Department of Design

Once more, the SDA Bachelor Award has been presented. Two diploma projects each from the BA Majors Industrial Design, Trends & Identity and Interaction Design were nominated for the Bachelor Award of the Swiss Design Association (SDA). The award honours outstanding, visionary design. All nominated projects can be found here.

As part of the graduation ceremony of the Department of Design at ZHdK on June 26, 2026, the winning project was announced by Laure Krayenbühl. The department warmly congratulates Tim Frei, graduate of the BA Major Industrial Design, who convinced the jury with his project «Wasserstand. Changing Water Sources in the Alpine Regions».

About the project

The mountain huts of the Swiss Alpine Club are facing a shortage of drinking water: glaciers are vanishing, springs are drying up, and the hut keepers feel the strain of this serious loss. «Wasserstand» («Water Line») extracts 100 litres of drinking water from the air every day, so fewer guests need to be turned away. This sorption-based system can be attached to existing huts and is retrofittable, visible and transferable.

Further information:
industrialdesign.zhdk.ch