.

eleonoraagostini.com

Keen to explore ‘the opaque environment of political and economic power’, Gomez turned his aesthetic interest into a collaboration with a Swiss watch brand, his images riffing on ‘the way the watches are sold to rich clients during con dential meetings’. Dream collaborator: Charles Nègre.

bastiengomez.com

What role does the individual play in a growth-based economy? This is the question Schnetz sought to investigate in his project People Place Technology, adopting the language of corporate photography to capture both soullessness and glimpses of humanity. Dream collaborator: Allan Sekula.

jakobschnetz.de

Greve’s tender portraits of young women explore the quiet strength and awkward beauty of female adolescence, and try to capture the earnestness of ‘the way each subject presents herself in front of the camera’. Dream collaborator: A close friend.

juliegreve12@gmail.com

When Chinese artist Wang relocated to America, she was struck by the Asian-fusion restaurants. ‘Not authentic but exotic to Westerners, they belong to neither East nor West. They are the products of globalisation.’ Thus she began The Oriental Dimension Odyssey, taking fragments of each place and putting them together within an interpretation of the vacuum between cultures: her ‘own flat-scale world between reality and illusion’. Dream collaborator: Stanley Kubrick.

kejingwang.com

If it isn’t on Instagram, did it really happen? With this ‘humorous, disturbing and depressing’ sentiment, Gladstone began You may also like, a project forged in response to ‘big businesses like Facebook co-opting our desire to be better’. Seeking out symbolic situations, she photographed the absurdity of viral beauty rituals, wearable technology shows and – that infamous symbol of the ‘millennial good life’ – the avocado. Dream collaborator: Jeff Bezos.

sophiegladstone.com

Sielski Waters populates his sets with surreal photo-realistic 3D renderings that ‘oscillate in limbo between the real world and the digital’, in order to ‘explore the blurring boundaries of human identity in the age of technology’. Dream collaborator: Maxime Guyon.

liamwaters.cargocollective.com

Drawing inspiration from her own religious background, Perez’s project Full Gospel explores the operation of modern Christian mega-churches in Seoul. Against a backdrop of ‘large-scale technological productions conceived to fit the needs of a modern congregation’, Perez’s clean and saturated images record the subtle gestures and poignant human connections between individuals amid the masses. Dream collaborator: Save The Children.

perez.photo@outlook.com

Echoing the iconic American journey west for his project A Golden State, Bush set off  on countless cross-state road trips, using his camera to reconcile the contrast between the utopian California of his imagination and the reality before him. Dream collaborator: Samantha Contis.

shawn-bush.format.com

Stöcklin’s collection, conceived in a classic black and white palette, explores the concept of the fashion faux pas, as seen in an intentionally visible panty line or oversized trousers folded over at the waist. ‘It’s about subtle deformities,’ says Stöcklin. Dream collaborator: Pipilotti Rist.

instagram.com/chere_js/

‘Tie’ bench (far left and throughout), by Isabelle Baudraz, for Tectona

Sartorial swerve: the fashion graduates with flying colours

Photography: Aditya Babbar. Fashion: Lune Kuipers. Writer: Laura Hawkins

Babin, winner of this year’s Hilary Alexander Trailblazer Award at Graduate Fashion Week, creates bold silhouettes with colourful patterns and sculptural sleeves influenced by the traditions and lifestyles of two dynasties, Chagga and Swahili, native to her home country of Tanzania. Dream collaborator: Marc Jacobs.

ladynangasu.com

Boots, £445, by Church’s

Kelly-Pain, whose technique bridges the worlds of fashion and sculpture, modelled her menswear collection on the memory of her brother’s childhood clothing. Her process is based on casting clothing in plaster, which is painted with layers of latex, then gluing these layers into garments. Dream collaborator: Craig Green.

maureenkellypain@gmail.com

Shoes, £170, by Geox. Socks, £14, by Falke. ‘Tie’ bench (far left and throughout), by Isabelle Baudraz, for Tectona

McDonald’s menswear collection, a winner at International Talent Support 2018, offers a proportion-exploring take on the suit, focusing on the torso and with trousers that flow from the waist. ‘How something feels to wear is very important,’ says McDonald, who is showing at Pitti Uomo 95 in January. Dream collaborator: Daniel Meadows.

eleanormcdonald.com

Shoes, £170, Geox

Kuurila’s collection, which features both men’s and women’s looks and incorporates materials such as silk, viscose satin and cotton poplin, was inspired by musician Nick Cave. ‘I was attracted to his seemingly dark character, as well as in the fading line between masculinity and femininity.’ Dream collaborator: Nick Cave.

emilia.kuurila@gmail.com

Sandals, £575, by Manolo Blahnik

It took Peru-born Balta six months to programme the manual loom on which she constructed her wonderfully textured designs, which incorporate pearls, golden yarns, technical fabrics and rope. Balta won the Vogue Talents Awards at this year’s Milano Moda Graduate. Dream collaborator: Jonathan Anderson.

instagram.com/ceci.j.b

US-born Schali and Croatian Kapchitz aimed to capture the decadence of 1920s opium dens and the artisanal skill of nomadic tribes in southern Ethiopia, with crushed velvet and threadbare knitwear sitting alongside animal-hide skirts and metal tailoring. Dream collaborator: Leather company Roban’s.

elijah.schali@gmail.com; noakapchitz@gmail.com

Shoes, £700, by Cherevichkiotvichki

Fascinated by the models of masculinity as pursued by young men during adolescence, the South Korean designer used bulges within fabric to subvert notions of form. ‘I wanted to make a joke out of my obsessive pursuit of masculinity,’ Jung says. Dream collaborator: Dimitris Papaioannou.

dohanjung.wixsite.com/dohanjung

China-born knitwear designer Rui Zhou ascribes to the Japanese concept of ‘Wabi- sabi’, exploring the beauty in imperfections. Her colourful, clingy, ribbed knitwear designs, sporting holes and cut-outs, come in delicately knitted and bead-embellished layers. Dream collaborator: Rei Kawakubo.

zrona.com

Chacón is fascinated by the intersection of lo-fi tech and visual expectation, as well as colour and how it gives shape to form. His publication Colour conjures polychromy onto the page. Dream collaborator: Sound artist Ryoji Ikeda.

danielh.info

As the visual communication industry grows ever more sophisticated and complex, each year, our graduate selection is gets harder to narrow down. Here’s our pick of the most promising graduate illustrators, typographers and graphic artists

Writer: Jonathan Bell

The 360° Alphabet places letterforms in three-dimensional space, rotated and skewed to create depth and disorientation depending on the viewer’s position. Intended for interactive installations, Oh was partly inspired by the sculpture of Kendall Buster and Vito Acconci’s ‘City of Words’. Dream collaborator: new media artist Zach Lieberman or light artist Anthony McCall.

jinhwaoh.com

Faltys’ Lexicon of this World is part of a project exploring ‘religion, mythology and folklore’. Based on the designer’s imagined creed, this section features a custom typeface and dense collages. Dream collaborator: Gerhard Richter.

danielfaltys.com

Marom’s A Time and A Place is a graphic travelogue comprising eight colourful flags. ‘The flags are inspired by the essence of each place I’ve ever lived in,’ she says. Dream collaborator: Graphic designer Kristine Kawakubo.

ruthmarom.com

Kelly’s Experiments in Time 2 deals with the relationship between machine and the human mind. ‘The swirl is a generative 3D element that alludes to string theory in software,’ the designer says. Dream collaborator: Bureau Borsche.

michaelkelly.studio

Blending influences from JRR Tolkien to Esperanto, Keysell has created a virtual reality script that ‘combines a mysterious, fictional territory with the utopian idea of universal communication’. Dream collaborator: Space10 in Copenhagen.

lukaskeysell.com

Using collage, paint, drawing and animation, Kerr’s Reverie illustrations evoke a sense of ‘moments half remembered’ and ‘that feeling of being lost in your own thoughts’, she says. Dream collaborator: David Byrne.

cargocollective.com/colettekerr

Hørup’s graphic rendering of the poems of R Broby-Johansen (1900-1987) is an English translation of the Danish originals and includes Johannes Schwartz’s photographs of the poet’s archive. Dream collaborator: Poet Susan Howe.

linegryhorup.dk 07

‘I have been susceptible to Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response my whole life,’ Nystrand says, ‘and Synthetic Triggers examines whether animated graphic objects can trigger it.’ Dream collaborator: ‘Someone who has been into space.’

marcusnystrand.se

Grunewald’s typographic experiment adds an extra dimension to type design: time. ‘Each shape is designed as a number of different steps, from the structure to the animation of a particular scene,’ he explains. Dream collaborator: Ed Ruscha.

eliottgrunewald.com

Michel’s project focuses on the role of the US president, breaking down 164 performances into six typologies (Hero, Father and Husband, Villain, Alien, Lover, and Clown) to ‘explore how fiction becomes our reality’. Dream collaborator: Artist Camille Henrot.

ho-mi.ch

Zieher’s work combines ‘the reduced colour palette and imperfections‘ of screen-printing with the possibilities of motion graphics. Dream collaborator: ‘Anyone who values good design and is brave enough to create something extraordinary.’

jonaszieher.de

‘I am interested in the absurd and uncanny created by automated processes,’ says Tong, whose illustrations, using image recognition software, forge a bold new abstract language. Dream collaborator: Kabosu the Shiba Inu, of Doge meme fame.

dustintong.com

Inspired by the columns of Greek and Roman architecture, the ‘Colonna’ clock, a collaboration with Marsotto, celebrates ‘the monolithic permanence of marble’, cutting through space ‘as a sort of three-dimensional punctuation mark’. Dream collaborator: Isamu Noguchi.

aminahorozic.com

Lifting the lid on the experimental, space-morphing designers setting the scenes of tomorrow.

Writer: Rosa Bertoli

In a quest to examine the balance of power in gender structures in domestic environments, Segal created a neutral scene, in pale blue, with a series of ceramic pieces, including a watering can, a carpet, some cacti and a pair of platform shoes. Dream collaborator: Jacques Tati.

avigail.cargocollective.com

Using Mexican gold sheen obsidian, Leyva created the ‘Intensity’ collection, including a business card holder and tape dispenser. These functional yet decorative desk objects are also intended to absorb negative energy and ease mental stress. Dream collaborator: Piero Lissoni.

behance.net/leslieleyv8733

Mexican-British designer Durán Stone’s ‘Wóolis’ console features a glass structure with doors made from coloured mirrored circles that can be juxtaposed to create different shades and reflections. Dream collaborators: Jaime Hayon, Patricia Urquiola, Germans Ermics.

chloeduranstone.com

‘Cell’ is a mirror installation designed to alter the viewer’s perspective of space. Made from tinted silver-plated glass, the pieces can be used individually, or in multiple compositions that play with the gradient colour scheme. Dream collaborators: Tokujin Yoshioka, Rick Owens.

boldizsarszenteczki.com

The ‘Apilables’ collection of ceramic bowls, designed by Inma Carpena, María Gil and Lorenzo Pérez, can also be used to create totemic compositions. The collection was turned by local expert Domanises, with Díez Ceramic assisting with colour development. Dream collaborator: Hay.

estudiopot.com

Beson’s ‘Terrosso’ chair was hand-sculpted from a single custom casting of sheep bone material (slaughterhouse waste), then finished to give the impression of stone. Dream collaborators: Virgil Abloh, Jasper Morrison, choreographer William Forsythe, Vitra, Nendo.

gregorybeson.com

Canham took inspiration from traditional ceramic tableware for his ‘hplus’ personal health monitoring devices, offering a contrast to the conventionally cold appearance of clinical objects. Dream collaborator: A global consumer technology leader, such as Google or Apple.

mattcanham.uk

Combining her background in textile design with an interest in the properties of metal, Urbansdotter created a striking chain and mesh room divider, entitled ‘Alt+f=ƒ’, blurring the boundaries between soft and hard objects. Dream collaborator: Ikea in the 1970s.

m-urbansdotter.com

A geometric composition of soft modules in Camira fabric and plywood, the ‘Orbit’ chair was designed with industrial production in mind. To enhance the sitting experience, Song created a partly detachable armrest and footstool. Dream collaborators: Thomas Dambo, Martino Gamper.

hannimsong.com

Li’s collection of glass perfume bottles reflect affairs of the heart. Combining clear and red glass, she experimented with glass-making techniques to convey concepts such as first love, the seven-year itch and passion. Dream collaborator: Don Norman.

huilinli.wixsite.com/design

The result of a collaboration between ECAL, Paris’ Musée Picasso and furniture brand Tectona, Baudraz’s ‘Tie’ bench comes in two different sizes and features an interlocking construction that allows for multiple configurations. Dream collaborators: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

isabellebaudraz.com/design

(also shown, left Avigal Segal’s platform shoes, and right ‘TotaOrri’ lounger)

Lorence’s research into sensory stimulation resulted in the ‘Taktil’ collection, designed for children with autism. The pieces ‘help children focus, overcome sensory sensitivities and soothe anxiety’. Dream collaborators: Nendo, Sou Fujimoto, Dominique Perrault.

paula.lorence@gmail.com

Saito’s object is inspired by rock formations. ‘Rocks get crushed and become gravel, turn into sand and soil, nurture plants and provide habitats for animals,’ she says. Her sculpture celebrates the beauty and uniqueness of the material. Dream collaborator: Imaizumi Imaemon XIV.

risa.s2437@gmail.com

‘Otto’ is both chair and clothes hanger, with further storage space in the seat. Thanks to its zoomorphic shape, it is also ‘a faithful friend who looks after your belongings while you focus on something else’, says Thübeck. Dream collaborator: An open-minded sceptic.

cargocollective.com/thubeck

Multifunctional and easy to pack away, the ‘TotaOrri’ lounger/pool float was created for Gandía Blasco’s new brand, Diabla, as part of Universitat Jaume I’s Intercrea project. Dream collaborator: Joan Rojeski.

al286366@uji.es; behance.net/neusfabregat; behance.net/morxilgand0ce

Bahlenberg’s ‘Guilty Pleasure’ collection focuses on throwaway culture, exploring what is easily discarded and what’s worth keeping, such as these broken mirrors, which have been given new life as ‘trophies of landfill’. Dream collaborator: James Turrell.

siribahlenberg.com

Franco and Sierra’s ‘Shoji’ lamp is made using woodturning, laser cutting and metal bending techniques. The materials used were chosen for their sculptural qualities and the piece is designed to enrich a space even when turned off. Dream collaborator: Christophe Mathieu.

vrokka.com; behance.net/juansierra48

Jack Swanson
Royal College of Art, UK

Swanson’s thesis project addresses Britain’s London-centric nature by proposing a new parliament in Liverpool, experimenting with the monumental and the postmodern to disrupt preconceived separations between the civic and public sectors. Swanson now works for Adam Khan Architects and teaches at Kingston University. Dream collaborator: Peter Womersley.

jack.swanson@hotmail.com

Medina Dzonlic
KADK

Growing up partly in San Diego, Dzonlic was inspired to study architecture by Louis Kahn’s Salk Institute. Her thesis project examined the relationship between neighbourhood and individuality within the typology of the row house, and she recently founded her own studio, Lovenest, with Daniel Andersson, to work on new forms of housing. Dream collaborator: Valerio Olgiati.

dzonlicmedina@gmail.com

Cynthia Sin Tone Leung
University of Hong Kong

With experience studying and working across the world, Sin Tone Leung looked to the landscape of Hong Kong for her thesis that explored the history of land reclamation – specifically examining the strategy of flattening hills established under British colonial rule. Currently, she is working on a small office project in Shenzhen, an urban context that intrigues her. Dream collaborators: Herzog and de Meuron, Peter Zumthor, Thomas Heatherwick, and Alvar Aalto, Sverre Fehn and Robert Smithson. 

cynstleung@gmail.com

Yaoyi Fan
Cooper Union

Yaoyi Fan was always intrigued by her home city, Zuhai, which sprung up rapidly within 20 years. ‘If I became an architect I could make this city better’, she told herself. Interested in an inter-disciplinary approach to architecture, her thesis project proposed a series of urban interventions for a city subway system that would divert the movement of people. She is currently developing a mobile game using image recognition and augmented reality, and is looking for investors. Dream collaborators: Iris van Herpen, Neri Oxman, and DSR.

ueodesign.com

Yanyi Ho
National University of Singapore

Drawing on sustainability-focused practices, Ho’s thesis project redesigned water urbanism systems to tackle flooding in three different scenarios in Thailand. She was inspired to study architecture by the built environment itself, and how architects can influence the experience of individuals. Dream collaborator: Innovative and sustainability-focused practices.

issuu.com/yanyiho

Ivana Milosevic
EPFL, Switzerland

Milosevic cites literature as an influence. Her thesis project, examining the interaction between architecture and narration, used Dante’s Divine Comedy as a ‘tool’ for design, with the verse regulating the structure and the narrative style evoked in the interior. Dream collaborator: Those exploring the relationship between architecture and other artistic disciplines. 

ivana.milosevic@bluewin.ch

Sam Coulton
Bartlett UCL, UK

Coulton was inspired to study architecture by a family trip to Cesar Manrique’s foundation and home in Lanzarote. His project ‘London Physic Gardens: A New Necropolis’ proposes to readdress the human relationship with death. The ‘resomation’ facility is an environmentally beneficial process that feeds a botanical garden and medicinal plant farm. Dream collaborators: Architects, designers and producers with ambitions to create emotional and political experiences. 

samcoulton.wixsite.com/sgcarch

Rebekah Parkinson & Karissa Tysklind
MSA, UK

Taking inspiration from the work of Caruso St John, Rafael Moneo, Carlo Scarpa and David Chipperfield, Parkinson and Tysklind’s thesis project explores the reuse of derelict space in Catania, Sicily, proposing a museum that forms an archaeological pathway through the city. Dream collaborator: Each other.

rebekahjparkinson@gmail.com; karissatysklind@gmail.com

Mary Lynch-Lloyd, Ching Ying Ngan, Maya Shopova
MIT, US

Established by Mary Lynch-Lloyd, Ching Ying Ngan and Maya Shopova in 2017 as an experimental thesis project, Collective Home Office explores the frictions and bene ts of collectivity, proposing alternative ways to work together outside of capitalist structures, such as those driven by Big Tech. Dream collaborators: Amazon, Airbnb, MIT.

collectivehomeoffice@gmail.com

Georgia Chousou and Matteo Lomaglio
ETHZ, Switzerland

Both graduating from the Master of Advanced Studies in Architecture and Digital Fabrication programme at ETHZ, Chousou and Lomaglio combined their skills on a project that proposes a new fabrication method for concrete formwork. The technique was established to bring architects more freedom for mass customisation and off-site fabrication. Dream collaborator: Passionate and dedicated teammates, motivated to succeed. 

matteolomaglio.com; chousougeorgia@gmail.com

Zsuzsa Peter
AA, UK

Currently working for Farshid Moussavi Architecture and teaching at the RCA, Peter grew up with an interest in art and mathematics. Her project, ‘C24’, proposes a new way of living for a community of 100, who have chosen to exclude themselves from society, where a foam-like ground encourages rest and many aspects of life are shared. Dream collaborator: amid.cero9. 

zsu3000@yahoo.com

Isabelle Verwaay
Harvard, US

Inspired in her career choice by her architect grandfather, Sacha Thébaud, who worked with Marcel Breuer, Verwaay received Harvard’s Clifford Wong Prize for her thesis project on housing in her native Port-au-Prince, exploring the relationship between dwelling and landscape in the face of densification. Dream collaborators: Jane Jacobs, Anne Lacaton.

iverwaay@alumni.harvard.edu

David McEwen
Cambridge University, UK

McEwen’s thesis project proposed an alternative way of regeneration that preserves and allows grassroots community urbanism to naturally flourish in London’s Elephant and Castle. Dream collaborator: One that looks beyond conventional understandings of architecture to explore themes of identity, culture, community and politics.

djrmcewen@gmail.com

Tonia Sing Chi
Columbia, US

A KPF Paul Katz Fellow, Sing Chi is an ideologically driven designer committed to collaborating with under-represented communities. Her thesis project explored the outcomes of money sent home by migrants from the US to Mexico on the local vernacular. Dream collaborator: Someone passionate about challenging the status quo and not afraid to work for it.

tonia.sing@gmail.com

Kyle Reckling
UCLA, US

Reckling’s thesis project is designed to create ambiguity through its materials. Something between an ancient megalith and a fluid, contemporary form, the residence was conceived to exude elusiveness. Since graduating, Reckling has been working at LA architecture firm Oak. Dream collaborator: Anyone who likes to push conceptual design boundaries.

kr21490@gmail.com

Matt Davis

A graduate from the University of Brighton, Davis creates his ‘hyperreal vessels’ by combining traditional porcelain craft with a futuristic aesthetic. His goal is to push the boundaries of what’s possible with ceramics, using software to generate his designs, which are then 3D-printed, moulded and slip-cast in bone china.

Maddalena Selvini

For her S.Pot project, Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Selvini experimented with north Italian soapstone. She designed a traditional stove-style cooking pot, which was cut by local experts, then used the residue from the lathing process to create a new stoneware and glaze, producing delicate vessels.

Dimitri Bähler

Bähler’s Iridescences project explores a technique used in central Italy since the 15th century. Working with craftsman Maurizio Tittarellli Rubboli, the Swiss designer used a blend of metallic salts and clay to produce special chromatic effects, their luminescence brought to life by a variety of shapes and ribbed surfaces.

Christopher Riggio

One of the more recent graduates among our pick of ceramicists to watch, with an MA from London’s RCA, Riggio also made our Graduate Directory. His Paste series nods to 1920s Cartier designs as well as the art of Lucio Fontana, and is intended to ‘evoke a sense of nostalgia through new material sophistication’.

Ben Medansky

A self-described ‘orchestrator of controlled chaos’ and ‘refiner of industrial aesthetics’, Medansky is a ceramicist whose sculptural work features intersecting shapes, sudden flashes of colour and unexpected volumes. Influences range from industrial design and brutalism to the architecture of Los Angeles, where he founded his studio in 2012.

Irina Razumovskaya 

Leningrad-born Razumovskaya studied in St Petersburg, Jerusalem and London. She is most inspired by the past, and ‘the ageing of architecture, where rigid things are softened with the touch of time’. This is apparent in her 2017 Post-Surface series, which explores the slow decay of the constructivist structures of Soviet Russia.

Yao Wang

A graduate of London’s RCA, Wang has produced a series of abstract shapes symbolising the tension and balance of dance. Titled The Mind is a Muscle, the Chinese artist’s collection features decorative objects that were either planned carefully or made intuitively and responsively on the wheel.

Ekaterina Semenova

With her Care for Milk project, Semenova explored the potential of using dairy waste in glazing techniques. The Dutch Design Academy graduate’s collection features simple vessels in earthy tones, achieved with different types of milk (raw, high fat or low fat). Once baked, its sugars caramelise, taking on a variety of shades of brown.

