Denise Merlette

Denise
Merlette

Projects

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Denise Merlette – Barko

by Denise Merlette

Barko is a research project aimed at reusing bark as a waste product in the wood industry. It accounts for 10% of the material processed in sawmills and is generally burnt. The idea is to recreate a bark-based finish for wooden furniture. The aim of this finish is to reproduce the protective function of bark against all external aggressions. It is applied to wooden furniture to make it more resistant. Inspired by ancient processes, I focused on finding solutions based on natural, recyclable products.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Figure Libre

with Elric Petit

Figure libre is an industrial design project that empowers students to explore topics of their choice. This semester, guided by Elric Petit, students developed their personal projects inspired by articles from specialized newspapers or magazines. The objective is to create projects with the potential to seamlessly integrate in our contemporary society and its economy, leveraging their personal affinities and interests to enhance their work.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Presque Rien

with Erwan Bouroullec

Led by the acclaimed French designer Erwan Bouroullec, the workshop 'Presque Rien' unfolded as an exploration of design possibilities within the setting of his estate and recently renovated Burgundy farm. The project envisioned an open canvas, encouraging ECAL’s Bachelor Industrial Design students, to diverge from traditional problem-solving.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Wonderbread

with Francesca Sarti

Within the Wonderbread workshop led by Francesca Sarti, food designer and founder of Arabeschi di Latte, BA Industrial Design students explored history, traditions, rituals, and recipes related to bread, in order to imagine new unique signature bread.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

CIN CIN !

with Chris Kabel

Within a one-week workshop with Designer Chris Kabel, BA Industrial Design students were asked to develop a glass for a drink of their choice, whether it was for a cocktail, a fresh beer, a classy Negroni, or simply a glass for water to quench their thirst. The final designs reflect the characteristics of the drink or emphasize how the drink is prepared, served, and drunk. All glasses were blown in the ECAL courtyard with the support of the artisans of Swiss glass manufacturer Niesenglass.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Soft Power

with Christophe Guberan

Under the direction of Christophe Guberan, the students used their design talents to rethink an everyday object that consumes more energy than it should, using their powers of observation to choose a type of contemporary object that consumes energy and reduce its dependence on energy during use.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Molds

with Elric Petit

The aim of this project was to approach industrial casting techniques through a playful, experimental laboratory. The students produced objects in plaster, which did not necessarily have to have a function. However, they must be technically interesting, i.e. their molds must be simple to produce, and the molded parts must feature singular characteristics inherent in the molding process. The molds (free materials), together with the plaster castings, were shown for evaluation in the form of a group exhibition.