Pjorkkala: Our winning year - Distributed Design Platform

We are Žan Girandon, Pia Groleger, and Luka Pleskovi?, a group of three industrial design students based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Under the association Pjorkkala, we work on various design projects, including the development of a water filtration device called Dodola.

Dodola was developed for the Design biennial BIO27 in 2022 with the main topic called Supervernacular. Our goal was to raise awareness about water problematics in our local environment by introducing a ceramic water filtration device that is accessible, sustainable and effective.

We were motivated by the increasing concern of access to clean and safe drinking water in rural areas of our local community, and we wanted to create a solution that is easy to use, low-cost, and environmentally friendly. Our research led us to the development of Dodola, which utilizes ceramic technology to filter water effectively without using any electricity.

Receiving the Project Excellence Award was a significant milestone for us and a massive confirmation of our efforts. It encouraged us to keep pushing forward with our vision and goals.

Since winning the award, we have accomplished several milestones that have helped us grow both as individuals and as designers. Here are some of them:

Sharing Knowledge

One of our primary goals was to share awareness about water problematics, and we did that by conducting workshops in various locations about ceramic water filtration and 3D clay printing technology. It was an enriching experience to share our knowledge and see people’s interest in our project.

Being Part of Zagreb Design Week

We were selected to present the Dodola project at Zagreb Design Week, where we received first prize for Social Innovation. It was an incredible experience to showcase our project and receive recognition for our work.

Being Part of Art Triennial in Tbilisi, Georgia

As part of our journey since winning the Distributed Design Award, we had the exciting opportunity to collaborate with Floating University Berlin. Together, we created a filtration installation that combined the filtering principles of both collectives. The installation was implemented on the River Mtkvari, where it served as an intervention that raised awareness of water problems during the triennial.

Visiting Happy Lab Vienna, Austria

We visited Happy Lab in Vienna to learn more about sustainable approaches such as Circular Strategy Wheel from the Danish Design Center. It was truly an amazing opportunity which was possible because of the Distributed Design Mobility Scheme.

(Almost) done Master’s Thesis

For our final Master’s Thesis project we decided to write about the research and development of Dodola and we are hoping to finish it by the end of summer. Fingers crossed!

What’s Next for Us?

We are excited to announce that we have started a new project called Kaduja, which is an extension of our research on the porous ceramic surface. This time, we are using the advantages of ceramic technology to optimize the bread life cycle. We hope that Kaduja will be as successful as Dodola and will contribute to creating a sustainable future.