Agustina Bottoni

An Argentinian based in Milan, Bottoni set up her studio in 2015. Her tableware collection references South America’s mate, a bitter infusion usually drunk from a leather-clad gourd container. The ceramic pieces, which include a vase and a teapot, are encased in a leather sleeve that will develop a unique patina over time. 

Maddalena Selvini

As well as her S.Pot collection, Selvini has produced Morning Spikes, a series of organic-looking coffee cups. Playing on ideas of warmth and tactility, they are covered in multiple barbs, designed to hold layers of wool (not shown) in place. As the wool-clad cups are washed, they gain an increasingly felted feel.

As originally featured in the January issue of Wallpaper* (W*226)

Whether it’s eating or drinking, baking or brewing, chopping or churning, food has been fertile ground for this year’s crop of design graduates. We’ve whipped up a kitchen’s worth of products created by the next generation of designers.

Luis de Sousa, Glasgow School of Art

Described as a ‘small kitchen with a big heart’, ‘Kitchen O’ is designed to bring home comforts and the joys of cooking to those with limited space, particularly in refugee camps. The design is easy to assemble and built with affordable materials.

Paul Louda, eCal

This innovative cooking device allows for easy 360° access and visibility alongside space efficiency on the worktop. The monochrome design has all the components in the base and operates by cooking food vertically.

Simen J Heinbuch, Oslo and Akershus University College

This minimal knife, crafted from carbon steel, buffalo horn and oak, places emphasis on everyday functionality and traditional design. It comes with a kit that highlights the importance of after-care for the blade, maintaining sharpness and longevity.

Camille Coquelle, eCal

This set of interchangeable steel filters and glass jugs features various components that allow for the adaptation of the jugs to cater for different drinks, such as a loose-leaf tea infuser, orange squeezer and ice holder.

Marged Owain, Manchester School of Art

This collection of wood and glass objects, which includes a butter stamp, hand churner and butter dish, celebrates traditional welsh craftsmanship – in particular, butter making – drawing inspiration from the country’s rich cultural heritage.

Hulda Järeslätt, Lund University

This kitchen set demonstrates how two opposites can function together effectively and includes a pestle and mortar of opposing weights, a cutting board with a smooth and rough side, and a citrus press combining the shapes of a sphere and a diamond.

Maria Chifflet, Beckmans College of Design

Following the form of a traditional lantern, ‘Storm’ is an elegant yet understated design consisting of a large glass bowl with a flat base, framed by a statement brass handle. The versatility of the design means it can be placed on the floor or hung from a tree.

As originally featured in the January 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*226)

Destined for big things, this next generation of fashion-forward creators are setting themselves up for a future of boundary-busting design.

Fashion: Lune Kuipers. Writer: Laura Hawkins

Inspired by an ancient Chinese poem that depicts a silent natural scene before an ensuing storm, Sijia Wu’s collection, imagined in ceramic-inspired shades, features pieces that are delicately falling apart, with dry flowers, coffee and tea rolled into the fabrics.

Would most like to work with: Faye Toogood

Shoes, €895, by Santoni Edited by Marco Zanini

Raphaël Caron took inspiration from 1960s and 1970s New York for his menswear collection, with this leather coat nodding to a piece worn by David Byrne at club CBGB. Its feather trim riffs on exuberant images of the city’s nightlife captured in Veretta Cobler’s New York Underground 1970-1980.

Would most like to work with: Raf Simons

Shoes, €895, by Santoni Edited by Marco Zanini

‘In a situation of desire the feet point directly at the object of attraction,’ says Jo Cope, who kept analytical journals about feet for her MA graduate collection. This piece, which suggests two people making tentative romantic manoeuvres, was formed from hand-stretched red leather.

Would most like to work with: Tracey Emin

Australian designer Zoe Champion’s collection, inspired by the death of her grandmother, features knitted creations sporting digitally glitched family photographs. Secondary yarns are embedded into her pieces, ‘playing on the idea of memories embedded in garments’.

Would most like to have worked with: Azzedine Alaïa

‘Loriano’ crushed velvet fabric in Steeple Grey (circle), £71 per m, by Romo

Mundane materials may have inspired Halina North’s designs, but the results were anything but. Her creations, made from recycled plastic bags and paper, won the Hilary Alexander OBE Trailblazer and Christopher Bailey Gold awards at Graduate Fashion Week.

Would most like to work with: Stella McCartney, JW Anderson

Shoes, £380, by Church’s. ‘Linara Chamois’ fabric (circle), £38 per m, by Romo

Silhouettes incorporating kitsch deckchairs, shower curtains and umbrellas were inspired by trailer parks and Caroline Ingeholm’s childhood. ‘An umbrella can make us irritable because it gets caught in things,’ she says. ‘But it is also beautifully structured with a great purpose.’

Would most like to work with: Kenzo

 Shoes, €770, by Santoni Edited by Marco Zanini. ‘London Stone’ Estate emulsion (on floor), as before

Nodding to photographer Bettina Rheims’ Chambre Close, a series of portraits of women in various states of undress, Charlotte Knowles’ lingerie-inspired collection, featuring underwear that has been spliced and reordered, brings hidden details stage centre.

Would most like to work with: Viviane Sassen, Harley Weir

Federico Cina based his menswear collection on the pressure of participating in the Osaka Bunka Fashion College exchange programme. ‘Wrap, fasten, bundle, choke, pinch,’ he says of the tightened silhouettes, which were crafted in gabardine, poplin and puffy swathes of leather.

Would most like to work with: Marni, Jil Sander, Prada

‘Loriano’ crushed velvet fabric in Steeple Grey (circle), as before

As part of her creative process, Danish designer Mathilde Krab Nymann recorded a mug in free fall and its fatal crash. Her menswear collection includes a white denim jacket, which initially appears complete but is actually disconnected parts put back together.

Would most like to work with: Hussein Chalayan

The colourful illustrations in Kohei Nishi’s designs were inspired by a visit to a classical music concert in Vienna. ‘The idea was to unite music with the body,’ says Nishi. His silhouettes evoke the widening form of a double bass case and were pieced together in patches.

Would most like to work with: Yohji Yamamoto

It’s an inspirational time to be studying transport design. Everything is up for grabs. While the automakers struggle with the aesthetics of autonomy and the shape of zero emissions, students have a blank space to imagine the world of future mobility. Conventional automotive aesthetics are being jettisoned – you’d also have to hunt the global graduate shows to find anything powered by an old-fashioned internal combustion engine – but the appeal of sports, racing and performance still lingers.
  
Writer: Jonathan Bell

Another off-world vision, Dominik Krug’s Land Rover for Mars was also driven by the high-profile tech of Elon Musk and SpaceX. ‘The project is envisioned as a piece in the puzzle to make the dream of a Mars colony a reality,’ he explains, ‘intended to land on the surface of Mars in 2048 to celebrate 100 years of Land Rover.’ Obviously a fan of the off-road brand, he also puts Porsche at the top of his list. ‘Interiors will demand a lot of creativity from the industry in the future,’ he suggests.

The Volvo Voyage imagines a Level 5 autonomous vehicle for a family of four, for a future where design is the differentiator when no-one needs to drive. ‘The interior needs to be flexible,’ the designer explains, pointing out the play area for kids and ability to set up family movie time. ‘Volvo is definitely the brand I love,’ says Ding Zeng, ‘they’re simple but not boring, elegant yet modern.’

Po Yuan Huang’s Autopack concept brings design to the autonomous car, inspired by the Gogoro electric scooter and the ‘stance and the visual tension an attractive automobile should have’. Designed to carry backpack-style cargo modules in drone delivery mode, Autopack also functions as a passenger car, specifically for crowded urban areas where ‘owning vehicles is a luxury’. ‘I admire the EV startup Lucid,’ he says, ‘as well as classic designers like Harley Earl, Flaminio Bertoni and J Mays.’

Inspired by the form of diamonds, Chi Oh’s ‘House Dock’ is a transportation module that looks ‘like a luxury piece of jewellery in its case – it extends your space, part of a new culture of automobiles that will eventually eliminate the traditional definitions’.

‘I find inspiration in crafted objects like vintage watches and leather goods,’ says Mayya Markova. Along with her admiration for Mazda and Aston Martin design, she believes that ‘people who buy cars are also looking for a piece of themselves’. Her concept is an autonomous luxury boat that transforms into a Maglev-powered capsule for whizzing around systems of urban tunnels. ‘It turned out to be a quite massive piece of equipment.’

Another far future speculator, Carwyn Hong-Eveleigh envisages a pod-filled tomorrow, with a dose of Zaha Hadid and MAD Architects on the side. ‘I’m inspired by the green architecture movement and parametric design software,’ he says. Referencing both the outlandish supercar design of Horazio Pagani and the Mars-colonising visions of Elon Musk, the designer sees a future of bio-powered pods docking with towering living systems. 

Unashamedly sci-fi inspired, Xintao Chen’s Sky Yacht is a utopian vision of dirigible mobility – ‘giant ships swimming in between skyscrapers, yet my concept is based on a scaled-up four-person drone’. Inspired by a world beyond performance, Lexus’ high-tech luxury and the original Zeppelin, this ‘mobility designed to be slow – private space and time could be the most important luxury goods’. Marc Newson and BMW get the nod for inspiration.

Probing the vicissitudes of desire and sensual experience as both ‘personal feeling and advertising method’, Aysia Stiebcombines colour-saturated candid moments from fashion shoots with studio-constructed still-lives. ‘Movement is always a part of my work,’ she says.

Our photography desk has snapped up the freshest new portrait takers, digital manipulators, Instagrammers and filmmakers, and put them in the frame. Writers: Joanna Cresswell, Elly Parsons

Echoing the classic American road trip, Max Ernst Stockburger set off on a journey across Japan, documenting the influence of the US on postwar Japan. The resulting project, アメリカ, sublimely details the cross- cultural intersections of signs, symbols and history.

French photographer Cecilia Poupon creates dynamic, graphic imagery, and specialises in portraiture. Interested in digital manipulation and textural complexity, she uses surfaces like plastic, ice and glass next to human skin to create an eerie, visually uncomfortable sense of contrast.

Parodically inspired by William Evans-Gordon’s 1903 book The Alien Immigrant, Emidio Battipaglia’s Aliens project reflects on UK immigration policies. His tender portraits, set in computer-generated landscapes, ‘force the viewer to rethink issues of border and community’.

Daniil Kolchanov’s photographs capture fleeting moments of human experience, with honesty, rawness and candour. His series The Shameless Baths of Pyatigorsk documents the lawless goings-on in hidden, cliff-top mineral springs in the North Caucasus, run by a group of activists and populated by party-seeking teenagers. 

Samantha Thompson aims to build meaningful connections between the viewer and the subject of her images, encapsulated by her moving, concertina-style photobook NANA that captures intimate details of her grandmother, who has dementia. It opens with ‘photographs of her grandmother’s head, where the illness resides, working down to her feet, which keep her standing’.

Eeva Hannula delved into her family photograph albums for her project The Choreography of Uncertainty. Inspired by Sigmund Freud’s concept of the uncanny, her monochromatic digital collages and diptychs probe the dichotomy of ‘familiar and unfamiliar’ that an image can possess.

Conceptually motivated, Lauren Jackson is interested in the performativity of the objects she photographs. In Make me a Channel we only ever see half a picture – unknown objects sit just off camera, casting shadows; shadow-puppet hands perform an unknown mime. The series is inspired by ‘our pursuit to achieve wholeness’, and its ‘impossibility’.

In his series The Celebrated Remedy for the Cure of Disorder, Jeroen Bocken mines the visual languages of natural science and technology, mixing hyperreal 3D rendered images with documentary photographs to present his own, alternative ‘reality’.

Chinese-born graduate Rujie Wang meandered through the landscapes of northwest China for her series Penetrate. Her images are subtly folkloric, recording both the industrial forms rising among the landscape, and the characters that move quietly among them.

Rowena Edwards’ ‘Rownd’ drinks trolley uses traditional furniture-making techniques and ingenious construction. Crafted out of oak, with bright yellow steel components, it includes space for bottles and a tray to hold glasses, as well as a pocket for cocktail tools. Surfaces are finished with linoleum for easy cleaning.

Would most like to have worked with: Joe Colombo

Toasting the next generation of designers who have raised the bar on oenophile wonders this year.

Writer: Rosa Bertoli

Bram van Oostenbruggen’s innovative rum bottle, launched under the label Brum (Bram’s rum), features a wooden side panel that allows the rum to carry on ageing while inside the bottle, combining the best of both worlds: the bene ts of a bottle and the ageing qualities of a barrel.

Would most like to work with: Adam Savage (host of TV show MythBusters)

Mike Simonelli’s project proposes a new tasting experience. As wine passes through his ‘Suspense’ filter, there is ‘an opportunity for reflection’. The device extends the moment between the wine being poured and the moment it can be tasted, adding value and increasing desire.

Would most liked to have worked with: Achille Castiglioni

Emilien Jaury’s ‘Witt’ collection of tools for mixing cocktails was inspired by glass-blowing techniques. The designer devised different containers to decant and mix cocktail ingredients, with special tools to pour, stir and combine elements, such as smoke and infused flavours, into the concoctions.

Would most like to work with: Martin Szekely

Data capture was the inspiration for Qiuyu Yang’s ‘Flaneur’ collection, in which she aimed to capture 2D data from digital health trackers and visualise them through a 3D-printing technique. Thus her jewellery designs become unique to each wearer.

Would most like to work with: Alexander McQueen

Here, we focus our loupe on graduates who’ve shone this year in the field of watches and jewellery design. Fashion: Lune Kuipers. Writer: Caragh McKay

Data capture was the inspiration for Qiuyu Yang’s ‘Flaneur’ collection, in which she aimed to capture 2D data from digital health trackers and visualise them through a 3D-printing technique. Thus her jewellery designs become unique to each wearer.

Would most like to work with: Alexander McQueen

The magical light play of mirrors inspired Mia Copíková to construct her own refractive material, layering mirror fragments with rock crystal and gold, such as in this two-piece brooch, designed to lead both viewer and wearer to question where the glow is coming from.

Would most like to work with: Olafur Eliasson

The smoothness of resin gives it a tactile quality that’s perfectly suited to jewellery design, a key factor in Song Wang’s approach. This earring is part of her ‘Insecure’ collection, and can also be worn as a ring.

Would most like to work with: A fashion designer who wants to explore the idea of beautiful, functional jewellery

Photography: Lee Whittaker. Blazer, £2,115, by Bottega Veneta

Thomas Le Provost’s Intramonde is a graphic-led exploration of quantum physics, using an algorithm to generate different layouts for every copy.

Would most like to work with: Anyone from scientific institutions to high fashion brands

The visual communication industry is larger and more complex than ever, and each year, our graduate selection is getting harder and harder to narrow down. Here’s our pick of the very best graduate illustrators, typographers and graphic artists

Interstellar communication is the underlying theme of Ben Hutchings’ Processes of Translation. The graphic elements are distillations of complex messages into otherworldly forms.

Would most like to work with: Elon Musk

Barbara Nassisi’s Common Places project, a multi- layered, semi-translucent book inspired by the work of Irma Boom, is intended as a mediation on inhabiting space.

Would most like to work with: Fraser Muggeridge Studio

Inspired by Kafka’s The Trial, Grace Heejung Kim brings a richly textured minimalism and a love of storytelling to her imagery, which is designed to work best on a book cover.

Would most like to work with: Penguin Random House

Franci Virgili’s It’s a toy for make believe brought her interest in stage acting, and the act of slipping into another character, to the page. The result is a collection of ambiguous short stories.

Would most like to work with: Robot cat Doraemon

Molly Fairhurst’s Kick, Don’t Twist series explores the physicality of emotion with bold, deliberately exaggerated forms.

Would most like to work with: Someone who could take my work away from the flat, still surface

Inspired by concrete poets such as Augusto de Campos, Dan Romanoski breaks down texts with typography. Letterforms jostle for attention as phrases and idioms are set down in dynamic ways.

Would most like to work with: Friends

Lucy Grainge’s Dyslexia project derives from first hand, and personal, experiences of the condition. ‘It aims to celebrate its diversity rather than see it as a disability,’ she says.

Would most like to work with: Leanne Shapton

A space frozen in a moment in time forms the basis of Vera Kaspar’s Persephone project, an abstract photographic journey through a series of dream-like sets and stills.

Would most like to work with: Kim Gordon

Linnéa Carlson’s project is a visual biography of her great-grandmother, Swedish sculptor Ninnan Santesson, exploring the roots of creativity and process through gender.

Would most like to work with: Blok Design

Hannah Enderby raises questions about the ethics of photography with this children’s blanket featuring a pattern derived from Twitter data about the drowned Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi.

Would most like to work with: Unicef, Raw Color

Fabian Fohrer’s Quo-vadis.otf font explores the aesthetic potential of OpenType 1.8, a new standard from Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Adobe that allows dynamic, variable online fonts.

Would most like to work with: Tyler, the Creator

The ‘Equally Strong’ project by Hanna Wik, who is currently working at Form Us With Love, is designed to avoid the gender stereotypes associated with fitness apparatus. Also pictured (top), is Wik’s collaboration with Robert Wettebrandt – a collection of lamps inspired by the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015.

Would most like to work with: ‘I would love to pursue my own goals and make a change that leaves traces.’

Function, form, and future-seeking, these nascent designers are shaping, sketching and fashioning the designs of tomorrow.

When tasked with creating a design based on connections between people and objects, Liese Dewulf developed an elegant capsule collection that focuses on storage and tidiness.

Would most like to work with: Muller Van Severen

A desire to ‘revive lost glamour and evoke a sense of nostalgia’ was at the centre of Christopher Riggio’s exploration in ceramics. Entitled ‘Paste’, his collection of vessels combines functionality with discreet decoration, inspired by 1920s Cartier.

Would most like to work with: Cartier

‘Piggo’ is a collection of modular seating designed for children’s clinic waiting rooms. Mor Dagan imagined a new type of interaction between children and parents, creating an intimate, reassuring waiting area.

Would most like to work with: MSDS Studio

Imagining a unisex beauty routine, Jenny Åslund devised her ‘Stål’ collection of accessories, such as this watch hanger and table mirror, with an industrial aesthetic in materials such as hammered brass and brushed and blackened steel.

Would most like to have worked with: Carlo Scarpa

The minimal ‘Airy’ chair was created by Maija Leskelä and Taija Lammi as part of Welded & Woven, a collaborative project designed to celebrate both furniture and textile.

Would most like to work with: Cecilie Manz, House of Hackney, Svenskt Tenn, Marimekko

Using wood turning and bending techniques, Takako Kozuka created ‘Scenery Of My Childhood’, a series of objects that feature geometric forms combined with more sinuous, organic elements.

Would most like to have worked with: Claude Debussy

Ruoxi Wang’s ‘Take Me Away’ series, featuring this lamp, as well as a table and chair, is designed to create a serene corner, triggering a conversation with one’s dreams and memories.

Would most like to work with: Michael Anastassiades

A collaborative by effort presented under the name YSD, this project was developed with an Italian marble quarry, using waste marble to create products such as this modular ‘Fraction of Time’ clock for Matter Of Stuff.

Would most like to work with: Marc Newson

Dita Pane’s work, like this table and bench, celebrates the tradition of wood marquetry through contemporary patterns. Using plywood and CNC cutting, Pane devised a modern method for an ancient technique.

Would most like to work with: Ikea, Hay, Menu, &Tradition, Vitra

These nesting tables feature asymmetric graphics, which intersect through the glass to striking effect. Says Sunyoung Park, ‘My work is a collaboration between the cycles of natural sunlight and my objects in space’.

Would most like to work with: Her RISD professor Chris Rose

Manon Ritaly’s project, ‘Talkative Uniform’, gives new shape and freedom to the domestic landscape. Her furniture does not have a fixed use, leaving its function open to interpretation and the imagination.

Would most like to work with: Wes Anderson

A sustainable version of the office chair, Andrea Mestre’s ‘Gandia’ uses rattan as an alternative to engineered plastics and mechanisms. Rattan’s flexible qualities allow users to move and stretch, offering a more intimate dimension.

Would most like to work with: Viccarbe, Kettal

Tomi Laukkanen’s record player and speaker may be called ‘Moody’, but they are designed to ‘express feelings of joy’. The slightly nostalgic design features a warm wood base combined with green or orange shades.

Would most like to work with: the Bouroullecs, Bjarke Ingels

Christian Juhl Christensen’s ‘Bloid’ chair is the result of research into ergonomics, geometry and materiality. The designer focused on 3D knitting production techniques, creating two knitted membranes on a metal frame.

Would most like to have worked with: Ray and Charles Eames

Naomi Stieger teamed up with Dimitri Gerster, an engineering student from ETH Zurich, to develop an intuitive controller for camera drones. The device allows a single user to simultaneously control a drone and its camera.

Would most like to work with: Atelier Oï

For his ‘Sukima’ lamp collection, inspired by Isamu Noguchi’s sculptural works, Baku Sakashita replaced Noguchi’s bamboo with thin steel wire and see-through Japanese paper, creating geometric shadow effects.

Would most like to have worked with: Isamu Noguchi

This year's top graduates serve up a plethora of sophisticated homeware, production-ready pieces and future design classics

Writer: Rosa Bertoli 

Our picks of this year's transport design talent dream of sleek ‘cleanline’ forms and sci-fi futures

Writer: Jonathan Bell

Samir Sadikhov grounded his final-year project in reality, creating a fast-back sports wagon for Ford. ‘It expresses the original brand philosophy,’ he explains. ‘A Ford is a car for everyone, but Henry Ford also had a passion for racing.’ The advanced Sports Wagon comes out of deep research, deriving form from Ford’s 1960s-era racers, Howard Hughes’ aeroplanes and the company’s current design language. Citing Marcello Gandini as his favourite designer, Sadhikov brings glamour to the family car, dovetailing memories of 1950s station wagons in a sleek ‘cleanline’ design. www.samirsadikhov.info

Yuhan Zhang’s work crosses the boundaries between architecture and automotive design. A far-future concept for the year 2050, this experimental Volvo interior imagines a world where cars are detached from their wheels, which exist as a shared resource. When not being used for transport, the interior can function as an extension of your living space. ‘I’m a sci-fi fan,’ admits Zhang, citing the work of the Eameses and Peter Eisenman as inspiration. ‘In the future there may be more flexibility,’ she says. ‘Changing a vehicle’s interior may be as simple as changing a cellphone case.’ www.yuhan-zhang.com

Hjertstedt takes a very digital approach to composition. ‘These pieces are mostly an experimentation with 3D software – all fairly quick.’ The swiftly rendered abstract forms combine uncanny architecture and still life. fssssssk.tumblr.com

Our pick of the designers, illustrators and typographers breaking the multidisciplinary mould of visual language

Writers: Jonathan Bell and Sam Rogers

Laar’s design approach is based on the ‘cycle of creating’ and is set out in his final manifesto-like project, a series of abstract forms that can be arranged to create letters – ‘the font will vary each time it is realised’. He now has his own studio.

