Dezeen School Shows: a seesaw design that transforms street bollards into public play spaces and furniture made from discarded wood are included in Dezeen's latest school show by students at Lucerne School of Art and Design.

Also included is a modular bookcase designed to accompany children as they grow into adulthood and a paragliding tool created to protect pilots from risks involving damaged cords.

Lucerne School of Art and Design

Institution: Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts
School: Lucerne School of Art and Design
Course: Bachelor Object Design
Tutors: Christoph Schindler, Thai Hua, Mònica Gaspar, Florian Hauswirth, Christof Sigerist, Thomas Zirlewagen, Andreas Saxer, Dagmar Steffen, Johanna Lier, Michael Niederberger, Samuel Perret, Thomas Skelton-Robinson and Nora Wagner

School statement:

"What is the aim of today's design? What is my responsibility as a designer? What does the world need?

"The Object Design course covers material cycles and behavioural economics to encourage students to create projects for a future-proof society.

"Graduates assume their own responsibilities in topics including existing job categories, established product genres, manufacturing techniques and material groups, socio-culturally anchored patterns of thinking, behaviour and diet.

"In their Bachelor projects, object designers build on their passions, experiences and previously gained skills to formulate their own unique outlook."

Grab – Grip – Grasp by Nadja Bolliger

"How does the hand grasp? It is a person's most vital tool and is mainly used unconsciously in everyday life. But what happens when it no longer functions as usually expected?

"In Grab – Grip – Grasp, Bolliger explores the form of a teapot and experiments with the shape of the handle, spout and lid.

"A durable system of gripping, pouring and cleaning the teapot is devised using an occupational-therapeutic approach that avoids hand fatigue, particularly for people with hand ailments.

"The object is equally intended for older people as well as those with healthy hands, who may be searching for a customised alternative to using teapots.

"This universal teapot is designed to make teatime a pleasure for everyone no matter their hand impediments and fosters use without the discomfort of straining their hands."

Student: Nadja Bolliger
Tutors: Thai Hua and Mònica Gaspar
Email: studio.nadjabolliger[at]hotmail.com

Bollard Rage by Zita Fahrländer

"Public space does not necessarily provide the openness it may suggest. Architectural structures in particular can obstruct access to or the ability to relax in a place.

"This includes street bollards, which are an integral part of our street furniture. Even though they strongly impact our behaviour in public spaces, they remain largely overlooked.

"Using a scenario-specific intervention, Fahrländer makes bollards visible as a component of our common space. By appropriating urban structures, the seesaw showcases a counter-proposal to the insidious privatisation of the public realm."

Student: Zita Fahrländer
Tutors: Mònica Gaspar and Florian Hauswirth
Email: zita.fahrlaender[at]bluewin.ch

Think in the Box by Giacomo Feurich

"Books are an important resource in any person's development. In order to preserve this resource for life, Feurich has designed a bookcase.

"It accompanies its user as they grow up into adulthood and beyond. This long-lasting use is possible thanks to a modular construction that is simple to use and allows the shelves to be assembled, disassembled and transported."

Student: Giacomo Feurich
Tutors: Christof Sigerist and Thomas Zirlewagen
Email: feurich.giacomo[at]gmail.com

Elevation by Daniela Gerner

"We spend a lot of our ordinary days indoors. How we fashion the atmosphere in buildings and enclosed rooms impacts our well-being, which should not be underestimated.

"Elevation is a paper-clay air humidifier developed to regulate the humidity of indoor rooms.

"Through its capillary effect, the object permanently absorbs water and vaporises it through its pores. Using plants promotes the process and plays a key role in optimising room climate and wellness."

Student: Daniela Gerner
Tutors: Andreas Saxer and Dagmar Steffen
Email: gerner.daniela[at]outlook.com

Tree in Furniture by Robin Henseler

"Industrial and commercial companies use semi-finished materials to manufacture wooden furniture. Branch forks and trunks that are too thin and crookedly grown trees are discarded in forest management but can provide valuable wood.

"Henseler explores the potential of this cast-off material for furniture building, particularly in terms of construction and aesthetics.

"Natural woods, which fail to conform to industrial norms due to their organic growth habit, are treated by hand and using digital tools.

"The objects are ideal models of what can be achieved with natural wood in terms of design value and economic potential."

Student: Robin Henseler
Tutors: Andreas Saxer and Dagmar Steffen
Email: robinhenseler1901[at]gmail.com

KleWi by Nora Kurti

"People often know what does them good but do not always follow their precepts. Especially in everyday life, they remain creatures of habit.

"When they rush through the supermarket, tired and stressed, they ignore healthy alternatives and become distracted from their best intentions by the sheer variety of products.

"KleWi is designed to provide a small wink and helping nudge to promote shopping awareness.

"The shopping trolley is altered in such a way that it creates a health-promoting decision environment. In an unconventional way, this helps to boost conscious shopping."

Student: Nora Kurti
Tutors: Christof Sigerist and Mònica Gaspar
Email: kurti-nora[at]hotmail.com

Traces of Time by Leah Martz

"How can the experience of time be translated into an object? The project Traces of Time is an interplay between installation art and design.

"Using one of humanity's most ancient forms of measuring time, the project depicts the passing of time through the impermanence of burning candles.

"Time is everywhere, stops for no one, and each of us has our own relationship to time. The viewer is invited to take a moment to engage with time and watch it pass, unfold and disappear.

"Using a conceptual approach to design, the main objects of the project fade into memory and only traces remain."

Student: Leah Martz
Tutors: Florian Hauswirth and Dagmar Steffen
Email: leahrmartz[at]gmail.com

Projekt Multimate by Renato Rüfenacht

"Switzerland is famous worldwide for its mountains, outdoor sports and multifunctional tools. Almost every recreational activity comes with its own matching penknife.

"Rüfenacht has preoccupied himself with the development of a new multifunctional tool for paragliding.

"The tool is designed to enable the pilot to replace a defective cord, even on the mountainside, to avoid unnecessary risks such as flying with a frayed cord.

"The development involved adopting current design-theory approaches."

Student: Renato Rüfenacht
Tutors: Thai Hua and Johanna Lier
Email: welcome[at]fracht-design.ch

Scentshapes by Cynthia Rütimann

"Odours shape our lives. They can influence our mood, trigger different emotions and steer our attention. How odours are perceived varies from person to person.

"In her work, Rütimann explores how we sense scents and which associations they evoke in us.

"The project focuses on the interplay between form and scent and questions what design languages scents have.

"The result is a collection of impressions from the people and objects surveyed who mirror Rütimann's own sensations."

Student: Cynthia Rütimann
Tutors: Christof Sigerist and Dagmar Steffen
Email: cynthiarutimann[at]icloud.com

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.