A tutor of another dimension, pay close attention…
Magdalena Jurowska is a tutor of another dimension. Literally. Her PhD on the anthropology of space is entitled “In Another Dimension”, where she examined shared workspaces / hot desks and observed how people behave based on how the space is arranged. She uncovered fascinating insights into the territoriality of people and how they responded based on the positioning of their desks and furniture.
The fact that this is where Magdalena’s curiosities lie, speaks volumes about her fascinating mind.
Long before her PhD, Magdalena found she was always predisposed to a creative approach to problem solving. Architecture and construction were something that appealed to her mathematical brain, but design and art appealed to her creative brain. It is in the sweet spot between these two disciplines, that Interior Design resides. Magdalena grew up in Poland and it was there she spent 5 years in university studying interior design. Interior design was technical enough to challenge her analytical mind yet creative enough to allow her imagination run free. Splashing paint on a board is simply not enough for her, she needs to have something solid, a 3D challenge to resolve. The dichotomy of artistic creativity coupled with functionality and problem solving, spoke to her inquisitive mind. To her, it is like a battle of puzzles and the demons must be defeated before the final product can be revealed.
Image: The Master Thesis project by Magdalena Jurowska
The whole story…
When Magdalena graduated, she was offered a much-coveted university-wide prize for best interior designer. As a person not at all governed by her ego, this served only to validate to her that she had made the right life choice but, it inspired the university to offer her a post as an assistant professor! So, for the next decade, that’s what she did. As a tutor, she also recognizes the value of maintaining a professional career. Much of her work revolves around exhibition design, and she immerses herself in the entire exhibition process including script, presentation, and the emotional impact these events can have on people. Magdalena loves to work alongside architects and strongly relates to the structural ways of thinking and because she believes that it is a combination of skills that make a “story” complete, she has dipped into Graphic Design as well.
Never one to shy away from a new adventure, Magdalena packed her bags and relocated to Australia, but she had barely touched down when suddenly, the whole world was on lockdown. No one could have predicted a global pandemic, but Magdalena did what Magdalena does, and confronted the problem from a solutions point-of-view. The Australian Academy of Interior Design has been providing online/remote learning long before anyone had ever heard of covid, so Magdalena seized the opportunity to become a tutor.
Her approach to teaching is to put the student first and to work around their personal goals and expectations. She observes how we can all view the same thing in different ways, and she encourages students to think for themselves. She sees depth and layers in design and asks her students to question the reasons for using certain colours and to look at the emotional impact of their choices. She encourages students to divert from a purely visual or superficial perspective. Her goal is to help students to contextualise their perception and to view interior design is something comprehensive that can improve life in a very pragmatic way. Magdalena also believes that an artist must ask themselves how they draw. If you see things as flat, painting is probably for you but if you look in 3D, then it’s more of a story with additional levels of creativity. Part of her very tangible process, is to encourage students to draw by hand. While in the calm meditative moments of drawing, ideas are born.
Image: Coworking Centrum B7 Project by Magdalena Jurowska
Smart living.
Just like her teaching, Magdalena places the person at the centre of the work and is acutely aware of the importance of marrying imagination with functionality. She has an instinct for people and a psychological approach to design. It must be intuitive as well as clever and must work for the people living in it. She appreciates the visual appeal of a nicely dressed space but to her it’s the engineering and the ingenuity of the use of space that is most impressive. Interior Design should enhance living and improve the purpose of a space; therefore the prettiness of the finished product is secondary to the design.
Coming from Poland to Australia, has opened Magdalena’s eyes to new ways of seeing and of living. She is no stranger to travel but with her interior design insight into Australian life, she now sees how climate and culture can very much dictate behavior and choices. Australians have a very optimistic and positive outlook on life, whereas Europeans tend towards the darker side of things and while Australian optimism is a ray of light, it can be a little unsettling to the more cynical European. This has meant Magdalena’s Polish solutions have needed reassessment. For example, Australians do not design homes that protect against deep freezing or blizzards. This in effect, will impact the building culture. The upshot of this disparity is that Magdalena has learned to have a more rounded point of view and can see things from a more objective perspective.
There are many areas of design where Magdalena has excelled including residential, corporate, grandstands, retail design, AV brands, kitchen appliances, photography etc. etc. It is her fully formed and all-round expertise that slots so well with the Australian Academy of Interior Design’s ethos. Students should have high expectations, not only of themselves, but of the education they receive. With tutors like Magdalena Jurowska at the helm, there is nothing stopping them finding their own sweet spot!