Celas communicates the idea of home and place through her hand-drawn series Private Landscapes, conjuring up elaborate, imaginary spaces. Celas hopes to continue to experiment with medium, format and subject.

Kubski’s master’s at ÉCAL saw the designer create a magazine, Domesticate, exploring human-animal interactions – from owls for rent to wildlife photography. ‘It allowed me to mix photography, design, illustration and editorial,’ she says.

For his take on Russian Constructivism, Sebei used architectural imagery of contemporary Moscow. ‘I considered photography as graphic shapes, mixed with type to create hybrid images.’ He is now studying art direction at ÉCAL.

In Basterfield’s hands, the ballet The Four Temperaments is represented by colour, space and form in a series of meticulously planned geometric screenprints, ‘situated on that blurry line between art and design’.

Martyniuk’s ‘Nice Posters’ series explores typography and graphic form, while the designer’s conceptual social media project, ‘Stroll’, brings digital connectivity to the pleasures of taking a walk.

Illustrator Douglas brings a fine art sensibility to his vibrant collages, such as the Risograph-printed Collector. ‘By using collage I am trying to flatten everything I encounter around me into a concise whole,’ he explains.

Music is the generative force in Fiant’s Face B project. Making use of the Processing programming language, she translated sound into visual design. ‘It’s a new way to listen to music,’ she says.

It is a widely recognised truth that the print medium is in decline, so why create a project dedicated to it? ‘Because it is worth saving,’ says Sara Sturges. With Printernet, Sturges brings the best of both the digital and physical worlds together. Her innovative publishing concept allows users to curate their own newsfeeds, transforming them into unique, printed publications. ‘I believe that there is immense value in offering consumers the ability to have their own internet content, well designed in a considered way and presented in a tangible, simple and easy to read format,’ she explains.

Using a fragmentary process of image-making, Christmann created a book of collaged chapters, faking film stills and mixing them with originals to create a narrative of idleness. She currently runs Studio Pandan with Ann Richter.

Andreasson uses bold, flat colour and minimal detailing to create characterful portraits, here of the Eameses, and images. ‘I sometimes refer to historical artworks, juxtaposing them with more contemporary phenomena,’ she says.

After graduating with an MFA from Yale, Nelson set up his own book design studio, Making Known, in Minneapolis, pushing graphics into experimental new realms with self-generated publications and design exercises.

Gu Anjie graduated from the prestigious China Academy of Art, with several scholarships under her belt and a Bachelor in Engineering from the School of Architecture, yet architecture was not her first choice when she joined the school. A love of drawing and craft led her to CAA but architecture drew her in later, when she tried her hand at some of the design courses. The Dean of the department, Wang Shu, was a major inspiration for her. Anjie’s final year thesis at CAA focuses on a new way of approaching the design of airport terminals. She now studies at the University College London for a postgraduate degree and her Part 2 in Architecture, which she expects to complete later this year. Would most like to work for: Kengo Kuma

Exploring space and surface, the next generation of practitioners setting the architectural agenda

Writer: Ellie Stathaki

‘I guess since I was 9 years-old I had a strong desire to solve the urban chaos, and living in São Paulo, a big and confusing metropolis, has contributed a lot to that’, says Renata Campiotto. Becoming an architect was a no-brainer for the young Brazilian, and Campiotto graduated in architecture and urbanism from FAUUSP in Sao Paulo in 2015. The country’s great modernists – names such as Vilanova Artigas, Joao Filgueiras Lima and Lina Bo Bardi – are among her key influences, while her final year project revolves around the heritage of Sao Paulo’s Lapa neighbourhood. Her next step is to further specialise through education and a master’s degree. Would most like to work for: Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Alvaro Siza, Rafael Moneo

Katharina Ehrenklau’s beautiful collages caught our eye immediately – they are part of her award-winning graduation thesis on Zurich’s disused railway tracks. Her degree, from the high profile Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, was completed last summer with Distinction, while before that she also managed to fit in a semester at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in the US.  Having interned for key global firms such as OMA/AMO in the Netherlands and Atelier Bow-Wow in Japan, Ehrenklau is already working on her first, own project: a hut in the Swiss Alps, which is gearing up to start on site soon. Would most like to work for: at the moment, I am quite happy that I can work on own projects.

Drawing on the current debate around Europe’s ongoing refugee crisis, Swiss-born Valentino Vitacca worked on a lighthouse design for the small Italian island of Lampedusa for his final year thesis from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne. The project, awarded best of its year at EPFL, encompasses a memorial for the refugees, an auditorium, a cafeteria and of course the traditional lighthouse functions. His EPFL Master’s degree complemented his earlier BA from the Politecnico di Milano. Vitacca combines work experience at a number of Swiss architecture firms with a strong theoretical background, although his next steps involve ‘practicing the theory’, he explains. 

As students at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture Paris-Malaquais, Milena Bleibtreu and Corentin Gallard collaborated on one of their school’s best thesis projects of the year – an exploration of travel, trains and the Lyon-Turin connection through the mountains. Their joint experience combines academic stints in architecture schools of Germany and Turkey, with work at French, German, Turkish and American architecture firms. Their influences have a similarly global perspective, ranging from London-based Assemble Studio to Eero Saarinen’s work. Would most like to work for: David Chipperfield or Paola Vigano (Bleibtreu), Secchi and Vigano or Raum Studio or Fala Atelier (Gallard)

Recent graduate Pierre Mostert, followed his studies at Hogeschool Rotterdam with two courses at the prestigious Delft University of Technology (a Bachelor and Masters), completing his academic qualifications in 2015 with the highest possible grade – a round ‘10’. ‘As son of a carpenter I was taught to appreciate the building practice from a young age’, he explains. His award-winning graduation project focuses on the design of a pillar of a pedestrian bridge. Using the experience he gained while working at architecture firms during his studies, Mostert now hopes to develop his thesis into a scheme that can be applied directly to either the furniture or the building design world. Would most like to work for: Arup 

Beth Johnson’s work focuses on the relationship of architecture and materials. Graduating from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, she has an ongoing fascination with ceramics in architecture, which reflects on her final year project at the school. Her proposal for the transformation of the Kähler factory in Zealand includes both offices and a new ceramic design workshop and artist residency, winning the Henny and Johan Richter scholarship. Her next step involves work at SAAW (Simon Astridge architecture workshop) where Johnson hopes to be able to continue and develop her passion for ceramics and material details within architecture. Would most like to work for: collaboration with ceramicists and/or designers who specialise in a trade/material

‘For me architecture is like the totality of theatre - it is about creating a space where a story will happen, where people are the actors who make the plot alive’, says recent TU Wien graduate Dina Dragoshinska. No surprise then that her highly praised graduation project revolves around theatre productions and a dynamic system of platforms that allows actors, action and audience to mix in an unprecedented way. This way, ‘the whole theatre becomes a scene’, she explains. Bulgaria-born Dragonishka would like to eventually set up her own office, with her brother, who is also an architect. Would most like to work for: Haworth Tompkins 

Alexander Zinoviev trained as an architect at the St Petersburg University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, finishing his studies with an international award winning thesis. In 2015 he graduated from Moscow’s Strelka Institute with a final research project focusing on the future of leisure. Architects influence him, but cities do too. ‘Togliatti or Astana as well as London and Amsterdam influenced me more than any well known projects or architect’, he says. He’s taken part in workshops and competitions already, while his experience at architecture offices in-between his studies whetted his appetite for practice. Seeking work experience is his next step. Would most like to work for: Zumthor, Ishigami, Nouvel, Koolhaas, Sanaa
alexanderzinoviev.com

‘I decided to become an architect whilst studying fine art at Goldsmiths University’, explains recent Architectural Association graduate Louise Underhill. ‘I was inspired by artists such as Richard Serra, exploring the way the body and movement relates to space and surface’. Underhill was awarded her Diploma with Honours, her final project delving into the architecture of the terraced house typology. For this work, she plays with dualities springing from distinctions within the home, such as differences between interior/exterior, front/back, upstairs/downstairs, adult/child, man/woman, work/domestic and single/many. Her distinctions also include the Architectural Association Dennis Sharp prize for writing. She now works at London architects 6a. Would most like to work for: 6a architects

Boni Yuen studied economics and social policies in her native Hong Kong before moving to London to pursue an architect’s training at the Royal College of Art. The intersection of financial systems and social norms with design is a key interest for Yuen. Her thesis – awarded with Distinction – ‘investigates the implications of geopolitics and conflict dynamics in urban design, exploring the use of game theory in architectural design’. Currently working for London architects ACME, she hopes to be able to ‘further explore on the possibilities of applying geopolitical strategy for space formation’ in the future. Would most like to work for: David Chipperfield or Richard Rogers

Bartlett graduate Ben Ferns locates his influences in the work of Italian architects, from Post-war architecture of Carlo Scarpa, to the Italian Baroque of Francesco Borromini. ’To reinforce this, my thesis re-evaluated Scarpa’s modernism in line with a Baroque mode of thought, in order to go beyond the usual phenomenological reading of his work,’ he explains. His research flourished and Ferns’ work was nominated for the RIBA Silver President’s Medal, and won the Sir Banister Fletcher Medal and the Bartlett School of Architecture Medal. He is currently employed at Hopkins Architects, while wants to continue exploring the potential between hand drawing and digital collage. Would most like to work for: Hopkins Architects. www.benjaminferns.co.uk

Not only did Aska Welford graduate top of her year from the University of Cambridge, with a first-class degree, but she also won the RIBA Eastern Region Prize. Her two-part graduation project started off with ideas for the development of an industrial estate in East London, before focusing on a specific plot in the masterplan. Her practical experience includes some prestigious names too – from Wallpaper* Architects Directory’s Delvendahl Martin to Turner Prize nominees Assemble Studio. Welford is currently spending her year out as an Architectural Assistant at Karakusevic Carson Architects, working on a social housing scheme. She hopes to do at least two years of work experience before returning to complete her studies. Would most like to work for: Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, Níall McLaughlin Architects, Shigeru Ban, Atelier Bow-Wow and Tezuka Architects

Finn Wilkie combined time at the University of Strathclyde and the Glasgow School of Art – he graduated from the latter earlier this year with Diploma in Architecture with Distinction, before returning last September to begin a Master’s degree. His work earned distinctions throughout his studies and his graduation project was no exception; it won the coveted RIBA President’s Silver Medal. His thesis is a critique of ‘the managerial urban paradigm of Critical Reconstruction’ and questions the post-unification planning system in Berlin. He counts Alison and Peter Smithson, Sigurd Lewerentz and Karl Friedrich Schinkel as key influences. Would most like to work for: 6A Architects, Sergison Bates or Miroslav Šik

Casey Worrell graduated from Columbia University GSAPP in May 2015 with a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design. His work there includes the redevelopment of Duncan Plaza and a building for ‘African (American) music’, as an extension to the American Museum of Natural History. His Bachelor of Architecture is from the University of Arkansas. His experience is rich and varied – from work experience at Gensler in LA and Nieto Sobejano in Europe, to making the most of two traveling scholarships, while in his final year, he was involved in the New Museum creative incubator, ’NewInc’. Would most like to work for: Herzog and de Meuron 

Alexander McLean finished his Part I at the University of Cambridge before crossing the pond to complete his BA in Architecture at the prominent Cooper Union school in New York. Having worked at 6a architects in London, McLean was also a founding member of the Turner Prize nominated collective Assemble Studio. His multi-award winning thesis examines an architecture that sits, not in a flat plane, but on a globe-like basis. McLean uses case studies to explore the implications of this spherical ground. He was been working on a project for the Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design documenting glacial retreat in the alps, and is currently at Andrew Berman Architect in New York. Would most like to work for: Alvaro Siza  

Andrew Fu redesigned the ubiquitous hamburger stand for this final year thesis at Cornell University, exploring the role of architecture in creating myths and narratives, as well as the way we consume. For his designs, he draws inspiration from key architects’ work, such as Atelier Bow Wow in Japan and Glenn Murcutt in Australia – his work experience is another valuable asset, as it include time at prominent offices such as Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. Fu is currently working at Cornell, as a teaching associate for the first year studio, but this doesn’t mean he wants to give up practice. His aim is to find a post at an architecture practice next year. Would most like to work for: Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and SO-IL

Claudia Bode recently graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with an M.Arch. Her time at MIT was extremely fruitful; Bode became a researcher for the Urban Risk Lab, while she also began ‘a design-research collective, which is in the process of constructing several buildings in Tanzania’, she explains. Her thesis – the ‘Blue Heart’ – looks at a ‘new nature’ that responds to the pressures of globalization and climate change. She currently teaches at two universities in Boston, while also researches, but this is not the endgame for her; she is planning a move to Berlin in the near future. Would most like to work for: Lateral Office, Luis Callejas, OMA/AMO

Sci-Arc graduate Jacob Hartzell investigates the notion of suspense in architecture and how we can make the most of a building’s ‘potential energy’. This theme informed his final thesis at the school and led to the completion of his 2-year M. Arch course and a Merit Award for outstanding work. ’Travelling worldwide as a young person helped open my perspective on different cultures,’ he says. ’Seeing first-hand the pivotal role architecture plays globally inspired me to study the profession.’ Hartzell is currently considering his options, looking to work at the right architecture firm to earn his professional licence. Would most like to work for: Herzog and de Meuron. www.jacob-hartzell.squarespace.com

’I have always been fascinated with the interaction between people and their built environment,’ says Kara Biczykowski. Biczykowski has just completed a masters course at the Yale School of Architecture, winning several awards and scholarships on the way. Her thesis uses two drawing styles, Michael Web and David Hockney’s, ‘as a technique to speculate on the formal and conceptual understanding of a FAT project’. The British office’s work has been a key influence for Biczykowski. Since her graduation, she has worked at Tatiana Bilbao’s architecture office in Mexico City, researching social housing with her. She is currently in New York, working at Joel Sanders Architect.  Would most like to work for: Alberto Kalach
karamarie.biz

Having started her career at Barbara Lynch’s Menton in Boston, Kristen Kish – encouraged by Lynch to increase the visibility of females in the industry – entered and won the US series of Top Chef. She then headed back to Menton where she spent the next year honing her skills. Now, Kish is ready for the limelight once again, as the co-host of TV series 36 Hours. Inspired by a column, in The New York Times, it sees Kish explore food and culture in destinations around the world. Her favourite dish? ‘A roasted Iberian pork shoulder with a simple pepper and tomato sauce in Barcelona,’ she says. 

Unlike our Directory's other rising stars, the individuals profiled here aren’t new graduates. Rather, they are pioneers in their respective fields – young high flyers blazing new travel trails

Writers: Daven Wu, David Paw, Matthew Hurst, Jens H Jensen

After witnessing the rapid decline of traditional Machiya houses in Nara, Kansai, architect Shunpei Fujioka and his sister Shino made it their mission to preserve the city’s history and transform a series of the homes into holiday rental apartments. Fujioka and his father, also an architect, delicately renovated the townhouses, updating the interiors to include skylights and sleek new kitchens. Now comprising five houses, the project serves as a charming example of how to make these century-old homes relevant today. www.machiyado.com

As the Amsterdam-based founder of We the City, Jesse Jorg has conceived a diverse collection of urban community projects, including Benches Collective, a social initiative that encourages locals to set up shop outside their homes and offer anything from a cup of coffee to a haircut; Buurtcamping, which transformed the city’s Oosterpark into a three-day campsite; and De Ceuvel, the regeneration of an abandoned shipyard into an urban oasis that houses offices and workshops. ‘My goal is to kick-start movement,’ explains Jorg. ‘Where city dwellers themselves, as opposed to the market or the government, take the lead in “making” their city.’ For his latest project, the Knowledge Mile, a once neglected strip is being turned by a series of educational institutions into a creative environment. www.wethecity.nl

‘Imagine a world without waste’ is the mantra that chef Douglas McMaster has staked his career on, after emerging as a champion of sustainability with his debut Brighton restaurant, Silo Influenced by the nose-to-tail culture of London’s St John restaurant and the zero-waste movement evangelist Joost Bakker, McMaster combines a strict ethical approach with culinary creativity to produce artful dishes. Every aspect of Silo is geared towards eradicating waste, from simple measures such as recycling leftover bakery yeast to make beer, to installing a unique composting machine to make fertiliser. On his vision, McMaster is forthcoming: ‘Silo is a restaurant of the future because it is an extreme example of necessary change, and others will follow with a conscientious attitude.’ www.silobrighton.com

The ‘Platypus’ light owes its name to the subtly zoomorphic shape of its shade, which can be placed anywhere on the pole via magnets. Westeinde’s steel and maple lamp features a recyclable, long-lasting OLED panel and was designed with Caroline Bagley. coand.ca

Design doyens take note, this year's graduate shows serve up a plethora of sophisticated, production-ready pieces that are no doubt destined for the future collections of industry heavyweights.

Writer: Rosa Bertoli

At the RCA, Portnoy’s interest in materials and craft grew into a passion for glass. She was inspired by the natural formation of gems and precious stones to create her decorative objects, which are marbled and then cut and polished to mimic the colour and texture of crystal. elinorportnoy.com

The concept of atmosphere in interior spaces inspired Chang’s ‘Light of Colour’ collection. Pieces such as this shelving unit feature neon-bright hues diffused by translucent panels, giving them a surreal glow. naidanchang.com

‘Intentionally Non-Intentional’ is a set of round containers made from stone, terracotta, marble and wood. The boxes can be disassembled, encouraging the use of their constituent parts to display, conceal and arrange precious items. deryaarpac.com

The ‘Era’ table reveals Baastrup’s research into textiles and table decoration. The base features a reversible fabric cover, while napkins can be hung from a rail beneath the top. These details allow the character of the piece to change according to the occasion. frederikkebaastrup.dk

Von Hase created his ‘Omera’ stackable stool with woodturner Timothée Boyat. With metal pegs to anchor its legs, the piece is made of Norwegian oak and merbau, a tropical wood reclaimed by the designer at Bergen docks. philippvonhase.com

The ‘Aita’ shelving unit comprises a stark black grid over a panel in shades of grey. This solid birch and plywood structure was created by Sirelä in her final year, as she experimented with different types of wood. minnisirela.com

Osborne uses colour to investigate the properties of glass. Her decorative objects feature optical glass, dichroic films and a variety of coating techniques, creating a feast of hues and reflections. The designer’s aim is to combine her visual arts practice with scientific research. fenellaosborne.com

Keenlyside’s ‘Pour Man’s Stool’ has its roots in traditional craftsmanship. Made with no screws, the piece is held together by pewter cast into walnut. The pewter, the designer explains, ‘not only has a structural purpose, but also gives the piece its defining aesthetic feature’. williamkeenlyside.com

The influence of art deco and 1970s interiors is visible in Panichewskaja’s ‘Salominka’ shelf, an asymmetrical wooden composition with a motif referencing Belarusian art, crafts and folklore. Translucent paint allows the texture of the timber to emerge. verapanichewskaja.com

Mikola’s ‘Modulum’, as the name suggests, is a modular system of glass and wooden elements that can be combined to create a versatile lamp. Every part of the ‘lamp body’ can be moved for either aesthetic purposes or to control the brightness of the light. mieszt@gmail.com

Rampazzo’s award-winning lightweight desk can be completely disassembled, hence its name, ‘Nomad’. Made from leather, oak and steel, it can be customised with modules that include trays, a mirror and a magazine rack. elodierampazzo.com

This sleep machine creates rhythmic noise that acts as a tranquilliser. ‘The object must be activated for a session of late-evening work,’ Gemmo says. ‘After a set period of time, the object will start to remind you to end your day by using hypnotic sounds to initiate your sleep.’ marianogemmo.de

This lamp balances on a half-sphere, emitting a soft glow. Fly studied character-driven design for her collection of interior products, which is inspired by characters from Tintin comics and also features a chair and a mirror. evafly.dk

Hannula explores modernist aesthetics, using steel and MDF to create furniture with striking silhouettes. Her ‘L2’ chair has a minimal steel frame with a black plywood seat and a slanted panel serving as a backrest. cargocollective.com/aijahannula

Laban’s furniture explores themes of traditional and contemporary craft, as well as the contrast between natural and artificial. His ‘Rustic Bench 1.0’ is made of solid maple; smooth surfaces contrast with relief texture motifs to the back and underneath. marklaban.com

The straightforward design of Tsemach’s ‘Rising 30’ desk hides a gas-piston-powered mechanism that allows the user to choose whether to sit or stand. With one simple movement, the height of the platform can be raised or lowered. roitsm@gmail.com

Lopez’s glass-topped ‘Moho’ table features a slot into which an agar mix can be poured; mould cultures then create unexpected patterns beneath the glass. Table tops can be cast in resin to preserve a particular mould design. gonzalolopezdesign.com

Tomorrow’s world looks exciting when surveyed through the eyes of the world’s aspiring automotive and aviation designers.

Writer: Jonathan Bell

The autonoMe concept is a lightweight, ‘wearable’ three-wheeler – a modular design built around a swappable power pack that makes commuting fun. Gallardo cites Porsche and Tesla as companies he admires, but he believes future mobility solutions will rely less on branding. javiergallardo91@gmail.com

This self-driving, electrically powered, omni-directional carriage maximises space inside while retaining an elegant external form. The Panorama concept encapsulates future thinking, ‘free from the idea of a car being a metal cage with a front and a rear’, de Graaff says. degraaffdesign.com

‘We are creating the future of mobility from a blank sheet – it’s a dream to be a car designer now,’ says Pressler. His autonomous Bugatti Type A concept examines how the luxury brand could adapt to a digital future. The car evolves the classic Bugatti style, harking back to racers of the 1930s. nico.pressler@web.de

MacKenzie used her observational approach to create the ‘Walk to School’ project. ‘I was interested in the notion that when something becomes familiar it is often ignored,’ she says. Her imagery plays with composition, texture and form. tessamackenzie.com

Today's graphics graduates are faced with the daunting task of finding their feet in a field that has expanded way beyond the tactility of two-dimensional media into a digital realm of virtual space and interactivity.

