Meet the graduates: Central Saint Martins’ Luis Undritz
As part of our coverage of 2021’s graduate season, we’re spending five minutes with a selection of graduates from around the UK to talk about their work, practice and future plans.
Luis Undritz is a 27-year-old MA Biodesign graduate from University of the Arts London’s Central Saint Martins. His final project is Phyto Printing.
Design Week: Can you explain briefly what your final project was about?
Luis Undritz: In my final project I focused on the production of living materials and how this concept can be applied by designers, artists and makers without having a strong scientific background and not being dependent on a laboratory.
The result is a printing process called Phyto Printing. Surfaces are coated with a small amount of phytoplankton and then illuminated with an image projection. Depending on the light intensity, the micro-organisms grow to different degrees so that patterns and images can be created on the surface. These are alive as they metabolize and clean the air.
My project was supervised by course leader Nancy Diniz, lecturer in biology and living systems Alice Taylor, associate lecturer Victoria Geaney and Grow Lab specialist technician Shem Johnson.
DW: More generally, what would you say your biggest inspirations are in your design practice?
LU: I find inspiration in art as well as in science and engineering. But one of my greatest sources of inspiration is nature with all its creatures, systems and processes, which are so complex that our knowledge is not yet sufficient enough to understand all of it.
I am especially interested in symbioses, that is, the cooperation between two organisms from which both benefit. I see a lot of potential here to adapt these systems and to develop more sustainable design ideas.
DW: What would be the ideal job for you, and why?
LU: Like probably every designer, I would love to spend time working on my own projects and taking them forward. I am someone who prefers to be hands-on and not work too much on the computer, so my wish would be to work in an area where I can implement this. But I can also enjoy researching and implementing the knowledge gained from this.
I could see my career future in a company that specializes in biomanufacturing and develops new process technologies. But I can also imagine working in a university environment in collaborative projects that can be located in an interdisciplinary interface between design and science.
You can view Luis’ work, as well as his Central Saint Martins peers’ and other colleges as part of the UAL Graduate Showcase.
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