Jaspar Rogers, Maria Appleton and Mira Kim are selected for the International Scholarship Program Designers in Residence in Pforzheim 2020

More than 260 young designers from 54 countries applied with their project ideas for one of the three scholarship places for the year 2020. The jury, consisting of jewelry designer Sam Tho Duong, industrial designer Stefan Lippert and fashion designer Bettina Weiss, now selected the new scholarship holders.

Over the past few years, Designers in Residence has developed into an important part in the international positioning of the city of Pforzheim as a design location, says Almut Benkert, Head of the Creative Industries Department in Pforzheim. The continuously increasing number of applicants and the quality of the submissions encourage us to continue the project, continues Almut Benkert.

In the field of fashion design, Maria Appleton was chosen. In her project, the textile designer from Portugal wants to explore new lifestyles and forms of living in space through the use of flexible textile structures and develop an installation that interacts with the human body. We chose Maria because, as a textile designer, her work challenges the dialogue between the human body, textile surface and architectural space in a new, aesthetic way, explains Bettina Weiss. For her installation, Maria Appleton does not only want to use textiles, but also work with various technologies in order to go beyond a purely visual experience and connect the human body with its surroundings: I want to question how textile structures can influence today's architecture and how this could change in the coming years, explains Maria Appleton.

Maria Appleton is from Lisbon, Portugal, where she completed a two-year training course in textile design. She then moved to London, where she completed her studies in textile design at Chelsea College of Arts, UAL, London in July 2019. In 2018 she received a scholarship from Kyoto University of Technology for a research project in the field of textiles. She also worked with Zara to create a sustainable children's clothing collection and shoe prototypes for NIKE. Maria Appleton currently lives and works in Lisbon.




Mira Kim from South Korea was selected for jewelry design. During the scholarship, the jewelry designer wants to deal with contexts: New information is judged through the awareness of the observer and any presuppositions that they may have. Our perceptions and judgements are based not solely on personal attitudes, but are also shaped through historical and social experiences, says Mira Kim. Her aim is to create jewelry that provokes a re-evaluation of information and questions the reality of the viewer. Mira Kim's works convince with their unconventional, playful as well as varied nature and their craftsmanship, Sam Tho Duong explains the jury's decision.

Mira Kim was born in Seoul, where she also studied metal design at Hanyang University. She then completed a master's degree in gemstone and jewellery at the Trier University of Applied Sciences in Idar-Oberstein. In 2019 she exhibited her work at the Marzee Graduation Show in Munich and was awarded Selected Graduate by Klimt02 for the University of Trier.




The third scholarship is awarded to Jaspar Rogers. The British industrial designer wants to deal with political processes: Many people don't even go to elections because they don't feel represented by the ruling parties. I wondered whether this was due to the complexity of political processes and how this could be counteracted, explains Jaspar Rogers. That's why he wants to develop an interactive game in which the player can put himself in the role of a politician.

The concept of the political game is an excellent representation of the idea of product design, to represent a function necessary for the user in the form of an object. More than ever our world needs political education - with this game this political education can be multiplied and carried into the world, says Stefan Lippert.

Jaspar Rogers first studied natural sciences before completing his design studies at Goldsmiths University of London in 2019. Rogers describes himself as an anti-disciplinary designer who focuses on the creation of social goods and environmental sustainability. For example, he has realized projects on topics such as homelessness, environmental pollution, gender stereotypes and the recycling of plastics.




The three designers will live in Pforzheim from April to June 2020 and work on their projects at EMMA – Creative Centre Pforzheim.
For the duration of the scholarship, the designers will receive free accommodation and a monthly financial grant. In addition, the scholarship holders can use the facilities of the Faculty of Design of the University of Applied Sciences Pforzheim. The results will then be presented in exhibitions at the EMMA - Creative Centre (26.6.-5.7.2020) and the Design Center Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart (15.09.-22.10.2020).


About the jury
Sam Tho Duong attended the city’s Hochschule für Gestaltung, where he earned his diploma in 2002 after training as a goldsmith in Pforzheim. Since then, he is working as a freelance designer in Pforzheim and is known for his detailed and complex jewelry, especially for his Frozen series, which features freshwater rice pearls. His work is presented in private collections and museums worldwide, for example in the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, the Museum of Art and Design in New York or the CODA Museum in Apeldoorn. Furthermore, he received several awards, such as the Staatspreis Baden-Württemberg, Friedrich Becker prize or the Herbert-Hofmann prize.

Stefan Lippert is one of the managing partners of UP Designstudio, one of the larger product design consultancies in Germany. The office works for its predominantly market-leading clients in the fields of user experience - innovation - design. The work of UP Designstudio has won more than forty renowned international design awards for creative solutions in design and development. In addition to his work as managing director and consultant at UP Designstudio, Stefan Lippert is also active as a startup-entrepreneur. This is how the ELMOTO electric motorcycle and GIBBON Slacklines were created under his management.

Bettina Weiss studied fashion design at Pforzheim University after her tailor graduation and employment at the theatre. During her studies, she worked as a Technical & Color Designer for Adidas Stella Mc Cartney and afterwards for Adidas Sport Performance Design. Currently, Bettina Weiss is Senior Designer at Adidas Heartbeat Sports/Specialist Sports. Since 2016, she is also lecturing in Sportswear and Leisure Wear at Pforzheim University´s Faculty of Design.


About EMMA - Creative Centre Pforzheim
The EMMA - Kreativzentrum Pforzheim is the central platform for Pforzheim's creative people. Located in a former Art Nouveau bath on the river Enz, the creative centre offers 3,000 square metres of workshop and coworking space, studios, offices and exhibition areas. The city itself is also characterised by a lively creative scene with a focus on design. Numerous university graduates, start-ups, freelancers and companies from the creative industries work in Pforzheim and revive the location.
Designers in Residence is supported by Sparkasse Pforzheim Calw, C. Hafner GmbH + Co KG, the Rotary Club Pforzheim-Schloßberg, Witzenmann GmbH, La Biosthétique, Klingel Gruppe and yellow design gmbh.

Contact:
Alexandra Vogt
Wirtschaft und Stadtmarketing Pforzheim
Alexandra.vogt@ws-pforzheim.de
07231 39 1874