David Schnabel
Cardiff University
Architecture

Architectural theorist Juhani Pallasmaa writes that 'architects often turn to philosophy' in times of cultural, stylistic or spiritual crisis. This scheme succeeds because it attempts to provide a platform for transcendental existential experience, in Heidegger's words,'between the fourfold unity of Earth and Sky'.

The haptic and sensory delight provided by a distillery in remote western Scotland sets the scene for a philosophy of architecture with beguiling Hopper-esque visuals. Schnabel says, 'The often harsh, brutal and capricious coastal weather amplifies its beauty. How can we reinhabit this unpredictable coastline with an architecture that expresses an intensification of ontological experience?' Kristian Hyde

Peter Iveson
Dundee University
Product Design

Around 1.5 billion families worldwide have no access to electricity. Study Bright is an alternative, low-tech, flat-pack, low-running-cost solution, that uses the heat from a tealight to power three very bright LEDs.

The heat is used to make magnets repeatedly pass coiled copper wire, which, if you were awake during your physics lessons, you will remember, creates an electrical pulse. This charges three large capacitors, so the light can even be used away from the tealight as a torch for short periods of time. JT

Christopher Brown
Northumbria University
Architecture

Brown's project, titled Anon-ument: Anonymous Monument, proposes a change to the way in which the landscape of Flixton Basin in North Yorkshire is used. It suggests a renewal of a peat-bog environment by intensifying existing landmanagement schemes and introducing water buffalo.

The resulting images are as moody and atmospheric as you would expect them to be: a tall tower, acting as an environmental monitoring facility, glued to the ground by a monolithic concrete base. Cate St Hill