“Walk ten thousand miles. Read ten thousand books.”
Cumulus Network | 2012 © Dylan Kwok (Generated from Cumulus Data)
The parallelism of cultural and academic exploration is an essential element in the path of every research, especially in doctoral level. With good supports from a network of universities from around the world, researchers can formulate and refine their topics, findings and focuses. With 44 countries and 176 members, the International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media, aka Cumulus, is the only global association to serve art and design education and research. From events and conferences, to exhibitions and competitions, Cumulus has organized various activities worldwide with numerous colleges and universities or the creative arts. As a founding member of the association, the School of Art and Design joined EXPO 10’ under the name of Aalto University for the first time, gave students opportunities to work together in foreign context and of course a chance to visit China. For Claudia, it was in Shanghai that she found her research interest.
Claudia moved to Finland from her hometown Mexico City for her studies in Applied Art and Design. Soon after receiving her master’s degree in May 2010, she went to Shanghai for the first joint-project of the school, AaltoLab. Led by IDEO, she spent three weeks in China with other fellow students from the School of Economics and the School of Technology. The group conducted series of research on Chongming Island, an ageing rural area near Shanghai. She then participated in another project in Aalto Design Factory at Tongji University for three more months in China. These two projects inspired Claudia and reinforced her interest on design activism, hence the topic in doctoral research.
Claudia at Tongji University | 2010 © Claudia Garduño García
A year has gone by; she is now in Mexico, continuing her research and preparing the Mexico addition of the AaltoLab project with the National University of Mexico (UNAM). With the foreseeable success of her project in her hometown, it is not impossible to anticipate the expansion of Cumulus network in the near future, where Mexico will become another Latin member and complete the North America chapter of the association.
Posted By Dylan Kwok
- A Hong Kong native, Kwok has been practicing spatial design since his graduation in 2009 from the University of Art and Design. Having lived in various cities in East Asia, North America and the Scandinavia in the past decades, Kwok has experienced different educational settings in ideologically contrasting societies. He is now working on projects related to livability, innovation, and design activism.
