Unusually designed helmets that motivate young people to use them, aesthetic and ergonomic skateboards and original light fixtures that have a calming effect, evoke childhood memories and reflect on the influence of nature and traditions – the exhibition in the innovation and scientific achievements exhibition space RTU and Origo Future Stop is an opportunity to see the work of Riga Technical University (RTU) industrial design students.

The exhibition will be on display until mid-October on the second floor of Origo Shopping Centre at Stacijas laukums 4.

“Modern innovation solutions are an essential part of the operating strategy of Origo multifunctional shopping centre. For the convenience of visitors, Origo has introduced several modern technology solutions to ensure easy access and a pleasant environment. The RTU students’ exhibition also showcases innovative solutions focused on practical and convenient functionality, including sustainability. Thanks to our long-term cooperation with RTU, every year we are able to present to the visitors of Origo these student-created innovation solutions, which will probably become popular everyday products and long-coveted purchases in the future,” says Viktorija Bižāne, Marketing Manager of Origo Shopping Centre.

All works in the exhibition have been designed by students of the RTU Faculty of Civil and Mechanical Engineering industrial design study programme. They combine functionality with aesthetic and original design – for example, to get children and young people to wear helmets for extreme sports, Elīna Niedra, a budding industrial design engineer, made a helmet that resembles a cat’s head. Enija Kuzminska has designed a helmet for snowboarding and other winter sports that resembles an elephant’s head. It is insulated and has functional elements such as a snout that can be used as a scarf or a place to store a ski lift card. Meanwhile, Jānis Strads has designed a cycling helmet suitable for Latvia’s cold winters, while Ksenija Izotova has created a cycling helmet for protection against rain, which also ensures good ventilation thanks to specially designed vents. Another multifunctional helmet also provides thermoregulation and partial absorption of external noise.

Industrial design students have also built functional and visually appealing skateboards, for example Arturs Vigulis has created a skateboard that evokes surfing in 1950s California. The exhibition also includes a longer skateboard, which is thus more comfortable for urban use, a semi-transparent board made of 25 layers of acrylic and 25 layers of plywood, and others. Visitors will also be able to see a variety of unconventional luminaires, including a salt brick light fixture by Igors Kovļovs, that has a soft light with a calming effect and improves sleep, and an atmospheric lamp by Emma Helēna Romančuka. Its design is inspired by fog, which is represented in the light fixture as tiny water droplets seething in the air, using chaotically arranged transparent strings through which light is transmitted. Inspired by the winter solstice tradition of pulling a wooden block, Edvards Baranovs has created a luminaire with a maple wood block as the body, and the colouring of the light with an additional pulsating effect gives the impression that there really is a flame inside. The path of the sun throughout the year is celebrated by Tīna Jegermane’s luminaire, the central design elements of which are mirrors depicting the height and brightness of the sun above the horizon during the Latvian solstices and equinoxes. The mirrors not only reflect the light of the bulb, but also create an interactive experience for users, who become part of the sun’s path as they approach the luminaire. Another light fixture in the exhibition, inspired by a black hole, absorbs rather than emits light. The exhibition space, created in cooperation between RTU and Origo, introduces the general public to the latest technological solutions, scientific discoveries, and achievements of RTU students, engineers and scientists.