University of Calgary

EVDS Students travel to Dublin for 'Global Green' Workshop

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Five students from EVDS – four current and one graduate – participated in the annual Meeting of Design Students (MEDS) international design workshop in Dublin, Ireland this past summer.

This is the second year Canadian students have taken part in the workshop; last year marking the first when recent EVDS graduate, Nadine Vroom, participated in the workshop in Lisbon, Portugal.

“MEDS was the perfect complement my studies – not only did I get the chance to practice my design skills in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but I had the unique opportunity to collaborate with a highly-talented group of international design students on hands-on projects that had direct, positive impacts on the local community. Following my experience in Lisbon, I was buzzing with so much creative energy that I just knew I had to encourage others to participate in the workshop. MEDS is such an incredible, and important, network to be a part of as a design student,” says Nadine Vroom.

MEDS promotes the interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and collaborative exchange of creative ideas, processes, and practices amongst the design disciplines. Students from architecture, urban planning, interior design, industrial design, transportation design, graphic design, and others, collaborate each year at the two-week workshop. Founded in 2010, the MEDS workshop has quickly grown into a highly popular design workshop with international appeal.

Along with over 200 other students, EVDS students Sophia Yi, Chris Hutchison, Lea Nicklaus, Penny Jalkotzy, and Nadine Vroom, took part in the MEDS 2014 ‘Global Green’ workshop in Dublin. The theme of this year’s workshop focused on sustainability, materiality, and the process of making – giving the students the opportunity to practice ‘hands on’ design skills while working on a variety of projects located across the city.

“The MEDS workshop was a transformative experience in my design education. Our workshop developed a communications strategy that included the design and construction of an outdoor installation and indoor exhibit. The work is now being exhibited in Ireland, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Romania and the Czech Republic. MEDS uniquely combines the exploration of contemporary design issues, immersion in the culture of the host city, and networking with talented design students and design professionals from all over the world”, notes Chris Hutchison.  

Projects at this year’s MEDS workshop included: pavilion construction, concrete furniture design, camera making, clock building, recycled bicycle construction, wood furniture assembly, sound installations, street art and reverse graffiti, photography, light painting, and journalism. In addition to participating in the projects, students also had the opportunity to listen to lecturers from Sean Harrington Architects, ARUP, and the Centre of Excellence in Universal Design, among several other well-recognized speakers.  

Next year, the MEDS 2015 workshop will be held in Tara, Serbia. For more information about MEDS, visit: http://meds-workshop.com/.

Image courtesy Nadine Vroom