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The MOSAIC Experience

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Article by Arch. Lilyana Venkova

I am thankful to have participated in the MOSAIC International Skills Performance Hackathon at SEPR Lyon 2024 as an interior design expert. My role was to supervise, advise, and support students in their task of creating a bag or box out of recycled materials.

The MOSAIC experience was as colorful, playful, thoughtful, and fun as a classic mosaic itself. We brought together people from all over Europe and beyond in one place, different recycled materials to create one brand new product, and various design fields to construct a single object. The process was very well organized, even though it sometimes felt chaotic, as the design process often does. We had to quickly get to know each other and join forces to motivate the students to work together and complete their project. In the end, the products were as diverse as a mosaic.

The unexpected part of the process was seeing how many young people – almost all of them – wanted to design an object to keep their memories in, both material and sentimental ones. In this digital age, it’s surprising to see young people interested in keeping a Polaroid photo in a special box, like previous generations did – along with a concert ticket or maybe a toy. There was also a surprising desire to collect garbage and an idea for an object to store paper, another unexpected choice in this digital era. One fun solution to an unexpected problem was a “baguette bag.” Ultimately, the most important aspect of the project was brainstorming and finding solutions, which was certainly present.

One of the most important and often challenging parts of any project is the critique at the end. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to conduct a proper critique for the students to learn from their mistakes. However, I am sure that each of them has learned and grown significantly over the week.

To me, the most meaningful aspect of this project was the chance to come together. The short timeframe made it even more intense and full of new lessons. Teaching students from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds and various design fields was challenging, but in the end, they learned to collaborate and enjoy the process. I wish them – and all of us – great opportunities to continue working together, to grow into better designers, and to shape our world in a positive way.

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