Students in the adaptive design studio had a specific vision and goal: to enable the USA wheelchair rugby team to compete at its highest potential using innovative products designed just for them.

Refining and redesigning athletic wear for adaptive athletes is becoming a noted specialty at the UO in Portland thanks to the unique curriculum launched four years ago in the Product Design Program. The studio—Adaptive Products: Enabling Athletes with Disabilities—was first offered to fifth-year bachelor of fine arts product design students in winter 2012.

Designers and engineers interested in cutting-edge research in sports product design will welcome the University of Oregon’s proposed new Sports Product Design (SPD) master’s degree, due to begin fall 2016 in Portland. Prospective students can register their interest online to receive information about upcoming workshops and the application process.

A ceramic product line designed by Product Design Program Assistant Professor Trygve Faste and Department of Art Instructor Jessica Swanson is featured in designboom’s Top 10 Reader Submissions of 2015 in the product design category. Their project, Intertidal Deployment Object Series 2, is a collection of ceramic products adorned with barnacles.

As a freshman at UO, Collin Lafayette lost interest in his stated major, business, fairly quickly. Instead, he found himself regularly helping out his roommate with his Product Design Program homework. Lafayette taught his roommate about line weight—for example, how a thicker line could distinguish a border—and how subtle use of shading can offer 2D drawings depth and realistic detail.

Competing against more than 1,700 entries from around the world, a University of Oregon graduate of the Product Design Program and a team at Intel won the silver award for computer equipment in the 2015 International Design Excellence Award competition.

The 2015-16 academic year introduces new faculty members to several A&AA departments and programs. The professors new to the school bring a wide spectrum of expertise and creativity in architecture, the history of art and architecture, arts and administration, and product design. They come to UO from schools including Istanbul Technical University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Denver, Stanford University, and the University of Minnesota.

Architecture

What do Hasbro toys, Scandinavian Airlines service trays, John Deere lawn mowers, virtual reality headsets, Eli Lilly medical devices, and MGM Las Vegas water features all have in common?  

Above: Assistant Professor Trygve Faste

Trygve Faste worked on their design.

Liz Zarro, a 2015 Product Design Program BFA graduate, wants to develop "products that are more than just products" and use design to improve people's lives. She designed an exoskeletal back support, called Origin, for Portland's wheelchair basketball team. The product reduces athletes' dependence on their hands for core stability and body repositioning. For her honors thesis project, Zarro designed a biomimetric shelving unit that she has titled Pinicola Shelves.

A&AA is wrapping up its 100th anniversary this month after a full year of events, exhibitions, and celebrations. The school is now embarking on a capital campaign to imagine the future of art and design education and facilities for the next 100 years. In envisioning the school’s future, the A&AA Building Project Work Group in January issued a request for proposals (RFP) from student teams for a competition to design a transformative learning environment for A&AA. In May, the finalists were announced.

In fall 2008, the University of Oregon completed its move into the White Stag Block (WSB), a refurbished facility that merges parts of three historic buildings in downtown Portland. The move culminated efforts—compressed into just two years—to adapt three vacant historic buildings into the interconnected high-tech complex that today comprises the School of Architecture and Allied Arts’ most urban presence. The building project is owned, managed, and leased by Venerable Group, Inc.