We designed bags and dustbins for Prague, to the rector of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague
What does the signing of a memorandum with Prague mean for UMPRUM?
Cooperation with bikes with the master has lasted since 2018, but so far it has taken place on an informal basis. We will sign the memorandum as confirmation that the master has a real interest in cooperating. We would make sure that our students’ ideas do not end up on the pope or somewhere in the ass, but that some of them are realized in Prague.
How did the informal cooperation go so far?
The representatives of the round sit on the juries at various architectural and design competitions, thus guaranteeing their professional level. And we are involved in the project Praskch kreativnch voucher.
Do you carry out specific projects?
A long time ago, we were a proposal for what could change for the better in Prague and how our bikes could contribute to one of the problems that the city has had. From this challenge, a project called Living Zone gradually emerged, which is currently the same for this collaboration.
What is the Living Zone?
It is an attempt to use creative approaches and design disciplines in general to improve the habitability of the capital, to adapt it to the ongoing climate and social changes. In layman’s terms, how to make the city invigorating and hospitable. Our educators suggested gluing in those areas. The first are social facilities in public space. During their stay in Japan, they were fascinated by the hygiene of the public space, and they wanted to experience Japanese experience. Therefore, the students started working on their public toilets as part of the reconstruction of Stromovka.
And there are two areas left?
The type of bike is much more called and complex. There are climate changes in the city, specifically heat islands, which dry Prague just like other metropolises. The students were looking for a way to cool the warmest urban areas and dream of the heat island’s intensity. They chose Karlovo nmst. The last issue that has arisen in response to terrorist flows in European and American cities is the appearance of security weapons on the streets and in the cities.
How can students get involved?
Students receive these projects as studios directly within the framework of science. The evaluation committee then selects the best from their proposal.
Are students suitable for them compared to graduate experts in the field?
rounds like the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague function as an independent researcher, experimental approaches and criteria are used, which often differ from the world of the commercial or scientific world. In such an environment, very futuristic ideas emerge.
Do you cooperate in Prague with nkm dalm besides the master’s degree?
We have a whole partner in the capital. I would change the transport company, for which our textile studio designs new designs for seat covers for public transport. For the city of Prague 1, the students prepared litter bins. And we work, for example, with the Sttn security printer, for which students designed commemorative banknotes.
What of UMPRUM can be seen in the city now?
Michal Fronk and Jan Nmeek are also most likely in this regard. In 2017, they won an anonymous design competition for the city mobile design, ie benches, wheels and bicycle stands. A year later, the same pair, together with Ale Kachlek and Martin Klanica, won the competition for new public transport. Objects made according to their design in the streets of Prague we can see.
Which fields are most useful in UMPRUM?
I would like to highlight the design areas of products, interiors or even industrial design. However, a number of other disciplines cooperate with the manufacturing and trading spheres. For a bicycle such as UMPRUM, it is associated with the applied sphere as a basic condition of existence. We need it as air to breath. Our students at two times did not give up the gods, or even the rest of the products, but think about the future of our world and prepare for the moment when they take responsibility for it.
Will there be an exhibition in the near future that people could see for your students?
At the end of April, we will open a student exhibition in the new buildings in Mikulandsk Street, dedicated to the darkness of art and research. There is a certain number of works dealing with the first habitability of our cities and the question of social design.