Congratulations to the winners of the 2021 Spatial Practices Prizes for their innovative and inspiring Narrative Environments projects! Cultural Equity Award – Sixto Juan Zavala The Cultural Equity Award goes to MA Narrative Environments graduating student Sixto Juan Zavala for his project Queer Botany, a tour with a series of outdoor interpretive displays that tell …
Congratulations to graduating MA Narrative Environments student Tara Corovic on winning the Steve Lumby Drawing Prize, sponsored by Event Communications ltd. Her winning project, Borderless Museums, reconceives exhibition design by encouraging local museums to take the stories held within their walls out into the surrounding area. Rather than the local community having to come to …
MA Narrative Environments students proposed a project to design a novel installation for the piazza of the British Library which normally functions as a thoroughfare, a place to congregate for users, staff and passers-by. The multi-disciplinary student team worked closely with the BAME Staff Network at the Library, and gathered the views of a range of staff …
“Dreambase” is the second of two proposals developed by MA Narrative Environments students for a parklet outside Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). Due to its size, GOSH is a dominant presence in its local neighbourhood. This parklet aims to ease stakeholder tensions and integrate the institution with the diverse local community by creating an inviting …
We catch up with Berlin based graphic designer and design researcher Jona Piehl, a former Narrative Environments tutor, about her new book ‘Graphic Design in Museum Exhibitions: Display, Identity and Narrative’, published by Routledge – essential reading for 2021! What is your new book about? It’s about the different roles of graphic design in museums: …
We are excited to share the outcome of a collaboration between MA Narrative Environments 1st Year students with exhibition designers Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) and Disrupt Space Gallery (DSG) to create a multi-layered design strategy to support under-represented black artists in Brixton. Creating meaningful connections within the diverse community of Brixton in South London, the “Disrupt Space” …
For this edition of our In Practice series, tracing the career trajectories of MA Narrative Environments alumni, we catch up with Andres Restrepo, a 3D designer at the independent experience design company Imagination. Name: Andres Restrepo Current role: Mid-weight 3d designer at Imagination – Tell us about a narrative environment you’ve worked on since graduating. Last …
MA Narrative Environments alumni and Hungarian designer Anna Horváth (AHA Objects) exhibited her latest collection of objects with Initio Fine Arts at Cromwell Place, in October. Anna’s strictly geometric, yet refreshingly playful works were showcased alongside the French architect and designer, Reda Amalou’s (RAD) elegant and organic creations. Through the exploration of contrasting materials and …
For this edition of ‘In Practice’, our blog series exploring the trajectories of MA Narrative Environments graduates, we are delighted to catch up with alumni Lucy Carruthers, a Senior Designer at MET Studio. See Lucy’s work at: lucycarruthers.com –What is your current role? I am currently working at MET Studio as a Senior Designer, creating …
Recent graduates Paolo Di Gennaro and Sara Coppa’s award winning final project ‘Rooting Failure’ was included in the Bloomsbury Festival as an installation in the Crypt Gallery. Thoughtfully curated throughout the rooms and hallways of the Crypt Gallery, Rooting Failure takes the form of an interactive installation that challenges dominant understandings of failure through an …
An Experience Design Lead at Holition, alumni Yasmeen Ayyashi shares the trajectory her career has taken since graduating from MA Narrative Environments, for this edition of ‘In Practice’. Current role: Experience Design Lead at Holition, a cross-disciplinary creative innovation studio. Within my role, I hover somewhere between the UX, Strategy and Creative teams, and focus on designing both digital …
MA Narrative Environments graduating student Eunbi Kim has won the Spatial Practices Climate Care Award with her final project ‘Dystopian Flight Experience’. This award is given to projects that advance the climate agenda within the field of spatial practices, tackle climate change in our communities and take a proactive role in embedding sustainability practices. Dystopian …
‘Motherland to Fatherland’ is the Spatial Practices Cultural Equity Award winning project by MA Narrative Environments graduating student Shrutika Jain. The Spatial Cultural Equity Award is given to student projects that embody values, policies and practices that ensure that all people are represented in the development of spatial practice. Motherland to Fatherland’ is an exhibition …
