As part of the project Minimal Footprint, product design students from UDK Berlin, under the guidance of Professor Ineke Hans, are developing a solid wood piece of furniture that fits into a 40 x 40 x 80 cm box and leaves a minimal ecological footprint. ZEITRAUM supports the summer semester project.
At the start of the project, the students visited key production partners to understand the ZEITRAUM philosophy and explore the possibilities of solid wood. Highlights included visiting a furniture manufactory in Bavaria, gaining valuable insights into the design process at Mathias Hahn in London, listening to inspiring lectures at Designstudio Läufer & Keichel in Berlin and discovering the fascinating world of fabrics by Kvadrat in Munich.
Ineke Hans is a thoughtful designer of furniture, products and spaces.
For more than 25 years, she has focused on recycled materials and the efficient use of materials, and since 2018 she has been teaching at the University of the Arts Berlin.
In the Minimal Footprint project, the UDK Berlin bachelor’s programme focuses on the design of solid wood furniture and develops innovative solutions to current challenges in the field of sustainable product development. The focus is on issues such as adaptation to smaller living spaces, alternative upholstery materials, reduced transport volume, reparability and much more. The first results can be seen in the interim presentation.
Twelve students are participating in the project. The aim is to build a 1:1 model, determine the Furniture Footprint, and produce a film that showcases the concept, the project, and its impact. The best results will be presented this autumn at the international leading trade fair Orgatec, themed “Future of Work”, at Design Post Cologne.
Find your Footprint: The final presentation of the bachelor students at UDK Berlin took place. From alternative padding to flatpack solutions to minimal transport volume, the young designers developed impressive solutions to the challenges of modern living.
We are delighted to present the best product solutions and designs from the students: