Building Talent – 36 starting makers and designers selected

From the 162 submissions received by the Creative Industries Fund NL in response to the second round of the Open Call Building Talent 2021, 36 starting makers and designers have been selected. They will work together with previously selected established design agencies on current issues and design tasks.

27 January 2022

By means of the Open Call Building Talent, the Fund aims to strengthen the connection of starting makers and designers with the professional field and, in turn, to support the work field by creating extra room for in-depth research and experimentation. In this way, the Fund aims to stimulate knowledge development and strengthen the network and entrepreneurship of starters.

The applications were submitted to an advisory committee chaired by Tanja Koning (independent curator and programmer), consisting of Joost Emmerik (urban designer, landscape architect), Ward Janssen (curator of digital and visual culture), Lotte van Laatum (independent product designer), Iris Ruisch (managing director M-ODE), Michael Snitker (graphic designer) and Esther Verra (talent development TETEM). They assessed the applications on the following criteria:

- approach to the design task;
- quality of the designer’s work; and
- professionalization and alignment of the design task with the applicant’s own development potential.

RAAAF – Beyond The Atlantic Burden

selection
The following 36 collaborations were selected:

Architecture
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Thijs de Zeeuw is working with Kuang-Yi Ku (Studio Ku) on a speculative investigation into the possible role of sexuality and gender in zoo design.
- Site Practice, together with Anna Zań in the project Rural Practices, is exploring possible ways of living, working and producing in rural areas. In doing so, they are focusing on the Twente countryside.
- RAAAF is investigating abandoned architecture with Dario Khozhai. They are exploring new forms of interaction with the vacant buildings and their activation, and are looking for ways to read, document and memorialize buildings awaiting demolition.
- NEXT architects, together with Yağız Söylev, aims to place the task of school buildings in a new and broader perspective than the current practice of tendering. Their School met toekomstwaarde (School with future value)to be designed must offer a realistic alternative, be affordable and retain its value.
- In the project De nieuwe kustlijn (The new coastline),Rubén Dario Kleimeer and Gundega Strauberga are analyzing the transformation that the Netherlands will undergo as sea levels rise. They are working towards an architectural final document with maps, cross-sections, timelines and photography to show the near and more distant future of the Netherlands.
- Atelier Blik and Studio Alma van de Burgwal are getting to work designing nature-inclusive country-house suites on a Natura 2000 site. The goal is to promote nature-inclusive building with an end product that extends beyond this assignment.
- Radartoren Architectuur and Quita Schabracq are working in the project DeHangar.art to transform a National Monument aircraft-hangar farm into a test site for the arts. In view of the future cultural programme, they are investigating how DeHangar and its associated farmland can become self-sufficient, and how the required facilities can be designed as autonomous objects.

Marjan van Aubel – Solar Parasol

Design
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Heleen Klopper of Woolfiller, together with Elise Ory, is diving into the revaluation of the 1.5 million kilos of wool annually considered to be waste. They are also looking at new avenues for reuse, for example in the form of collaboration with second-hand shops, and investigating how to generate interest in the craft of repairing and making.
- STUDIO INEKEHANS, together with nedkaar (Ned Kaar), is designing the Vakantiehuisje 2050 met 1850 footprint. The project aims to make tangible what a lower footprint means for our daily lives, and how high it is compared to the past.
- Marjan van Aubel and Valentine Maurice are working together on the further development of two circular products that focus on solar energy: a parasol and a luminous solar panel. They are going through the process of developing models and testing them, right up to creating a technically feasible product that can be produced.
- Studio Kars + Boom, together with Aušra Ces (Aušra Česnauskytė), aims to investigate public space from the perspective of form and visual language. They want to look at this space with fresh eyes and work on an interactive installation that encourages wonder and surprise by means of a narrative approach.
- Isaac Monté and Studio Giorgio Gasco are going to experiment with rope and light to create unique, site-specific light objects. In the project, they want to bring together craft and technology by combining rope weaving with light.
- Bernhard Lenger is researching the current water system. He wants the public to no longer see themselves as consumers of water, but as caretakers, protectors or even co-owners. Together with dorineb (Dorine Baars) they are working on ways to bring the research to a more applied level.
- VANTOT and Studio Kurina Sohn want to come up with a tangible vision of design within the so-called Smart City. They are taking socio-technological controversies as a starting point in order to design a responsible future, encourage ethical reflection, and foster local engagement.
- Michèle Boulogne is helping Richard Niessen to develop an identity for Het Paleis van Typografisch Metselwerk (The Palace of Typographic Masonry). In addition, Het Paleis is curious about how an identity can be reflexive, have multiple dimensions, and reflect the shortcomings, questions, and uncertainties of an institution. Can an institution speak with multiple voices? Can it be mocked?
- Kossmandejong and Iris van der Wal are joining forces to design a compact travelling exhibition with growth as its central theme. Not a standard ‘white-wall’ exhibition, but a non-linear, non-hierarchical artistic setting in which the visitor can discover interconnected stories of growth both through audio and in physical terms.
- Stichting The Image Society is working with Ieva Jakuša on an in-depth field study into our online behaviour. The idea is not to focus on the negative effects, but to approach it from a positive perspective. The research will culminate in a publication and provide a theoretical framework for a film about online behaviour, which is being developed in parallel.
- Within the project #YouToo? Studio Anne Ligtenberg and Laura Deschl are working on making the impact of the project visible. Where does it make a connection? Who uses it? And what is their experience? By collecting testimonials about the #YouToo? project and giving form to the measured impact, they are working towards an attractively designed proof of concept to show the social domain the value of design.
- In the project Public Display, Studio Elisabeth Klement and Kyung Lim Kwon are exploring new forms of displaying graphic design in the cityscape, without serving a direct commercial purpose as is now the norm with billboards, for example.
- Working from home is here to stay. That is why Buro Now and Lara Klingenberg want to explore what sustainable furniture or other interior products they can use to help people create healthy home offices that fit into any home. Both in terms of appearance and size.
- House of Thol and Atelier LVDW (Laura van de Wijdeven) want to compile a library of new innovative materials, and are investigating the extent to which these materials can also be used in accessible products. It is a response to the many innovative materials that are shown at exhibitions, but which still hardly find their way to the market.
- Studio Marije Vogelzang is collaborating with Studio Terrangular (Trang Ha) on a cookbook and social media channel that break consumers out of their routines in a light, humorous, thought-provoking way and let them see everyday food through a completely different lens.
- Studio SociaalCentraal and Sara Bekkers are getting to work on developing a suitable workshop format that provides a soft landing of the previously developed conversation tool Beschuit met aandacht. The aim of the workshop is to reduce or eliminate the obstacles relating to starting or holding a conversation about taboo topics among healthcare professionals and older people.
- Natasja Bokkerink will assist Vandejong in structuring and designing their trainee programme, which aims to build a bridge between starting makers and the work field. After the study, it will be up to Natasja Bokkerink to put the results into a tangible, attractive form that can be shared with the entire field of study.
- Studio Simone Post is collaborating with Studio Yoon Seok-hyeon on a new product line generated from the leather industry’s large residual stream. Central to this are sustainability, circularity and aesthetics.
- Humade and Benedetta Pompili Studio are exploring the potential of dredged sludge as a raw material for producing circular ceramic products.

