"BIZNES meble.pl" international 1/2018

design X interview 72 BIZNES meble.pl [ international edition 1/2018 f P E-P (the Education and Design Program) has been running continuously for se- venteen years – the 17th edition has just started. However, the first step is always the most difficult, so let us get back to the beginning. I would like you to talk about how the idea was born to launch the Education and Design Program and what is its main purpose. The idea of creating Education and Design Program derives from the need to combine design education with the reality and market requirements, for which design should be a permanent and inalienable element in the produc- tion process. My intention was to create a program that would allow students to undergo the design and implementa- tion process during their studies, allow- ing them to verify their ideas and skills related to design in direct relationship with enterprises. The goal of PE-P is to acquire knowledge and design skills based on direct cooperation with the industry. What was the biggest challenge during the organization of the first edition? Preparations for the first edition in- cluded mainly finding and convincing partners to participate in the program. Then it had only the form of written project and required from the first par- ticipants imagination, understanding the idea and courage in discovering and cre- ating a different way of design education. Schattdecor and Kronospan and fur- niture manufacturers Balma and BRW joined the first edition. In this way, we initiated the process of building a coop- eration platform within which students, producers and employees of the uni- versity gain new experiences, exchange knowledge and jointly initiate valuable projects presented at numerous exhibi- tions, conferences and trade fairs. For what reasons have you decided to cooperate with the furniture indus- try? Did the furniture traditions in Wielkopolska influenced this choice? Several important facts caused that the decision was obvious to me – the tra- dition of the region and of the university and the strong position of the furniture industry in Poland. The Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań (now UAP) has a tradi- tion of educating in the field of design- ing furniture from 1919, that is from the beginning of our Alma Mater. It comes from the Wielkopolska tradition of fur- niture design, named by prof. Zdzisław Kępiński ‘Poznań School of Furniture’. How do you work on each edition of the program? Please, tell me how it all starts with and what are the stages. PE-P has evolved over the years and it is difficult to compare editions 1-5 with 10-16. Also due to the diverse leading partners of PE-P (furniture and interior furnishing manufacturers), each of them brought new experiences, the following conclusions and, consequently, contrib- uted to the shaping of further editions. I developed the PE-P methodology in 2000 and it remained unchanged. Each edition is preceded by the stage of prepa- ration of a team of partners – furniture manufacturers and materials for the production – along with design assump- tions, rules of cooperation, including those financial and legal ones. Work- ing with a team of students begins with introductory workshops, trainings in manufacturing plants of PE-P partners, during which production technologies, materials, industry trends are discussed, along with the company’s philosophy and its history. The next stages for the student group are work field studies, market and trend analysis, building a design program and moodboards. Groups prepared in such way proceed to generate many design concepts that are verified, selected, re- fined during joint work and consulta- tions at the university. There is a compi- lation of valuable features from several concepts. Five years ago, we introduced a new and extremely valuable element in our work methodology – consultations with representatives of partners at the conceptual design stage. What is the main purpose of these con- sultations? They enable to the partners getting to know the projects and concepts at the earliest stage and managing them in or- der to make the implementation to pro- Katarzyna Laskowska, professor at UAP (University of the Arts Poznañ), talks with Anna Szypulska. MAKE INFORMED CHOICES MY INTENTION WAS TO CREATE AbPROGRAM THAT WOULD ALLOW STUDENTS TO UNDERGO THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS DURING THEIR STUDIES, ALLOWING THEM TO VERIFY THEIR IDEAS AND SKILLS RELATED TO DESIGN IN DIRECT RELATIONSHIP WITH ENTERPRISES. THE GOAL OF PE-P IS TO ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE AND DESIGN SKILLS BASED ON DIRECT COOPERATION WITH THE INDUSTRY. PE-P students