Dezeen School Shows: a furniture collection inspired by the cultural symbolism of Mexican corn is among the projects from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.

Also featured is a modular 3D-printed bench and a floor lamp informed by ocean waves.

Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey

Institution: Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
School: EAAD
Course: Outstanding Regional Academic Projects – 2025

School statement:

"This selection brings together outstanding projects developed across multiple campuses in different regions of Mexico during the 2025 semesters.

"Representing a diversity of local contexts, these works reflect how design responds to environmental, cultural and social realities specific to the country while engaging with global conversations.

"Among the featured initiatives are proposals aimed at detecting water contamination in vulnerable communities, supporting the preservation of the monarch butterfly ecosystem and reinterpreting elements of Mexican cultural identity through contemporary design languages.

"Each project emerges from a deep engagement with place, addressing urgent ecological concerns, celebrating biodiversity, or translating cultural narratives into tangible experiences.

"Grounded in research, experimentation and iterative development, these works demonstrate how design education across Mexico's regional campuses fosters interdisciplinary thinking and socially responsible innovation.

"More than academic exercises, the projects highlight design as a strategic tool for environmental awareness, cultural continuity and systemic change."

Monarch Migration Monitoring Sensors, Canal-IA by Design by Innovation and Technological Entrepreneurship students

"Canal-IA is an academic project developed in 2025 in which students designed a set of devices to monitor the migration of the monarch butterfly. The initiative was part of the Design, Innovation and Technological Entrepreneurship programme at Tecnológico de Monterrey, State of Mexico Campus.

"The project aimed to strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration while developing design skills focused on social and environmental impact through technology.

"Two monitoring devices were created. One integrates an anemometer and a rain gauge to measure environmental conditions.

"The other includes humidity and temperature sensors, along with a computer vision (AI) camera that detects, captures and stores images of monarch butterflies for documentation.

"The devices were built using aluminium, acrylic, 3D-printed components and standard hardware. They were designed to be lightweight, affordable and 'ready-to-assemble', ensuring accessibility and ease of implementation."

Students: Allison Zoe Rodríguez Balderas, Dylan Alberto González Reyes, Irlanda Guadalupe Chávez Salas, Landon Alejandro López Mata, Montserrat Cárdenas Peña, Nicolás de la Parra Putzova and Ximena Arriaga Ávila
Course: Design, Innovation and Technological Entrepreneurship
Tutors: Arturo Guido Márquez, Gerardo Sandoval Osio, Hugo Rubén López Cabrera, Leticia Gaytán Hernández, Luis Arturo Gil Islas, Oliver Gómez Meneses and Raymundo Alejandro Acosta Ferráez

Patomar by Isabella Rincón Moya

"The water crisis in Mexico, intensified by climate conditions, resource management and human activity, requires urgent attention.

"Patomar is a portable, autonomous and accessible device that monitors household water quality by measuring its turbidity and dissolved solids, promoting citizen supervision of the water we consume in our daily lives."

Student: Isabella Rincón Moya
Course: Design and Emerging Technologies
Tutors: Aldo Cañedo, Leticia Gaytán and Fabiola Pérez Solís

Ecco by Diego Baruch Carrill and Julieta Becerril Pérez

"Ecco is a chest designed to integrate into a contemporary context through a narrative rooted in the Mexican Bajío region.

"Through the use of Rosa Morado (Mexican oak), crafted by cabinetmaker Uriel López and clay from Amealco — honouring its processes, timelines and natural imperfections — the piece communicates heritage, memory and respect.

"The design is honest in its material expression, evoking regional identity without resorting to folkloric stereotypes.

"Its value lies in the coherence between form, function and context. Every material and formal decision responds to a critical reflection on what it means to design from a specific place."

Students: Diego Baruch Carrill and Julieta Becerril Pérez
Course: Strategic Design Project Development
Tutors: Mariano García Martínez, Alejandro Acuña López and Rebeca Elizabeth Torres Castanedo

Semilla Urbana by Elisa Trejo Pedrero, Ashlee Franchesca Facio and Carolina Paredes Gil

"Semilla Urbana is a modular wooden bench that blends 3D-printed components, inspired by the marigold flower.

"It captures the warmth of home and Mexican cultural roots, reinterpreting the street bench and Art Nouveau in a contemporary way.

"The goal is to redefine the experience of resting in public spaces, offering a piece that invites people to pause, reconnect and enjoy the urban environment."

Students: Elisa Trejo Pedrero, Ashlee Franchesca Facio and Carolina Paredes Gil
Course: Object Configuration
Tutors: Yuliana Tónix Cuahutle, Oliver Gómez, Joel Olguín and Leticia Gaytán

Lumea by Paula Saldaña Sánchez, Ana Paula Camacho Muñoz and María Fernanda Sánchez Vázquez

"Lumea is a floor lamp inspired by the waves that meet the shoreline and their connection to the moon and sand. Its warm light evokes a sense of calm and serenity, recreating the quiet atmosphere of a coastal landscape.

