The second year of the project ran in the run-up to an exhibition about Willy Guhl under the label "Guhl School". In this context, the focus of several Design Kids Club editions and project lessons, the Josef sitzt! as well as the museum week Willy Guhl: young and today on the ideas and work of the Swiss design pioneer and their methodological potential.

Willy Guhl communicated his design philosophy using everyday activities such as baking cakes, sowing radishes or chopping wood. According to Renate Menzi, curator of the Guhl exhibition and design collection, he analyzed human behavior and interactions based on non-verbal knowledge of the body and experience. As a designer, he relied on sensory perception, craftsmanship and the physical presence of objects - aspects that are also central to the museum's communication.

Hands are truly miraculous tools. They tie and knot, fold and grasp, knead and shape! Whether big or small: hands often know more and act faster than the head can think. And sometimes the language of the hands is more understandable than 1000 words.

As part of Hands on!, the Design Kids experimented with materials such as cement-soaked fabric, paper, steel wool, thread, string and rope, foam, wire, shashlik skewers, clay, modeling clay and pasta dough. They practiced a wide range of dexterity and tested the suitability of the materials and their handling for the concept of an interactive area in the exhibition Willy Guhl - Thinking with Your Hands (December 9, 2022 - March 26, 2023). What is interesting? What works? What is fun? What is not?

Their choice fell on handling cords and ropes. A test setting was set up for the museum week in which all kindergarten and primary school pupils could record short videos of their hands knotting, braiding or tying. The ideas and findings resulting from this prototype were immediately implemented with the "Thinking" station in the Guhl exhibition. The absolute favorite in Design Kids Club #6: Hands on! was designing with durum wheat dough. So pasta design workshops were added to the event agenda. The workshops were immediately fully booked - and not just for children & co

Installation photos: Flurin Bertschinger

Im Rahmen des dreijährigen Outreachprojekts (April 2021 bis März 2024) öffnete sich das Museum für Gestaltung Zürich jugendgemässen Fragestellungen und Perspektiven. Im Fokus standen dabei das in der Sammlung bewahrte Kulturerbe, das Ausloten der spezifischen Potenziale von Designvermittlung sowie museologische und strategische Fragestellungen.