Category: Interviews and features

Deconstructing fashion with Ruby Hoette

Have you heard about our new MA in Fashion yet? Starting this September, the departments of Design and Media &Communications, together with the Institute of Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship, are offering a new Goldsmiths course that aims to challenge the traditional boundaries of fashion.

So here we bring you an interview with Ruby Hoette, a newcomer to Goldsmiths and one of the academics teaching on the course, to tell us more about the new MA and about herself. Ruby was born in Australia and her previous work and studies found her in Amsterdam and New York (at the famous Parsons School of Design) before she arrived to teach at Goldsmiths : “I was attracted by the strong culture of research and critical thought, and that, in combination with design practice, is, I think, a very productive mode of study”, she says. Ruby is both a fashion designer and a fashion researcher, and she is committed to a more critical approach to fashion, considering environmental and ethical aspects. Continue reading “Deconstructing fashion with Ruby Hoette”

On craft in modern times with Nicholas O’Donnell-Hoare

Nicholas O’Donnell-Hoare is a graduate of Goldsmiths’ MA in Design: Critical Practice who has returned as a visiting tutor; this summer, he will run “Processes of Making”, a short craft-oriented course for the Design department at Goldsmiths, alongside another Goldsmiths MA graduate, Rebecca Steiner. (You can read more about the course and enroll here.) We thought this would be a good moment to get to know him better, so here we are with an interview of him! Nicholas has agreed to chat with us about his work with the multidisciplinary design group Saint-H, his guiding principles and the meaning and changes of craft in contemporary times. Nicholas is very committed to ecology and sustainability in his practice, and believes that design is capable of overturning the contemporary consumer culture from the inside in a more responsible direction. Continue reading “On craft in modern times with Nicholas O’Donnell-Hoare”

The Domestic Science Machines of Alex Duffner

Contemporary scientific and technological advances make our lives easier in so many ways, that perhaps we are starting to take them for granted and fail to notice anymore how amazing they are. Every home appliance we have is, actually, a wonder of technology. Third year BA Design student Alex Duffner is hoping to bring scientific curiosity to the regular consumer with his graduation project, “Domestic Science Machines”, which combines home appliances with scientific instruments in order to facilitate home experiments. Continue reading “The Domestic Science Machines of Alex Duffner”

A Systemic Approach to Carbon Neutral Building

Last week, on Tuesday 7th May we were delighted to be joined by building physicist and Head of the Welsh School of Architecture, Professor Phil Jones, who talked to the students about a systemic approach to carbon neutral building. His presentation introduced principles for carbon neutral building and showcased a range of case studies from projects in Dubai, China, Switzerland and Wales. The Design Futures students responded to ideas in the talk by creating zero carbon future scenarios for our very own department of design Lockwood building in 2050. Continue reading “A Systemic Approach to Carbon Neutral Building”