Student stories – PSD http://psd.static-staging.new.sites.aalto.fi Master's Programme in Product and Spatial Design Sun, 18 Jun 2017 11:20:15 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.35 Laura Maldonado http://psd.static-staging.new.sites.aalto.fi/laura-maldonado/ http://psd.static-staging.new.sites.aalto.fi/laura-maldonado/#respond Wed, 30 Nov 2016 14:57:24 +0000 http://psd.static-staging.new.sites.aalto.fi/?p=428

Who are you, and What did you do before coming here?

My name is Laura Maldonado, I’m 30 years old and I did Architecture for my bachelor. Since I was a little girl I have been surrounded by art. My grandfather was a poet and painter and my mother brought forward the family tradition committing to painting, restoration, and conducting classes in crafts to students in my own home. My studies have been focused on architecture, but I wanted to apply the knowledge in this field to the world of art and design in different scales as well as work in the specific with designing the pieces that I have been doing during these last two years.

I am a very creative person, and since I started my degree in architecture, I have always liked to carry out the process of realizing an idea based on a creative concept and the need to resolve a problem to fulfill a service that requires a user. There are several factors that must be combined to reach a perfect solution which satisfies a need. In the case of architecture, the final product of all this process is a building, a set of buildings or an urban development. I think that for a young architect as I, this process (whose result is a building) can be mirrored also in the field of product design.

Why did you choose to study at Aalto? What do you think is Product and Spatial Design?

Through the realization of Product and Spatial Design Master Programme, here in Aalto University, I wanted to building on the different strengths specific to these interconnected fields and acquire new tools to enhance my skills and understanding. One of the main reasons why I liked to take Product and Spatial Design Master Programme is because one usually works with smaller scale objects than a building, and the designer can be much more present in each of the steps leading up to the production and construction.

botijÓN by Laura Maldonado

have chosen this Master Programme in AALTO University also because it develops in a very practical and specialized way, allowing students to collaborate, work and train together about real projects, thus facilitating the students’ access to the tangible world. I believe this is a unique opportunity specially since facilities and workshops as we have here in the school, don ́t exist in any other places.

What are you working on nowadays?

I am working on my Master thesis which is a practice-based research about the different possibilities of the Finnish Spectrolite stone ́s left over material and its link with the Blue Moment atmospheric phenomena. This study is done under an emotional design concept, linking the poetical expression of nature and human ́s perception of it, and furthermore, how it is experienced.

What is your favourite thing about studying at Aalto University?

I think the fact that I am enjoying most is to have the freedom and the access to every kind of guidance from the workshop masters and the availability of the workshops themselves. This has benefit me to understand how materials react, while working with them and realizing that a physical connection has helped myself better to conceptualize my work as well as the knowledge on environmental demands, eco- design tools and sustainability. I would like to continue and still learning everything about art and design and also how social, economic and cultural factors interact with them in innovation processes.

]]> http://psd.static-staging.new.sites.aalto.fi/laura-maldonado/feed/ 0 Iseult Uhlemann http://psd.static-staging.new.sites.aalto.fi/iseult-uhlemann/ http://psd.static-staging.new.sites.aalto.fi/iseult-uhlemann/#respond Tue, 08 Mar 2016 23:26:59 +0000 http://localhost:8080/psd/?p=86 Why did you choose to study at Aalto? What did you do before coming here?

Before I came to Aalto I completed a BA in Interior and Furniture design in Dublin. When I graduated I knew I wanted to continue studying and began researching a number of universities. Aalto appealed to me for a number of reasons, aside from it’s reputation as being among the top design schools in Europe, it was also a school with great resources, a strong ethos of multidisciplinary and cross disciplinary work and diverse and active design research programmes.

What do you think is Product and Spatial Design?

The setup of the department is such that it encompasses these separate but deeply intertwined topics. This broadness of discipline was one of the things that most appealed to me about the course. Product & Spatial design is about designing for people, and whether you choose to work on large spaces, furniture or small-scale products the difference in approach is about proportion and scale. This broad reach within the department, and the autonomy we have as students at Aalto, allowed me to develop my skills in the areas that interested me most. I had the opportunity to steer my own educational experience here at Aalto.

What are you working on nowadays?

At the moment I am working on my final thesis project as I hope to graduate in September. I am also putting some final touches to two works, which will be exhibited during Milan design week alongside a group of designers that I met here at Aalto.

What is your favourite thing about studying at Aalto University?

There are a number of things that have made my experience here rewarding. The first is having access to the amazing possibilities for making, in the studio facilities. The workshops are so openly accessible that it’s is possible to test and realize most ideas and designs. The studio masters are a wealth of knowledge and I have learned so much about working with a broad range of materials. For me, this is an important foundation for my future work as a designer, and I don’t think I would have had the opportunity to work, play and test in this way had I not come to Aalto.

But, maybe most important is the impact of the people I have met here. The way of working in Aalto gives great independence, which can be a little hard to get used to at first, but which over time leads to a collaborative way of working among the students. Not just within Product and Spatial design but with other courses and departments. This environment has allowed me to benefit from working alongside amazing people from a wide range of backgrounds. The broadness of the course results in diversity among the students. It is this exposure to different ideas that has really made my time here so worthwhile.

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