About
Aesop
Malababa
Gisela
Hoff
Ambrosia
MAX&Co.
Hiscox
Monte Esquinza
Maksu
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Kublin x Balenciaga
Viva la Diferencia
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La Clinica Design
Zara Join Life
Academic & Research
Herbarium of Interiors
Ibiza Rosso Corsa
Talisman
Festibal
Another Terra
Rituals of Passage
Mould Operandi
Students examined how end-of-life rituals around the world express diverse understandings of death, memory, and transformation. They researched many global practices like the celestial burials of Tibet, where bodies are offered to birds as an act of spiritual generosity, and Ghana’s fantasy coffins, crafted in elaborate shapes that reflect the life or passion of the deceased. They also explored Japan’s Kotsuage ceremony, where family members use chopsticks to transfer bone fragments into an urn, and South Korea’s practice of compressing ashes into colorful memorial beads. These rites reveal how different cultures use ritual to express identity, belief, and the ties that bind a community.
Through research, critical reflection, material exploration and prototype manufacture, students designed performative rituals that responded to changing ideas about the body, the soul, and material possession. The course culminated in live performances where crafted objects, sound, and multisensory elements came together to create meaningful acts of symbolic transformation.
By questioning traditional rites and imagining new ones, this Design Studio encouraged students to see rituals as evolving expressions of belonging, memory, and human connection. In a world where both material and spiritual meanings are constantly shifting, design becomes a way to give form to the impermanence of life and the shared experience of transition.