Design Academia - 国公立デザイン系大学会議

We want to introduce the “Onomichi Regional Issues + Regional Revitalization Project”, which is one of the challenges of Design Practice II of the university design course, as it represents the characteristics of Faculty of Art and Culture, Department of Art and Design.  We will share our experiences on the project content, project brief and process, end results, educational perspectives and our assessments of students.

“Onomichi Regional Issues + Regional Revitalization Project” started in 2003 as an industry-academia collaboration project between the Department of Fine Arts Design Course of the Faculty of Arts and Culture and the Onomichi branch of the Hiroshima Small and Medium Enterprises Association. All the third-year students worked on this project from mid-April to mid-August in the first semester, to rediscover the charm of Onomichi from the student’s perspective. The project aims to promote new local resources and for students to acquire presentation skills.


Student presentations

 

The project process is shown in the following. After the orientation in April, students first researched local characteristics through fieldwork in the city and local industry tours. Then they brainstormed about potential local needs, improvements, themes for the new proposals, with the faculty members. Regular project meetings with teachers in each field of the course were conducted. If necessary, verification through further research and prototyping are done. The outcomes were assessed during the internal review in July. After the internal review, the students created a slide of about 5 minutes, summarizing the concept of the work and the production process. Based on this, exhibitions and talks were held at off-campus community galleries. Students chosen for their outstanding works (about 10), presented in front of entrepreneurs living in the city and city-related advisors at the Citizen Hall, in addition to the exhibition at the satellite studio, which is the information transmission base of the university. Students worked towards improving their presentation skills. These presentations were broadcasted via local Hiroshima cable TV, leading to commercialization and students’ contributions to the community. For students who wish to apply for the Hiroshima Venture Grant, under the guidance of teachers, we will support them. So far, many of our students have won the Hiroshima Young Venture Awards.

 

Outstanding Works of 2019

A miniature model production kit that imitates the charming old house of Onomichi. It contains the warm and nostalgic wood pieces that you can combine to form a different kind of houses like a puzzle. Both adults and children can enjoy it.


Grand Prix “Puzzle of old houses”

 


Speaker presentation and advisor greeting at Shimanami Exchange Hall

 


Fuchu woodworking tour

2020.3.31