Team 5

Dagny Maria Sand Haarberg
Valentin Hofer
Krystyna Yampol

  • Tutorial 06.06

    By

    Dagny Maria Sand Haarberg

    and

    Valentin Hofer

    Where we last left off we had concluded which patterns we would continue to work with. Based on the discussion we decided to continue with the baroque fabric and sofa-styled Husse focusing on comfort and storytelling ,and the more plain Husse with an informative text., explaining our project.

    (Sketch of how the project could look in Stadtpark)

    Final Hussen Designs

    1. Sofa “baroque style” Husse
    2. Projekt Husse
    3. Diy Designs

    Sofa “baroque style” Husse Nr1

    …telling the story of the parkbench

    (AI generated reference for the baroque-comfort husse)

    Project Husse

    …giving context

    Diy Designs

    …functional approach

    depending on how much time we will have left

    Fabric roadtrip

    finding textiles fitting our baroque-comfort Husse and a plain textile that is good to print on was our main focus.

    Making pattern

    <- help from Annika

    Website

    We are currently also working on the website for the project

    Getting workshop-ready

    We have prepared the material needed to screen-print and will start printing on the textiles on Monday.

    What do we need help with going forward?

    Part of our process this week and last has been to finalise a text about our project that will be printed on one of our main Hussen.

    Project description

    In the project “Rethinking the Husse”, we explore how park benches can be transformed to make people feel more visible, welcome, and comfortable in public space.

    Our chosen tool is the “Husse”, a removable cover that allows us to alter existing benches without damaging or permanently changing their structure. Through this intervention, we investigate how design can reshape the experience of public space.

    We want to encourage people not only to use public space, but also to temporarily claim it as their own. Access to public seating was once considered a major social achievement. The public park bench was revolutionary: for the first time, ordinary people could sit in public for free and become visible participants in urban life.

    With the Husse Nr1, we reflect both on the lack of comfort in contemporary public seating and on the social history of Stadtpark and the bench itself.

    This project invites the people of Vienna to create their own Hussen according to their individual ideas and needs. Our sewing patterns are publicly available, allowing anyone to redesign and reinterpret their own bench. Whether adding comfort, expressing identity, or creating new meanings in public space – every intervention becomes possible.

    Our focus

    • Sofa Husse
    • Printing
    • Website
  • Tutorial 22.05 2026

    By

    Dagny Maria Sand Haarberg

    and

    Valentin Hofer

    Feedback from Design Freeze

    “Go crazy!”

    “Focus on identity and aesthetics, not only function”

    New and bolder designs

    Fabric first

    We want to do a deeper investigation into what we can convey through textiles. Printing on textile is a long process, so if we’re gonna try it, it has to be now.

    We had some rounds of speed designing, coming up with new textile prints. We’ve decided to focus on 3 of them.

    With these designs we wanted to focus more on the message and our core question: “Who owns public space?”

    3 design directions

    ornaments, info on the topic, provocation

    Update on the bench

    Collecitng the bench for the city of Vienna

    Even the police was interested in our activity!

    Screen printing workshop

    We got a walk through of the workshop and some input on our designs by Stephanie Klaura at Textile technology in Salzgries 14.

    Next steps

    • Finish the pattern for the bench
    • Get new fabric
    • Design patterns –> print on textile
    • Make people interact with our prototypes/ get feedback

  • Desk Tutorial 30.04.2026

    By

    Valentin Hofer

    Getting started

    Patternmaking workshop

    Getting to know the technique

    What bench?

    la Strada by miramondo

  • Tutorial 15.04.2026

    By

    Valentin Hofer

    “Do we as designers still need to design new chairs?”

    “Husse” (Chair cover)

    We are NOT designing the elevated structure, where you put the weight of your body…

    …but we are designing a chair.

    A chair is not just a physical construction, it’s a way to express yourself and a tool that allows you to make a place your own.

    Where are we designing this chair?

    We have chosen the context of park benches to deal with following question:

    “Who owns public space?”

    Project references

    • Doris Salcedo
    • Joseph Kosuth “one and three chairs”
    • Christo and Jeanne-Claude

    Next steps

    • Tryouts with fabric, stuffing material and different fabric-techniques
    • Where can we get our material?
    • How can we exhibit a project like this? Video, Photo,…
    • Long term: Is it gonna be a “tool” or installation

    Why is this design investigations?

    Design Investigations is about asking questions.

    Our project questions the traditional industrial design-view of what a chair design has to contain:

    an elevated structure, where you put the weight of your body

    Investigating the meaning of a chair through a sett of chair covers also have an element of absurdity that we want to delve into.

    By placing the chairs in a public park, Stadtpark, we take a position at the same time as we ask the question who owns public space?

  • Tutorial 13.3.2026

    By

    Valentin Hofer

    ,

    Dagny Maria Sand Haarberg

    and

    Krystyna Yampol

    Where are we now?

    Topics