Wanted Design New York: Mexicans present collections

Tec de Monterrey students and alumni presented industrial design projects at the Wanted Design exhibition held at the Javits Center in New York between May 15-17.

The international exhibition presents and publicizes design proposals from around the world. Industry leaders, academics and brands from the private sector come together in this space, looking for young talent.

Yuliana Tónix, director of the Industrial Design program at the State of Mexico campus, highlighted the importance of the Tec community’s participation in this type of event.

“These projects are inspired by the topics that the students look at during the final semesters of their degree. We then profile the most outstanding projects to give them further support and have them exhibited at international-level design fairs,” she explained.

The teams that presented their design proposals during the three days of the exhibition and represented Tec de Monterrey were: La Tlapalería and Office Futures from the State of Mexico campus and Vente a México, Un banquito más, Office Futures and Distrito Tec from the Monterrey campus.

Office Futures

The Office Futures team worked on two design proposals within the same field: rethinking the work environment for a post-pandemic world. The result were two collections, one created by the State of Mexico campus team and the other by the Monterrey campus team.

Valeria Morán, a member of Office Futures based at the State of Mexico campus, expressed her happiness at having her project selected by Tec de Monterrey for the New York event. 

“This is one of the world’s most important design events, so we’re really happy and proud to have been able to take the opportunity that was given to us,” she said.

Ana Cristina Campos, from the Monterrey campus team, explained what their role as designers consisted of when creating the collection.

“We want to provide critical solutions to social issues without neglecting to make functional products. It was a great opportunity to have an international audience see our work,” she said.

Sonidos de Calle (Sounds of the Street)

The La Tlapalería team from the State of Mexico campus presented its collection via the Sonidos de Calle project, with interactive objects replicating sounds from the streets of Mexico City. 

Susana Garduño, part of the team, explained that they used wood as a raw material and brass, copper and other metals as secondary materials.

“Each designer on the team chose a sound, did some research, and used the design process to create the object, while at the same time creating a system to reproduce the sound,” she said.

For Susana, one of the biggest challenges was creating a design based on listening to the sounds around her, and understanding their historical and current context in order to physically recreate them. 

“We didn’t just want to awaken feelings of belonging and nostalgia in those who are part of the Mexican culture, but also to translate the experience of Mexican street sounds into an international context.

We wanted to bring a little piece of Mexico to people who love our country and share it with people who’ve had no previous contact.

Un banquito más (One More Stool)

Mariana García from the Monterrey campus individually presented her Eclipse Stool design, taking inspiration from the sublime, pleasant, exceptional and beautiful, for the Un banquito más collection.

“The eclipse was chosen as a symbol because it’s a sublime spectacle of light and shadow in the sky. 

I wanted to transfer that beauty to the stool, using the contrasts between the color, finish and texture of materials (American walnut and brass) to illustrate this fascinating phenomenon,” she explained.

This project was the most challenging undertaken by Mariana during her degree, but also one which provided her with one of the best experiences because, as she explains, she had the opportunity to learn about work created by designers from around the world and receive their feedback.

Vente a México (Come to Mexico)

The Monterrey campus team’s Vente a México collection consists of household objects inspired by the identity, culture and places of Mexico. 

The collection presents a vision of the essence of Mexico, as seen from abroad, through objects from accessories to food containers.

DistritoTec

Distrito Tec is a proposal which brings together the urban community surrounding the campus and improves the routes Monterrey campus students take on their way to classes.

These models of playful urban proposals were exhibited at the New York exhibition.

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