Dezeen School Shows: a book with a typeface design inspired by the ancient Slavic script of Glagolitic is among the design projects by students at Vilnius Academy of Arts.
Also featured is a 3D-printed ceramic vessel for food, designed to keep its contents cool, and a mycelium research project.
Vilnius Academy of Arts
Institution: Vilnius Academy of Arts
Courses: Graphic Design BA, Fashion Design BA, Fashion Design MA, Interior Design BA and Design BA, Design MA
Tutors: Juozas Brundza, Marija Puipaitė, Dainius Bendikas, Laura Malcaitė-Survilė, Vytautas Gečas, Egidijus Valentinavičius, Mantas Lesauskas, Renata Maldutienė, Audrius Klima and Julius Guzaitis
School statement:
“Vilnius Academy of Arts (VAA), founded in 1793, offers dynamic design programs across faculties in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda and Telšiai. The academy provides undergraduate and postgraduate courses in design, graphic design, fashion design and interior design.
“Students benefit from a vibrant artistic environment, state-of-the-art facilities and expert faculty guidance.
“The programmes emphasise hands-on projects, interdisciplinary collaboration and industry connections, fostering artistic expression and practical skills.
“Graduates are well-prepared to excel in the global design market, contributing to contemporary trends and addressing real-world challenges with creativity and vision.”
Temporary Constructions: the possibilities of applying mycelium material into design by Deividas Giedraitis
“This research explores the applicability of mycelium in design as a sustainable, living material.
“Inspired by mycology and the makers movement, Giedraitis experimented by cultivating mycelium, analysing its decomposing properties and network behaviour across various materials and structures.
“Using 3D-printing technologies, Giedraitis attempted to create living constructs that both grow and naturally decompose.
“The study highlights the distinction between living and temporary structures, while questioning the longevity of design objects. By reinterpreting Rietveld’s Elling Buffet through the lens of mycelium-based techniques, the research emphasises the wabi-sabi philosophy, the aesthetics of sustainable materials and their cultural significance.
“It invites the reader to reconsider impermanence, object value and natural wear as indicators of an object’s maturity.”
Student: Deividas Giedraitis
Course: Design (MA)
Tutor: Juozas Brundza
Collectible design solutions for meditation and mindfulness by Emilija Globytė
“This collection of objects is designed to support everyday mindfulness and meditation practices.
“Each piece invites a moment of pause and inner focus. The mirror creates a ritual space for self-reflection, the sound object uses the randomness of natural tones and the breathing chair helps tune into the body’s rhythm.
“The objects are minimalist, non-digital, made from natural materials and rooted in personal experience.
“They are not meant to be merely functional, but meaningful, encouraging a deeper connection with oneself through sensory experience, repetition and silence.”
Student: Emilija Globytė
Course: Applied Arts, (MA) Telšiai Faculty
Tutor: Marija Puipaitė
Deconstruction of the concept of ‘home’ in an experimental fashion design collection ‘Home Sweet Home’ by Greta Žukauskaitė
“Home Sweet Home is an experimental fashion collection that deconstructs the multilayered concept of home in the context of current global realities.
“In a time of mass migration, geopolitical tensions and ecological crisis, the notion of home loses its former stability. Home becomes temporary and fragile, its experience, unsteady and disrupted.
“Emotionally, the collection swings like a pendulum between harmonious comfort and aggressive heaviness, portraying home not as a static physical space but as an ever-changing emotional landscape shaped by personal and collective sentiments and experiences.
“Through colour, materiality and construction, each garment serves as a fragment of a larger visual narrative – an introspective reflection on contemporary identity, one that forms between temporary and permanent, the past and the future.
“Ranging from comfort to chaos, stability to collapse, Home Sweet Home reflects the varied experiences of home lived by people and nations across the world today.
“Also functioning as an allegory for personal quests for home and belonging, the collection raises the question: what does it mean to belong to a place in a world that is constantly moving and changing?”
Student: Greta Žukauskaitė
Course: Fashion Design (BA)
Tutor: Dainius Bendikas
Entangled symbiosis. Relations between humans and nature in the urban context by Laura Jančiauskaitė
“The project explores the modern human’s connection with nature and seeks ways to restore and strengthen it through spatial design.
“In a fast-paced, technology-driven society, people grow distant from the natural world. The dove symbolises a mediator between nature and humanity, while weaving becomes the key technique to create an ecologically conscious, tactile space.
“This approach forms both physical and metaphorical environments – spaces to slow down, reconnect and reflect.
“The goal is to create experiences that invite rather than impose and unite rather than separate, weaving together diverse forms of life into a harmonious whole.”
Student: Laura Jančiauskaitė
Course: Interior Design (BA)
Tutor: Laura Malcaitė-Survilė
‘Matter Holds’ – sustainable climbing hold design by Matas Maldutis
“This is a climbing hold set design inspired by urban forms and the movement connection between climbing and parkour.
“The problem addressed was the search for more sustainable solutions in response to the current situation where most holds used in climbing gyms are made from plastic, polyurethane, polyester or fibreglass.
“These materials are difficult to recycle, rarely sorted and often end up in general waste. As a result, the goal was to create a more sustainable set of climbing holds for a future personal brand, Matter Holds.
“The result – wooden holds inspired by the urban environment with a unique feature – by changing the orientation of the hold, the angle of the edge and the climbing difficulty changes.”
Student: Matas Maldutis
Course: Design (BA)
Tutor: Juozas Brundza
Sloped-roof Architecture by Paulina Kiliūtė
“Creating from waste, these hand-made rooftop structures are built in a simple and accessible way.
“Roofs are often hidden, unused and seen only as protection from rain. But what if, instead of only covering and hiding, they became places to openly experience and observe from above?
“Kiliūtė’s financial situation as a student, which coincided with their philosophy of life, dictated the design method: building from waste. Materials were tied together using an ancient technique, lashing.
“After building the prototype, Kiliūtė installed some furniture made from the same waste to fully utilise the space: for gardening, campfires, sunbathing and watching movies.”
Student: Paulina Kiliūtė
Course: Interior Design (BA)
Tutor: Lect Vytautas Gečas
Designing Within Ruins: encounters with artefacts and sites as more-than-human dialogue by Samanta Kajėnaitė
“This research-based design project explores abandoned, decaying buildings and artefacts as part of a broader ecological and cultural network.
“Drawing on Timothy Morton’s theory of hyperobjects, more-than-human design and material memory, Kajėnaitė investigates how processes of decay can become sources of meaning and co-creation.
“Through embodied, site-specific practices such as weaving, draping and marking, Kajėnaitė responds to spaces without aiming to fix or restore.
“Weaving becomes both a method and a metaphor – a slow act of care, repair and entanglement. Creative gestures are grounded in slowness, listening and presence. Can we create without urgency, without control?
“This project invites us to stay with the ruins and reimagine what it means to care for spaces in decline. Here, design becomes an ethical relation with matter – a practice grounded in presence, slowness, time and uncertainty.”
Student: Samanta Kajėnaitė
Course: Design (MA)
Tutor: Mantas Lesauskas
The Interpretation and Portrayal of Human Personas in a Fashion Collection by Gerda Medveckaitė
“In this fashion collection, Medveckaitė explores the transformations a person undergoes in different social situations.
“These changes affect each person’s inner and outer worlds – appearance, clothing. A person becomes like a character, adapting to various life scenes and social roles.
“In the collection, Medveckaitė conveys this transformation through six distinct costumes that reflect different personas of a single individual.
“They give these personas a physical form and reveal their traits and characteristics through materials, silhouettes, textures and shapes.”
Student: Gerda Medveckaitė
Course: Fashion Design (BA)
Tutor: Renata Maldutienė
The connection between clothing and human: energy exchange by Vytautė Bernatavičiūtė
“The master’s thesis explores the energetic relationship between the human being and clothing.
“The main aim of this work is to investigate the impact of worn garments on the individual, drawing on scientific research, literary sources, and artistic experiments.
“By integrating science, bioenergetics and popular literature through artistic practice, the interactive fashion installation ‘Laboratory of Energetic Exchange’ has been created to encourage a more holistic and conscious approach to clothing choices.
