Wismar student among the top 100 designers in the world!

Wismar student among the top 100 designers in the world!

Wismar, Deutschland - What success! The Wismar student Aleksander Rastawicki has with his creative thesis at the prestigious IF Design Student Award 2025 enforced against over 7,000 competitors from 74 countries. He was one of the 100 award winners and was honored on June 20, 2025 in the impressive Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. At this point a great praise to all other students who have also submitted creative and innovative concepts!

The award received Rastawicki for his thesis on the Wismar design faculty, which includes a series of furniture made of a remarkable material: volcanic fiber. This fabric, known since the 1850s, has experienced a comeback. It consists of several layers of cottonzula fabric, which are put together by special processes and is not only environmentally friendly, but also biodegradable. Furniture made of volcanic fiber is also about half as heavy as their birch veneer counterparts, which makes them particularly attractive.

unique choice of materials

The international jury praised Rastawickis furniture for its robustness, lightness and formable nature. This price could help him get more attention to his innovative material. Rastawicki has firmly decided to develop its designs until they are ready for the market. "There is something," he says enthusiastically.

But Rastawicki is not the only winner of the evening. The fellow students Fabian Gröger and Sara Scholl were awarded for their project "Memories of my youth", which is an exciting connection between analog photography and artificial intelligence. Six other students also worked as part of a joint project to create new bridges from old East Berlin bridge parts.

a place for creativity

The award ceremony took place as part of a large event visited by around 350 guests. The city of Bilbao is actively committed to promoting young talents in culture and design and was recognized in 2014 as a UNESCO City of Design. IF Design yourself supports creative minds with this award and offers you a platform to present your ideas and recognize globally.

Another highlight of the day was the fact that around 700 students opened their studios and seminar rooms to present their creative projects and theses. It shows that the next generation of designers is ready to inspire the world!