Domaine de Boisbuchet is a unique, off-the-wall design destination situated on the French countryside. Each year Boisbuchet organizes a series of interdisciplinary workshops where students and professionals from all over the world come together for a week of experimental work with renowned designers, architects and artists. WantedDesign was excited to partner with the organization to offer the opportunity for one design student to take part in a Boisbuchet’s Summer Workshop in 2017. The winner of the giveaway was a young Brooklyn-based designer, Maryam Turkey. She was flown to Paris thanks to French airline XL Airways. Maryam recently returned from her week at Boisbuchet where she participated in the Sabine Marcelis “Exploring Light” workshop.
Maryam shared with us what seems to have been a life changing experience, one that will be a real source of inspiration as she is starting her career as a designer.
Can you give us a quick background about yourself and your path until now?
I am a recent Pratt Institute graduate from the industrial design department. Throughout my education at Pratt, my focus has been on innovation and problem solving in the areas of social design and human-centered design. Because I grew up in Iraq and took the journey as a refugee to the United States, I always find myself trying to find solutions to problems that affect people around the world and I try to narrow down the issue to a product or a system that is designed to improve the lives of a large population. On the other hand, I am also interested in material exploration and design that requires me to work with my hands, which I did not explore enough at Pratt, which made Domaine de Boisbuchet very appealing to me.
Why did you apply to the Boisbuchet + WantedDesign contest and what was your expectation in going there?
I applied to the contest because I was intrigued by the description of Boisbuchet. The idea of spending a week in nature with beautiful architecture and exploring a kind of design that I have never really done before sounded like a dream. I expected it to be a unique experience and I also expected that I would come back inspired and have added a new design technique and process to my design palette.
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