DDW25

Exhibition: Basic Instinct - Beauty and Symbiosis as a Necessity

Kazerne, Eindhoven October 2025 - Spring 2026

At Dutch Design Week 2025, Materia Futura debuted as a multisensory installation at Kazerne, blending material research, craftsmanship, and digital imagination. The exhibition features Venus, a large curtain embroidered with bio-based holographic sequins; a collection of experimental biomaterials; and a glass table - Archaeological Museum of Tiny Creatures and Bio-Based Materials - showcasing the living organisms that inspired the project. A biomaterial archive displays samples from the research phase, documenting the evolution of textures, colors, and forms.

Visitors can also experience an augmented reality (AR) layer that extends the tactile and visual qualities of the materials into the digital realm. A short film captures the behind-the-scenes process of developing the materials and crafting the curtain, revealing the fusion of craft, technology, and experimentation at the heart of Materia Futura.

Image by Ruud Balk

Venus - Handcrafted Biosequin Installation

The centerpiece of our exhibition, Venus, is a 4.5 × 3.5 m curtain adorned with over 3,000 hand-stitched, bio-based holographic sequins, each one biodegradable and crafted by hand. Conceived as a celebration of light, labor, and transformation, Venus embodies the union of material innovation and poetic craftsmanship at the heart of Materia Futura.

The curtain shimmers not only with light, but with the many hands and hearts that made it possible. Our deepest gratitude goes to the friends and family who helped us stitch this vision into being.

Short film premiered at Dutch Design Week 25

Through the soft pulse of backstage work and the unfolding of each material experiment, the film follows gestures that are spontaneous, guided by curiosity and the wisdom of the body. It invites you to slow your pace, to witness the quiet wonder of creation, and to envision a future where every act of making is both thoughtful and beautiful.

Film Credits

Image Capture & Video Edit: Alessia Pasquini, Beatriz Sandini, Mariana Oliveira

Filmed in Amsterdam, 2025

Archaeological Museum of Tiny Creatures and Bio-Based Materials

Our glass table becomes an archaeological museum, a microcosm where tiny creatures meet bio-based futures.

One of the most inspiring parts of our exhibition at Kazerne, it’s where the storytelling of our project truly comes alive. Here, nature meets our physical materials, and inspiration builds a bridge between color and the delicate beauty of butterflies. Looking at our sequins, you might think of fish skin or the close-up of a butterfly’s wing.

Our biomaterials live in nature; they are made of nature - stones and minerals reminding us that natural pigments can shimmer, that holographic and mesmerizing effects already exist in the natural world, not only in the digital one.

This table acts as a moodboard - an invitation to look, imagine, maybe even touch - and a reminder that beauty lives all around us, every day. It reflects how we envision this project: like diving into a parallel world: playful, curious, and full of stories told through colors and textures.

Digital Making

In Materia Futura, we explored how digital spaces can reflect the intelligence and beauty of nature, reimagining future materialities shaped by biomaterial innovation. Rather than designing static products, we focused on movement, texture, and light, creating non-human digital forms that shimmer, flow, and morph to evoke emotion and curiosity.

Developed in Blender and Vectary, and published via Zappar as a web-based AR experience, the work invites viewers to interact with these digital materials directly from their mobile devices - no downloads needed. It’s a sensory exploration that extends our physical materials into a living, animated landscape.

Scan the QR codes below to explore our augmented reality experience

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