Writer: Jonathan Bell

An illustrator who believes in translating her life into her imagery, Kolodziey says she usually dances when she’s working. Her collaged pieces use melted plastic, creating a mix of graphics and sculpture. nadinekolodziey.com

‘I read a lot,’ says Ferrol, who mentions Michel Foucault in the same breath as 1980s postmodern design. His geometrically rigorous ‘1984’ project sets out a fictional exhibition, featuring a mix of the past and the present. ricardoferrol.com

Knight’s work taps into the UK’s social disillusionment. His ‘Flags for the Forgotten’ were, he says, ‘designed in direct collaboration with individuals belonging to social groups who have felt continuously marginalised and forgotten about’. will-knight.com

Donne-Davis is inspired by found objects and ‘information which often goes unnoticed’. His screenprint melds aircraft registrations from British Airways’ fleet, creating a graphic and dynamic illustration of its variety of planes. alexdonnedavis.com

Chung’s imagery is built on mathematics, with computer-generated mono-colour images created out of half-tones. Colour is introduced with moiré patterns. ‘Designing with computer code is an intelligible process of imagining forms,’ he says. rca.ac.uk/students/ingee-chung

Grossenbacher’s vividly textured style is perfect for her work on sport visualisations. Citing the fashion of Rei Kawakubo and the art of Gerhard Richter as influences, her series builds ‘a new aesthetic’ code  for sporting design. kathringrossenbacher.ch

Bold tranches of colour and form characterise Abbiss Smith's illsutrations. 'I simply enjoy observing and experiencing things,' he says. His one-off screenprints and digital collages were create to accompany the works of Franz Kafka. tomabbissmithart.com

‘I’m inspired by the contrast of the analogue and the digital,’ says Kozma. His ‘Bartók’ project combines magnetic fields, sound waves and cosmic alignments to create 
a unique way of digitally visualising music. behance.net/danielkozma

‘My work is an attempt to reimagine the familiar,’ says Grundy. His innate curiosity led to the ‘Play’ series, which pushed his college’s technicians and their methods, creating imagery exhibited (and commented upon) in his old primary school. harrygrundy.com

Steindl cites the uncompromising forms of Anish Kapoor and Tadao Ando as creative inspiration. The work of the latter is melded with the theories of Jan Tschichold to create a fictional volume infused with the architect’s approach. felixsteindl.com

Oelmann’s architectural inspiration comes via artist MC Escher, designer Robert Beatty and, of course, Lego. Showing patterns of scale and form in New York tenements, his illustrations intrigue with their crisp  world-building. harryoelmann.tumblr.com

Melcher’s inspiration comes via the Eameses and Experimental Jetset. ‘I admire designers that incorporate writing and education in their practice,’ he says. The ‘Airport’ project reworks the banal Arrivals board into a visual plaything. gabrielmelcher.com

Sci-fi fan Rennie has a long list of influences, from modern manga to his contemporaries. His posters emerged from an anime screening series he organised. ‘The aim was to try to make messes that also kept a strict structure and balance.’ rafrennie.com

‘My work is inspired by everyday life,’ says Wolewinski. Her multimedia ‘Hymn to the Mundane’ project included performances exploring familiarity and subtle disruptions. The resulting book is a database of daily life. carolinewolewinski.info

Stahle uses graphic design to ‘criticise economic and political power’. His ‘Pocket Atlas of In-betweenia’ charts the ‘unclaimed spaces of the world’ – the expanses of ocean between nation states – providing names, flags and coats of arms. knutstahle.com

Inspired by dynamic typography, Eggenhuizen explores the intersection between print and digital media. ‘It’s an attempt at presenting an alternative publication by combining the digital platform with good old printed matter,’ he says. luceggenhuizen.com

Pernoux approaches design like it’s a puzzle, comprised of the various stages from concept to production. ‘They need to be logically put together to be able to be read as a whole,’ he says. These silkscreen posters use varied inks to create layers of information. lorispernoux.fr

These rising jewellery stars are a cut above the rest.

Fashion: Jason Hughes. Photography: Sophie Tajan. Writer: Caragh McKay

There’s a refreshing confidence to Kurginyan’s work. The Moscow-based designer has explored notions that ‘jewellery can be sculptural and interactive at the same time’, in order to produce elegant solutions. ‘I want to make something very aesthetic and tactile, but at the same time playful,’ she says. Her honed graphic metal curves demand to be worn differently. behance.net/elena_kurginya

Above, Dress, £79, by COS

A sharp instinct for texture and materials informs the narrative drive of Cheng’s ideas. ‘Contemporary jewellery design allows a lot  of possibility in materials. PVC, for instance, can express meaning metal cannot,’ she says. Cheng is driven by the connective quality  of jewellery and forging relationships between designer and wearer. chen2gjewellery.com

Above, Body, £119, by Wolford

Räthel’s belief that ‘jewellery doesn’t always have to fit into the traditional categories of earrings, bracelet and necklaces’ is a starting point for her designs. Thinking beyond form allows her to ‘explore space and movement, and the hard, cold nature of metal and stone on a soft, living surface’. Co-founder of label Räthel & Wolf, she is currently working for fashion designer Paula Knorr. rathelwolf.com

Working together on several projects, Moosbauer and Kathrein found their design process became more effective due to discussion and their diverse approaches to a brief. Their joint thesis looked at tourism as a result of social and natural change in the Lower Engadine area. Taking the town of Scuol in the Alps as a case study, they proposed six individual projects, including a kiosk, a spa and a hotel, which looked to preserve the local identity and were cross-linked to a regional strategy of six municipalities. Would most like to work for: each other. h.moosbauer@gmx.net; npkathrein@gmx.at

The next generation of architects and engineers are setting themselves an ambitious agenda. We pinpoint a top crop of nascent stars who are up to the job.

Writer: Harriet Thorpe

Counsell is interested in architecture that addresses overlooked social issues. For his thesis, he responded to the increasing number of cases of post-traumatic stress disorder in the UK, questioning how architecture can contribute to wellbeing and recovery from trauma. Counsell designed a facility for Chepstow, in south Wales, reflecting different possibilities for psychological rehabilitation and rest within the topography of the town’s Dell valley. Currently working at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, he plans to embark on his ‘Part 2’ in 2017. He was initially drawn to architecture, he says, as a ‘platform to think creatively with materials – an art of craft and fabrication at varying scales’. Would most like to work for: Duggan Morris Architects. sean@advancedcontrol.co.uk

A winner of the RIBA Wren Insurance Scholarship, Proctor’s thesis project looks at the impact of resource scarcity on urban environments. Taking the location of the Royal Albert Docks as a third financial district for London, he envisions buildings as mineral deposits coded by colour, which can be leased, tracked and sold for profit. He is currently working at David Chipperfield Architects in London on competitions and future proposals. Would most like to work for: people who do not hold preconceptions of what architecture should be. charles.proctor@network.rca.ac.uk

Inspired by the work of Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar Wai, Engstrom decided to explore the city in her undergraduate thesis, which celebrates and combats urban density. By carving a tunnel through the existing architecture of Hong Kong, Engstrom created a pedestrian bridge, which leads from the city to the mountain. ‘I have always been sensitive to how built and naturally-occurring spaces affect my behaviour and found that I wanted to design objects and systems to influence other people,’ says Engstrom who now works for Urbahn Architects in New York. Would most like to work for: LOT-EK and Atelier Bow-Wow. cassieengstrom@gmail.com

Djurdjevic and Paturet collaborated on their thesis, which examines the Baltic Sea from geological, social and political directions, seeking to find ways to exploit the sea and manage its resources for human use. In 2016 the project was awarded the Archizoom BestOf prize, the ‘Next Generation’ Arc Award and the Prix Arditi. The duo cite Lego and the film 12 Angry Men as their respective inspirations. Another collaboration based on the Baltic Sea – an elegant book of maps, diagrams and charts, which searches for clues and patterns – was exhibited at the Baltic Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Would most like to work with: each other, at a university interested in landscape and architecture studies. djurdjevic.muriz@gmail.com; thomas.paturet@gmail.com

Pröbster credits her sensitivity to rural and urban environments to growing up in northern Bavaria and the work of her father,  a land artist. As a teenager, she admired the art of Richard Serra. Her final thesis, influenced by an internship at MVRDV in Rotterdam, is a residential design for her parents, inspired by six symbolic objects from her family history. Would most like to work for: institutions working in regional planning and futurology. rebecca.proebster@gmail.com

Kitley’s work to date has explored self-build architecture as a form of self-help for communities. ‘I love the hands-on nature  of working with materials and collaborative construction,’ she says. For her final project, she designed a sustainable playscape that children can build themselves. Kitley is currently working for Peter Barber Architects on social and homeless housing.Would most like to work for: the late Miguel Fisac. emmakitley@googlemail.com

Challenging the view that architectural preservation is an obstacle to change, Liu’s thesis proposes to integrate ‘bad architecture’ through memorialisation. Winner of the 2016 AIA Certificate of Merit, Liu seeks to combine traditional Chinese drawing techniques with digital fabrication. He is currently working at SOM and is a founding member of Tekuma Inc, which connects artists and real estate. Would most like to work for: Herzog & de Meuron, Snøhetta and SOM. ltj117@hotmail.com

Anderson was influenced by the ‘extreme clarity’ of Pier Vittorio Aureli. A studio led by Aureli focused on interrogating and redefining the architecture of domestic space; Anderson explored this further in his thesis, in collaboration with Dante Furioso. Inspired to study architecture by looking at the work of Louis Kahn, Anderson is now working for Allied Works Architecture. Would most like to work for: Office KGDVS, David Chipperfield, Atelier Kempe Thill, 6a architects. anderson.alan.luke@gmail.com

Bencic and Yordanova began collaborating after joining the methods and analysis studio at TU Delft. Their final project proposes a multi-layered environment in Bogotá, Colombia, bringing social practices and rituals together under several roofs and grouping the activities to encourage co-operation. Both architects have diverse backgrounds, so working together balances the conceptual and technical aspects of architectural design. Would most like to work for: Smiljan Radić, Christian Kerez (Bencic); Triptyque Architecture, Atelier Bow-Wow (Yordanova)
val.bencic@gmail.com. yoana.yordanova@ymail.com

Winner of a 2016 RIBA East Student Award, Edwards’ thesis sought to express the economic, technological, social and physical changes taking place in east London in a single public library. After working at Grosvenor Group and Argent, he is now studying for a master’s degree in architecture and urbanism, researching methods of cross-pollination for the planning, financing and designing of cities. Would most like to work for: OMA. dominic.james.edwards@gmail.com

‘I believe the question I try to address in my work is how something can be global, modern and simple yet local, timeless and expressive,’ says Demiris. His thesis project is a proposal for a path and a sequence of steps, that allow access to the rock-ribbed coast of  mainland Greece, a device which seeks to alleviate the pressure of tourist visits to the Greek islands. Would most like to work for: WWM Architects. demiris.p@gmail.com

Interested in the sociopolitical role of architecture in building communities, Po graduated from his RIBA Part 1 having won the 2016 RIBA Donaldson Medal. For his final thesis, Peckham Health Common, he reinterpreted the 1926 Peckham Experiment’s holistic, preventative lifestyle-integrated approach to healthcare as a way to address the growing strain on the UK’s public healthcare system. Po is currently working at Studio Egret West on a range of urban design, landscape and architecture projects. Would most like to work for: Steven Holl Architects and O'Donnell + Tuomey. pocalvin@gmail.com

Currently working at Acme in London as an architectural assistant, Kwon earned his  bachelor’s degree in architecture at Yeungnam University in South Korea, and subsequently his master’s from the RCA. His thesis looks at the intersection of work/living functions within new housing typologies. Designing a housing scheme for people working in the creative economies, he looked to create a place were skills could be traded and social communal areas were re-integrated into the design to increase space for inhabitants. Would most like to work for: MOS Architects, Lacaton & Vassal and 6a Architects. koy562@icloud.com

‘I’m interested in the interiors of buildings for their softness, their uninhibited use of colour, and their close personal interactions with people,’ says Hair. In her final year thesis she designed a house from the inside out, as a collection of furniture-like objects in place of more traditional building components. After graduating she began working at First Office and is now working at Gehry Partners in Los Angeles. Would most like to work for: Frank Gehry. brooke.hair@gmail.com

Her fascinating thesis project explores the colonialism of Singapore through air-conditioning. Theorising that British colonialism propelled an ensuing obsession with the technology, her designs, in a form of guerrilla protest, hijack the bi-product of office air-con units, heat, to power community projects such as a public bath and a soup kitchen. Would most like to work for: Field office and Sarah Wigglesworth Architects. lynnchengyuqi@gmail.com

Nakanishi was inspired by the history of urban development in Kyoto for his project, ‘Greenway and Architecture’. He devised a masterplan which aimed to re-introduce green space into the city, which had been lost during the 20th century building boom of public housing and roads. With many lots laying vacant, he looked to reactivate these spaces for public use and connect people with nature again. Would most like to work for: myself. nico_s_mumrik@yahoo.co.jp

Swiss-born Ledergerber was first inspired to study architecture by playing with Lego. His final thesis explores the future possibilities of Buochs airfield as a public common area, presenting his ideas under the principles of culture, aviation industry, traffic, landscape and leisure. Would most like to work for: an ambitious and interesting firm. www.ledergerber.archi

Naïm’s thesis project looks at the urban potential of the Israeli pilgrimage. Taking the plan of Tiberias as his canvas, he prescribes an alternative route for pilgrims in order to tell a different urban story of the city. It was ‘the naive aspiration to make the world a better place’ that inspired Naïm to become an architect, looking to ‘design environments of tolerance and places where one could feel a sense of belonging’. Would most like to work for: Barozzi Veiga and Pezo Von Ellrichshausen. bn.hagai@gmail.com

Working between the disciplines of architecture and graphic design, Gonatos sees herself as a versatile and interdisciplinary architect. Her thesis project is a flat-packed kitchen garden kit designed to be used in refugee camps as a temporary activity that promotes mental health and combats the trivial nature of everyday life at the camp. She currently works at Kontrapunkt, a leading Scandinavian design agency, working in signage, environmental graphics, interior design and small-scale architecture. Would most like for: an interdisciplinary studio. renagonatos@gmail.com

Taking a very metaperspective on fashion, Mallison zoomed in on clothing labels as the very fabric of her womenswear collection. She compiled them to develop her silhouettes, then constructed garments of outsized versions, enhancing the conceptual feel of her material with enlarged stitching and artful, heavy fraying. Mallison was also chosen to represent Pratt Institute at London’s Graduate Fashion Week 2016. kristinmallison.com

With forward-thinking silhouettes, archetypes and materials, these designers are redefining back-to-school fashion and graduating top of the class.

Fashion: Lune Kuipers. Writer: Siska Lyssens

The ambiguous silhouettes and pieces in Evans’ menswear hint at historical costume. Subtle accents on the waist, padded shoulders, drapery, ruffles and shimmering knitwear add to the darkly romantic repertoire of the designer, who was mentored by Meadham Kirchhoff. Evans was joint winner of this year’s L’Oréal Professionnel Creative Award, a prestigious accolade for CSM students. cargocollective.com/harryevansknit

Presenting her Pack Mentality of I collection as a spoken word performance, McGrady’s work revolves around finding new design directions, while retaining a strong tailoring connection. Her all-black collection featured coiled leather trims and structured and deconstructed details. Now at Jil Sander, she appreciates ‘the invaluable knowledge’ she’s privy to, which is ‘refining my view of design all the time.’ jessicamcgrady.co.uk

The similarities between an August Sander photograph from the early 20th century of three men in fine suits and an image of three punks on a 1980s London street are what drove Zündorf to design a menswear collection that explored the expressiveness of tailored clothing. His garments are archetypes of the male wardrobe, but given personality with spontaneous handwork and re-dye processes. timozundorf.com

Dutch designer Woutera terms her work ‘material design’ rather than fashion, and her Looming collection is the result of research into the phenomena of a circle and the way circles function – as three-dimensional entities, in connection to the human body, and as sculpture. Her interest in theatre makes her acutely aware of the hypnotising quality of performance, a medium that factors heavily in her work. iriswoutera.com

‘I was bored of going to fabric shops,’ says Choi about his use of car airbags as the main material for his collection (near left). Getting ‘nice’ fabrics was not his concern; instead 
he ‘tried to visualise the beauty of the mass production process.’ He scoured eBay to find the fabrics and replicated the stitching of the Supplemental Restraint System. Many buyers were enraptured, but London-based boutique Machine A got the scoop. choikanghyuk.com

A broken Japanese porcelain tea bowl that had been stapled together was the inspiration for Akasaka’s graduate collection, a fashion equivalent to the wabi-sabi aesthetic of his homeland. It resulted in warped tailoring, platform boots and outlandish knitted masks, as well as interpretations of the sakiori technique of hand-sewing together shredded fabrics – in this case, denim. kozaburo.com

Turning the concept of borrowing from the boys on its head, Rauhamäki took feminine staples from the delicates drawer as the basis for her menswear collection. She fashioned suits from lace, nude-coloured tights and stay-ups, and heat-pressed bin bags on lace, tulle, faux leather and vintage flowery wool fabrics, creating textures that seemed at once fragile and expendable. satu-elina.rauhamaki@aalto.fi

Dividing three disciplines between them (womenswear, textiles and jewellery), this trio’s collection is based on moving objects frozen in time. Called Animism, it ‘reflects the Zen philosophy that non-human entities possess a spiritual essence’, says Yui. ‘My silhouettes and Yui’s headpieces worked well texturally,’ adds Gayane. gayaarzumanova.com

Skelton’s obsessive interest in class, culture and fashion as a social signifier informs the York-born menswear designer’s multi-layered aesthetic. His collection 
of hand-woven, handspun garments made of eco-friendly yarn is now stocked exclusively at East London boutique Hostem, and he was a joint winner of the L’Oréal Professionnel Creative Award. jskelton44@gmail.com

We're zooming in on this year's transport talents

Writer: Jonathan Bell

Varenna's grand design for a future VW racer - the E-volution - draws forms from bike design, rally cars and even contemporary architecture. 'The car designers I admire most are the famous carrozzieri Italiani,' he says, citing Marcello Gandini, Giorgetto Giugiaro and great Italian companies like Alfa Romeo and Ferrari. 'I appreciate brands that are pushing for good design and taking risks.' issuu.com/davide.varenna

Ki Kim's designs are informed as much by the ethos of sustainability guru Victor Papanek as by the engineering of a contemporary Porsche. Kim’s concept appeals to the younger generation with a junior jump seat in front of the driver. ‘It’s dangerous to seat your child in front of you while you’re driving,’ he says, ‘but if they’re operating different controls, they can at least enjoy a day out.' kikimdesigns.tumblr.com

Inspired by the ‘contrast between clean, simple shapes and chaotic, sharp forms’, Ferran Mestres Blanch’s concept for a Lexus racing car takes the luxury marque’s surface design to a new level. His design is for a dystopian future world dominated by virtual environments. ‘This car would reconnect the driver with the real world,’ he says, although he adds that in reality we might need ‘lighter, cheaper cars’ in the future and that conventional four-wheeled transport could be usurped altogether. www.fmb88.tumblr.com

'Right now there are a lot of projects focusing on "car sharing”, “mass transport” and “environmentally friendly design”,' says Daniel Gunnarsson, 'but I’ve not seen anyone consider the pure joy of driving, owning and expressing yourself through vehicles.' Gunnarsson has explored how more people could be lured onto two-wheel machines with a sentient device. ‘My solution was a motorcycle that would adapt to the rider's skills and teach inexperienced riders how to ride. www.coroflot.com/dlgunnarsson

Qiannan Wang reinvents automotive seating as a multilayered space with quilted materials and asymmetric patterns. 'My work is inspired by light,' she says, citing the art of Anthony McCall and the 'braveness' of BMW and Citroen. ‘Ultimately what we do is find out how to create a better experience.' Her concept is based around a transformable interior that expands or contracts as the vehicle's user base changes over time. qiannanwang.tumblr.com

A fan of Zaha Hadid and Ross Lovegrove, Maxime Guillet set out to improve the relationship between bikers and their machines. 'I wanted to design a mutual exchange, so the vehicle takes care of the biker’s safety and storage, and vice versa,' Guillet explains. The result is a modular bike with replaceable components and a kind of wearable carapace with a built-in airbag. 'I was inspired by animals like hedgehogs and turtles.' m.guillet@stratecollege.fr

Yujin Kim shaped his premium commuter concept to fit Seoul, where he noticed that the majority of workers drive alone, often in large cars that exacerbate congestion. He envisaged a one-person BMW that fits function, technology and luxury into an ultra-compact package. ‘It combines superior quality and comfortable space with innovation like active wheels and electrochromic glass,’ he says. Having studied in Sweden and interned at BMW in Germany, Kim is keen to explore brand values and how design translates them into a reality. issuu.com/yujin_kim

As the name suggests, the IBM lithium-air car battery uses oxygen to replenish its lithium, meaning future vehicles may function on air alone. The Skoda-badged concept by Jan Christian Osnes is shaped around a huge duct that funnels airflow into a central core. Osnes cites Dieter Rams and James Dyson as inspirations. 'I admire Dyson because he exposes the beauty of function rather than disguising it,’ he says. umejc.wordpress.com

‘My purpose is not to bring old things back to life but to remake things in a sustainable, efficient way,’ says Simon Linot. His diploma project looks at ways in which horse-drawn transport could serve London. ‘Horses can’t entirely replace public transport, but they can improve on buses in several places.’ Linot’s ultra-light vehicle pulls 20 people, with an ‘omnidirectional’ wheel to improve turning and a waste-disposal system. www.simon-linot.com

Jacopo Sarzi’s cork bowls (pictured far left and right) are part of an ice cream-making set he developed with cork producer Amorim for a Roca-sponsored design project. Sarzi studied product design in Italy, industrial design in Finland, learnt food design in France and set up his studio in London in 2012. Sarzi also designed the food for our shoot, drawing together the various food-related design pieces. Pictured are extra virgin olive oil ice cream; matcha green tea ice cream; strawberry sorbet; a towering Sachertorte; Lancashire, Red Leicester, Emmental and Parmigiano cheeses; and chèvre cake. www.jacoposarzi.com

For the rising stars of the hospitality industry, the route to success is rarely well-trodden. Luckily, our team of globe-trotting editors and stringers are perfectly placed to find the unsung heroes from backgrounds that are as varied as their entrepreneurial pursuits

Writers: Emma Moore, Lauren Ho, Rachael Sanders, Mariel Reed, Camila Cavalletti, Romy van den Broeke, Micha van Dinther and Alix O'Neill

People may wonder at milk being produced in a Melbourne suburb, but that’s exactly what fourth-generation dairyman Ben Evans is doing. There may be no cows at St David Dairy, but the milk being bottled there is as fresh as you’ll get. Sourced from Victorian dairies, Evans processes it, keeping it as close to its natural state as possible. He’s teamed up with a cheesemaker and also supplies bottles to local cafés and small retailers. www.stdavid.com.au

In an attempt to slow down and add theatre to the thoughtless shovelling of food from plate to mouth, James Stoklund has designed the flexible fork. With eight yielding spring-steel prongs, the playful tool bends when pressure is applied to a plate of food, giving new meaning to spring veg. www.jamesstoklund.com

