"A personal work environment" – professor Ron Gilad’s class at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem
when
2023
The commitment to architecture and the deep product manufacturing know-how transcends UniFor’s main business. On this occasion, the company has supported the industrial design department of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem in a semester course led by Professor Gilad.
The class, named "Made in Italy'', focused and explored the discipline of furniture design through the filters of the Italian design industry. During the semester, inspired by the insights given by UniFor and Gilad, the students learnt how to work alongside a real client, how to approach a brief, how to research a territory, study the DNA of a company, develop a product and finally present their own ideas. For the first edition of this sponsorship professor Gilad’s asked his students to develop a project focusing on the concept of a personal work environment.
The objective was to create a table dedicated to an individual work space. The table is a standalone design object, used by humans for various functions: dining, working, eating, playing and other social or individual activities. Furthermore, the table is a tool and an object that refers to cultural and historical traditions: in the past, in fact, the position around the table used to describe the social status. Today, the table in the workplace is versatile and dynamic, with different objectives and needs. The conceptual design was formulated starting from an analysis of the “object table” as part of the user's domestic space.
The study moved then into the work field and several work environments were characterized. Guided by Gilad, the students created 11 unique desk concepts, taking inspiration from Italian design history while striving for an innovative and modern aesthetic and considering the requirements of a contemporary desk. Throughout the semester, UniFor design team brought their knowledge to the class and gave the students specific input and feedback on their projects.
The results were original and inspiring. After a careful selection process, the winning project was the one designed by Eli Ben-Arye, while Armin Gergely received the honorable mention. With this sponsorship, UniFor maintains a strong connection with the academic and cultural world promoting the growth of young new talents.
