Students in the Product Design program at the HfG Karlsruhe will present their work from September 25 to October 4, 2026, as part of the “Debüt” exhibition format at Vienna Design Week 2026. The focus is on the seminar “There Will Be Cake!,” which explores recipes as a form of intangible cultural heritage and the connection between design, craftsmanship, and food production.

To mark the 20th anniversary of Vienna Design Week, “Debüt” invites selected educational institutions from Austria and abroad to showcase their students’ current work and perspectives. For the HfG Karlsruhe, participation offers the opportunity to present its own designs to an international audience and to engage in dialogue with universities and key players in the international design scene.

The project “There Will Be Cake!” was developed during the summer semester of 2026 in Studio Œ under the guidance of Anne-Sophie Oberkrome, Lisa Ertel, and Simon Gehring. The starting point was Vienna’s coffeehouse and pastry culture. The focus was on the question of how cultural knowledge, artisanal processes, and product design can be combined. In this context, the recipe was examined as an intangible and mobile cultural heritage. Recipes travel across borders and generations: they are written down, memorized, modified, and passed on from one person to the next. In the seminar, this idea was translated into a tangible process chain—from raw materials through the development of a mold and the fabrication of a tool to the finished cake.

For their designs, the students first developed positive molds. These were machined using both mechanical and artisanal subtractive processes such as turning and milling. In collaboration with a metal-turning shop, these were transformed into negative metal tools. The tools were then used to shape dough and bring the designed objects to life in the bakery. The process concluded with the presentation, tasting, and documentation of the resulting works.

Participants: Selina Decker Kira Fuchs Hannah Gebert Emilia Göttert Arthur Hahnstein Ellen Kay Su Pauline Kuch Silas Mauch Lauren Nightingale Mariya Zorina

Instructors: Anne-Sophie Oberkrome Lisa Ertel Simon Gehring

Further information on Vienna Design Week 2026