Founder of the UK’s first kitchen incubator, Kitchenette, Cynthia Shanmugalingam makes it her mission to help young pop-ups thrive in London. With her Sri Lankan foodie background and years as an economist under her belt, she now offers a 12-week programme for entrepreneurs and will host residencies at her permanent restaurant, opening in 2014. www.wearekitchenette.com

Yasmine Larizadeh (above right) previously worked in finance before joining forces with French Culinary Institute-trained chef Shirin Kouros (above left) to launch The Good Life Eatery on London’s Sloane Avenue. Inspired by a passion for eating good food fostered by their Iranian roots, the duo have created an organic menu serving healthy LA café-style dishes. www.goodlifeeatery.com

The Graft series of disposable tableware is moulded in bioplastic to resemble fresh produce and tinted in palatable pastel colours. In a twist on conventional plastic dinnerware, each piece in the Graft set takes on a natural form of fruit or vegetable - from celery to radicchio, lemon to melon - which serves as a reminder of the material's ability to break down after use. cargocollective.com/qiyun

After stints at 69 Colebrooke Row, Purl and Morgans Hotel Group, award-winning bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana took the plunge and opened his own bar. Located in a former pub in London’s East End, White Lyan serves up pre-mixed cocktails in Chetiyawardana’s own-brand Mr Lyan bottles. ‘I wanted to bring a different approach to London’s well-educated drinkers, while still retaining the best bits of a traditional cocktail bar.' www.sipstir.co.uk

Henry Richmond Young’s 3D-printed ceramic dessert plates are made in collaboration with pastry chef Veronica Duboise. Each design is a play on the action involved in a dessert’s consumption, such as melting (ice cream), cutting (fruit) and breaking (chocolate). www.henryrichmondyoung.com

Architecture student, and daughter of a hotelier, Theresia Kohlmayr is on a mission to repurpose disused urban spaces in the Viennese neighbourhood of Wieden. Joining forces with fellow students Jonathan Lutter and Christian Knapp, Kohlmayr is creating a series of hotel rooms with a history. The first so-called street loft, the Tailoress, is housed in a former haute couture dressmaker’s workshop. The space has been given a new lease of life with a sympathetically designed interior that preserves the story of the once famous atelier. Following its success, the team has opened three more street lofts with six in the pipeline. www.urbanauts.at

Wanting to merge creating and travelling, Joyce Brouwer and her business partner Danielle Linscheer launched the hostel-cum-atelier Ani & Haakien, a double townhouse in the heart of Rotterdam furnished with materials reclaimed during the renovation of Central Station. Brouwer cites her year travelling the world as a source of inspiration, and envisions the hostel as an artistic platform for wanderlust-stricken creatives. www.anihaakien.nl

After stints at the Ledbury and Blueprint Café, 25-year-old Tom Adams and business partner Jamie Berger set up a pulled-pork van on London’s Southbank in 2011. Food bloggers approved, and the Soho bricks-and-mortar location Pitt Cue Co followed, attracting round-the-block queues. This year they published their first cookbook while Tom teamed up with pig farmer Charlie Hart to raise the ultimate barbecue fodder, Mangalitza pigs, in Cornwall. www.pittcue.co.uk

When Hingstons - an online retailer for homemade food kits - approached Chris China to redesign their cheesemaking kit, he chose to make the process more accessible. China’s design features a bright compact container with a transparent top, through which you can watch your cheese mature. www.designedbychina.co.uk

Karthik Poduval likes his cake – and eats it in perfectly equal portions, thanks to his measured cake slice design. Variously sized stainless steel and oak cutters frame the perfectly proportioned slice, whether a cake is to be carved into quarters, sixths or eighths. www.karthikpoduval.com

Tamsin Hanke’s project on Magnitogorsk (pictured top), a Stalin-era Russian settlement built entirely around the steel industry, focused on building a platform for the city’s economic and cultural diversification. Hanke gained experience at offices such as Michaelis Boyd Associates and Undercover Architecture and has now been snapped up by Niall McLaughlin Architects. www.tamsinhanke.co.uk

These young architects are laying solid foundations for their bright futures, exploring space and surface in fresh new ways

Writer: Ellie Stathaki

Kiyonori Sugiyama came top of his class and won the 2013 award for his graduation thesis in engineering. Inspired to study architecture by his father’s books and the work of Arne Jacobsen, Sugiyama is also influenced by Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia and Saint Benedict’s Chapel by Peter Zumthor. In fact churches seem to be his main fascination; his thesis, Church on a Field, revolves around religious building design. amasisoho1@yahoo.co.jp

Alessia Catellani and Tess Walraven’s award-winning student work culminated with their final year thesis, completed with supervision from professors Harry Gugger and Dieter Dietz. The pair scooped the esteemed 2013 Arditi Award with their project, Zurich Stories: Scenarios of Intensification, which revolves around the densification and ‘intensification’, of two centrally located sites in the Swiss town. catellani.alessia@gmail.com; tesswalraven2@gmail.com

Anders Liisberg Larsen excelled with his final thesis project, which involved the restoration of an old farmhouse in rural Denmark (pictured). The project led to two Danish prizes, the VOLA and the Icopal, as well as a desk at Henning Larsen Architects. The graduate has also formed a collective, Stuen Architects, with eight of his fellow students. www.stuenarchitects.com

After work experience at practices such as SCAU and the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Cyril Chabaud hopes to turn his thesis ‘into something real’. His project, A catalogue for the new builders of Ouagadougou (pictured), revolves around the densification of housing in the Burkina Faso capital, based on his work experience in the African city. www.issuu.com/cyril.chabaud

Czech-born Ondrej Janku’s well-researched final thesis on urbanism and the future of Moscow’s urban planning led to a highly praised graduation project from the Strelka Institute last year. Janku’s portfolio also includes a winning team entry to the 2013 Tallinn Architecture Biennale’s urban design competition, and a project (pictured) exploring the use, qualities and appearance of caravanserai, an Islamic equivalent of the motel. www.assembledground.wix.com/ondrej-janku

With degrees in architecture and engineering and a background in anthropology and sustainable development, Laura Myllyluoma is a real multitasker. And with work experience at Toyo Ito, Kengo Kuma and the manufacturer Velux, she’s off to an exciting start. Myllyluoma is influenced by Nordic and Japanese architecture and hopes to combine her architecture with art, urbanism and anthropology. ‘I’ve also been influenced by smaller Tokyo-based offices, like Atelier Bow-Wow, with strong social awareness,’ she says. lauramyllyluoma@hotmail.com

Gezim Bono’s ‘Fleabite’ Effect project (pictured) is a critical examination of knowledge formation, researching the elements that will shape tomorrow’s education spaces. His plans for his own future are well-defined. ‘I would like to open a virtual architecture office based on an open-source platform,’ he says. gezimbono@hotmail.com

Li Sanjian is partial to hand-drawn architecture. ‘I’ve used this method throughout my undergraduate period,’ she explains. Her thesis project, Wall by Newspaper, is similarly ‘analogue’ in its approach, creating architectural spaces using old newspapers. lisanjian@udg.com.cn

Natalie Kwee is drawn to Japanese architects. ‘Their approaches to scale, light, material, inside/outside all seem so natural,’ she says. Her thesis project, Idiosyncracities (pictured), explores the genealogy of Japanese housing, while proposing a new residential typology. www.nataliekwee.com

After graduating with a wealth of honours and prizes for her academic work, Sarah Frances Gill began work as a designer for Heatherwick Studio in London. Her Broad Museum Redux project (pictured), completed at Yale, called for museum exhibition space as well as significant storage room. The result is an exploration of nested or interlocking volumes. issuu.com/sarahfgill

Award-winning honours graduate Alice Labourel combines design with academia and has taught at the Bartlett School of Architecture. She is inspired by architectural drawing – ‘Lebbeus Woods’ drawings depict a world between reality and fantasy’ - and architects who have managed to build their forward-thinking ideas, ‘like Arakawa and Gins, whose buildings stimulate people’s minds and bodies’. Currently employed at Will Alsop’s All Design, Labourel aims to one day set up her own practice. www.alicelabourel.com

It was Bauhaus teachings that introduced Andras Dankhazi to architecture, along with the work of Herzog & de Meuron, where ‘there’s always something happening inside the filigree between the insulation and façade,’ he says. ‘This excited me because I started seeing the possibility of combining materials.’ Dankhazi earned awards for his thesis design of a desalination plant, salt-marsh garden and baths in Dublin’s Poolbeg area, a commentary on the city’s looming water crisis. www.dankhazi.com

‘Growing up in a small town, I always saw architects as central to community development,’ says Emily Baxter. ‘I love the idea that architecture shapes space and how people interact with it, and with each other.’ Since completing her masters thesis with the design of a performing-arts theatre, she has interned at New York’s Situ Studio, where she worked on the design of site-specific, performance-based installations. emily.baxter@mail.mcgill.ca

South Korean Chang-Yeob Lee completed an interior architecture degree from Seoul’s Hanyang University before earning his MA last year. His thesis exploring the transformation of Marylebone’s BT tower (‘one of London’s most polluted areas’) into a hybrid vertical oil field and research laboratory won him the school’s Sheppard Robson Student Prize. Lee is currently a Part II architectural assistant at Studio Heatherwick in London. changyeob.lee@network.rca.ac.uk

‘San Francisco’s Embarcadero is fascinating in the way it generates a 24-hour-access public space within a seemingly banal corporate centre,’ says Jeremy Jacinth, whose interest in public spaces marks his work. Winning the RSA’s US Student Design Competition earned Jacinth a job at Grimshaw Architects in London, but upon graduation he plans to leave for Sacramento in California ‘to start up a research centre investigating small-scale infrastructure that encourages intelligent urban growth’. www.jeremyjacinth.wix.com

Julian Trachsel’s thesis Interior and Monument won the Heinrich Hatt-Bucher Prize and the SIA-Diploma Award from the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects. ‘Architectural design is always in a historical context,’ he says. ‘By using references as design tools we can position our own work within the historical course of events.’ Traschel works as an assistant to architect Adam Caruso, of Caruso St John, while setting up his own practice, Kontor Architektur. www.kontorarchitekten.ch

Beginning her higher education in fine art, Ja Kyung Kim was eventually won over by architecture. She received the 2013 Diploma Honours for her thesis examining the no-man’s land between North and South Korea from the perspective of Korean women. Rem Koolhaas’s Exodus had a deep influence on Kim’s work, as did her tutors, Cristina Díaz Moreno and Efrén García Grinda of Amid Cero9. ‘They never give up and always attempt new things.’ hinair@hotmail.com

Sadie Williams drew her inspiration from two unlikely bedfellows: the notorious Bōsōzoku Japanese biker gang (their glittery motorcycles are the stuff of urban legend) and Pierre Cardin’s somewhat tamer 1960s A-line silhouettes. The result? A floor-skimming collection of conical dresses, created by sandwiching pieces of neoprene between metallic lurex and tracksuit jersey. Williams also designs textiles for Marc by Marc Jacobs. www.sadiewilliams.co.uk

How the next generation of fashion stars are making everything better and more beautiful

Writers: Katrina Israel and Caragh McKay

James Pilcher won the British Fashion Council’s Burberry design competition while completing his BA, earning him a work placement with the brand. Soon after, he started on the Royal College of Art’s Menswear MA programme, winning 2013’s International Flavors & Fragrances’ competition (the brief, to relaunch Joop!). He is only 24 years old, but his collection shows strength of conviction, played out through converging monochromatic lines in PVC and leather. jmsplchr@gmail.com

California-born Amelia Lindquist discovered her passion for surface experimentation at Parsons’ Paris satellite. Back in the US, her Masters collection, Mark Making Through Light, contrasts fine T-shirt jerseys with heavy denim; Lindquist side-slipped the latter’s traditional topstitching in favour of bonded seams to leave a clean surface upon which to showcase her dramatic chemical erosion techniques. www.amelialindquist.com

Jae Woo Lee studied fashion design in Seoul and worked in the South Korean fashion industry for a number of years before moving to New York to undertake Parsons’ MFA programme. Drawing upon her early art education (she started painting and drawing classes at the age of nine), Lee’s graduate collection unpeels her classical leanings through torn, hand-finished, woollen shapes, joined with web-like, pop-hued topstitching. Each dress hangs from the body with a geometric, 3D form that’s also artfully wearable. jwjw0201@gmail.com

Before embarking on his MA collection, Asim Khan left London to travel the UK in search of traditional manufacturers to produce his graduate menswear range. Scottish tweed was his textile of choice, using the expertise of firms like Harris Tweed Hebrides, while his concept was wired for sound. More specifically, ‘experimenting with techniques to show the process of sound in visual form’, he explains. Titled Sound Series, his collection smartly weaves graphic, audio-wave patterns into heritage cashmere and wool tailoring. asimworks.wordpress.com

That Central Saint Martins jewellery graduate Darunotai Vajrodaya also has a degree in literature comes as little surprise. Her designs are audaciously narrative-driven. Or, as she puts it, ‘My designs can be treasured for special occasions or worn on a daily basis. I like the idea of pieces that not only adorn and decorate, but that can be enjoyed.’ Vajrodaya’s confident use of precious materials, such as silver and pearls, points to a major talent with an innate understanding of what sets the fine jeweller apart: the ability to bring hard metal to life with natural expression and warmth. www.lostatsea.info

You could say Melitta Baumeister’s path was predestined. Her mother was a seamstress and she attended fashion-focused high school Balthasar-Neumann-Schule II in her native Germany, before studying fashion design in Pforzheim. After interning with Viktor & Rolf, she later received Parsons’ prestigious Dean’s Scholarship, which took her to New York. Describing her aesthetic as ‘alchemical and futuristic’, in her Hyperreality collection she ties minimalist restraint with fused, cloud-like fabrications that appear to float on air. www.melittabaumeister.com

‘I focused on the dart seam,’ says Barbara Langendijk, ‘because it is such a simple and widely used principle.’ Her collection, Cloth, hommage à la coupe couture, celebrates the skills of the master couturier, while revealing her own use of hand-finished detailing and traditional tailoring stitch on the exterior of pieces. Her black and white palette contrasts with the vibrant work of Walter Van Beirendonck, where she interned. www.barbaralangendijk.com

Franciska Hjermov joined forces with British textile mill Stephen Walters & Sons to create the bespoke checked fabrications that were the bass note of her MA offering. ‘I wanted the checked artwork woven, not printed,’ she says of her relaxed approach to menswear. ‘It is then just as beautiful on the inside as the outside.’ The collection juxtaposes the bourgeois suit with workwear shirting as worn by 20th-century French artists Marc Chagall and Jean Dubufet. hjermov@gmail.com

Pierre Renaux interned at the house of Mugler during Nicola Formichetti’s reign before starting his Masters graduate collection. This made use of hand-cut magnetic enamel panels as appliqués and saw the development of his own futuristic material. Called Brisé, it resembles a shattered glass panel and he teamed it with power-dressing pinstripes on occasion. www.pierrerenaux.viewbook.com

Alice Tye filters 'big M' Modernism with painterly approach to add another layer of texture and memory. As well as creating a 4m concertina book of paintings from a virtual stroll down La Jolla Road in Palm Springs, Tye has turned her eye to the cinematic depiction of Californian modernism. 'I want to communicate the sunny skies, swimming pools and palm trees,' she says, 'and also something darker hidden beneath the façade, the "dark underbelly of suburbia".' www.alicetye.com

Today's graphics graduates are faced with the daunting task of making their mark in a field that has expanded beyond the tactility of two-dimensional media into a digital realm of virtual space and interactivity

Writer: Jonathan Bell

Charlie Bakker's playful imagery combines photography, design and an architectural approach to space. 'I want to see how our perception of an object is influenced by its surroundings,' she explains. 'I'm playing with the fact that when we perceive our surroundings, object and space become inseparable.' Bakker's exploration has resulted in a series of exploded-imagery, skew-whiff perspectives that draw in the viewer. 'I believe it's important to question the daily and banal to create a greater understanding of who we are.' www.charliebakker.com

Russian designer Dmitry Bukreev draws a direct line between his portfolio work and Soviet Constructivist art and design of the 1920s. 'I used the model of Constructivism and updated it through a fashion catalogue of an imaginary designer named Varst,' he says, describing how his alter ego exists in a world of strict lines and geometric shapes. 'It's a work of art direction, styling and visual experiments,' he says. dbukreev.tumblr.com

Herman has developed a calm yet authoritative aesthetic for his short films and graphics. The 'observational collage' shown here illustrates his obsessive deconstruction of stock suburban imagery, enhanced through the serene but menacing grey palette and subtle animation. It was created as part of 'Meeting Place', a short animation exploring the realm of the social network via the work of influential technologist Sherry Turkle. 'Homes are collected in a huddle, yet the inhabitants are hopelessly distant from one another, restricted by walls and hypnotised by their screens,' he says. www.harveyherman.co.uk

Berlin Between is the identity for a documentary film charting the city's early post-reunification years. 'The inspirations were the urban forms and DIY visuals of the Berlin subculture at the time,' says Seiffert, who created a handmade letterset for the project. Seiffert has always taken a socially conscious approach; her Twitter Compendium is a 600 page volume that attempts to contextualise the flurry of one-liner political debate about the new digital future. www.isabelseiffert.net

Deconstruction, image and intention all play a part in the work of Kieran Startup, who creates architectural imagery blended through the unholy lens of Photoshop filters, which degrade, corrupt and otherwise interfere with the clean lines of Mies van der Rohe. He pairs his Deconstructed Architecture series with Deconstructed Hockney, shown here, in an 'experimental attempt to remove the splash from the image in a systematic and incremental way.' www.kieranstartup.co.uk

Students on ÉCAL's newly minted 'art direction' degree, Michal Florence Schorro and Prune Simon-Vermot work together to shape experimental compositions forming from strange constellations of everyday objects. 'Our main interest lies in taking 3D objects and translating them into abstract compositions of texture, colour, and light,' says Schorro. The course enables the collaborative duo to shape an emerging aesthetic that is fresh, unconventional and truly unique. www.prune-michal.ch

In creating the identity for Stockholm's Museum of Dance, Moa Wilking drew a new language of physical movement, partly inspired by the collections at the museum and at Les Archives International de la Danse. For the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week print shown here, she interpreted work by Beckmans fashion students in photography, exploring how each particular piece came about. Wiking ultimately hopes to head for a more multidisciplinary future. www.moawiking.com

Ryan Neil's geometric imagery is based on the simple architectural structure of his college degree show, which used minimal materials in order to maximise display space. 'The idea was to provide a neutral space for student work while letting us build a richer spatial environment for visitors,' says Neil, who presented his organisation diagram as a strong graphic identity. Now Tokyo-based, Neil is looking to strike out with his own set of cross-pollinating studios, keeping the collaborative process alive. www.ryan-neil.com

Another designer with an architectural approach, Thorsteinsson builds 3D models of vanished structures and laboriously constructed posters for a college lecture series. Taking as a starting point the typographic inscription on the cenotaph in front of Yale's Beinecke Library, Thorsteinsson has delved into typeface design for the posters, creating an evolutionary model that develops over the year, 'appropriate to the content of the lecture.' His future work will expand this fusion of graphics with built environments. www.stefanthorsteinsson.dk

Benjamin Muzzin's 'Full Turn' video makes use of a unique way of displaying image - a spinning flat screen that gives the impression of a solid 3D object. 'I wanted to explore the notion of the third dimension,' says Muzzin, 'to try to get out of the usual frame of a flat screen.' Sticking two screens back to back and spinning them at high speeds builds a picture of a dancing 'kinetic light sculpture'. www.benjaminmuzzin.ch

Bold text and bold statements give Maryam Fanni's unmissable visuals instant recognition factor. Creator of several works examining the effects of ongoing privatisation, state-sponsored nostalgia and the politics of identity, Fanni is overtly political in her work. 'My practice requires never-ending collective and collaborative research and organisation to form resistance against neoliberal and fascist tendencies,' she says. Her idealist aesthetic is sharply formed to support progressive causes. www.maryamfanni.se

'As a graphic design student, the very basic thing you learn is typography and typefaces,' says Calvin Kwok, lamenting that there are few contemporary guides to using Chinese characters. 'I intend to develop a style guide containing basic Chinese typography knowledge, which will be distributed in print and available online.' His research has taken him deep into orthographic territory as he 'searches for new possibilities in Chinese typography from the root of Chinese characters and calligraphy.' cargocollective.com/cliko

Jessica Svendsen's series of lecture posters makes subtle allusions to the work of visiting artists. For example, the laser-cut stencil used to make the poster for photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia evokes a 1978 photograph taken while diCorcia was at Yale himself. 'The lecture poster for photographer Todd Hido uses a projected grid of light photographs to reference the light sources in his colour prints,' she explains. While in her poster for Leo Rubinfien she uses 'undulating letterforms and colours' reminiscent of the photographs in his series A Map of the East. www.jessicasvendsen.com

'3D is such an amazing tool with endless possibilities. Only your imagination is the limit,' says Dominic Plaza. Taking inspiration from futuristic technologies and abstract art, Plaza builds slick, intricate films that create order from chaos. 'All my projects are small learning steps in the process of creating, and also a bridge to bigger, more challenging projects.' He hopes for a future in the VFX industry or his own motion design studio. behance.com/dominicplaza

Hugh Cowling describes his cover for the eighth edition of Falmouth's portfolio publication, Illustrated Quotes and Sayings, as 'bold and fairly impartial.' 'I didn't want it to be biased towards one particular area,' he says. He draws inspiration from Reid Miles's Blue Note record covers and Milton Glaser, and his portfolio includes a suite of illustrations for the poems of Gillian Clarke, including this image of a beetroot, rendered in watercolour and pencil. Cowling is already working on book covers for Bloomsbury. www.hughcowling.co.uk

Jyotish Sonowal's diploma project resulted in the creation of a Bengali typeface, developed in collaboration with the Indian Type Foundry. 'I was unhappy at the lack of weights in current Bengali fonts, which forced newspaper designers to use several typography malpractices [stretching, force bold, forced italics],' he explains. Using traditional calligraphy as a starting point, he came up with five different weights, designed for many applications. Sonowal continues to work on Indic typefaces. behance.net/jyotish13

Min Ji Lee has created an interactive typeface called 'Transtype'. 'It changes its form from abstract shapes to black letters in response to sound,' she says, explaining how the letterforms derive from technical construction processes. Her other project explores the concept of neutrality in typeface design, creating Caslon5 Grotesk through the addition of 'unfamiliar elements' to a face inspired by William Caslon. www.minjilee.com

'Nordic by Noma' was a collaboration between Morten Rosendal, Emil Bjerregaard Juul and Hans Pelle Jart. Together they designed a series of events for the restaurant Noma. 'The seven events will take place in nature and get you close to the ingredients that have been used in the dinner,' says Rosendal. 'It's an attempt to improve our understanding of food.' Their site is refreshingly clean, typographically driven and rich with natural imagery. studentshow.com/gallery/Nordic-by-noma/7951157

Nikolas Brückmann and Yuriy Matveev collaborate under the banner of Sure.Is on graphics and motion imagery, making them the perfect choice to create an identity for the B3 Moving Image Biennial at Hochschule für Gestaltung. By adapting old fractal generating software, they created a rich blast of psychedelic imagery. 'We were aiming for a visually strong analogy that goes beyond the visual and also plays with the viewer's perception,' they explain. 'We generated a huge variety of fractals and went with three final key visuals. It was great fun to look at those hypnotising images for days.' sure.is

Illustrator Tamsin Nagel undertakes detailed studies of what she calls 'natural forms and mundane objects,' closely observing texture, colour and line. 'I'm inspired by stories, films, nature and anything that's a bit "off'",' she says, ' things that seem ordinarily beautiful on the surface but are actually dark or unsettling the closer you look.' She captures this sense of unease in her work. 'I love a good pencil,' she says. 'The plan is to continue drawing and being inspired by my strange, sometimes mundane surroundings.' tamsin-nagel.tumblr.com

The Fox is a publication without barriers, designed by Mathew Whittington as an exploration of printing as a new form of public space. 'I'm interested in the way users who experience these systems renegotiate the objects and spaces in ways that deviate from the primary directives of the designer,' says Whittington. www.mathewwhittington.com

Simon Kinneir’s jug is part of a range of kitchen products designed to give sensory feedback for people with impaired vision. ‘You can see the jug filling up but also feel it – the weight gives the jug movement, tipping it forwards onto the black frame.’ www.simonkinneir.co.uk

The new guard of design superstars serve up a plethora of sophisticated, production-ready pieces, destined for a showroom near you

Writers: Paul McCann, Henrietta Thompson and Mariel Reed

Brazilian ceramics graduate Carolina Zamboni Peraca fashioned a series of standout vases in muted shades and modern marble effects. The latter she achieved mixing body stain with porcelain, slip moulded into a unique result. Inspired by her travels around the world, her shapes are organic yet angular and her work focuses on the beauty and simplicity of form and functionality. www.carolinaperaca.com

Ejing Zhang produced this resin bento box as part of an accessory collection called Moonrise, which focuses on using quality materials combined with inspiration from Chinese and Japanese bamboo craftsmanship, as well as her own childhood memories. ejingzhang.com

Yong Jeong’s ‘Queen’ chair, made from tropical sepetir hardwood, is designed to reinterpret traditional Korean furniture, where beauty is deemed to come from the gracefulness of the curve and the simplicity of the structure. www.jeongyong.com

’A Mirror Darkly’ (pictured top) plays with misconceptions and the way we see the past. Influenced by a theory that bowls of water might have been used as mirrors in the Stone Age, Nick Ross asks, ‘Is this a new object, or an old one reinvented?’

