Be guided by the best
Behind every success story sits a great mentor. At UTS, those mentors are our amazing academics, from senior professors through to studio leaders. We choose our academics for many reasons. They are invariably at the top of their game, whatever their area of expertise. But they're also passionate about what they do and committed to nurturing their talented students (that's you).
UTS Design’s studio culture means that our studio leaders develop challenging, real-world projects for you to work on. It might be a prototype mobile health clinic or self-directed project in your Honours year.
Prototyping new spaces in interior architecture
Studio leader Monika Proepper in the Bachelor of Design in Interior Architecture (formerly Interior & Spatial Design) challenged students with a unique project: build a prototype for a community engagement space for the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown. The twist? It's a bus, designed to service clients across Sydney.
Lucy: Hi, my name is Lucy and I study interior and spatial design at UTS. This semester I've been undertaking a subject called Construction in Design, and we've been working on a community engagement bus for the asylum seeker centre in Newtown.
Monika: I think it's actually quite important for the students to physically build something, especially in my subject, say construction and detailing. There's only so much to be done by just drawing. Quite different, I think, as the students have built something and then actually draw it. It just shows basically a better understanding, I think, of how things are being put together.
Lucy: So this is inside the bus. We've only worked on the back section of the bus due to the time frame. This is, in future, will be a consultancy desk. Just gives people a bit of a space to chat about if they came in. This is the sink area. We've got storage underneath. Sink on top. We also have access from the medical centre in the back so people can access the sink from the medical centre. Into the medical centre we've got a bench at the back for the patients to lie on. We've got a small desk, clock, a wedge to flatten the floor. Yeah, and that's pretty much the space that we've designed.
Monika: We had Jenny from the Asylum Seeker Centre coming in to UTS, which was great. She introduced the project and also the centre and the functions of the centre to them. And they, as part of the brief, the students, or some of the students, had to actually go into the asylum seeker centre to help out.
Jamie: After having taken a walk through this bus, it is absolutely brilliant. It really is ... It encapsulates everything in the central office on four wheels. Or six actually. And I think it's wonderful. Especially the mock up that the students have already done for the counselling and the medical bay in the back, and the other areas which they've already got on their concept drawing, is just simply brilliant. I think if something which all our clients can really benefit from. So thank you very much Monika and her entire student body for putting this together, and we hopefully will get it on the road sooner rather than later.
A year preparing for industry
Visual Communication graduate Gabriella Clegg wanted to hone her skills before she went out into industry. Under the expert guidance of Visual Communication Honours Studio leader Aaron Seymour, Gabriella developed The Object Library – an experience driven platform, designed to link you and your underutilised goods with the community. Meet Gabriella.
Where can our academic leaders guide you?
UTS Visual Communication End of Year Show, 2014 – Twenty Fifty by Gemma Warriner
