Design Museum x Surface Design Awards
Freehaus director Jonathan Hagos was invited to be a judge for the Surface Design Awards 2022 and to lead the chairing of the awards in 2023. As part of the 2022 Awards, Freehaus were invited to lead the design of a new immersive exhibition stand, to showcase the shortlisted projects.
Concurrently in role as Creative Mentor at the Design Museum, supporting a group of 16-18 year olds in pathways into creative practices, we saw an opportunity to give young people a platform and opportunity to lead the exhibition design, under our mentorship. Freehaus guided the Surface Design Awards to choosing instead to collaborate with the Design Museum's educational team, led by Avni Patel, to deliver this temporary intervention.
Over a series of design workshops hosted by the Design Museum, Freehaus supported the young people to arrive at the conceptual approach and design development for the exhibition stand, whilst also offering learning opportunities across using and interpreting orthographic drawings, specifying materials, coordinating A/V components, leading and preparing client presentations, working to a budget and preparing technical information. The young people met with the client, various suppliers and fabricators on multiple occasions to coordinate the design whilst Freehaus provided guidance to ensure it mitigated any health and safety considerations.
The exhibition stand was designed to be installed and demounted quickly, using 100% recyclable and redeployable materials to eradicate waste. Young people were involved in the installation of the exhibition artworks and to oversee the fabrication of the exhibition structure, working closely with contractors to resolve on site queries.
Special thanks to Camira who kindly donated materials for the exhibition stand.
