Industrial design students create award-winning vessels

Three industrial design students created vessels that were recognized in the Philadelphia Museum of Art Collab Student Design Competition. 

Dani Dupree (second place), Simon Ball (third place) and Cooper Gilson (honorable mention) claimed three of the five award placements in the competition that had six participating universities. 

All students in the Senior ID Studio, taught by Instructional Support Specialist Fabiano Sarra ’13, ’19 MFA (furniture design), prepared a submission. They were responsible for designing and fabricating a vessel using natural or indigenous materials, as well as design concepts found in the work of Stephen Burks. Burks is the 2023 recipient of the Design Excellence Award presented by the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Collab group. 

Dupree designed a caged glass perfume bottle; Ball made a ceramic water filter; and Gilson produced a coracle bowl.

Josh Owen, director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies, was an invited reviewer for the project while students developed their ideas.

“The challenge of this competition is to find inspiration from the ethos of the featured designer of that year," Owen said. "Stephen Burks has a unique and important voice which melds craft and cultural production. These students did an outstanding job using Burks' approach as a point of departure for their own.”

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Photo by Adelle Young '24

Dani Dupree's caged glass perfume bottle.

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Photo by Adelle Young '24

Simon Ball's ceramic water filter design.

 

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Photo by Adelle Young '24

Cooper Gilson's coracle bowl.