The project takes the form of an interactive installation challenging dominant understandings of failure through an immersive and contemplative route prompting participants to interact with one another by entangling threads, enabling the audience to explore the emotions related to the conditions of failing in different aspects of life in order to share renewed perspectives. The overall …
Julie Howell’s proposed design PAST PRESENT FUTURE for the Ripon Workhouse Museum, has been selected for Arts & Heritage Blue Skies Museum Project. Julie’s proposal, a ‘walking meditiation’ through the Ripon streetscape along the route that links three historic sites that comprise the Ripon Museum, explores how the histories that are presented in the Workhouse Museum …
For this edition of our In Practice series, we are delighted to catch up with MA Narrative Environments graduate Kulay Labitigan, a Narrative Designer for an insight company. What is your current role? I currently work as a Narrative Designer for an insight company where I help bring company stories to life. Tell us about …
Following the publication of MA Narrative Environments course leader Tricia Austin’s timely and important new book “Narrative Environments and Experience Design: Space as a Medium of Communication”, this week we managed to grab some time with her for a short interview. What is the central argument of the book? The book asserts that the …
“The design of narrative environments is a collaborative, transdisciplinary practice that challenges deep seated assumptions about hierarchies and boundaries in art and design.” – Tricia Austin MA Narrative Environments course leader Tricia Austin’s much anticipated new book ” Narrative Environments and Experience Design: Space as a Medium of Communication”, published by Routledge, is out now! Tricia’s comprehensive …
In this edition of our In Practice series, highlighting the trajectories of MA Narrative Environments graduates, we catch up with Annemarie Mayo, an Interior Architect. – Tell us about a narrative environment you’ve worked on since graduating. I came across a local community initiative in Finsbury Park which immerses artists into a particular music album …
MA Narrative Environments recently hosted a ‘Designing Narrative Environments for Critical Heritage’ event in collaboration with UCL Institute of Archaeology, devised and produced by MANE Course Leader Tricia Austin and Colin Sterling, AHRC Leadership Fellow at UCL. Cross disciplinary speakers and guests cast a critical eye on the important role of museums, heritage sites and …
Following on from the Work in Progress Show Private View, here are some images focusing on the displays created by the MA Narrative Environments 2nd year students to showcase their major projects. The juxtaposition of the displays in the show highlighted the breadth of themes and stories being developed by the students in their work. …
” The shape, size, texture and design of a plate can affect how – and to what extent – we enjoy our food and the entire dining experience.” – Jelly Deng Graduate Jelly (Jialin) Deng’s final project ‘Whispery Savoury’ has been featured in Riposte and more recently, That’s Magazine online. The ‘Whispery Savoury’ project was …
A big thank you to all who came to visit the MA Narrative Environments Degree Show this year. We hope you found some inspiring stories, interesting projects and that you enjoyed the show as much as we liked sharing our work with you. Here is a roundup of some nice images from the displays and …
For this edition of our In Practice series we talk with Julie Howell, freelance artist / visual director / social arts practitioner and experience designer. Julie Howell www.juliehowell.space Current role: Freelance artist/visual director/social arts practitioner and experience designer. Tell us about a narrative environment you’ve worked on since graduating. In 2017, fifty years after the …
Congratulations to Silvia Grimaldi, who’s director of studies is MA NE course leader Patricia Austin, on gaining her PHD for her work on Design for Narrative Experience in Product Interactions. Her research investigates the potential of narrative in product design to enhance sustainability. Engaging people emotionally with an object, for example through having that object …
ARUP and MA Narrative Environment 1st year students put their heads together to imagine a Healthcare Ecosystem in 2040 through a dispersed and reactive lens, that would function within an environment where automation has changed the world and once complex problems could easily be solved by AI and robots. In order to avoid an economic …
How can the future healthcare system tackle issues such as pollution, mental health and stress, from a centralised and reactive viewpoint? In collaboration with ARUP, first year MA Narrative Environments students used research and foresight techniques to imagine a healthcare system in 2040 functioning in a monitored co-living and working facility such as their proposed prototype “Flora”, forecasting …
For this edition of our In Practice series, we catch up with Digital Media Director and Motion Graphic Artist, Lea Nagano. Name: Lea Nagano – Current role: I am a freelance Digital Media Director and Motion Graphic Artist who merges audio- visual moving image with spatial environments to create engaging museum, exhibition, event and retail …