Designed to bring warmth to a chilly Finnish balcony or porch, the ‘Ripsiraita’ rug, inspired by rag rug patterns, is both an insulator on a cold floor and a practical, colourful alternative to plastic weatherproof mats. hanna.anonen@gmail.com

Abe Kenji graduated from Tokyo’s Tama University with a mini furniture set. Using metalwork techniques from the Japanese manufacturer Mogi Seisakusho, he fashioned the stainless steel Limber bench and stool with bends and waves that lend it extra strength and an unusually light expression. The outdoor pieces comprise sandblasted tops with mirrored sides that reflect surrounding light to enhance bends in the steel. abknjabknj@gmail.com

Swiss-born Gil Muller trained at Camberwell College of Art and now bases himself between Berlin and London, where his ’Antennae’ side table is already available through the Do Shop. Inspired by ’how objects adapt and respond to their environment in playful and unexpected ways’, the characterful piece can function as a kitchen stool, bathroom shelf or bedside table. www.do-shop.com

This three-piece work space-cum-workout space was designed around the busy schedule of the modern professional. ’No Sweat!’ takes a charming set of office furniture in the 1980s Memphis style and transforms it with a few quick motions into a miniature gym that pinpoints the aches and pains of the typical desk-worker and accommodates the necessary equipment to help erase them. www.darrylagawin.com

Sarajevo-born Emina Sulejmani honed her talent for theatre and film sets, costumes and furniture design at The Academy of Fine Arts. Her ’Nukku’ is a folding desktop divider providing serious aesthetics along with privacy from copycat workmates. Based on a simple origami folding technique, it can be adjusted to make a work ’cave’, hide clutter or organise books, files and stationery. emina1618@yahoo.com

We’re not entirely sure why we love Kevin Callaghan’s slightly alien sculptures, but we do. The Royal College of Art graduate is inspired by his interest in science fiction and geometry, as well as artists such as Liam Gillick and Donald Judd and the Utopian writings of Gillick. ’Off The Planet’, a slip-cast ceramic piece, is from a series of objects constructed and assembled during Callaghan’s MA in ceramics and glass. www.kevincallaghan.ie

The ’Ceramic Stereo’ by Victor Johansson made a lot of people sit up and listen at his degree show. It attempts to make the mysteries of smartphones and wireless connectivity less baffling, translating functions into tangible, real-world interfaces. This ’stereo’ aspect is simply a bowl that amplifies playback and performs complex link-ups without the need for extra controls. www.objectsandinteractions.com

The bases of Rachel Vosila’s ‘Signs of Wear’ stools are hand-carved from Australian sandstone and designed to erode as the user rocks, thus creating a semi-permanent relationship between user and stool. www.rachelvosila.com

Sevak Zargarian found his passion for material exploration while on his foundation course, experimenting with copper rods and porcelain paper clay. The transformative powers of the kiln and the tactile qualities of clay have been a focus of his work ever since. This blue bowl from his Grogged collection of porcelain vessels combines craft elements with industrial techniques. www.sevakzargarian.com

Amanda Karsberg’s ‘Lenticular Cabinet’ features a holographic surface that shifts between pine and marble. Her piece explores the meaning and value of materials in furniture design. www.amandakarsberg.com

Andrew Prioli’s ‘Modern-Day Valet’ can be used as a chair, but its main purpose is to hold clothes that are not dirty enough to throw into the basket, but not clean enough to be folded and put away. www.andrewprioli.com

Joséphine Choquet’s low-angled ‘Tense’ light was inspired by the sight of a sunrise on the ocean. It will be available to buy soon through Ambra Medda’s online design store L’ArcoBaleno. www.josephinechoquet.ch

Japanese-born, Helsinki-based Aoi Yoshizawa’s ‘Tokyo’ curtain, for textile brand Svensson Markspelle, is strongly graphic, yet has organic, natural textures. ‘I used hand-drawn lines and overlaid them with different colours to create unexpected patterns.’ www.aoiyoshizawa.com

Each piece in Shelley James’ Moire Matrix series is built up using layers of glass that are cooled before the next element of the pattern is applied, then reheated and ‘gathered’ on a blowpipe again. www.shelleyjames.co.uk

Practical, simple and beautiful, we love Boris Kovács’ ‘Revolve’ lamps, handmade from spun brass, blown glass and turned wood, created in rotational forms. www.borikov.com

Charlotte Ackemar’s ‘Circle’ (right) is a thin mattress that can be used in many ways, either as a whole for groups to gather on, or partly rolled up to create a cushion to lean on or rest a head against. Inspired by concrete traffic obstacles, ‘Obstacle’ works both as a bench and as a guide, ‘creating paths through spaces for us to follow’. Ackemar’s two pieces shown here form part of her master’s thesis. www.charlotteackemar.com

This duo’s ‘Standard Sheet’ bench is created by rolling, pressing and bending a fat sheet of steel. It’s a simple process with fabulous results. www.surfacesin3dspace.com

Gregory Syrvet’s ‘S-Table’, created at ÉCAL in collaboration with Christofle, is made from an industrial aluminium base and a delicate silver tray, providing a harmonious contrast between two metals. www.gregorysyrvet.ch

‘Broken: Seatings’ is a product of Jalmari Laihinen’s love affair with wood and its possibilities. His Broken series includes a bench made from ash and a stool (pictured) made from elm and birch. byJalmari.com

Our pick of this year's transport talents envision a future of accessible helicopter travel, cradle-to-cradle car design and a bold new design direction for Bentley.

Writer: Jonathan Bell

‘I want to find a way to design a product that is emotionally durable,’ says Casey Phua, who explores ways of making people more attached to their cars and therefore more conscious of the car’s role in society. Citing a roster of mostly architecture influences (Mies, Gaudi, Ando, Frank Lloyd Wright and Dieter Rams), Phua’s final year project created a car that can be reconfigured, personalised, changed and enhanced as demand and technology allows. ‘It’s a fun tandem, electric hobby vehicle that helps foster and grow the bond between the parent, child and vehicle,’ he says. ‘The shift to full vehicle autonomy would change the vehicle's architecture completely,’ he adds, ‘it potentially frees up so many constraints that are present today.'

‘The Gryphon is a helicopter concept designed for private use,’ Erik Evers states boldly, adding that ‘I am passionate about fying vehicles and helicopters, so I asked myself whether they would ever be more accessible.’ The Gryphon is a pretty good stab at how rotorcraft might evolve to suit long-distance private travel. It’s a thrusting, insectoid object that could be the Zipcar of tomorrow. ‘I believe that the future holds a much broader range of mobility alternatives for people,’ Evers says, ‘and when everything works really well, the only way to compete is with great design and aesthetics.’

‘The shapes we draw are influenced by both personal and external factors, which can sometimes limit creativity,’ Peter ten Klooster says, explaining how his degree project, Power of Random, explored the use of fractals to generate forms. ‘It introduces a new intuitive way of finding shapes, trying to get the designer out of their comfort zone,’ he says, and the end result is a flowing, elegant autonomous vehicle with strong organic overtones. Klooster’s work explores the interaction between furniture, transport and coming technologies.

Sam Lucas likes to immerse himself in visual culture. 'I follow a lot of architecture, aircraft, fashion and concept art blogs,' he says, 'technology and materials science are also a big passion for me.' His final project drew on the sci-fi imagery of Syd Mead, the conceptual genius of Le Corbusier and the copious talents of Thomas Heatherwick ('his London Bus is a masterpiece') to create an ultra sleek, composite-built vehicle that's entirely embedded with lights and sensors. 'Algorithmic styling allows for the graphics of the car to change over time, being affected by all kinds of external influences,' he explains, 'car design is fundamentally about playing with light and how it reacts with surfaces.'

Naming his project Beautiful Death, Minwoo Hwang focuses on what happens to a car at the end of its life. ‘My inspiration derived from dismantling objects,’ he explains, citing Poul Kjaerholm’s chair designs as another reference for his overlapping forms. The result is a car that’s designed to decay creatively – ‘the antithesis of a conventional vehicle’ – and change the way we perceive cars today. Hwang mentions the work of Marc Newson, as well as Korean firms Hyundai and Kia. ‘It’s exciting to see these firms’ development in such a short space of time.’

The Flux Concept is a look into the far future of Audi's design language, distilling several decades' worth of distinctive car designs into a 'personal on-demand shuttle' intended for dense urban areas. 'I set myself the task to design a sustainable and attractive vehicle for the Audi customer of tomorrow,' says Ernst-Martin Maurer, who envisages the sleek machine running autonomously on both regular roads and an ultra-fast monorail network.

‘The inspiration behind my work is mainly architecture,’ says Joe Ginniff, ‘there are a lot of questions that could be drawn from movements like De Stijl'. With influences ranging from Ikea to Kia, Ginniff's own work draws directly on modern architecture, with elements like sliding walls and moving furniture and inspirations that include Thomas Heatherwick and Philip Johnson. 'Most people will always be interested in the design of their vehicle, especially if that vehicle starts driving itself,' he predicts, 'the design will then become the main area it's judged on, especially the interior.'

‘I tend to look for new forms through methods of making,’ says Frank Brown, ‘and I have always been a fan of designs that are a consequence of need - like racing or extreme conditions like Land Rover or Jeep.’ A trained product designer, his contribution to the Fiat 500 project examined how the car – already a reborn classic – could be transformed into a vehicle designed explicitly for car-sharing. ‘It needs to be sturdy and simple to use and the interior and controls have been simplified,’ he explains, ‘it also continues to have an essence of being Italian.’

Jang-Hun Choi’s Bentley Extreme Roadster concept is a bold one for the luxury car manufacturer. ‘The shape came from the 1930s Blower Bentley and the massive wings of planes such as the Airbus A380.’ Choi is inspired by architecture, sculpture and brands such as Porsche. ‘The 1970s were a golden age for car design – those experimental and progressive styles are still fresh and inspirational today,’ says the Pforzheim graduate, who also cites former BMW design chief Chris Bangle as an infuence. ‘He created a paradigm shift of public awareness of car design.’

Phil Rogers describes his ultra-agile Ducati Rinato concept as ‘a fully electric ultra-lightweight super sports car concept for the 21st century European market.’ The Italian motorbike brand, recently bought by Audi, is reinvented as a four-wheeler, using a 'back to basics' design philosophy in order ‘bridge the gap between bike and car’. Rogers’ ultra-compact single seater is rendered with impressive attention to engineering detail.

Armand Bentzen's Frisk Concept explores the future of car sharing in Norway. 'In order to make progressive car designs I believe we need to look outside the transportation industry,' he says. The Frisk concept draws inspiration from Norwegian culture - 'I wanted to make a car that was contextual and in harmony with its surroundings.' A rugged go-anywhere pod, the vehicle has quirky elements like built-in vegetation. He names Elon Musk and MIT's Neri Oxman as influences, as well as the classic Italian stylings of Marcello Gandini. 'I think people want to be surprised and amused and it is easier to connect to something that is alive rather than something static and dead.'

Fast forward half a century into the future, Byungyoon Min's concept design envisages the Porsche 911 of 2063 - what would a whole century of automotive evolution look like? 'I assumed we'd be facing not only highly developed technology, but different city environments with a sophisticated infrastructure, as well as new customers with different cultural backgrounds and perceptions.' That said, the 2063 Porsche still has strong echoes of the 1963 original. Min mentions Chris Bangle, Mercedes' Mark Fetherston and Thomas Fleuret at VW as important influences.

Jiyeon Jenny Ha's final project, the Audi TT-R4, helped her graduate from Art Center straight into a job at the VW Group. Heavily sculpted, the concept is a recognisable evolution of contemporary Audi style. 'I imagine that in the future people will be less attached to their cars thinking that its just one of many ways to get them from A to B,' she says, 'it's not a romantic symbol of their freedom anymore.' Nevertheless, her TT-R4 is all about iconic sports car imagery, implying that desirable design still has a major role to play for now.

Sunny Park’s playful portfolio revelled in the display and concealment of information, experimenting with the risograph printer to develop posters that transcend its technical limitations. ‘The sense of not knowing the final output is something I tried to achieve throughout the program, and now,’ she says. Large-scale prints were achieved through folding paper and reprinting, while information is concealed within the folds of her densely layered posters.

Today's graphics graduates are faced with the daunting task of finding their feet in a field that has expanded way beyond the tactility of two-dimensional media into a digital realm of virtual space and interactivity.

Writer: Jonathan Bell

Working with fellow student Koos Breen, Suzanne Bakkum created a vibrant poster based on collaboration, rules and creative freedom. ‘It’s exciting to let the pattern overrule conventional rules of typography,’ she says.

Angela Hadrill’s Vivarium is a self-published book on the theme of rich, all-enveloping nature and humankind’s imagined place within it. The illustrator’s technique combines watercolour and gouache, carefully layered to evoke lush landscapes. She’s currently working on more book illustrations for both children and adults.

Filiation is a personal project about the designer’s late mother, comprising a knitted canvas that marks feelings and the passage of time. Victoire Coyon drew inspiration from Sheila Hicks, Sophie Calle and the simplicity of the Bauhaus and Swiss school.

Marina Muun constructs richly atmospheric worlds with her simple, pared back illustrations. She also prints onto silk; these pieces feature geometric arrangements and abstracted colours. ‘Silk is a more tactile, less precious but still luxurious method of creating a print,’ she says.

Daniel Frota’s In Praise Of Opacity is a detailed graphic treatment of the trials and quirks of translating texts. The language- obsessed designer likens his role to that of a translator seeking authorship.

‘I’m influenced by the theme of the urban environment,’ says Brian Lo, whose detailed illustrations chronicle the intricacies and inconsistencies of the architecture that surrounds us. His technical style creates a tantalisingly precise vision of the world.

Inspired by authors such as Italo Calvino, Tom Radclyffe uses Sharpie pens on paper to assemble layered cityscapes. Of Blue Cities for Crystal Globes, he says ‘each drawing was produced organically with no plan, almost as if discovering the landscape.’

Jasper Fitzgerald’s woven print experiments draw on religious art and artefacts. ‘How can geometric form and repetitive pattern allude to something grandiose?’ he asks. The illustrator works with intricately cut paper, collages and 3D constructions.

Designer/typographer Emilie Benvegnin explores the role of heraldry, focusing on symbols of Swiss Cantons. Her Dictionnaire Héraldique features coats of arms as still-life photographs, creating a publication that brings this ancient art up to date.

Jingjing Shen's work has already garnered acclaim - she won a 2014 Adobe Design Achievement Award. Working exclusively with photographic processes spliced with physical deconstruction of the image, she draws inspiration from 'artists who produce new visual experience and new forms of communication and interaction.' Her technique of folding, creasing and ripping her finished prints adds another layer of meaning and intrigue.

Maxime Ravisy’s Postcard series plays with a full deck of technology to reinvigorate this timeless form of communication. ‘The postcard is an emotional object, that tells us a story, is accessible and universal,’ he says. His research took her deep into the heart of cliché and immersion in tourist culture, but the end results play with postal art, interaction and satellite imagery. ‘I feel motivated to create useful and poetic things that connect people.’

Arun Gogna’s Let the sample be your guide uses visual quotations to tell the story of (aural) sampling culture. ‘It plays with reproduction, repetition and the consequence of degraded imagery, turning the book into a visual interpretation of sampling and the processes within it,’ the designer explains, ‘the book is experimental and abstracted in design but structured and stripped down in content.’ Drawing inspiration from correlations between objects, places and stories, Gogna’s work takes a walk through modern visual culture.

Remind me to forget is Johanne Roten’s visual essay on the process of remembering. The graphic design student has developed a sparse graphical style, full of geometric symbolism and bold blocks of colour. ‘I like a strange and Surrealist atmosphere,’ she says, citing Magritte and Miró as particular favourites.

Together with Phaedra Longhurst, Robbie Blundell developed the branding for Brighton’s graduate shows, illustrating the sense of progression and evolution over the three-year course. ‘I’m interested in how design can concern itself with current socio-political issues and reflect these in an essential manner,’ he says, and projects like Under the Pavement are explicitly political in the way they present information (in this case the Snowden case) to a ‘largely apathetic audience.’ Big data, bad debts and the power of print come together.

Houman Momtazian’s poster project was generated from a workshop by Urs Lehni and Lex Trüb and uses elements of the designers’ work. Each poster incorporates a name, printing using a risograph printer as a small-scale publishing venture. In the future, Momtazian hopes to blend graphic design with programming – ‘the ‘screen’ has become the default way in which we experience and perceive the world.’

Clemens Schagerl comes with the potent combination of both an architecture and a civil engineering degree. His prize-winning final thesis in architecture looks at Switzerland’s glaciers and creates a dam and several mountain footpaths, raising awareness about ‘the potential impacts of transforming Alpine territory’. Would most like to work for: Christian Kerez.

From tackling glacial melting in the Swiss Alps to improving the quality of life in Brazil's favelas, the next generation of architects and engineers are setting themselves an ambitious agenda. We pinpoint a top crop of nascent stars who are up to the job.

Writer: Ellie Stathaki

Daniel Marshall amassed a number of prizes and scholarships over the three years of his course. His thesis in particular, a housing design for a London community, won him the RIBA Eastern Region Prize. Marshall finds inspiration in the work of Richard Sennet, Raphael Moneo, Walter Benjamin, Peter Carl and Mary Ann Steane. Would most like to work for: Studio Mumbai.

Growing up in San Francisco, Chisom Ezekwo had a passion for maths and science. She completed a Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Science in Public Policy, Planning and Management at the University of Southern California, followed by a Masters at Columbia University, New York, in 2014. Her work examines Brazilian favelas. ‘I would use architecture to inspire others to initiate positive changes in today’s cities and villages,’ she says. Would most like to work for: Rem Koolhaas.

Shen Chen studied architecture with a specialism in engineering, focusing on the use of bamboo. ‘As an ecologically sound and strong building material, it can be the alternative to wood,’ she says. Her final-year project revolves around the design of a temporary stadium in Amsterdam with flexible bamboo joints, and has been shortlisted for the Archiprix International prize for best graduation project worldwide.

Rodolfo Rodriguez’s final-year project, The House of Eros, looks at ‘the potential for an architectural process to nurture the perception of love’. It was showered with awards, including the Dean’s List Distinction, the school’s Medal and a scholarship to study the work of Carlo Scarpa in Italy. Rodriguez has a position lined up at Foster + Partners and hopes to become an established architect/printmaker.

The final project of Yale graduate William Sheridan elaborates on Libreville, the capital of Gabon in Africa. Through his work, Sheridan is attempting to ‘deal with Libreville’s congestion problems by re-imagining its existing taxi/taxi-bus system’. Sheridan is also currently fascinated by the work of Prussian 18th century architect and painter KF Schinkel. Would most like to work for: PV Aureli, Tod Williams & Billie Tsien, David Chipperfield, and Sauerbruch Hutton.

Graduating with a Masters degree, Jonas Lambert Johanson hadn’t thought landscape architecture would become his focus when he first started his studies. His thesis work, The Contemporary Landscape, proposes a new hiking route through Zealand combining man-made and natural landscapes. Johanson combines his academic studies with experience at several architecture practices, including landscape architects SLA in Copenhagen, where he is currently employed. Would most like to work for: Stig L Andersson, co-graduate Jonathan Meldgaard Houser and Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk.

Lea Olsson is ‘intrigued by the combination of the rational and the creative’ in architecture. Her final project looks at hospital design – the creation of a health cluster – in London. Winner of the International Velux Award for Students of Architecture and a past OMA intern, she works at Danish firm Tegnestuen Vandkunsten and is part of the Stuen collective. Would most like to work for: Arup.

Michael Lim’s degree from Cambridge University was swiftly followed by work experience at prestigious offices like OMA's Hong Kong outpost and Woods Bagot, before completing his studies at the Royal College of Art. Finding inspiration in the work of his university tutors as well as comic artists, the graduate completed his course with a critical study on the creative economy. Lim currently works at London practice Matheson Whiteley, while also developing his own work. The latter includes two residential extensions, furniture design and a graphic short story.

Kosuke Hara completed his studies with a thesis focusing on the notion of ambiguity in architecture, using the Kyoto Imperial Palace as a particular case study. His influences come from a variety of architectural styles, from the Exeter Library by Louis Kahn, to Francesco Borromini’s iconic baroque masterpiece San Carlo alle Quattro Fontante. Would most like to work for: Steven Holl.

