Human history can be found in the things we have made and used. We furnish our world with everyday objects, works of art and ritual artefacts. Many of these things seem to have a story of their own, and some even have a career that has brought them to the museum. Taken out of time and context, they can now be found and discovered in glass cabinets.

In our summer semester project, we took a fresh look at the ordinary things of past worlds on display at the folk art museums in Innsbruck, Dietenheim and San Michele all'Adige. A closer examination of some of these objects revealed true treasures of a pre-industrial, vernacular culture. They have inspired us in many ways and reminded us how even simple and modest means can be used to find clever, sustainable and beautiful product solutions.

The semester was divided into two design sprints of about seven weeks, each starting with a research visit to a folk art museum, followed by the selection and reconstruction of a reference object and ending with a project presentation.

The course was carried out in collaboration with Side by Side - Design from workshops for people with disabilities based in Raubling, Germany.

Klaus Hackl, June 2024