BA1 Product Design and Craft

COIL Improvised Boundaries

With National Trust's Castlefield Viaduct, Plant Noma, Standard practice, Arch College of Design and Business in Jaipur

Boundaries can be ‘real’… and they can be ‘perceived’.

This first-year unit has an extraordinary collaboration; we collaborate across Manchester as a city, working with Standard Practice at Noma and also with the National Trust at Castlefield Viaduct. Across these central locations, students explore urban spaces, questioning what is real, perceived, tangible or invisible in a boundary, exploring the shape of a boundary, and what informs the making of a boundary. Students develop ideas in response to this research, testing and refining objects that reflect their understanding of ‘improvised boundary’. The project is made possible due to the support of creatives Joe Hartley and Ben Young.

Alongside the work undertaken in Manchester, students will share ideas and collaborate with colleagues in India where staff at Arch College of Design & Business, lead a similar project in Jaipur. Arch College students will explore the role and impact of boundaries on communities, exploring the boundaries given to a community, and the internal boundaries that impact on access to resources.

Ultimately, students at Manchester School of Art immerse themselves in the rich narrative of Manchester, responding to the history, communities, and architecture of the city. Sharing ideas with students at ARCH Academy then extends their networks, enabling both cohorts to share their experiences, research, and creative approaches.

Individually and collectively, students respond to their research using material approaches that reflect their creative practice to produce work in glass, ceramics, jewellery, graphics and film.

This project would not be possible without the support of:

• Joe Hartley, Founder of Standard Practice
• Ben Young, Founder of Standard Practice
• Standard Practice

International collaborators:

• Rathindra Dolai, Course Coordinator for Foundation & Product Design Department
• Benoy Thoompunkal, Director International, Arch College of Design & Business