StoneCycling

Digital culture
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Bakken & Baeck, together with Claartje Barkhof, aim to create more awareness and confidence concerning technological ‘black boxes’ such as algorithms and machine learning. They are exploring new ways to explain complex technologies in an informative and playful way.
- Johannes Verwoerd Studio and Edward July are building an installation in which typography responds to the surroundings and the behaviour of the visitor: a show model of an interactive typeface. It is an investigation into the place of language and the written word in an increasingly digital world.

Interdisciplinary
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Inside Outside and Margherita Soldati are collaborating on prototypes and experiments with bioreceptive textiles: breathable, responsive, elastic, permeable and porous. The aim of the project is to improve the bioreceptive properties of their textile structure at the micro level.
- Supertoys Supertoys likes to cross the boundaries between the digital and physical worlds by working with 3D software, VR, AR and digital fabrication techniques. Together with Rebeka Mór, they are going to explore this potential further, focusing on the power of digital animation versus physical work.
- In their project, StoneCycling and Nina van Bart want to investigate whether the tactility and offline experience of holding and feeling a material can be matched or even surpassed online, by using digital techniques. The aim is to provide an alternative to the hundreds of millions of samples of building materials worldwide that are mostly thrown away.
- Bas Kosters Studio and Manuel Pellegrini are embarking on an open, visual and content-based study that focuses on joy. It will be part of an overarching multidisciplinary presentation about joy.
- In the project City of Social Ecology, Bureau LADA and Josymar Rodriguez argue for a more layered approach to urban renewal. Their ambition is to bring to the surface and visualize the social, environmental and material ‘footprints’ of building renewal and renovation.
DOOR architecten and Falko den Herder see considerable potential in the phenomenon of sharing systems as an answer to the difficult housing market. They want to investigate which design principles have a positive influence on the sense of belonging and also on the affordability of a home, a residential building, and the immediate surroundings. In doing so, they aim to work towards a higher emotional, ecological and economic value in the long term.
- Studio RAP and Miles le Gras are collaborating on a design study into what a 3D-printed ceramic façade might look like. Starting points are a contemporary design, high technical feasibility and affordable solutions.
- Feldt (Teresa Feldmann) is going to help roomforthoughts digitally translate their previously developed theory into a professional educational all-round service product. The theory is a method that stimulates curiosity and imagination.

Studio RAP

context
The budget for the Building Talent 2021 programme comes from the extra resources made available by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science to support makers in the design sector who have been hit hard by the Covid-19 situation. In 2021, 63 collaborations were realized, each supported with € 12,500 (€ 6,250 for the design agency and € 6,250 for the starting maker/designer). The budget also provides scope for offering an additional subsidy to all parties supported within Building Talent in 2021. This would allow collaborative programmes to be extended or intensified and additional costs to be covered.

Photo above: Vandejong