Collaboration and communication • Basel

What drives innovation in Switzerland?

The Industrial Design study program at the Institute of Contemporary Design Practices (ICDP) did a collaborative project with Embru-Werke AG in the fall semester 2022/2023. The well-known Swiss furniture maker specializes in furniture for schools, offices, residences and hospitals, and produces its wares in Rueti, a municipality in the canton of Zurich. It is the market leader in the development, manufacturing and sales of hospital furniture.

Sixteen students worked together in eight teams to come up with proposals that rethought the hospital bed and other hospital furniture on a functional and aesthetic level. What happens when young people’s ideas find their way into the ears of experienced specialists?

The company’s entire management team – Pascal Huber (CEO), Erich Harperink (Head of Sales), Andreas Mantel (Head of Marketing) – gave the third-semester students direct feedback on their ideas and designs. From the very beginning of the collaboration, specialists from the company’s development department, Philipp Staedler (head) and Stefan Wolff, supervised the student project. “Design students see our work from a different perspective,” said Philipp Staedler. “We should pursue their ideas and give them a chance.”

All the designs were on display and open to the public at the LOOK exhibition on 20 January 2023. The company has reserved its right to continue to develop details or even entire designs.

In addition to overseeing the initial stages of the collaboration, we supported all the project participants with coordinated content on social media platforms.

An essay by Stephanie Ringel on collaboration and innovation will be published in the ICDP yearbook in September 2023.

Seeking ideas for constructive collaborations? Contact us here.