MA Narrative Environments students collaborated with ARUP to imagine a healthcare ecosystem, after the NHS has been privatised, that is preventative and dispersed. In this scenario, the privatisation of the NHS has caused people to become increasingly aware of preventative healthcare as a way to reduce their healthcare costs. In large cities like London, investment …
How could London’s healthcare system function in a preventative and centralised way in 2040? In collaboration with ARUP, MA Narrative Environments first year students extrapolated out current health concerns including loneliness and depression, anxiety, stress, antibiotic resistance and an ageing population to imagine a Future Healthcare Ecosystem for London in 2040 inspired by the health …
For the second edition of our monthly In Practice series, featuring an MA Narrative Environments alumni, we talk with Luca Ponticelli, Designer at IDEO London. Luca Ponticelli lucaponticelli.com I am Visual Communication Designer with a background in Psychology. I worked across industries for the past few years at the intersection of brand, exhibition design and …
The Design Museum and MA Narrative Environments came together on Wednesday 20th February 2019 to host an all day Industry Insights event exploring the relationship between space and stories. A diverse panel of designers and architects shared examples of their work and captivating insights into how to harness storytelling as a tool to narrate and …
The exhibition ‘Food as a Weapon: the Hunger for Power’ at the British Museum in London explores how food production and distribution are related to power, exploitation and control of natural resources. Today, hunger and malnutrition are still major health risks in some parts of the world, with social inequalities acting as a major barrier to …
Re-imagining what a market can offer, MA NE Year 1 students, supported by Hemingway Design, created a design proposal for Inverness Street Market in Camden that revives the market place through a narrative led experience that inspires visitors to be creative and fulfil their dreams. The design proposal responds to research showing that the market …
Find Oliver! Is a 30 minute trail using street lamp posts to disseminate visual and audio clues that incrementally share Oliver Twist’s story, imagined by first year MA Narrative Environment students for the Dickens Museum. The trail covers commercial and residential hotspots, engaging residents, students, workers and local shoppers. The lamp post installations bring awareness …
A focus of MA NE Student Mateusz Gidaszewski’s work at Medics.Academy as a Head of Design and User Experience is the progression of the role of design in healthcare. He recently delivered a successful lecture and workshop about Design Thinking, Experience Design, and Human Centered Design in the context of medicine, for the Healthcare Leadership Academy. 26 …
A big thank you to all those who joined us on Thursday, January 10th for a preview of the MA Narrative Environments Class of 2019’s work to date. Congratulations to our narrative design superstars for putting on such an engaging show featuring so many original and intriguing ideas! The event was a great opportunity for …
New Year, new diary! Save the date before you diary fills up for this Design Museum Industry Insights talk exploring the role of storytelling in design, developed in collaboration with MA Narrative Environments students. Head over to the Design Museum for this day event especially for students on Wednesday, February 20, 2019, from 14:30 to 17:00, …
Graduate Lea Nagano worked with Squintopera over the last year to direct five audio-visual media installations for the new permanent ‘Endeavour Galleries’ at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London. “It was a very exciting and rich project that is now brilliantly staged within the beautiful exhibition design done by Casson Mann. I feel honoured to be part of …
In September, MA NE alumni Radha Mistry was a guest speaker at the inspiring Future of Women breakfast in LA, on women in architecture. Radha Mistry has a background in architecture, narrative environments, and strategic foresight. In the Office of the CTO (OCTO) at Autodesk, Radha explores the impact of emerging technologies and how it will change …
Head down to the Tate Modern before the end of September for some communal cooking with locally sourced ingredients and check out The Decorator’s new 15 m long tables at the Tate Modern’s Summer Terrace. The tables are designed to change from bar table, to dining table, to picnic blanket and play host to all …
Three of our recent graduates are showing work in the Creative Unions exhibition at the Lethaby Gallery in King’s Cross from 25 September – 27 October 2018. Showcasing the work of Central Saint Martins graduating students whose practice addresses our current socio-political climate, Creative Unions explores how design can further public debate and become an active …