News | Design building gets a makeover

Thursday, 09 February 2012

It wasn’t just the quality of these stunning mosaics that blew Industrial Design staff and students away.

Gale force winds nearly wrecked the entire project, which is a new feature on the Cape Town Design building.

The orientation week project by Industrial Design students took a week to complete.

The mosaic tiles are cut out of recycled magazines and hand glued to the mountain facing side of the building.

Each image features an important industrial design which impacted hugely on society from simple things like a teapot and watering can to the iconic Behrens fan.

Industrial Design lecturer Veronica Barnes, who managed the project with colleagues  Vikki Du Preez and Kevin Brand, says the assignment had a triple purpose.

Students got to work together as a team, improve their environment and get an introduction into design history.

“We were having a great time but the wind kept blowing the pixels off,” says Barnes.

“We re-adjusted the project slightly so that some of the work could be done inside and we are very happy with the effect.”

Students started by prepping their wall, making at least three design sketches then using the donated magazines, they cut out the mosaic tiles and made a mock up on cardboard.

Once the mock-up was approved by a lecturer the group applied the mosaics to the wall and sealed the design with a mixture of wood glue and water.

On Friday students presented their designs to one another making sure the entire class understood the significance of each image.

By Lauren Kansley