BNU interior and spatial design graduates showcase talents at Re-Form 2022
Last month, the Interior Educators (IE) summer show Re-Form 2022 @ the Bargehouse – OXO Tower, London ended. BNU's graduate students in interior and spatial design were part of a curated exhibition by 23 courses teaching interiors and spatial design, running from 14-17 July.
It was a very high-profile event and a wonderful experience highlighted with our exhibition student projects that have been developed during the past year.
The University's graduating students participated with their thesis projects – a very diverse group of design work all revolving around ecology, social justice and inclusivity, technology applied to housing.
Some of the students have been shortlisted for IE awards: Daniel Gill, “Calving the future”, studied how to turn a derelict arcade on the South Coast of the Isle of Wight into a climate museum, using one of many coastal communities in the UK as a case study for the impact of climate change and subsequent sea level rise.
Maryanne Johnson focussed on the redesign of a local community library which has been under threat of being shut down. The idea was to recreate a space where the community could gather, explore, and experience together. Taking from the original building, Maryanne reused the original design of the pitched roof as a language to redefine new space for community’s activities.
The show was a great opportunity to showcase the talent of our cohort and to place our school within the contemporary discourse. We highlighted that our approach is to design with curiosity and openness, involving different agents, materials, cultural influences. Testing ideas through process should be seen as a research method, leading to a design which embraces innovation and unexpected results. Experiment should be used to stay relevant and to push the boundaries of how we use and understand the spaces we work, play and live in.
Well done to all the students: Level 6 – Charlotte Jacobs, Daniel Gill, Lily Pearson, Maria Hussain, Maryanne Johnson, Nicholas Cabrera-Banks, and Nikita Kukjans; Level 5 – Harry Crowson, Kiran Virdee, Myriam Essalah, Natalia Braczyk, Trixie Swiderek, Vitor Da Silva. Bucks SU sponsored the logistics of the exhibition to ensure they could take part.
Michela Falcone, Lecturer and Course leader in Interior and Spatial Design at BNU, commented: “Our 2022 graduating students produced outstanding projects, designed with care, curiosity and with attention to the current pressing issues as global warming and the needs for a more inclusive society. They worked with enthusiasm and creativity throughout their three years at BNU to deliver a high standard design, professionally presented at the Interior Educators summer show at the OXO Tower in London. Some of them were shortlisted to the IE Reform award and overall the group work sparked interest highlighting that our approach is to design with curiosity and openness, involving different agents, materials, cultural influences. Well done to the designers of the future!”
Interior Educators (IE) is the national subject association which represents well-established Interior Design, Interior Architecture and Spatial Design degree programmes in the UK and Ireland. Established and run by academics as a charity, IE and the students we teach are all affected by these geopolitical and environmental shifts. Add climate change and on-going concerns with social justice and equality, we teach our students not only the art of design, but how to design for a changing and even dangerous world. More information can be found here.
