Industrial Design UDEM: From Monterrey to the World

• Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Roberto Garza Sada Center + University of Monterrey (UDEM) 

Presented at WantedDesign Manhattan during the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) 2026, as part of the NYCxDESIGN Festival, at the Javits Center in New York City, from May 17 to 19, 2026, Equilibrio is a collection developed by students from the Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design at the Roberto Garza Sada Center (UDEM).

This participation marks the university's first presence at ICFF and WantedDesign Manhattan, representing a milestone in the school's internationalization process and an opportunity to share, on one of the most relevant stages in contemporary design, a vision of industrial design centered on material experimentation, sustainability, and the construction of new narratives through the transformation of resources.

The project begins with a reflection on balance as a principle that articulates relationships between seemingly opposing elements. The ephemeral and the permanent, the natural and the artificial, memory and innovation, technology and matter converge in a proposal that seeks to reveal how design can forge links between past and future. Beyond a collection of objects, Equilibrio is conceived as a material and conceptual exploration that invites us to reconsider the relationship between everyday objects, the origins from which they emerge, and the stories they carry. 

To bring this proposal to life, the collection works with newspaper wood, a material crafted from recycled newsprint sourced from two of Monterrey, Nuevo León's leading newspaper publishers. Originally destined for a fleeting existence, the newspaper is granted new life as it transforms into a solid, durable material that, at first glance, evokes the grain and texture of wood. This duality creates a tension between the familiar and the unexpected, inviting an experience of discovery in which first impressions give way to a deeper understanding of the material itself. 

Up close, the surfaces reveal fragments of words, images, and layers of information drawn from printed stories. These vestiges become visible traces of human activity, lending each object a singular narrative dimension. The material ceases to be merely a technical resource, becoming instead a vessel for memory, where time and history remain inscribed on its surface.

Through a series of luminaires, Equilibrio explores the dialogue between light and matter. Here, lighting serves not only a utilitarian function but acts as a means of reading, one that awakens the memory held within the object. Light accentuates textures, reveals the material's layers, and stages an interaction between contemporary technology and the traces of information preserved in the recycled matter. In this way, the pieces transcend their functional condition, becoming devices that render a story visible and invite reflection on the permanence of information and the value of materials in contemporary design.

From an environmental standpoint, the project proposes a balance between consumption and regeneration. The reuse of newsprint offers an alternative to traditional wood and helps reduce waste, revealing the potential of recovered materials to open up new formal and functional possibilities. Sustainability is understood here not merely as a strategy for resource efficiency, but as an opportunity to rethink design processes and cultivate a more conscious relationship with materials and their life cycle.

Participation in WantedDesign Manhattan and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), within the framework of the NYCxDESIGN Festival, offers a space for exchange with designers, manufacturers, institutions, and professionals from around the world. This inaugural participation strengthens the Roberto Garza Sada Center's International presence and situates the proposals developed at UDEM within global conversations on innovation, materiality, and sustainability, while also bringing visibility to the emerging talent and creative capacity that flourish in Monterrey.

The Industrial Design program at University of Monterrey reflects an academic vision that understands design as a tool for connecting culture, technology, and society. Through projects like Equilibrio, our Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design reaffirms its commitment to training designers capable of driving material innovation, building new narratives, and actively engaging with contemporary challenges from a critical, human, and sustainable perspective. This vision aims to prepare professionals with a global outlook and a deep awareness of the cultural, social, and environmental impact of design.

More than a collection of luminaires, Equilibrio stands as an exploration of design's capacity to bestow new meaning upon materials, transforming what was destined to disappear into an opportunity to build memory, permanence, and a future. This first participation in New York also marks the beginning of an international presence that seeks to deepen the dialogue between Mexican design and global creative communities.