Many objects function very well when used alone (like a swing) , but what if we twist that for a while and design objects and situations that stimulate interaction between two or more individuals (like seesaws). Objects that deny single users and situations that need more than one person to happen – basically design that brings people together naturally and focuses on cooperation and joint effort. The It Takes More Than One workshop will purposefully embrace this togetherness and collaboration when using, operating or making objects. Through hands on assignments and experiments, participants slowly define which items and scenarios could work for more than one user and would be exciting to explore. Directions to consider will vary from logic and meaningful solutions to poetic and lively proposals up to amusing absurdity. Keywords during the workshop will be friendship, sharing, dependency,trust, balance, group-dynamics, networks, cooperation, functionality, etc…. During the time of the workshop there will be a transition from individual tasks to collective aims that result in interactive experiences and collaborative outcomes, maybe even in a big communal project. Let’s build more seesaws than swings!
Katharina Mischer (1982) and Thomas Traxler (1981) from Studio mischer’traxler.
Based in Vienna they develop and design products, furniture, installations and more, with a focus on experiments, context and conceptual thinking, Balancing between handcraft and technology, they envision whole systems, processes and new production methods that indicate sustainability and the relevance of nature. Part of their Design process is to examine, experiment, analyse and reject. This critical view often questions and affects the relation between producer, object and owner. “Why and what for” are often the main concerns before a new project comes into being, whilst “What if” ceases in new interpretations and different possibilities. Their Results often make use of unexpected materials and are often characterized by external inputs, for example the condition of the weather or the usage of the existing. After graduating from the IM-master department at the Design Academy Eindhoven and several years of collaboration, Katharina and Thomas founded Studio mischer’trazler in 2009.
Their work won the Austrian Experimental Design Award 2009, the DMY Award 2009 and was shortlisted for the Brit insurance Designs of the year 2010 Award. Exhibitions on contemporary Design displayed their projucts in Museums including the Boijmans van Boiningen, the Desing museum London and the Triennale Milano, as well as on international Festivals, Projects by mischer’traxler are in the permanent collections of the Art institute Chicago and the MAK Vienna. They have been invited to lecture and give workshops in various institutes and Universities in Austria and Europe. In 2011 studio mischer’traxler was honoured with the ‘W-hotels designer of the future award’ by Design Miami/Basel and W-hotels.
Homepage : www.mischertraxler.com