{"id":4296,"date":"2012-10-10T11:27:52","date_gmt":"2012-10-10T16:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=4296"},"modified":"2015-11-12T08:02:10","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T14:02:10","slug":"uwm-students-take-their-seat-to-discovery-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/uwm-students-take-their-seat-to-discovery-world\/","title":{"rendered":"51ÁÔÆæ students take their seat (to Discovery World)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Video by Rob Zdanowski. (View below<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When professionals at Green Bay furniture manufacturer KI teamed up with 51ÁÔÆæ architecture students, no one took a back seat. In fact, the spring KI-sponsored studio, or course, at the School of Architecture & Urban Planning (SARUP) turned out an edgy yet ergonomic specimen of public seating.<\/p>\n

The prototype, a unique blade-and-foam structure is the culmination of a fruitful five-year partnership in which KI brought real-world challenges into the classroom to engage student creativity.<\/p>\n

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Students involved, Spring 2012:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adriana Arteaga
\nIan Kearns
\nBlake Villwock
\nNickalas Aringer
\nPatrick Bakkum
\nKeith Hayes
\nKyle Heikkinen
\nRachel Hicks
\nDaniel Martin
\nTimothy Russell
\nBrandon Spoehr
\nKyle Blomquist
\nAlison Carlucci
\nNathan Currier-Groh
\nRichard DeRicco
\nOluyemi Ayoudeji Falomo
\nBarbara Hughes
\nCollin Jayne
\nStephanie Kendziorski
\nAndrew Kuehn
\nJustin Lodle
\nRachel Mattes
\nSamuel Michael
\nKallie Jo Mittelstadt
\nBenjamin Newby
\nDustin Koch
\nRob Zdanowski<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The prototype, called DRIFT, is on display through Oct. 30 at Discovery World<\/a>, along with models and drawings from the collaborative design process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe partnership was established to bring together the A & D [architecture and design] community, academics and manufacturing, and to blend those so that we can actually potentially bring something to market \u2013 all the way from concept to commercialization,\u201d says Amy Kiefer, vice president of education at KI. \u201cProviding students with hands-on experience in studying the relationship between physical space and human-scaled objects, such as furniture, was tremendously rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 70 students have participated during the run of the KI-sponsored studio, winning numerous awards. Resulting design work has included 25 objects, two full-scale prototypes, six future learning environments and 13 hypothetical residence halls.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the goals of the school is to be relevant to its professional context, which involves not just architectural firms, but also manufacturing industries like KI,\u201d says SARUP Dean Robert Greenstreet. \u201cOur faculty and students have shared their energy and enthusiasm with the day-to-day expertise of the engineers at KI to come up with some really interesting ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to facilitating an array of natural body positions, the DRIFT prototype is also integrates both lighting and electrical-power needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DRIFT project contemplates the nature of public space, the role of furniture within gathering spaces and how such space may be transformed to encourage new paradigms of use and value,\u201d says Grace La<\/a>, associate professor and director of the KI studio.<\/p>\n

KI manufactures innovative furniture and movable wall system solutions for <\/em>education<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>healthcare<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>government<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>corporate<\/em><\/a> markets. Visit <\/em>www.ki.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n