Theme: Luxury as restraint. Power expressed through controlled absence rather than accumulation.
Object: A high-end watch, jewel, or ceremonial object conceived as an emblem of authority without ornament.
Constraints:
Overall form must be immediately legible at a distance.
Maximum two materials.
No visible branding, no symbols, no inscriptions.
Surfaces must alternate between one matte and one polished treatment only.
Proportions must suggest permanence and weight, even at small scale.
Deliverable: Two refined sketches and one schematic elevation. Each must demonstrate how authority is conveyed through proportion, mass distribution, and surface tension alone.
Theme: Asymmetry as structural intelligence. Stability produced by displacement.
Object: A timepiece, jewel, or small functional object built around a single dominant mass shifted away from the center.
Constraints:
One main volume only.
The center of gravity must be visibly offset.
No decorative details.
Construction must appear physically plausible.
Use only line, shadow, and solid fill. No textures.
Deliverable: Three sketches isolating three different off-center configurations: lateral shift, vertical shift, rotational shift. Each sketch must express how balance is maintained despite displacement.
Theme: Exploration of off-axis cavities as functional voids in hybrid time-objects.
Object: A wrist-worn steampunk “drift module”: a compact mechanical core containing an eccentric internal cavity that dictates the external silhouette. The cavity drives the logic of pipes, gauges, ducts, or coil housings emerging around it.
Constraints:
One dominant cavity only, positioned off-centre.
The cavity must force asymmetry in the external volume.
No decorative surplus: every added tube or plate must resolve a mechanical necessity created by the cavity.
Limit yourself to three materials: aged brass, burnt steel, matte ceramic.
Silhouette must read clearly in a single side view.
Deliverable: One sketch isolating the volumetric principle: draw the external envelope first, then cut away a section to expose the off-axis cavity, then derive two external features whose geometry is strictly imposed by that cavity.
Object: Rework a banal household object (power outlet, light switch, padlock, door handle) into a steampunk module — exposed mechanics, riveted geometries, copper-like volumes.
Constraints : – One dominant volumetric principle (e.g., expanded cylinder, vented cube, stretched bellows). – Add one pseudo-mechanical functional device (gear, piston, valve) integrated into the logic of the real object. – Restricted palette: copper, tarnished steel, matte black. – Clear legibility of the original object despite the transformation.
Deliverable One sheet with 3 analytical sketches: – isometric view for the governing volume – section or exploded view for the added mechanism – material/rivet detail for the steampunk texture.
Theme: Segmented enclosures treated as layered spatial traps.
Object: A wrist-scale structure built from three interlocking shells. Treat each shell as a rigid geometric envelope with a distinct curvature logic. No ornamentation. Pure spatial mechanics.
Constraints: Each sketch must separate one shell and represent its volumetric rule without relying on line shading. No shared axes. No symmetry. Show how the shells interlock by subtractive or sliding interfaces only. Keep the mass distribution readable in orthographic and one oblique view.
Deliverable: Three sketches: one per shell, each isolating its volumetric principle; one combined diagram showing the assembly sequence in three steps.
Theme: Generation of experimental volumes and silhouettes blending watchmaking, jewelry, and functional object design. Formal exploration only.
Object: An ambiguous artefact: neither watch, nor jewel, nor utilitarian sculpture. A single volume shaped by an off-center internal cavity altering its outer contour.
Constraints:
Work only with rapid views: 3 profile sketches + 1 exploded or sectional view.
Use primary geometric forms but disrupt at least one axis or radius.
No narrative, no aesthetic justification.
Each sketch must isolate one distinct volumetric principle.
Maximum time: 30 minutes.
Deliverable: Four sketches: three silhouette variations + one sectional or exploded view revealing the off-center cavity and its effect on mass distribution.
Theme: Generation of experimental volumes and silhouettes blending watchmaking, jewelry, and functional object design. Formal exploration only.
Object: An ambiguous artefact: neither watch, nor jewel, nor utilitarian sculpture. A single volume shaped by an off-center internal cavity altering its outer contour.
Constraints:
Work only with rapid views: 3 profile sketches + 1 exploded or sectional view.
Use primary geometric forms but disrupt at least one axis or radius.
No narrative, no aesthetic justification.
Each sketch must isolate one distinct volumetric principle.
Maximum time: 30 minutes.
Deliverable: Four sketches: three silhouette variations + one sectional or exploded view revealing the off-center cavity and its effect on mass distribution.
