Contemporary Design

Lecturer Nathalie Lautenbacher

French-Finnish ceramist and designer Nathalie Lautenbacher has worked in Aalto University as lecturer in Design since 2001. She teaches a variety of courses both in BA and MA levels encouraging students to hands-on, material inspired studies in studio work. Many of the projects run by her deal with food culture and the tabletop.
Lautenbacher runs her own studio focusing on small scale production of tableware as well as unique ceramic art and installation works. She shows actively her works via national and international projects and exhibitions.

https://nathaliel.fi/

Workshop table full of tools for working with plaster and clay

The course is studio-based and includes the practical realization of an experimental art or design project in ceramics. The theme and standpoint changes yearly: from artifacts to surface design, from material research to exploring one´s artistic expression, and others. The assessment starts with gathering research material in pairs. The final brief is processed individually. It starts by sketching and presenting the concept ideas, proceeding to studio work, and resulting in the making of prototypes or material experiments from ceramics. The concept development, designing, readings, and evaluation are processed theoretically in project seminars, where ideas, working methods as well as chosen solutions are discussed. The module ends up with a small exhibition presenting the results.

Contemporary Design

STEPS. Floor tiles. Caspar Åkerblom and Liisa Vuorenpää. Material: stained stoneware and engobe

The practical realization of a design project in ceramics, the theme of which changes yearly: from tabletop to surface design and others. The task is to design small scale utilitarian objects.
MUO-5022

Contemporary Design