“This installation invites viewers to reflect on the connection between humans and textiles, the existence of worn clothing and its significance from a personal perspective.
“This interdisciplinary artistic research demonstrates that clothing can indeed influence a person: in psychology, through thoughts and emotions; in bioenergetics, through energy and the aura; in religion, through spiritual meaning and symbolism and in esotericism through intention, magic and vibrational frequencies.”
Student: Vytautė Bernatavičiūtė
Course: Fashion Design (MA)
Tutor: Dr Renata Maldutienė
Psychosocial project ‘Paid in Full’ by Eiprilė Khaddouch
“Paid in Full is a psychosocial project about burnout. It is like a quiet and continuous accumulation of fatigue that eventually becomes a daily companion for a young person.
“Through the various media tools, the project reveals symptoms and conditions we often don’t reflect on – until burnout reaches a critical point: a feeling of emptiness, a lack of energy and a mechanical approach to tasks.
“According to the burnout statistics presented, people give up their natural rights to rest and inner comfort voluntarily.
“So, what happens when we pay for everything with our health? Do we only become aware of it when we are completely exhausted? Burnout is the price we often pay for the relentless pursuit of perfection, forgetting ourselves in the constant rush.”
Student: Eiprilė Khaddouch
Course: Graphic Design (BA)
Tutor: Audrius Klimas
A speculative catalogue about the commodification of the human body, ‘Morphoria’ by Dominyka Lindišytė
“Why settle for what you were born with?
“The ‘Morphoria’ catalogue is an invitation to explore new possibilities for your body. Refine what you already have. Acquire what you’ve always wanted. Try what you never even imagined. Because the body is only the beginning.
“Morphoria offers services that let you become more than just yourself . It is a speculative project about the human body as a product.
“It takes the form of a fictional company catalogue offering services made from human bodies: modifications, organ enhancements and body fashion.
“The project uses satire to explore commodification of the body in a capitalist system – where consumerism, beauty norms and inequality shape how we design and value ourselves.
“How far are we willing to go to meet imposed standards? And when does the body become nothing more than a product?”
Student: Dominyka Lindišytė
Course: Graphic Design (BA)
Tutor: Audrius Klimas
Typeface Design Inspired by Glagolitic Script by Viktoria Ruuben
“The project explores how the ancient Glagolitic script can inspire modern graphic design. Glagolitic, one of the oldest Slavic alphabets is almost unknown today.
“Motivated by its unique visual character and cultural depth, it led to the creation of two typefaces – Re: Glagolitic Futurity, a geometric and futuristic design and Re: Glagolitic Yld, a more alive and expressive interpretation.
“To present the typefaces, a book titled The Glagolitic Revival was developed, featuring seven chapters: from the history and visual analysis of the script to the design process and experimental typographic compositions.
“The aim was to demonstrate how ancient scripts can evolve into tools for contemporary visual storytelling. This project reimagines Glagolitic not as a relic of the past, but as a vibrant source of modern design inspiration.”
Student: Viktoria Ruuben
Course: Graphic Design (BA) Kaunas Faculty
Tutor: Julius Guzaitis
Passive Cooling Container “Vėsis” by Indrė Davainytė
“The increasingly popular ideas of sustainability are driving changes in various areas of life. One of them is food storage and cooling.
“The passive cooling container ‘Vėsis’ is a sustainable, functional and aesthetic object that, with modern technology, revives natural food storage traditions. It operates on the principle of passive cooling – using the natural property of water to cool the surface by evaporation.
“When filling the container with water, its porous ceramic walls absorb water, which, by evaporating, naturally reduces the temperature inside the container.
“This ensures suitable conditions for storing fruits, vegetables or other heat-sensitive products.
“The container is manufactured using ceramic 3D-printing technology, which allows for the precise formation of the internal structure of water channels. It is made from a mixture of clay and wood dust. Vėsis comes in three sizes – for small, large food products and bottles.”
Student: Indrė Davainytė
Course: Design (MA) Kaunas Faculty
Tutor: Egidijus Valentinavičius
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and Vilnius Academy of Arts. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
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