— ABOUT THE PROJECT

Black box: new craft in set design

This project reconsiders the traditional form of the maquette in response to the iterative nature of design and prototyping. The black box will be explored as a modular kit – incorporating the traditional needs of this set design tool while also extending to different spaces, projects, materials, and configurations. In doing so, the black box is no longer secured to one play space or story inviting designers to revisit the same tool in different contexts. Through workshops and open-source design, this project acts as a prompt to collectively rethink the process of design exploration for performance space.

— BIOGRAPHY

Augusta Lutynsky (Set and costume design, Scénographie, 2025) is a designer based in Vancouver, BC.

She began her design career as a shoemaker in 2015, apprenticing in Kraków, Poland.

Augusta holds a degree in industrial design from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, where she graduated in 2020 with a focus on craft, critical design, and research.

During her undergraduate studies, she was recognized with the 2018 Ecological Design Award for her project Unworthy Objects. She gained practical experience working as a shoemaker at Westerly Handmade Shoes in Vancouver and engaged in design research through the ECUAD lab, Material Matters.

Following graduation, she contributed to pattern-making and development for A Bronze Age. She participated in the Vancouver School Board’s Artist in Residence program, collaborating with kindergarten and elementary school students (Grades 1–3) on place-based installations.

In 2022, she began her studies in Set and Costume Design at the National Theatre School of Canada. Her design approach is rooted in the context and significance behind all objects, images, and materials. With research playing a central role in her practice, she seeks to understand the interplay between these elements in the text or concept explored.

While at NTS, Augusta received the Theatre Engaging Communities (TEC) grant for her project Unboxing the Black Box a modular scenography maquette. Additionally, she showcased two works as part of the Material Matters Lab: Here//too//for at the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Fashion Fictions exhibit.

Her coaches at NTS include Gillian Gallow, Pierre-Étienne Locas, Cathia Pagotto, and Jessica Poirier-Chang.