Low-tech workstations that invite you to weave your own shoes. With this Ruben Warnshuis won the third Kazerne Design Award. His graduation project Industrial Devolution: The Workshop was rewarded by the jury with eternal fame and 5,000 euros. Warnshuis was one of the 10 nominees for the incentive prize, all of whom recently graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven. Industrial Devolution: The Workshop
Out of frustration and curiosity about the growing distance between producer and consumer, Ruben Warnshuis decentralized shoe production to a workshop where anyone can make them. The graduation project ‘Industrial Devolution’ consists of four wooden workstations that invite people to weave their own soles, thread the upper through these soles, weave the upper and finish the footwear. By de-evolving production into a less complex low-tech process, he aims to increase our skills, knowledge of materials and relationship to everyday utensils, and thus our self-reliance.
Nominees
The ten nominees for the third edition of the Kazerne Design Award were Adaptism (Eliott Vallin and Paul Youenn), Bruno Baietto, Hsin Min Chan, Eva Jagerman, Leo Maher, Fé Ramakers, Moon Seop Seo, Barbora Středová and Ruben Warnshuis. They presented their graduation work live in 4-minute pitches. The high quality of all projects and the diversity of the themes was striking. Selection criteria were authenticity, creativity, execution and relevance of the designs in combination with a catchy pitch.
Kazerne Design Award 2022
The Kazerne Design Award is an annual incentive prize for designers who recently graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven. An initiative of Stichting Loyola, together with Home of Design Kazerne. The jury, consisting of Kiki van Eijk (Kiki and Joost), Annemoon Geurts (Kazerne), Anne Ligtenberg (Studio Anne Ligtenberg) and the board of the Loyola Foundation, chose Warnshuis’ work after extensive deliberation. Geurts: “Ruben’s project convincingly illuminates the relevance of self-reliance in a world where the distance from the consumer and creator is constantly increasing. His project not only invites, it inspires to get to work and to rediscover the pleasure of the traditional making process. Both the social aspect and the functional potential of the product, the beautifully woven rope shoes, have made us curious about its further development.”
Photography: Ruud Balk