40 design and craft students were ready for the challenge of the day, when the School of Design, Bornholm was host for a glass workshop and competition with the German glass manufacturer DURAN Group on 11th October 2011.
With glass solutions for the future as the theme, DURAN Group was invited to present new trends in the glass industry – and to get the company’s products and solutions challenged by the students of the School of Design on Bornholm. During an intensive day with workshop, materials, samples and techniques and presentation from DURAN Group engineers, agents and developers – the student’s knowledge and the traditions of the company were investigated and challenged.
By of the day DURAN Group launched a design competition. The task for the students is to re-design a glass series - A jury of representatives from the School of Design and DURAN Group will evaluate and comment the suggestions to be presented in February 2012 at School of Design, Bornholm. The prize for the two best suggestions is a trip to the factory of DURAN Group in Mainz, Germany and via this a meeting with a modern German glass industry.
Christian Heide, Head of Department: “We encourage our students to get out and use the industry: make contact with the factories and material producers. An early contact and dialogue can provide new possibilities. It is important that our new graduates and companies obtain a mutual understanding as to how design and craftsmanship can be integrated as elements in the business development. It is a substantial potential, that our candidates come out to the small and medium sized companies, but also the really big ones, as the one we meet here today ”.
The competition and workshop is a part of the target of the School of Design to provide close contact between education and business. And the German company DURAN Group met the students with the most up-to-date knowledge, about how glass designers can get ideas realized for an international market and create new glass products in larger series.
About DURAN Group
DURAN Group has more than 125 years of experience in the development of glass for technical and pharmaceutical industry plus small electrical appliances and tabletop products. The German company is a dominant player worldwide within Borosilicate 3.3, which is a heat-resistant glass
