Mirù is an exploration of the transmission and itinerancy of my mother’s life through interdependent objects, dresses and a book.
Clothes say a lot about someone. More than appearance, they are a fertile ground for graphic expression and self-expression.
I created five dresses using archive material. The composition of the dresses incorporates ornamental forms and graphic elements, pictures. Each dress becomes an address from my mother’s life, representing a particular atmosphere that gives clues to her story. The editing, meanwhile, creates a loop between the dresses and the book, a place where everything comes together.
Mirù plunges into the history and emotions of a life, conveyed through clothes and words.
Diploma project (2023) by Alice Villars
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BA INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
with Christophe Guberan
Second-year industrial design students collaborated with Zurich-based brand FREITAG Lab, leveraging their expertise in environmental awareness, material upcycling, and the circular economy. Using the FREITAG manifesto as a foundation, they developed new shared products centered on the principle of "access over ownership."
BA GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Jonathan Hares, Aurèle Sack
Yours to Play and Win is a typeface promotion project on the theme of chess. Letters, just like the game’s pieces, are symbols which become meaningful once they have been activated by abstract human activity, i.e. thought. Referring to Duchamp, the ideographic representations of the cognitive process show their real potential, which goes beyond plain visual organisation. The font belongs to the Egyptian family, which hints to a modern mechanism, while honouring craftsmanship with the serifs. The monocase proportions adapt to the game’s modular elements and the rounded edges add an organic quality to recall the human mind. The text showcases the game’s principles and the ideas as a way to demonstrate the project’s message.
BA INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
with Stéphane Halmaï-Voisard, Christian Spiess, Carolien Niebling
The Disassembly Lab is a conceptual and formal study aimed at creating shoes integrated into a sustainable marketing system. Disassembly extends the life of a shoe, making it repairable, restorable, replaceable and recyclable. The aim is to rethink and redefine the way we build and assemble sneakers. This research takes inspiration from various references and explores several distinct concepts. Each concept evolves over the course of the research process, culminating in three shoes, offering a variety of functional and aesthetic solutions. These shoes, with their TPU soles and 3D knitted uppers, are reduced to the essentials, enabling simple, rapid production and assembly and easy recyclability.
BA INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
with Stéphane Halmaï-Voisard, Christian Spiess, Carolien Niebling
Drawing inspiration from the IPCC’s most dire projections and from numerous reports, I envision a future where carbon concentration reaches a staggering 1000 ppm by the end of the century. What will this world look like? To capture this vision, I have designed three distinct objects, each drawing from unique narratives rooted in my hypothetical scenario. Firstly, a low-tech water bottle, ingeniously insulated to withstand the challenges of climatic migration. Secondly, a repair technique specifically designed to mend and waterproof worn-out tennis shoes, embodying resourcefulness in the face of the scarcity of certain resources. Lastly, a nasal device, boas- ting advanced technology capable of filtering and purifying polluted air, serving as a shield against the looming threat of atmospheric contamination.
MAS DESIGN FOR LUXURY & CRAFTSMANSHIP
by Charitini Gkritzali
Deriving inspiration from 20th century orthopaedic braces, Topology of a Body is a series of body jewellery items that closely conform to the human anatomy and resemble the body’s structural elements. Each piece is composed by solid geometrical shapes and organic curves that are created with silver or steel wire. The thickness of the wire is altered in a dynamic rhythm, highlighting the morphology of the body. The metal structure, which is carefully designed to envelop the human figure, ultimately takes on a sculptural form. Just like orthopaedic braces, the pieces of jewellery are designed to allow the body to move, yet seem to keep it in a constant state of immobility. This paradox eventually raises a question: do these objects enable or restrain the body’s movements?