Stage Lab 2026 – Mysteries of Everyday Life
“The mysteries take place at the main train station.” This famous quote by artist Joseph Beuys marks the beginning of a search for the hidden stories of everyday life. Anyone who pauses in a train station concourse to observe the people around them encounters a multitude of moments: fleeting encounters, goodbyes, departures, and moments of waiting. Behind each of these images lies its own invisible story.
Starting with questions about home, belonging, and identity, the project “Mysteries of Everyday Life” develops a theatrical and musical exploration of experiences of feeling like a stranger—whether in an unfamiliar environment or within one’s own body. Students from Lucerne School of Design, Film and Art developed costumes and set designs as part of the Colabor module “Stage Lab.”
Stage Lab 2025
For the StageLab opera production “Un Mari à la Porte” at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – Music, 16 students from the Lucerne School of Design, Film and Art designed the costumes for the stage performance scheduled for late September 2025. Over the course of six weeks of intensive studio work, the students researched various historical periods, developed costume designs, and ultimately created 17 different costumes and costume elements.
Dutch Design Week 2025
From October 18 to 26, 2025, four female alumni from the Textile Design program and four male alumni from the Product Design program exhibited their bachelor’s theses at the “Class of 25” event during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. It was an inspiring time filled with many interested visitors and enriching conversations.
Past Exhibitions
“The Turn of the Screw” by Benjamin Britten at the Kosmos, September 20–22, 2024
For the StageLab opera production at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – Music, *The Turn of the Screw* by Benjamin Britten, ten first- and second-year textile design students designed and crafted costumes for the stage performance. The opera will be performed on September 20, 21, and 22, 2024, at the Blackbox „Kosmos“.
“All You CanNOT Eat. Fake Food on Fabric” at the Textile Museum in St. Gallen
Drawing on the Textile Museum’s collection, the exhibition “All You CanNOT Eat” features tables set with exhibits—a restaurant where nothing edible or drinkable is served. Also on display: works by our third-year students, a collaboration between the Textile Design and Object Design programs. On display are “Tischgesellschaft” by Lisa Schöpflin, Jana Besimo, and Valerie Ehrenbold; “Sinnlich essen” by Cajetana Oechslin, Larissa Riesen, Sabrina Berger, and Lisa Rubio; Elena Völkle, Jessica Celis, Nadine Werner, and Salomon Elsler as “Studio Lapidar”; and “Taktik: Haptik” by Zora Weidkuhn, Lisa Blaser, and Nathan Werlen.
The exhibition runs from April 12 through October 13, 2024.
«All You CanNOT Eat. Fake Food auf Stoff»
Calida Pajamas at the Museum der Kulturen Basel
As part of its exhibition “Night—Dreaming or Awake,” the Museum der Kulturen Basel is showcasing a pair of pajamas created in collaboration with the Lucerne-based company Calida. Alongside other textiles and objects, the pajamas are featured in the section dedicated to sleep. “The dream motifs used and the unisex approach complement our own objects and introduce yet another set of themes,” says curator Florence Roth. The exhibition runs through January 21, 2024. Afterward, the pajamas will be added to the museum’s collection.
“Manifattura Minimale” at Heimtextil 2023
Under the “New & Next” label, Heimtextil showcases emerging brands and outstanding bachelor’s theses. Among the participants this year was Gaia Leonardi, who completed her bachelor’s degree in textile design at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Design Film Art) in the summer of 2022. “The ability to collect waste produced by industry and transform it into new products is today’s reality in the field of design,” says Leonardi. The “Manifattura Minimale” concept collection highlights the sustainability, value, and essence of the “less is more” concept for economical, artisanal production. Gaia Leonardi is currently continuing to develop her project as part of her master’s thesis.
DesignSchenken 2022
From December 2 to 4, 2022, Design Schenken will offer not only countless gift ideas but also a wealth of information on the topics of design and craftsmanship. This year, the bachelor’s degree programs in Textile Design, Product Design, XS Jewelry, and Spatial Design will showcase their work—including a “Capsule Collection” created in collaboration with the Lucerne-based company Calida.
www.designschenken.ch
Maurice Ravel «L'Enfant et les Sortilèges»
Für die Opernproduktion des StageLab der Hochschule Luzern – Musik «L’Enfant et les Sortilèges» von Maurice Ravel am 24. und 25. September 2022 entwarfen und fertigten zwölf Textildesign-Studierende Kostüme für den Bühnenauftritt. So konnten sie das aktuell Gelernte sofort praktisch umsetzen.
Ornaris Berne 2022
From 14th to 16th August, students Estelle Ruedin, Lara Grünenfelder, Jana-Sophia Rehmann and Stephanie Meier showed their woven home textiles inspired by the building culture of their respective home cantons at Ornaris in Berne. The buildings from the portfolio of the Stiftung Ferien im Baudenkmal are rescued from decay, gently renovated and rented out as exceptional holiday homes. The result is designs for carpets, rugs and kitchen textiles that continue to write the history of the houses.
Heimtextil 2022
From 21 to 24 June 2022, the Textile Design degree programme was present at the Heimtextil trade fair in Frankfurt with three final projects. The works of our alumni*ae Andrea Cavegn, Chiara Elspass and Nina Orgiu were on display.
NO THING NEW – Fuorisalone 2022, Milano
«No thing new» is a cooperation between object design, textile design and spatial design. It invites invites visitors of Fuorisalone 2022 in Milan to reflect at Casa Degli Artist what the term «Degrowth» means for the discipline of design and why it is worthwhile for future designers to take an in-depth look at it.
Botanica 2021
From 21–24 October 2021, the designs from the first Semester graced the entrance to the "Botanica" plant festival, which took place at the Neubad in Lucerne.
Design Biennale Zurich 2021
Together with the Spatial Design course, we created rugs made out of colour pigments for the Old Botanical Garden in Zurich as part of the Design Biennale and greeted visitors with large-scale markings on the ground. These refer to the Design Biennale Zurich and its theme Clash: the colour carpets overlay the botanical garden and playfully contrast with the garden's green vigour.
Pitti Filati 2020
The student Hanna Egger was able to participate in the international competition "Feel the yarn" with her knitted outfit inspired by Mars. This year the judging took place online, instead of physically at the "Pitti Filati" fair in Florence.
Heimtextil 2020
From 7 to 10 January 2020, the Lucerne School of Art & Design was represented twice at the Heimtextil trade fair in Frankfurt. As one of the winners of the New & Next university competition, the textile design course was able to present three final projects. The works of Bachelor graduates Tiffany Avila, Cathrin Bär and Benjamin Willi were on display. At a second stand, the students Salome Finschi, Marcelina Häringer and Sabrina Licskai presented their collection "lucid momentum".
