“When I told my Mum about my design, she was like, no – I sent you to Australia and spent so much money and you designed a cardboard box!” says fourth year industrial design student Nicholas Tan, on his mother’s dismay at his end of year design.

Tan, who is originally from Singapore, created Manna, an emergency food relief package, after watching people eating grass in Afghanistan during the recent war.

Manna is designed for aerial delivery. It is a largely biodegradable package made of cardboard that uses popcorn inside for cushioning. A parachute is attached to the product allowing for safe aerial delivery.

“Currently only military drops have parachutes, this would be the first civilian drop to do so,” says Tan.

Emergency relief drops have caused structural damage, injuries, and in rare cases deaths, and Tan says parachute delivery makes humanitarian

aid delivery much safer. The pack is designed to hold enough soybeans – chosen for their high protein content – to feed 56 people for 56 days.

Tan says he encountered heavy criticism from his peers for Manna’s lack of physical beauty. But he believes beauty comes from within.
“Manna is not just a product, it is about changing people’s mindset about what design is. I feel disgusted by some of the products being designed – things that are so very expensive and are considered ‘designer goods’ are not so useful’,” he says.

“We’re able to afford fast cars and posh apartments but we can’t keep two thirds of the world’s population from starving.”

Manna and other industrial design products will be on display at the fourth-year student exhibition to be held at the Argyle Stores, the Rocks, 10am–6pm, December 1–7.

Sydney’s landmark sites have been transformed – at least conceptually – for an exhibition by final-year students from the interior architecture program.

Lot 53 represents the work of 53 graduands and is the first exhibition to be held in the Studio at the Sydney Opera House.

Students were asked to convert a real site anywhere in the world into a design proposal that has been brought to life through large-scale projections as well as models and drawings.

The Albury Hotel on Oxford Street has been transformed into a centre for film and sound, the disused White Bay power station has been re-invented as a fashion school and MTV’s headquarters in Singapore have been relocated to the sub-infrastructure of an expressway.

Lot 53 marks both the 10-year anniversary of the interior architecture program and the final year of Harry Stephens’ role as its head. Judith O’Callaghan will take over the role in 2004.

Stephens was responsible for establishing the program a decade ago following frustrations early on in his own career. He felt there was no university degree that properly prepared graduates for designing the interiors of our buildings and that interior design was far more important than his architectural education had led him to believe.

“At the time we were perceived to be doing something against the interests of the architectural profession,“ says Stephens. “But over the last 10 years we’ve become increasingly confident, fostered strong relationships in the industry, earned the respect of the architectural profession and developed a reputation as leaders in the field.”

Stephens believes the venue for this year’s graduand exhibition is extremely fitting. “The Opera House is the greatest work of architecture of the 20th century, however its interiors have never been properly executed as Utzon designed them,” says Stephens.

“If we can draw attention to the interior of the Opera House and keep alive the notion that its interiors can also be the great works of art Utzon envisaged, then we’ve done some community service.”

Lot 53 is on for one day only in the Studio at the Sydney Opera House, Tuesday December 2, 10am–5pm.

Nominations open for literary fellowship

Nominations are open for the $12,000 UNSW Literary Fellowship, to be taken up during academic session in 2004–2005.

The fellowship is awarded every two years to a distinguished writer, working in any field. The successful applicant will preferably have a work in progress which would benefit from a period at the University, and be willing to contribute to University life. The fellowship is for a minium of two months, either fulltime or extended part-time.

The present fellow is Mandy Sayer. Previous fellows have been Alex Buzo, John Derum, Oodgeroo Noonucal, David Foster, Les Murray, Sue Woolfe and Kate Grenville.

Nominations are due by February 28 and the successful application will be announced in April 2004. The fellowship is funded by the U Committee.

For more information contact Meg Brewer, Ph (02) 9385 1094, m.brewer@unsw.edu.au