Eugenie Bliah grew up in Tokyo, and her final thesis is inspired by Japanese women. She proposes a collective dwelling for eight families, where domestic chores are shared between the inhabitants – a project that won her the AA students’ vote for Honours. Her work experience includes stints at Studio Daniel Libeskind in New York and Kengo Kuma in Paris and Tokyo. Would most like to work for: Kersten Geers David Van Severen.

Swiss architecture inspires Zurich-born Fabio Compagno; Bernath + Widmer (where he works) and Durisch + Nolli are two Swiss practices he lists as influences. His thesis, acclaimed as the best in its year, revolves around a mountain visitor hall and restaurant made of steel. ‘Developing amazing solutions for buildings makes this job special,’ he says. Would most like to work for: eventually, himself.

Maïlys Meyer's multicultural family inspired her to take on architecture as a chosen profession. 'Two passions have particularly influenced and inspired my pursuits as a designer. The first one is travelling. My second passion is music,' she says. She is currently halfway through a Masters course on landscape architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in the States. Eventually, Meyer hopes to set up her own office. Would most like to work with: Elizabeth Diller.

Turkey-born Mustafa Kustur's studies in Istanbul led him to apply for a Masters degree at Sci-Arc, which he completed with flying colours. His thesis – awarded best in his class, as well as Sci-Arc’s scholarship – creates a dialogue between architecture and contemporary culture and consumerism, looking into the typologies of the supermarket, the stock exchange, the luxury brand store and high-density housing. Would most like to work for: Rem Koolhaas and Raf Simons.

London-born Alastair Browning's thesis proposes a university campus in Turin’s Fiat Mirafiori plant site. Not content with only working on the larger scale, Browning has also tackled product design. His prefabricated oak and waterjet-cut steel table for 17 formed part of the centrepiece of 100% Design’s Paperspace display in 2013. Would most like to work for: the studio members at Unit 17 at the Bartlett.

William Hood combines early studies in politics, economics and social theory and history with an architecture degree. His thesis explores the changing relationship between technology and the natural landscape and in particular systems of navigation and communication. Having started a design studio with a friend, Hood is also looking for his next challenge at an architecture practice. Would most like to work for: Toyo Ito.

Andre Sampaio Kong's final-year project, the Hack Circus, investigates current technologies, touching upon themes of architecture, digital culture, socio-political engagement, and concerns over the climate change. Having competed his studies, Kong is now developing his first commission: a series of prefabricated accommodation units for Africa. Would most like to work for: Usman Haque.

Sophia Passberger received a Bachelors degree in architecture from the Beuth University of Applied Science in Berlin, before moving on to complete her studies with a Masters degree from the Staedelschule in Frankfurt. She is currently interested in researching on future living conditions in the world’s mega-cities; an interest also evident in her thesis, which explores issues of urban density and city living. Would most like to work for: Morphosis or Oyler Wu.

'It all started with one simple dream,' says Malaysia-born Thierry Lye what inspired him to take up architecture, 'to design and build a perfect house for my parents.' His final project, examining the relationship of architecture and politics, is currently nominated for the 2014 RIBA President’s Silver Medal Award and the international 2015 Archiprix. Would most like to work for: Rem Koolhaas.

Daniele Toneatti's Yellow Magic Orchestra collection is a smart mix of skewed proportions in colourful, minimal menswear. The influence of an internship at Raf Simons is evident, but the designer's sense of humour shines through with graphic motifs appropriated from German techno iconography.

The ten tenacious fashion talents profiled here are already well on their way with graduate collections that dare to be different.

Fashion: Zoë Sinclair; Writer: Dan Thawley

Shakhnoza Rizkieva is dedicated to hands-on creation and challenging the industry’s production and accelerated turn-over of ideas. She sketches, drapes, cuts and sews all her clothes alone, using contrast tailoring stitches and rough edges to highlight the structures of her folded, origami-like pieces and retain an inherent sense of deconstruction.

The Renaissance concerns of transience and ephemera were apparently on Eva Buehler’s mind when crafting the gleaming, sculpted pieces of her graduate collection; clothes meant to evoke the bodily concerns of Flemish vanitas paintings. Perspex accessories accent the retro-meets-baroque mood, working with glossy textiles to transmit Buehler’s pointed message of superfluity.

Lisa Sänger’s menswear questions our contemporary mores, including the commodification of time. Each outfit is embedded with disparate and idiosyncratic design features; one cycling jersey spells ‘slow down’ on the sleeves, a shawl collar coat is disrupted by laser-cut grids, and a bomber jacket bristles like a tufted, logoed tapestry.

Drew Henry looked towards his homeland for his MA collection, taking the natural gradient of springbok skins as the starting point for a comprehensive capsule wardrobe. The South African designer worked tirelessly with heat-bonding and embossing techniques to ensure exquisite construction – the kind he continues to explore in his current internship at Céline.

The connection between the Finnish and their idyllic landscapes is not lost on Elina Määttänen, whose work is bristling with organic textures. An affinity with Japan also comes into play, with the principles of wabi-sabi interior design applied to her garments – explaining the peeling, imperfect layers and hanging yarn that combine with metallic silk, leather and pleated knitwear for a rub of the rough and the polished.

Masculine and feminine dress codes have been applied together with controlled fair in Ayaka Sakurai’s Glitching Gender collection, where knit, felt and sequins collide in deconstructed tailoring and athleticwear. The title refers to the 1990s electro music movement that informs the distorted results of Sakurai’s asymmetric separates, which are full of movement and raw finishes.

Peter Do regards textile development as one of the few outlets for genuine innovation. His streamlined separates are crafted from slabs of neoprene, pleated micro-suede and other plastic textiles, all manipulated into each other through heat bonding and quilting. He took home the LVMH prize this May and landed an invaluable one-year contract at Céline.

Roshi Porkar is Vienna’s quietly rising star, having nabbed both the Chloé prize at this year’s Hyères Festival and a solo show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin with her graduate collection, designed under the tutelage of Bernhard Willhelm. Porkar’s silhouettes have a sense of theatrical 1980s polish – a look she has honed assisting stylist Karl Templer, and at Lanvin.

Childhood nostalgia is layered into Dennis Bareiro’s S-ET > EP -0:21:39 collection, named after the digits on a VHS display. Thinking of home videos his parents shot of him as a child, Bareiro hit rewind – mixing natural and technical fabrics in panelled suiting and creating jersey tunics covered in bonded patchworks. The designer has interned with Raf Simons.

Whether in the office or home, the ‘Grid System’ by Ying Chang aims at redefining everyday objects through a playful composition. Mesh elements and colourful accessories are installed on a simple metal base and can be arranged in a variety of ways.

Design doyens take note, this year’s graduate shows serve up a plethora of sophisticated, production-ready pieces that are no doubt destined for the future collections of industry heavyweights.

Writers: Rosa Bertoli and Ali Morris

The ‘Circus’ note sticker by Bjørn van den Berg features a coloured lid that rotates aside to reveal contrastingly hued stationery inside – a sticky note wheel of fortune.

A luxurious take on the humble ping-pong racket by ECAL graduate Luc Beaussart, ‘Le Beau Jeu’ combines elegant design with a careful construction of aluminium covered in leather and suede using shoe-making techniques.

Rebekka Joachimsen Røed’s ‘Braathen’ sofa is an exploration of sustainable manufacturing methods, is nostalgic in its colour composition. Its elements switch around for different aesthetic results.

Combining an environmental concern with design, Wael Seaiby used recycled plastic bags to create the ‘Plag’ series of vessels. While they are shaped to resemble ceramics and glassworks, their colours hint at their provenance.

The focus of Pieteke Korte’s whimsical side table, titled ‘Stone & Foam’ (left), is the red air cushion, sandwiched between a foam cube and a fat marble top in an intriguing play of contradictions and contrasts. The piece is part of a wider research into soft and hard materials and how they can interact.

‘Geometrically simple but materially complex’, Oliver Staiano’s ‘Project Play’ lamps comprise a magnetic rubber base on which the magnetic lamp head can be set, and endlessly reset, in any position.

Tove Greitz’s clean design of the ‘Expectations’ mirror is interrupted by a foggy vertical line creating a distorted refection. The project is the result of Greitz’s study of expectations and their impact on behaviour and self-perception.

The ‘Ninety Fourteen’ collection of rugs by Daniil Tanygin is based on geometric patterns whose lines always follow either a 90- or a 14-degree angle, creating an optical illusion that the designer calls ‘pseudo three-dimensionality’.

Mixed media textiles graduate Gemma Kay Waggett has a penchant for colour, shape and embroidery. Her ‘Beyond Woven’ stool (above left) is part of a collection of furnishings that combines abstract geometric patterns in eclectic compositions.

Exploring ways of integrating wellbeing into the workspace, Mathilde Vello created this ambient lamp. A rotating disk controls the intensity of the light, projecting poetic colours onto its surroundings.

Working with Latvian craftsmen, this duo - comprising Jasmina Grase and Nils Chudy -  aimed to give a traditional material, wicker, a contemporary form, combining it with an industrial metal frame. Their ‘Cabinet’ is part of a three-piece collection.

Raúl López de la Cerda’s ‘Dividings, Privacy Exposed’ is a shelf unit and divider in contrasting colours and materials, inspired by the ‘ghost building’ on Wabash Avenue, Chicago, where the rooms and décor were exposed after the demolition of neighbouring structures.

From a designer interested in packaging and graphics, each box in this series by Tove Jeppsson Bohlin of desk accessories features a translucent white plastic shell, and is identified by a colourful geometric shape visible within.

Prized for its durability and beauty, demand for rosewood furniture in Southeast Asia has outstripped supply in recent years leaving skilled craftsmen out of work. Determined to come up with a solution, Hongchao Wang - along with Peng You of Benwu Studio - worked with cheaper alternative hardwoods and researched hundreds of mortise and tenon joints to find the three strongest and most versatile. The result is the affordable and sustainable low back 'Sumo' armchair that is just as durable as its traditional rosewood counterparts.

Celebrating materials that are commonly perceived as cheap or fake, Fran Buss' graduate collection of screen printed fabrics feature speckled formica and chipboard surface patterns. Realised in a 1980s-inspired palette of bright pastel tones, the collection, according to Buss, was designed with a post-modern approach, where surface decoration is valued above all else.

Miyuki Fushitani has created a security-conscious, ash-wood chair with a back that doubles as a storage space for your valuables. The space can only be accessed from the front, making it extra secure when you happen to be sitting on it.

Combining simplicity with humour, Roee Magdassi’s ‘Tre’ standing lamp, crafted to form an abstracted bird shape, features an adjustable wooden base to change the light’s direction.

Giving appealing new shapes to blown glass, and produced in a variety of hues, Dora Schroeder’s covetable ‘Ladrillos’ (Spanish for bricks) blur the boundaries between art and craft.

Maud van Deursen's 'Chateau d'eau' carafes set out to transform the way we think about tap water. Pointing out that bottled water is a thousand times more expensive, damaging to the environment and of a much poorer quality than tap water, the designer's Dutch water tower-inspired carafes enhance the experience of pouring the water, elevating it from boring beverage to precious resource.

Gina Heltorp Andersen's wall-mounted shelf supports an array of green-rimmed mirrors that can be arranged into different graphic compositions of overlapping geometric shapes. Called 'Pablo', the piece is named after Picasso, whose distorted paintings inspired the concept.

The shapes of Hannah Quinn’s ‘Type A’ stools are inspired by the furniture designs of Charlotte Perriand and Alvar Aalto. In a graphic arrangement of walnut and steel, the design reflects her attention to colour, material and clean lines.

Diána Farkas' 'Cube' series of miniature glass landscapes merges organic forms with contemporary geometry. The artist and designer's experimental pieces display great technique and chromatic sensibility.

‘Never repeat yourself’ might as well be the motto of Stefen Werner, Sascha Arnold and Niels Jäger (pictured, left to right), the Munich-based trio who are stealthily changing the city’s hospitality scene one funky project at a time under their A/J/W marquee. Their collective training in architecture, graphic design, sports branding, fashion and media gives them an unusual insight into the varied tastes and interests of their generation. Indeed, every venue they have launched - including a classic cocktail bar, a pop-up nightclub and a magazine kiosk - reflects a youthful energy. ‘We like to create spots that we think our peers are likely to feel strongly about,’ says Jäger. ‘Between the three of us, we have a lot of know-how under one roof and we can fulfil most tasks in-house, from initial concept to communication. This gives all our projects a very personal feel, which I think is crucial.’ The last year has been a busy one for the trio, which saw them open a hotel - The Flushing Meadows, where they are pictured - an organic smoothie bar, a café and a farm-to-table canteen, all in Munich.

It's no secret that the rules about how we travel, sleep, play, eat and drink are changing - and over the past year, we dispatched our city editors to the frontline of this shift. Their brief: find the new generation of tastemakers. The list has been whittled down to our final pick of the travel pioneers to watch in 2015.

Writers: Daven Wu, Kiare Keane and Micha Van Dinther

After successful ventures in real estate and software design in the Netherlands, Steven van Wel (pictured in his New York office) moved to the US and launched Karma, a contract-free Wi-Fi provider. He is so confident in his product - a pocket-sized, portable hot spot giving pay-as-you-go connectivity for those on the move - he swapped his smartphone for a Wi-Fi-dependent iPod Touch, which he uses for both business and socialising. Championing simplicity, he says: ‘Our design eliminates anything more complex than an on/of button.’ Van Wel aims to expand Karma outside the US with the goal of creating a product that can be added to the ‘trinity’ of wallet, keys and phone.

Not content with past careers as a model and a doctor, Gunhild Anker Stordalen (pictured at The Thief hotel in Oslo, owned by her husband, Petter Anker Stordalen) is now emerging as a dedicated environmentalist. Her initiatives include the Stordalen Foundation and GreeNudge (which fund and promote climate and health projects), and driving the annual non-profit Eat forum (which addresses the world’s food-related challenges). With an eye on the hotel industry’s ecological footprint, she oversees Nordic Choice Hotels’ sustainability strategy, developing a framework of healthy, sustainable and ethically produced food for the group’s 20,000 daily guests.

Influenced by a diverse range of architects, Andrew Heumann cites his grandparents' Eichler A-frame house in California as one of his initial architectural inspirations. His graduation project is on a subject he is passionate about, the parametric reinterpretation of a housing development in Hollywood based on the 1940 to 1960s American Case Study houses, and won him an AIA Henry Adams Certificate of Merit.
Would most like to work with: 'Snøhetta - it excels at producing challenging, innovative spaces.'

Shanghai-based Chen Zhuowei completed his first degree at the China Academy of Art's School of Architecture before enrolling in a Masters course at the University of Hong Kong, a qualification he is currently working towards. His graduation design thesis explored the idea of vertical living. By breaking the monolithic nature of the standard highrise, Chen proposed a high standard of public-space design in a high-density urban context. 'Wang Shu's great consideration of vernacular culture, Rem Koolhaas's 'The Generic City', Álvaro Siza's design methodology… all their work has influenced me,' he says.
Would most like to work with: 'It would be a great honour to work in Siza's studio.'

Slotting in work stints with the likes of MVRDV in Rotterdam and Mole Architects in Cambridge in-between his studies, Chris Green combines theoretical and practical skills, and claims 'an unhealthy love of concrete and a penchant for drawing'. Data Forest, his graduation project (pictured), examines a future where an office tower on London's Silicon Roundabout becomes the site of an urban harvesting experiment spanning food and data.
Would most like to work with: 'Heatherwick, Rem Koolhaas and BERG if they started an office.'

The 'architecture' of nature (the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon National Park); traditional Japanese architecture; Alvar Aalto; Zaha Hadid; books by Rem Koolhaas; texts by Louis Kahn; 'Biophilia' by Edward O Wilson; 'The Death and Life of Great American Cities' by Jane Jacobs… they all inspired Russian Daliya Safiullina to architecture. Her first-class graduation thesis at the acclaimed Strelka Institute investigates reusing, recycling and upcycling elements of Soviet Panel houses and campaigns for waste prevention in Russia, issues she is hoping to develop alongside a career in architecture.
Would most like to work with: 'Kazuyo Sejima, Steven Holl, Atelier Bow-Wow, Wolf D Prix, BIG, Morphosis.'

Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's 'Fallingwater', Danny Wills sought out an architecture degree at Kent State University and followed with a full-tuition scholarship degree at New York's Cooper Union, where his final-year project explored four proposals for the future use of the Great Plains. Having bagged the Henry Adams AIA Medal and Certificate of Merit as well as the Toni and David Yarnell Prize in Architecture, Wills is now teaching at the Cooper Union. He also works with cultural consultants Museoplan on Hangzhou's Museum of Urbanism, designed by Herzog & de Meuron.
Would most like to work with: 'Smout Allen, Peter Zumthor, Herzog & de Meuron and Anders Abraham.'

David Späh comes from a family of architects and is 'fascinated by vernacular architecture, which often conveys immense personality without holding the label of a particular architect's name.' His thesis, bottom, speculates on how the city of Regensdorf can achieve densification and urban coherence while maintaining functionality and authenticity.
Would most like to work with: 'Álvaro Siza Vieira.'

Emma Emerson followed her BA Hons in architecture from the University of Brighton with an award-winning MA in architecture, in 2012. Her thesis looks into boundaries in architecture and the idea of a Fence City. Having combined her studies with practical experience at offices such as Clive Sall Architecture and Walter Menteth, Emerson admits her main influences 'fall outside what the British establishment strictly deems "architecture". I'm fascinated by the space between the formal and informal city.' Emerson assisted in the co-ordination of RIBA's talks programme and the London Festival of Architecture in 2010.
Would most like to work with: 'Many different practices, big and small, here and abroad.'

Jacobsen was drawn to architecture by her father's pencil drawings and 'a desire to create beautiful things'. Her final year project (pictured), looks at the transformation of a disused lighthouse in Bornholm and its surroundings. 'I am inspired by architects that achieve a robustness and simplicity while maintaining a connection to the surrounding.'
Would most like to work with: 'An architect who works between art and architecture.'

His thesis 'National Purist Routes', completed with fellow student Gislunn Halfdanardottir, studied the concept of national tourist routes and Iceland's energy issues and helped win Mathias Kempton the acclaimed Statsbygg Student Award for Outstanding Architecture. Kempton now works for Lateral Office in Toronto and is considering applying for a post-professional degree in the US. 'My initial drive towards architecture was based on my realisation that it combined simply "making stuff" with extending beyond myself as an individual. Architecture not only reflects cultural and social matters, it changes them by its very existence.'
Would most like to work with: 'I'm already working with Lateral Office, one of the few practices I really wanted to work for when graduating.'

His background in construction and bricklaying introduced Morten Westrup Pedersen to the world of building design. A degree at the Royal Danish Academy's architecture school - where Westrup Pedersen found inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright, Jørn Utzon and Louis Kahn - swiftly followed. His graduate project 'A Public Bath in Granada' follows his design of a public bath, including showers, Turkish hammam, laundry and kitchen, next to the old rammed-earth wall of the Spanish city. It's designed seamlessly in the same materials as its surroundings, and open to all.
Would most like to work with: 'Chris Thurlbourne, because he focuses on construction detailing.'

It was reading Bernard Rudofsky's Architecture Without Architects at the formative age of 16 that inspired Ned Scott to become an architect. His thesis study focuses on the War Rooms at St James's Park in a hypothetical, futuristic scenario circa 2050 where the UK turns into a closed-loop agrarian economy. Scott's influences are varied, from John Hedjuk's Victims, to the etchings of Brodsky and Utkin.
Would most like to work with: 'Diller and Scofidio.'

'My main interest is in graphic development - deriving complex spatial relations out of simple diagrams,' says Philipp Mecke, whose thesis involved designing a unique modular assembly method that would adapt to exterior and interior use. He cites Japanese architect Junya Ishigami as an inspiration: 'His work illustrates the emergence of complex structures via simple diagrams and the replication of these elements.' With a recommendation from Ben van Berkel of UNStudio, Mecke is heading off to work for the Performative Building Group at Bollinger + Grohmann, known for complex geometry and engineering solutions.
Would most like to work with 'I'd like to test my own ideas and connect with people who are open to test new things.'

Graduating from the Washington University in St Louis with a Master of Architecture and the Alpha Ro Chi Medal for student accomplishment, Samantha Stein also adds teaching assistant experience to her CV. Her family's engineering and graphic-design background helped Stein choose her profession, yet architecture is not her design stimulation; Richard Serra is one of her greatest sources of inspiration. 'His sculptures influenced how I think about weight, materiality and tectonics,' says Stein. For her graduate thesis on 'water as a spectacle', she designed an aquarium for the city of St Louis.
Would most like to work with: 'Snøhetta, where I'm now a full-time junior designer.'

After receiving his Part I from the Bartlett School of Architecture, Simon Moxey concentrated on developing the family business, Forum Homes, and becoming a partner at Moxey Associates in 2005. His recent masters from the RCA led to his Part II qualification, thanks to a thesis that imagines the city of Slough as Britain's next financial hub. Combining research skills with a practice-based approach has won Moxey several awards, including the RCA/New London Architecture Student Prize. As for his immediate future, it involves competitions and new commissions, 'Two residential projects on England's South Coast and a design-build project involving a house in London.'
Would most like to work with 'Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of Saana.'

Sina Momtaz completed his first degree at the College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, before following up with a Masters from the prestigious École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. 'When I was a boy I was really interested in archaeology and learning about civilizations. I think old ruins inspired me to become an architect,' explains Momtaz, who admires the work of Aldo Rossi, Jean-Jacques Lequeu and Peter Zumthor. His graduation thesis on applying traditional consideration to rain, wind, shade and vegetation in contemporary architecture won him best in class. After internships at Dominique Perrault Architecture and François Roche, he plans to develop his practical skills by joining a woodworking studio.
Would most like to work with: 'Valerio Olgiati'

Completing her Part I at the Architectural Association in 2012, Vidhya Pushpanathan was awarded top honours and Bronze at the RIBA President's Medal, the annual prize for student and graduate work. Her graduation project, 'The Depository of Forgotten Monuments', looks at Moscow's ability to maintain local identity while accepting global influences. Pushpanathan places a 3D grid over the city to help create relationships between buildings, monitoring deconstruction and reconstruction.
Would most like to work with: 'The list is endless! I'm keen on firms where there's an opportunity to learn how the industry works and how a practice is run.'

Yukiko Kusumoto's design thesis proposed an urban environment made out of interweaving bridges. She decided to lift a neighbourhood's streets from ground level and introduce bridges to connect the various different buildings. 'I was always interested in house plans,' admits Kusumoto. She also admires the work of Japanese architect Yoshiji Takehara. 'His architecture just fits with the city, but still has a lot of originality.'
Would most like to work with: 'My tutor, Mr Masashi Sogabe.'

