July 28, 2025 | Boston & New York

This September, two diploma projects by students at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), winners of the Punch Prize, will be on display during Climate Week NYC, September 23-25, 2025.

The Punch Prize, initiated in 2024 by Swissnex and REFRESH, an international conference on design, arts and technology organized by the Department of Design and the Immersive Arts Space at ZHdK, honors outstanding diploma theses that innovatively address issues of ecological sustainability, the climate crisis, and the complex relationships between humans, nature, and more-than-human.

The winning projects are:

Tschäggättä | Raphael Stäger | BA Major in Cast / Audiovisual Media

Every winter, the Tschäggättä wreaks havoc in the Lötschental Valley. This short documentary delves into a tradition that hovers between past and present. In a world that is becoming faster, louder, and more public, it stands for something that refuses to adapt and yet must. The result is an honest look at a figure that cannot be grasped and perhaps for that very reason continues to live on.

Printed Plants Catalog | Nicolas Wagner | BA Major in Visual Communication.

Conventional printing inks are largely made from fossil fuels. This catalog is a screen-printed collection of 12 plant-based printing inks. All components of the catalog are renewable and biodegradable, and the majority of the pigments were cultivated, harvested, and produced in-house. The project consists of a catalog with color samples and information on production, as well as extensive online documentation.