"Crafted from beech wood, 3D-printed PLA and stainless steel, the piece combines natural and industrial materials to achieve a balance between fluidity and structure – echoing the relationship between water, sand and lunar rhythm."

Students: Paula Saldaña Sánchez, Ana Paula Camacho Muñoz and María Fernanda Sánchez Vázquez
Course: Object Configuration
Tutors: Yuliana Tónix Cuahutle, Oliver Gómez, Joel Olguín and Leticia Gaytán

Gesto by Zabdy Yamilé Hernández Anaya and Julia Fernanda de la Vega Caamaño

"Confusion is interpreted as a state in which the familiar is subtly altered to generate uncertainty – and, in turn, awaken curiosity.

"Both the containers and the cabinet incorporate formal gestures and variations that distort expectations without compromising functionality.

"Through contrasts in form and texture, the pieces suggest a transition between order and chaos, inviting observation, doubt and a reconsideration of their function and belonging within the ensemble.

"The result is a family of objects that, while coherent as a whole, sustains a visual tension that activates the experience of confusion in the user."

Students: Zabdy Yamilé Hernández Anaya and Julia Fernanda de la Vega Caamaño
Course: Product design
Tutors: Mariana Solis, Montserrat Castañón and Lobsanth David Ortega Tadeo

Loo by Maria Emilia Aguilar Peimbert and Hasidy Alheli Cruz Davila

"Surprise emerges when something seemingly simple unfolds and transforms — a gentle explosion that reveals something new and exciting.

"The concept stems from the idea of explosiveness, understanding surprise not as disruption, but as an emotional expansion. It explores how something that appears insignificant can generate an effect that culminates in an engaging and satisfying outcome.

"From this sensation arises a family of inflatable containers: three objects stored discreetly within a cabinet that, once pumped with air, expand and reveal their form.

"The inflatables exist as deflated bodies, waiting for air. The cabinet becomes the place that grants them presence — simple, silent boxes where nothing seems to happen.

"Each container conveys a sense of expansion, as if calm were gently interrupted by a soft and colourful emergence.

"The intention is to create a fully immersive experience for the user, because in the end, surprise is something that bursts open, reveals itself and fills you."

Students: Maria Emilia Aguilar Peimbert and Hasidy Alheli Cruz Davila
Course: Product design
Tutors: Mariana Solis, Montserrat Castañón and Lobsanth David Ortega Tadeo

Tlaollixtli by Fernanda Vázquez Montufar

"Tlaollixtli seeks to reinterpret pre-Hispanic jewellery from a contemporary perspective, using elements and materials tied to the Mesoamerican worldview, such as maize.

"In the past, jewellery served as a means to express status and power; however, today we live in a period of accelerated consumption that homogenises us and disconnects us from our cultural roots.

"For this reason, this artefact invites reflection on how jewellery can reconnect us with our origins and identity."

Student: Fernanda Vázquez Montufar
Course: Object Configuration
Tutors: Andrea Pazos, Miguel Ángel Jiménez and Romain Roy-Pinot

Antítesis by Galilea Oaxaca Moreno

"Antítesis is a conceptual jewellery brand that redefines the commercialisation of objects through parametric design and algorithmic customisation.

"Each piece is generated through a system that translates the user's formal, material and narrative variables into unique geometries – transferring part of the authorship to the client and transforming the act of purchase into a co-design process.

"The commercial experience unfolds as an interactive environment in which users actively shape their piece, visualising structural and aesthetic transformations in real time.

"This model reduces the distance between design and production, promotes on-demand fabrication and optimises material resources.

"Rather than simply selling accessories, Antítesis proposes a dynamic system that integrates technology, identity and contemporary manufacturing, positioning jewellery as a personalised experience that redefines the relationship between object, creator and user."

Student: Galilea Oaxaca Moreno
Course: Design and Emerging Technologies
Tutor: Marcos Gallardo Montes

Olote by Valentina Rodríguez Alarcón and Valentina Azum Sánchez

"Olote is a family of luxury products that draws from the cultural richness of Mexico, using corn as its central symbol of adaptability and permanence. The project emerges from the duality of corn — an entity that appears fragile, yet sustains the history, identity and resilience of Mexico.

"Both the Apachito piece and the Mushito lamps are crafted from pucté, an exceptionally dense Mexican hardwood, shaped to create a soft, continuous and delicate form – an analogy to corn itself.

"The woven cowhide, inspired by the colours and varieties of corn, softens the structure and completes the object's narrative.

"The puff represents the corn kernel, while the surrounding element references the plant's leaves and the texture of the cob, echoed in the leather pattern.

"Together, these gestures reinforce the connection between materiality, symbolism and cultural identity."

Students: Valentina Rodríguez Alarcón and Valentina Azum Sánchez
Course: Product Design
Tutors: Julio César Romero Becerril, Mario Tovar Dorado, Yuliana Tónix Cuahutle and Juan Pablo Quiroz García
Emails: A01769710[at]tec.mx and A01771034[at]tec.mx

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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