Glass was explored through blowing and casting methods. Many preconceived notions were shattered in the workshop. Picking up the shards of an unexpected outcome often led to finding new and interesting ideas glimmering inside. Trial, error and reflection spun layers of narrative and material into projects supported by readings and discussions. Impressions were both made on the surface of glass as well as by narratives flowing from personal standpoints.

Teacher: Anna van der Lei
Teaching Assistant: Ena Naito
Workshop Masters: Zachary Compton, Slate Grove, Kalle Jalava, Kari Kääriäinen, Maria Mastola, Roel Meijs, Teemu Mäntylä, Mira Niitymäki, Tomi Pelkonen, Petteri Varmola, Tatu Vuorio

Students: Alex Baer, Théa Brochard, Lucie Gholam, Sanni Havas, Jimin Hong, Ronja Kortelainen, Helena Lundhal, Merika Oksanen, Lotta Maija Paananen, Henriikka Pahkala, Sandra Prami, Ron Repo, Harvey Shaw, Jule Timm, Milla Vainio, Paulina Varis

Photography: Sandra Prami

In Experimental Design course students worked with a given material, this year it was wool, and explored many dimensions and potentials of it. Through kicking off with an online felting workshop, the group tested existing tools, methods, and techniques of working with wool. After their initial testing, they also followed an experimental manner to develop new ways of engaging with the material. At the end of the course, students gained basic tacit knowledge of dealing with both unclean and clean wool. Through their experiments, students successfully completed an uncertain task that was exploring a material by developing and focusing on certain themes, aspects or functions of it. Some projects tackled new techniques of making felt, new inventions and appropriations of tools, combining DIY techniques for making traditional crafts, the sustainability of wool, and sensorial experiences of (digital) materialities.

On the other hand, in spring 2020, Experimental Design was one of the early courses at Aalto University that was completely held remotely for all students and teachers since it took place during the pandemic period. The virtual studio environment provided a new perspective for the course: the students described their works verbally to an extent that we wouldn’t expect in a physical studio environment, since it was not easy to understand some of the basic qualities from the screens. While this experience helped all practitioners to pay attention to even minor tactile experiences, it also triggered rich discussions on the relationship between design and sensorial experiences.

Teachers: Anna van der Lei & Bilge Aktas

Experimental Design Course Spring 2020

There is a space between symbiosis and machine.
There is also a repellence that tends to push these two apart. We felt the need to try and hold them closer, feeling the tension, creating some friction, some heat.
Staying in this space, we have experimented with new ways of thinking about nature, withinness, evolution, materials, ephemerality, others, tools, and machines.
We have questioned and discussed if, and when, a machine can be symbiotic, what would be different if we were to do ‘with’ and not ‘against’, if we collaborate instead of exploit.

These spaces for investigation sprouted from Lynn Margulis endo-symbiotic theory of evolution: we wondered how would our practice be different when shifting from the survival of the fittest—in isolation—to a system of co-existing survivals.

Teacher: Gianluca Giabardo 

Experimental Design Course Spring 2019

Teacher: Anna van der Lei & Nathalie Lautenbacher
Aalto ceramic workshop master: Tomi Pelkonen

Experimental Design Course Fall 2018

Teacher: Anna van der Lei 
Glass workshop assistant: Ekin Kayis 
Glass blowers: Janne Rahunen & Orcum Erdem

Experimental Design Course Spring 2018 

Sixteen students were asked to re-think the future for 2000 red Coca-Cola bottle crates. The task at hand was as challenging as it was fruitful, the possibilities of material processing and future applications being almost limitless.

The course Experimental Design runs yearly at Aalto University school of Arts Design and Architecture and has the length of seven weeks. Throughout the course the student conducts practice and studio based research developing experimental methods, which they can implement in their design process.

The students used both domestic and industrial tools to recycle and process the plastic crates with varying results. After receiving the 2000 bottle crates the students started to work on a collective material library before continuing individually or in small groups. One hundred samples from this collective library are illustrated in a project book accompanied with descriptions of the methods and tools used to produce each sample.

Teachers: Anna van der Lei & Tiina Aaras
Course assistant: Erin Turkoglu

Experimental Design Course Spring 2017