The second year of the project ran in the run-up to an exhibition on the Swiss design pioneer Willy Guhl under the label "GuhlSchool". In this context, the Limmat School and the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich collaborated to organize the museum week Willy Guhl: young and today.

Together with designers and teachers, the students investigated the extent to which Guhl's ideas and approaches can also be interesting and relevant for young people today. The projects ranged from material experiments and furniture construction to photographic field research in public spaces.

Willy Guhl formulated criteria for good design in his lectures. In How to?, his theses were taken up and discussed from the perspective of the young researchers. First, various everyday objects were tried out and analyzed: How easy is it to use a computer mouse? How practical is the handle of a bottle? How do spoons, forks and knives feel in the hand?

The students worked with clay and explored how the material feels and what kind of object could be made from it. They started by making hand flatterers. They then designed a box to store their personal belongings and considered whether the shape of the box should be adapted to the handling or better to the contents.

Inspired by Guhl's ergonomic sitting studies with clay, they took clay impressions of their own hands and feet as well as collective hand and footprints and incorporated their studies into the design of the ceramic product.

The experiences and insights gained in the "GuhlSchool" were used to further sharpen the profile of design education at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich. They were directly implemented in the development of the interactive "Thinking" station in the exhibition Willy Guhl - Thinking with Your Hands (9 December 2022 - 26 March 2023) and in the planning of the education program, and will lead to the conception of a new permanent exhibition of the collections, which will open in the Toni-Areal in 2025 to mark the 150th anniversary of the museum.

Photos: Simon Zangger

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.