For the past few weeks, we have been under the full force of the attacks of a new invisible enemy and must face it all together. The Covid-19 surprised the whole world with its lightning speed and brought about a series of emergency measures for all the states of the world. The Swiss Federal Council issued semi-containment rules for the population and as of April 26, we were able to deconfine in stages without, however, eliminating the risk of a second wave. Apart from the limitations of social and physical contacts, there is a very simple object which make possible to avoid the transmission of the virus from one person to another: the protective mask. A simple object strongly influenced by medical culture but terribly anxiety-provoking and sad. Design is a flagship discipline in Switzerland and it is not uncommon to see many projects from our design offices shine internationally. Our Swissness design style and ingenious conception is recognized and respected worldwide.
To bounce back on current events and to offer a strong res- ponse from our creative industry, we invited our industrial and product designer colleagues to reinterpret the design of this famous protective mask. BYOM is a project initiated by HyperAktiv.li. The goal of this project is to propose a design that goes in the direction of excellence, to exhibit our Swiss know-how in terms of innovation while combining cutting-edge aesthetics, avant-garde support and ingenious functionality. The brief was completely open and the interpretations were free, the aim is above all to offer a showcase for our Swiss designers. There were no technical, material or industrial reality constraints. Despite the sensitive subject, the invited designers were able to restore strong values and overcome the anxiety-provoking connotation of the object by the force of the design, the poetry of the aesthetics and the beauty of the concepts.
We therefore received 36 projects from 40 Swiss designers different and we are very proud to be able to present their work to you. The variety of projects is very rich and many designers have been able to collaborate together on the de- velopment of these projects rich in intelligence, poetry and ingenuity. The projects carried out are presented virtually through the website created expressly for the occasion. It is possible to see all of the projects in 3D as well as the images, illustrations of the concepts, descriptions and contact details of participating designers. A JUNIOR section allowed young students designers to be able to present projects and to show that the next generation is already conceptually rich.
This project is a strong response from the ultra-creative sector of Swiss design and we are convinced that presenting and disseminating this project can bring a very rich vision of the rapid action that design offers in a crisis situation. It is important for us to initiate such projects and to present them on a large scale. We are engaged in promoting Swiss design and we want to offer a visible platform for Swiss creative know-how.
We have contacted industrial partners for the realization of prototypes in 3D printing but we especially hope that the link between industry and designers will be done through the website created for the occasion as well as the dissemination of this project in the press. We would be happy to see projects see the light of day following this invitation to projects. A physical opening is hoped for in September in the space of HyperAktiv.li and we are working hard to make this happen.
HyperAktiv.li, formerly the LAB is a spin-off of Studio Raphaël Lutz. Innovation-oriented, its action is to support the exchanges between the creative community and the companies and start-ups of Switzerland. Freshly installed in its new space in early 2020, HyperAktiv’s value is to put the user at the center of all conceptual concerns and to focus on the contributions of design in inno- vation methodology. Our space is also made available for stimulating initiatives and other events such as lectures, symposiums, innovation workshops, etc. We are a team of 4 people: Raphaël Lutz, Industrial designer; Manfred Baud, Industrial designer; Néville Baud, Graphic designer and Julien Gaillard, Specialist in Innovation and Methodology.
HyperAktiv.li
Raphaël Lutz
Julien Gaillard
Manfred Baud
Néville Baud
Studio Feixen Sans (Studio Feixen)
Janice
Raphael
Michel
Géraldine
Regula
Léonard
Kylan
Yael
