They have created home office furniture with the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and will exhibit them in New York.
Home office furniture designs made by Tec Guadalajara students will be presented in the United States at an interior design company and a New York university.
More specifically, they’ll be exhibited at the Interior Innovations company showroom, located in Syracuse, New York, and also at The State University of New York (SUNY) in early 2022.
The project arose from the partnership between Tec’s School of Art, Architecture, and Design (EAAD for its initials in Spanish) and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).
Its aim was to cover needs arising out of the pandemic through creating home office furniture.
During the first stage, at the beginning of 2021, a brief was created to establish the goal of these designs: to create furniture that would adapt to new needs in spaces outside the office.
International academic partnership
Subsequently, they entered the design stage, during which they presented prototypes made by mixed work teams of students from UIC and the Tec’s Guadalajara and Sonora campuses.
The project also partnered with Versa Concepto, a company from Guadalajara, while the UIC teamed up with New York company Interior Innovations.
“Through this partnership, we made a complete case: from conceptualization, design, prototypes, production in Mexico, and marketing in New York,” said Juan Ignacio Michel, Tec professor and project manager.
“We were interested in forging an alliance between the United States and Mexico and the respective companies. Versa has a very large production capacity.
“And Interior Innovations also has a great marketing capacity, so it can be manufactured here and sold there,” said Paty Prado, from the Center for Advanced Design at Tec Guadalajara.
From among the students’ designs, both companies selected those with the potential to be taken to the manufacturing stage, where Versa Concepto became involved.
Now, they will advance to the next stage: presenting the pieces to potential clients abroad.
Exhibition in New York and lessons learned
“These designs are going to undergo certain improvements, and once completed, they’ll be sent to the United States to be presented in the showroom,” said Paty Prado.
Professor Michel emphasized the need to consider that businesses and companies move globally, since those who don’t see it that way miss out on opportunities.
For this reason, the EAAD professor pointed out the benefits obtained by carrying out an international project:
- Having the best practices with the best in the world
- International experience, which allows macrotrends to be observed
- Having access to international opportunities and capitalizing on them
Collaborative design: dedication and professionalism
For Prado, “the designs were exceptional, and the students gave one-hundred-percent to the challenge. Through this partnership, we help students to find their way and to be able to start a business,” she said.
Juan Ignacio said that “understanding the collaborative design process was one of the main lessons, as well as the relationships with foreign companies.”
He also stressed that it’s important to carry out “challenges based on professional practices and not to stick with hypothetical projects, but rather carry out projects that might have an impact.”
For Jesús Ibarra, a participating student, the challenge allowed them to practice their English. “We were able to speak it professionally in the area of design,” he said.
“I had a very good team. It was fantastic. We all worked really well. And collaborating with people from other countries gave me a broader perspective,” added Jesús.
“The Tec is on the same level as any other foreign institution. We have the same tools for solving problems.” - Fernanda Cisneros
“Through this project, I realized the needs of people working from home, not only in Mexico, but also in other countries.” said Fernanda Cisneros, also a student.
“The Tec is on the same level as any other foreign institution. We have the same tools for solving problems,” she reflected.
Finally, she added that working with people from other countries helped her “recognize different perspectives and needs that contribute to a wider vision within the project.”
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