Ahmet Uslu's camera prototype adresses the problem of reconciling good looks and ergonomics with changing technology. 'Is it possible to design a camera considering all the other systems around it?' he asks. 'Digital evolution has changed the rules of product design. Products have become a part of a complex system, with smartphones, wireless connections and the sharing platforms all having a big impact on cameras and photography.

Bertille Laguet and Mathieu Rohrer work together as the duo Bertille & Mathieu. Their 'VentrU' cast-iron radiator has an interior space so that it can accommodate blankets, gloves and other accessories you may wish to warm or dry. 'Its generous volume and curves define its warm and comfy allure. It's an invitation to touch and to feel the sweet sensation of warmth.'

Bonaventure Touton grew up in France, but found tutor and cabinetmaker Dominic Ash through the English side of his family. 'Contemporary retro design is my current passion. I love its visual simplicity. Using it in combination with colours that convey warmth and happiness, I seek to create a finished result that lifts the spirit.'

The 'Dim(Some)' chandelier features two dimmer switches, one to turn more bulbs on or off and the other to adjust their brightness. 'I've been lucky enough to discover Arduino, the open-source electronics platform, which allows me to create work with endless possibilities in the area of lighting and electronics,' he says. 'Hacking known interactions with objects - something as simple as how a lamp can turn on or off - really fascinates me.'

Charlotte Baverel has devised a perpetual calendar manually adjusted through a set of rotating movements. Citing Constantin Brancusi and Alberto Giacommetti amongst her influences, the designer adds, ‘I try to link rationalism and poetry in my work. This calendar is a timeless sculpture.’

Giulio Parini's 'Brass Ensemble' lamp was inspired by the way the slide moves in a trombone and was made with the assistance of a trombone maker. 'In a trombone the variation in air pressure changes the musical note,' says Parini. 'In my lamp there is a low-tech pneumatic system. The variation in the volume of air inside the lamp's air chamber permits the slide between two tubes of different diameters, allowing a telescopic extension of the lamp body.'

Hugh Leader-Williams' 'Wood Grain Bowls' are handmade copper bowls that were the result of experiments with the process of metal spinning, a traditional technique that straddles the boundaries of craft and industrial production. 'I substituted the steel formers that are normally used for ones made from oak and ash. Their distinctive grain pattern was imprinted into the inside surface of the copper bowls during production,' he says.

Imogen Clarkstone's cubist silver-plated milk jug was an exploration of alternative construction techniques combined with traditional silversmithing. It was inspired by the artist Vladimir Arkhipov's collections of home-made, handmade objects. 'I am inspired by the inventive and the human, by people improvising with what they have, to create and mend in times of need,' she says.

Taking an architectural approach to design, Jo Woffinden explores space and form in her creations and works with a range of materials, from porcelain, bone china and stoneware to concrete, plaster and paper. This elliptical concrete bowl is part of her Baroque series. 'I wanted to bring the spirit of the baroque into a modern context,' she says. 'I focused on using curves to create a spatial flow between planes and lines.'

Joo Hyung Park makes both cutlery and jewellery and it is while manipulating the materials that her designs are formed. 'The touch of my hands is significant in my work,' she says. 'I learn while I make objects and the ideas get developed together with my hands. With the two elements of my work, my desire is to share how I use my hands. They bring new life to a material as a piece of jewellery. I use them to start jewellery and complete cutlery.'

Jungha Lee's hairdryer and toaster prototypes are designed to make these appliances more user-friendly. For the hairdryer, he asked: 'How to make a hairdryer easier to hang?' resulting in the umbrella-shaped handle. And for the toaster, the burning question was: 'How to make a toaster easier to cancel?' And so the keyboard-inspired 'enter' lever is counteracted with an 'esc' button on the top in case a quick eject becomes necessary.

Primarily working with semi-translucent material, Kim Thome's shelf looks at the behaviour of reflection through the use of colour, shapes and a two-way mirror. 'Reflective and translucent materials offer visual scenarios that can be explored and choreographed by the viewer,' she says. 'The semi-transparent and reflective material is manipulated by naturally illuminated shapes in the fore and background of the object in such a way that the graphic aesthetic becomes something of a relational experience with the viewer.'

Laura Nelson's iron neatly addresses storage and convenience concerns. Eliminating the need for an ironing board, two aluminium plates apply heat and pressure to both sides of a garment thanks to a hinge mechanism, much like the ones in hair straighteners. It works particularly well for panels and tricky spots, such as collars and sleeves. And a heat-resistant sleeve means it can be stored away neatly even when it's still hot.

Lola Lely is a designer who lives and works in East London and studied under Tord Boontje. 'I have a long-standing fascination with colour, pattern and form. These elements are always present in my work and in 'Water Marble Stool', I marbled some turned, solid timber stools. Marble can transform lowly materials and objects into something beautiful and unique, elevating their perceived value.'

In her project Le Poids des Choses (The Weight of Things) Mathilde Pellé sought to explore the limits of usefulness in a piece of furniture. Thus her table extension, although  seemingly of service, may, in fact, destabilise the table depending on the weight of the item placed on it. 'My vision of design is about disturbing people's habits to create a small rift in their behaviour. I want to bring questioning and daydream-like qualities to everyday objects.'

For his 'Barista' stove-top espresso maker, Max Neu's aim wasn't to reinvent the coffee-making process, just the handling and appearance of the device used to make it. 'My aim is to try and increase the emotional value people have for the objects they use. I wanted to design an object that has the potential to become a beloved part of someone's morning ritual.' With its shapely design, it certainly inspires us to wake up and smell the coffee.

The Japanese picture scroll, emakimono, provided the inspiration for Naoki Otsuka's glass sphere vase. 'The picture scroll is a form of traditional Japanese painting depicting many objects, architectre and artwork that have often disappeared in the modern world. I wanted to revive one of the tobjects from a scroll and so turned it into this flower vase,' she says.

Oliver Hrubiak's 'Finn' lounge chair was inspired by midcentury Scandinavian functionalism and is an elegant combination of ash and powder-coated steel. It was awarded a New Designers Award by UK department store John Lewis in 2012 and is now being developed for retail there in the summer. 'I want to design products that mix functionality and aesthetics, and can adapt to changing trends and interior styles,' says Hrubiak.

Rory Thompson describes himself as a material and process-led designer. 'I love to test, question and find new possibilities and I want people to interact instinctively with my products like this modular shelving unit. I try to achieve this by stripping things back to their basic components. There is real elegance in this form of simplicity, but it is deceptive, as a huge amount of time actually goes into the design.'

For her 'Vessel of the Senses' plate, Sandra Cohen Callman set herself the task of trying to heighten the emotional experience of food. 'I used the body, water and flow as my points of departure. A plate and a cup become a part of the body - a kind of extension of the hand - and demand physical contact in order to fulfill their function, thereby encouraging a more mobile manner of eating.'

Sina Sohrab’s wooden stepladderis an appealingly clean and elegant interpretation of the household staple. ‘I am interested in objects that become invisible as they satisfy their functions,’ says the Iranian-American designer. ‘With my work I am attempting to create products that are able to convey their utility directly, while fulfilling the needs of the user quietly.’

Debuting her S/S13 collection this year at New York Fashion Week, Aina Beck drew her inspiration from the pioneering work of 1960s American animator John Whitney and Jim Henson's eccentric early sketches. Her fascination with geometry and kaleidoscopic prints led to a collection that includes oversized printed knitwear, foiled colour-shifting patterns and sheer floor-length tulle dresses covered in asymmetrical shapes. She now has plans to launch her own brand.

Cosima Gadient challenged the traditional catwalk format with a more intimate approach for her debut collection, seating the models among the audience on raised chairs. She paired flattering hourglass dresses with cinched bomber jackets and baseball-style hats, matching hyper-femininity with strong masculine sportswear. Using lace, sheer tulle and floor-length fringe to soften the look, Gadient's tight colour spectrum of white, dip-dye canary yellows, shimmering silver and dense blacks lets the technical draping, cuts and fluid silhouettes take centre stage.

Pushing menswear at a conceptual and physical level, Craig Green is already gaining industry recognition with approving nods from the likes of Walter Van Beirendonck and Henrik Vibskov. This September marked his inaugural S/S13 show at London Fashion Week, with a collection that matched a boyish imagination with New Age tribal mysticism. Green favours monochrome colours with a few digital prints to complement his precise, calculated tailoring.

Osaka-born, London-based Hiroaki Kanai plays with volume, shape and one-colour outfits to challenge our perceptions of menswear. A year-long internship for Haider Ackermann during his studies clearly left its mark judging by his London Fashion Week S/S13 show. Its mixture of proportions, including cinched jackets, high-waisted cropped trousers and voluminous sleeves was futuristic menswear at its finest.

Swiss designer Jennifer Gadient creates voluminous pieces by blowing air into synthetic materials - transparent, colourless or brown PVC - and then moulding them into striking shapes. Her debut collection showcased translucent silhouettes in smoky hues over brown, gold and beige. In addition to synthetics, she used silk and velvet for a series of oversized sweaters, full body wraps and knee-length shell coats.

London-based Jie Lang's graduate collection is inspired by paper craft and packaging shapes, and is rooted in interfacing surface textures. Using a limited palette of black and blue, Liang explores the creative possibilities of man-made fabrics in layered looks, including laser-cut, abstract patterns on some of her pieces. Her avant-garde shapes include cropped and pleated jackets, sheer knee-length shirts and head scarves, with an overall focus on durable and functional menswear.

Peruvian Lucia Cuba's debut is both a fashion collection and social activist project, drawing attention to forced governmental sterilisation in Peru. Silhouettes are inspired by traditional Andean polleras (skirts), in maroon, yellow, cream and black, and she has embroidered fragments of victims' testimonies, political speeches, legal documents and research papers onto the fabrics, literally wrapping the wearer in information and creating fashion rooted in social awareness.

In naming her debut collection 'Bowerbird', Manon Kündig acknowledges the preliminary hunting and gathering that her designs require. Using online image resources, she created digital prints that resemble vibrant Rorschach tests. Blending seemingly random bits and pieces - a flower here, a cat there - Kundig's menswear label blurs the line between androgyny and other-worldly. Cropped tailored trousers, unstructured jackets and silk scarves adorned with faux fur, sequins, synthetics and lace create a mix of textures, colours and images that allure and intrigue.

A bold sense of colour, clever use of fabrics, textures and complex detailing makes Canadian Ryan Mercer's womenswear collection a cut above the rest. Mercer has used a narrow selection of fabrics, maintaining a strong focus and clear direction. Panelled leather crop tops and pencil skirts in lambskin and snakeskin are held together by leather cord, while eyelets and lace add depth and structure to the perimeter of most of his garments. Demonstrating an assured sense of colour blocking, he used asymmetrical bands of neon yellow, deep orange and alabaster white strips, sometimes laser-etched, to striking effect.

Yulia Kondranina has designed a highly technical collection, taking an architectural approach to the female form. She created radical shapes by wrapping fine viscose fringing around a flexible support structure. The internal mechanics and intricate design make for captivating pieces, while the black and white colour scheme allows the complex construction to shine.

Whether she is disintegrating gold or working with heat reactive metals, Alice McLean’s jewellery explores the expressive power of materials in transition. The London-based graduate subverts traditional notions of value with designs that vacillate in their physical form.

Caroline Kernick’s opulent creations may look like high jewellery pieces but they are in fact handcrafted from layers of paper, embellished with gouache. Showcased behind glass on a gallery wall, they are designed to perplex and intrigue the viewer and act as a commentary on notions of luxury. An exercise in endurance, each piece takes a staggering 200 to 300 hours to complete.

Bold sculptural form is the foil for Kirstin Dunn’s seemingly delicate creations. The jeweller and silversmith might have an obvious instinct for light and tone, but it is the combination of materials and forms - such as 'the juxtaposition of lightweight plastics with metal structures' - that is central to her vision.

The urban environment - bridge frameworks, building sites and scaffolding - heavily informs Laura Templeton's designs, hence her tendency to view each piece as 'a miniature construction in precious metals'. Inspired by a 'juxtaposition of bold, straight and repetitive geometric shapes against the softness of the organic human form', her deft handling of form and function gives this Scottish newcomer's jewellery instant wearability.

A fascination with metals and their properties led jeweller Sophie Ellis to create pieces that are not necessarily as simple as: 'You wear it.' Hence her decision to make watches. Her pieces, which are cut in half to reveal inner mechanics, or are completely deconstructed leaving just an outline, highlight the compelling nature of horology. Hers is a modern attitude towards time: 'The irony of a watch being something you need but probably never understand amuses me.'

Collin Cummings created a package for the Savannah Bee Company's organic raw range inspired by the dichotomy between the aesthetic and the functional nature of honey. 'I have always loved how, despite involving such an old and somewhat industrial process, everything about honey is so beautiful,' he says. 'I aimed for a simple message and the chance for discovery'. His packaging incorporates glass bottles embellished with bee-inspired graphics, topped with wooden lids, and labeled with strong typography that offers the consumer information and serving suggestions.

With a strong, colourful graphic element running through all of her graduate projects, Dafna Aizenberg's 'Hybris' is no exception. She has designed a cosmetics range inspired by forbidden treats and decided to use elements of confectionery packaging and branding for the collection. 'My purpose was to reflect the desire and natural, almost sexual, craving people have towards candy and apply it to cosmetics.'

Aiming to transform an X-Acto blades box from a simple container to a visual guide for the consumer, Heesang applied the aesthetic codes of the Fluxus movement to a practical, fuss-free design. 'I created a package design that provides information and focuses on practicality, with a neutral colour palette that allowed me to emphasise the hierarchy of the blades.' The stripped-down graphics give the monotone patterns a minimal look, with the blade number on the front, and an illustration of the blade's shape on the back.

Determined to combine eco-efficiency with simple yet striking aesthetics, Maria Milagros Bouroncle Rodriguez has redesigned the tea sachet. The minimalist black box opens to reveal an explosion of colourful sachets, each one a piece of paper folding art in itself, and able to be recycled. 'Drinking tea is an uncomplicated, delicate and tasteful experience of discovery, and I wanted the packaging to reflect this journey,' she says.

A collaborative project between three students, the 'One Eighty' design began with a fascination for triangles. The sculptural packaging is made from a structure of tessellating triangles and changes shape as the product is used. As they say: 'Products should be simple to manufacture, yet with a striking and effective concept behind them. They should be both aesthetic and functional.' The three have now formed their own creative studio.

'Every project has a different problem for the designer to solve. I prefer the simple solutions,' says function-focused Otília Erdélyi. The elegant, one-piece egg box is made from natural microwaved cardboard and is not only practical, but also requires much less material than traditional cartons. 'My goal was to design an innovative package using a small amount of material. You just get the eggs out by taking off the sleeve and pulling back the top side.'

Inspiration for Keren's seafood packing came from varied sources: 'working in a Japanese fusion restaurant, the daily fishing at the port in Jaffa, seafood restaurants that are scattered throughout Tel Aviv, and of course, my love of seafood,' he says. Ron created a simple, practical and informative design. The Styrofoam package protects the raw content, keeping it fresh, and the red label is illustrated with details about the seafood, cooking equipment, as well as culinary and refrigeration advice. Each pack comes with tools, as well as detailed instructional cards that promise to turn shellfish skeptics into seafood chefs.

When designing the packaging for premium Belgian beer brand Mercator, Illevold drew inspiration from the ship of the same name, built in 1936 in Ostende. Interested on the structural elements of the ship and how they transfer into beer packaging, she decided to focus on the rope that holds the whole ship together. 'When the rope became the main idea, everything else had to be really subtle,' she explains. 'I etched nautical objects on the bottles, stamped the lid with the same pattern, and changed the label into a "luggage tag", making the experience of drinking the beer a journey'.

A weak spot for pasta and Djarov's yearly travels to Italy were the building blocks for his La Forma Saporita packaging project, developed for his university thesis. 'Being there and enjoying all of it in person encouraged me to create a special brand that encapsulates my love for Italy. Djarov devised a monochrome design with vintage details that walk the line between nostalgic and modern. The project includes high-tech elements, with a smartphone app that enables you to find the nearest stockist, gives cooking tips and even helps you to measure the perfect portion.

André Giesemann's graduation project was called 'Attrappe: Reality and Cheating in Photography' and featured mock rooms that are in fact spaces in shops and museums. 'I wanted to create pictures that look like artificial veneers,' he says. 'I found rooms that looked like Potemkin villages. I wanted to review the reality of both the objects and the photography itself.'

Antonia Basler is interested in photographing images and materials intended for mass production. 'This body of work focuses on objects found in dollar stores. Constructing scenes that examine the presence of the artificial in everyday life, I look to incorporate humour and references from art history in the composition and content of my work. The intent of the project is to create situations that obscure the function of a readily available product for the purpose of making an aesthetically appealing photograph.'

Emile Barret's images of bones and body parts in jars, displayed against striking gothic backdrops or Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, are taken from a three-folio project entitled 'A Contemporary Atlas of Human Body Process'. 'The true body does not exist in the representation,' explains Barret. 'For every representation is a metaphor of the body, every representation is a metaphor for life.'

'It starts with a little inspiration,' says Ester Grass Vergara. 'I sometimes go looking for it, but most often it just hits me in the face. The way a woman crosses her legs or the sight of decaying fruits, I register it and save it for later use. Whether I'm making a portrait or still life, I'm always looking for the things that are delicately abstract and possess a timeless essence.' These images are part of a fashion series inspired by the 1966 French film 'Qui êtes vous, Polly Maggoo?'

These images by Felix R Cid are taken from a project called the 'Bureaucracy of Love Stories', a title he came up with because of the complexity of taking the images with a large-format camera. The series features friends and family members. 'Those fantasies were based on personal experiences, but they were also related to social and political events in which metaphor and poetry were my biggest ambition.'

Philippe Fragnier’s Snowpark landscape photography project is inspired by the minimalist sculptures of artists like Donald Judd and Richard Serra. 'I'm really interested in the process by which an object become something new, like a sculpture. The Snowpark project proposes an analysis of landscapes modified by human intervention. An undefined landscape, dotted by the presence of functional, ephemeral objects, which acquire, by the eye of the camera, a hybrid status halfway between architecture and sculpture.'

Adam Setter's project for Rolls-Royce eschews almost any conventional relationship with auto design. Instead, the glass-clad 'Monolith' is pitched at the plutocratic traveller, creating a sort of sybaritic carapace beneath which they can shuttle from penthouse to yacht. Setter's work is a statement about the emergence of a new, architectural language tailored at individuals, not the masses. 'When cities have removed the car, and personal transport seamlessly integrates with public, owning a private car will become a much bigger status symbol than it has ever been,' he says.

Bergström's 'Core Camper' is a world away from the swooping curves and insectoid forms of experimental concept cars. A mobile homage to the traditional Swedish holiday cottage, it fuses go-anywhere functionalism with the back-to-nature feeling of a 'cabin in the woods'. The concept features untreated timber, hard edges and a modular interior, far removed from the lavish, OTT interiors of today's campers, complete with opening walls and simple materials like plywood. 'It's basically a concept whereby less means you get more,' says Bergström, whose work features shades of Atelier Bow-Wow, Sou Fujimoto and the Eames House.

Shin's 'Frame + Twist' concept splices automotive futures with augmented reality, giving drivers and passengers a multiplicity of viewpoints from which to experience the road ahead, a frame that users can twist to their own advantage. Shin cites the combination of blue cheese and wasabi as a perverse form of inspiration: 'You hate it at first, adapt to the taste and finally love it. I was fascinated by this "twist" (change of perception) and wanted to see if a car could do that.' Frame + Twist is an avant-garde combination of design and technology, taking car design beyond the conventional.

Liwen He is attempting to break out of the box with her 'Snake' project, which melds bold design with sinuous forms and new technology. The 'bionic' forms are 'inspired by flexible, stretchable snakeskin,' creating a machine that 'curls up' when parked to save space and expands to swallow a piece of luggage. Inspired by former BMW chief designer Chris Bangle, He envisions a city alive with her 'Snake' vehicles, pushing personal design preferences to the forefront.

A lifetime's interest in cars and car culture drove van Rojj to the RCA Vehicle Design course. Drawing inspiration from nature - not just in terms of form and performance, but also exploring how a brand's 'DNA' can evolve over time - the designer hopes for a career helping 'serve society,' especially at a time when 'more intelligent thinking' is needed about the packaging, presentation and use of cars. His concept, the 'Rolls-Royce Shooting Brake', pushes the luxury marque into new territories, creating a monumental machine inspired by deconstructivist architecture and designed simply for 'traveling with your dogs'.

Boxer brothers Frank (left) and Jackson have created their own London-wide empire. The brains behind the Brunswick House Café in Vauxhall, which serves up seasonal, local fare among the architectural antiques at Lassco, the duo have since started independent projects. Jackson heads up Dalston posh diner Rita's, while Frank runs his eponymous Café and Campari Bar on the roof of a car park in Peckham and is now planning a new venture, the Peckham Hotel, a creative, cultural and events space.

Andrew Kai (left) worked at Marcus Wareing's Michelin-starred restaurant at The Berkeley and the venerable Daphnes in London, before returning to his Cape Town roots and joining forces with journalist Matthew Freemantle to launch the Spanish-flavoured catering company Gusto. The pair are on a mission to grow all of their own produce and now have another branch in Johannesburg and plans for a deli in Cape Town, which will also be a test kitchen for their new culinary inventions.

As a chef, food designer, stylist and director of Cream Creative marketing consultancy, Australian Linda Monique has her plate full. She defines her cookery as a mix of Japanese and French, with undertones of Middle Eastern and British classics, and her motto is 'redefining what it means to eat'. She is currently working on crafting SOS food ration packs for private jets, and previous projects have focused on reinventing and reusing products that are usually left aside.

Finnish culinary entrepreneur Matti Santala has run the A21 Cocktail Lounge in Helsinki since 2007, and has now launched the innovative 'mind dining' experience A21 Dining, pairing modern, all-natural Finnish cuisine with specially designed cocktails, all inspired by Nordic landscapes. Also studying for a PhD in strategic marketing and concept creation, Santala sees A21 as a personal research project, allowing him to fully appreciate the challenges of a business and put his concept creation to the test.

Adam Lucas, who is now an art director at Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, worked with fellow RISD student Andrew LeClair on the ongoing project 1 of 1. For the first series they printed their own graphic over pages taken from an art exhibition catalogue, 'transforming reproductions into originals and allowing them to recirculate as new single editions'.

Winter's diverse LCC projects included 'Flamingo: What it Means To Be Beautiful' - a fold-out poster/leaflet featuring a mix of digital and screen printing - and 'Homographs', which plays with the two meanings of the word 'dove'. Since graduating, Winter has completed a series of internships, including a one-month stint at Wallpaper*.