Dezeen School Shows: candles that create unique markings as they burn onto their brass holders are among the projects from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.

Also featured is a bird feeder intended to reinforce a bird's natural role as a pest controller, and a hormone-measuring device for pregnant women.

Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey

Institution: Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
Course: Horizontes 2025
Tutors: Yuliaa Tónix, Montserrat Castañon, Eduardo Altamirano and Arantxa Salgado

School statement:

"EAAD is composed by students all over the country at Tec de Monterrey Institution and it focuses on training professionals capable of facing contemporary challenges in these fields through innovation, creativity and sustainability, by supporting the students' initiatives and giving visibility to their work.

"Since the founding of our school, it has been a member of prestigious organisations such as the International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media (CUMULUS), the World Design Organisation (WDO), the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), UN-Habitat and the Association of Institutions of Architectural Education of the Mexican Republic (ASINEA) and it has stood at the top 50 according to the QS World University Ranking by Subject, 2024.

"Each exhibition showcases the best projects created by design students. All the selected projects stand out for their high conceptual and execution quality, as well as their alignment with the principles and DNA of the Tecnológico de Monterrey School of Design.

"Every end of the semester our students put on a final exhibition on each of their campuses. This is a small sample of ten of the most significant collections and projects of the Tecnologico de Monterrey School of Design."

Antítesis by Galilea Oaxaca

"Antítesis is a conceptual jewellery brand that merges personalisation with parametric design.

"The user's encounter with their future piece is enriched through augmented reality, offering a seamless dialogue between digital customisation and physical adornment."

Student: Galilea Oaxaca
Award: Winner – Functionality Category
Course: Horizontes 2025
Tutor: Alejandra Alfaro

Al Tanteo by Aremy Beltran Salomé, Emylen Gutiérrez and Jesús Ordaz

"Al Tanteo reinterprets the vernacular language of Mexican cooking – pizca, chorrito, puñado and cucharada sopera – through a series of borosilicate glass spoons that elevate these gestures into contemporary artefacts.

"The project safeguards culinary intuition, challenges Western standardisation and embodies memory, resistance and aesthetic refinement through design."

Students: Aremy Beltran Salomé, Emylen Gutiérrez and Jesús Ordaz
Award: Winner – Social Category
Course: Horizontes 2025
Tutors: José de la O, Alberto Mendoza and Montserrat Castañon

Nudos by Alexa Paredes

"Nudos is a suspended feeder designed for Lesser Goldfinches (chirulís), conceived as both a social habitat and an alternative to human-imposed captivity.

"Its visual language – shaped by wind-driven motion and inspired by the form of a poppy bud – invites ecological coexistence and a poetic reading of avian behaviour."

Student: Alexa Paredes
Award: Winner – Environment Category
Course: Horizontes 2025
Tutors: Antonio del Amo, Mariana Solís, Joel Olguín, Oliver Gómez, Elena Amato and Omar Rosales

Mutuo by Arantxa López

"Mutuo proposes a mediated relationship between humans and woodpeckers through nourishment and environmental stewardship.

"By encouraging the bird's presence within its natural habitat, the feeder reinforces the woodpecker's ecological role as a natural pest controller, reducing reliance on pesticides and fostering reciprocal coexistence."

Student: Arantxa López
Award: Honorable Mention – Environment Category
Course: Horiztones 2025
Tutors: Antonio del Amo, Mariana Solís, Joel Olguín, Oliver Gómez, Elena Amato and Omar Rosales

Re(e)voluciones by Emiliano Sánchez

"What happens when industrialisation meets pre-Hispanic artefacts?

"This project explores the malacate, acocot and the eccentric pedernal – everyday objects once used for spinning thread, extracting aguamiel and expressing ritual symbolism.

"They functioned through manual and bodily practice. By re-contextualising them in industrial processes, the project examines how their functions and memories transform, shift or disappear."

Student: Emiliano Sánchez
Award: Honourable Mention – Social Category
Course: Horizontes 2025
Tutors: Miguel Arjona, José de la O and Fabiola Pérez

Abis by Fernando Ayala

"Abis is a speculative design investigation that challenges anthropocentrism and proposes an intimate communion with plant life.

"Through sensors that capture subtle signals exchanged between plants and users, these interactions are translated into woven patterns on a foot loom using Omega threads.

"The resulting leather accessories materialise an interspecies dialogue expressed through textile language."

Student: Fernando Ayala
Award: Winner – Technology Category
Course: Horiztones 2025
Tutors: Leticia Gaytán, Aldo Cañedo and Fabiola Pérez

Ruma by Ximena Arriaga Ávila, Andrea Aguilar Salinas and Tamara Montiel Cervantes

"Ruma is a home kit designed to support women during the first trimester of pregnancy by measuring and quantifying the hCG hormone through biochemical technology.

"It connects to an app that guides users and alerts them to potential miscarriage risks, offering accessible at-home care."

Student: Ximena Arriaga Ávila, Andrea Aguilar Salinas and Tamara Montiel Cervantes
Award: Honourable Mention – Technology Category
Course: Horiztones 2025
Tutors: Andrea Escobar Bazaldúa, Mónica Flores Martínez, Wendy Selene Martinez Sosa, Alejandro Sandoval Villa, Jose Antonio Sáenz de Miera and Manuel Medina

Ecco by Diego Carrillo and Julieta Becerrill

"Ecco is a trunk that engages with the Mexican Bajío through materiality and memory. Made from Rosa Morado wood and Amealco clay, it blends tradition with innovation.

"Its monumental, geometric design avoids folkloric stereotypes, proposing an abstract expression of Mexican identity.

"Coherence, belonging and respect define this contemporary regional piece."

Students: Diego Carrillo and Julieta Becerrill
Award: Honourable Mention – Functionality Category
Course: Horiztones 2025
Tutors: Mariano García, Rebeca Torres and Alejandro Acuña

No pasa nada by Ximena Irazaba

"No pasa nada questions how we speak – or fail to speak – about mental health and how this deeply affects those who experience it.

"This collection of five chairs represents the process a person with anxiety goes through, becoming a living metaphor for a body and mind navigating pain, silence, saturation, collapse and ultimately, adaptation."

Student: Ximena Irazaba
Award: Awarded by Honor
Course: Horizontes 2025
Tutors: Miguel Arjona, José de la O and Fabiola Pérez

Aura by Ximena Alejandra Monroy Carmona and Juan Carlos Rodríguez

"Aura is a family of three candles made from waxed paper, held by a brass structure that provides minimal support when lit.

"The project seeks to evoke the trace left by the soul as it transcends the physical world, reflected through the marks the paper leaves on the brass, inviting contemplation."

Students: Ximena Alejandra Monroy Carmon and Juan Carlos Rodríguez
Award: Honourable Mention – Functionality Category
Course: Horiztones 2025
Tutors: Mariana Solis and Lobsanth Ortega

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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