Lecture programme Friday 6 March 2026

The lectures are in English unless stated otherwise. The lecture programme is subject to change.

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The aim of the Young Talent Programme is to offer emerging designers and researchers a professional platform and connect them with an inspiring and relevant network. In this lecture programme, recently graduated designers talk about their sustainable ideas.

Moderator: Leonne Cuppen

The recently published book The Timber Truth dismantles sixteen of the most common misconceptions about timber – from concerns about fire safety, strength, and lifespn, to debates on carbon storage, circulairity, and sustainable forestry. In this lecture programme, selected architects tell you more about their timber-based designs.

Moderator: Pablo van der Lugt

Hosted by PEFC

10:45 – 11:15

Boyana Voynova
Seed Matters

Boyana Voynova is an information designer and multimedia artist, engaged in community-based and collaborative initiatives. In her practice she works with topics, related to the climate, consumption systems and the way we interact with the surrounding world, translating them into interactive projects using design research methodologies and visual storytelling. Driven by curiosity for social systems, she strives to challenge the way we interact with the space and matter surrounding us through various mediums from graphic design and experimental printing methods to textile and ceramics.
The talk explores seeds as data carriers, and political artifacts, linking nature, technology, ethics and material culture. How much future can fit in the palm of your hand? If a seed is a prototype, what is it optimized for? Who owns generative material systems? When does a material become a monopoly?

11:00 – 11:30

Dave Lomax, Waugh Thistleton Architects
TBA

TBA

11:20 – 11:50

Carmen Enríquez
Controlling Roughness. Exploring the influence of 3D printing on the roughness of a bio mixture to design controlled acoustic properties

Carmen Enríquez is an Industrial Design Engineer specializing in design for additive manufacturing. Her practice focuses on 3D production experimentation, searching for functional outcomes with a distinctive visual expression unique to the material and technology implemented. She combines technology- and material-driven design processes, featuring creative exploration with strong technical understanding.

11:35 – 12:05

Ad Kil, RO&AD Architecten
Timber as an integral part of regenerative architecture

After finishing TU Delft Ad started his own architect’s office in Utrecht in 1993. With mixed succes he worked on several nice, but not very memorable projects. After moving to the south-west of The Netherlands he started to work together with Ro Koster and they started the office RO&AD Architecten. The office started to flourish after 2004 when they started to concentrate on sustainable design. After finishing the Moses Bridge in 2010, which was broadly published, the connection between building and landscape became a common thread in the commissions of the office, and from there, the interest in regenerative design and system design grew. Nowadays the small team of RO&AD works on several projects on all scales: from a strategic vision on sea level rise in Zeeland, several buildings in the former Hedwigepolder in Zeeland, to a bridge in Norway.

12:10 – 12:40

Moritz Ploens
Greenhousing Fungi: Reciprocity in Bio-Design and 3D-Grown Objects

Moritz Plöns is a bio- and industrial designer (M.A.) based in Cologne. In his projects, he creates objects that act as tools for exploring posthuman ideas, eco-social justice, and circularity in depth. His approach is consistently material-driven, with a focus on the development of circular materials, especially made from fungal mycelium.
His graduation project at the Royal Academy of Arts The Hague “Greenhousing Saprophytes” (2025) investigated reciprocal approaches in bio-design practices combined with a three-dimensional growth for pure mycelium.
Amongst others, his work was exhibited at the Dutch Design Week 2025, the Kölner Passagen 2026 and the Museum of Applied Arts Cologne (MAKK).

12:25 – 12:55

Boris Zeisser, Natrufied Architecture
Apartment buildings in Wood – the proof of the pudding is in the eating

Boris Zeisser (1968) graduated with an honorable mention 1995 from the Technical University of Delft. He worked from 1996 till 2001 at the architecture office of Erick van Egeraat associated architects in Rotterdam before founding his own office Twentyfour-hours architecture with Maartje Lammers in 2001. After terminating 24H in 2015, Boris founded the new office Natrufied-architecture based in Bergen, the Netherlands. Together with his partner Anja Verdonk he runs his office with a special focus on circular designs and building with wood.

12:45 – 13:15

Alice Gielen
Small Machines, Big Ideas: How Accessible Tools Can Enable Scalable Innovation in Textile Design

Alice Gielen is a designer and researcher working at the intersection of textiles, computation, and craft. She develops small-scale fabrication tools, such as the Sliver Fiber Printer and J.3D.1 (JEDI), designed to support textile and fashion designers in experimentation and material exploration. Her practice combines hands-on making, speculative machine design, and research-through-design and has been presented across academic, fashion, and experimental design contexts.

13:00 – 13:30

Shai van Vlijmen, NarrativA architecten
Biophilic Passive Timber Home

Shai van Vlijmen is a biophilic architect and founder of NarrativA Architects, a leading practice in ecological and biobased design. With over twenty years of experience, he combines scientific precision with creative vision and has extensive expertise in biobased materials and building physics. His work ranges from biobased (passive) homes to large-scale renovations, where health, comfort and beauty go hand in hand with sustainability. Shai is actively committed to advancing biobased construction in the Netherlands through education, lectures and professional training.

13:20 – 13:55

Tamar Alon
ANAN – From Tyrian Purple to Indigo: A Material-Led Journey

Tamar is a multidisciplinary designer working at the intersection of material, color, and form. A graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven, her practice focuses on product and material-based design, from research-driven projects and experimental processes to functional objects. She explores how materials behave, transform, and communicate, shaping designs that balance intuition, craft, and functionality. Currently based in Tel Aviv, Tamar works independently across material and product-focused projects.

13:35 – 14:05

Robert Platje, Mei architects and planners
Circular Wood Construction: The Future of Construction

Robert Platje has been working as a building technologist at Mei architects and planners since 2000. In 2017 he was appointed Associate Partner, and since 2022 he has been an official Partner of the firm. Robert specializes in architectural detailing and sustainable construction and plays a key role in translating design concepts into smart, buildable solutions. Within Mei, he safeguards the quality and consistency of the design through all stages, from concept to execution. In addition, Robert is a BREEAM-NL Expert at the Dutch Green Building Council, a committee member for Commercial Buildings at SBR, and a member of the Policy Advisory Committee on Technology and Regulations at the BNA. He enjoys sharing his expertise as a guest lecturer at institutions such as TU Delft, SBR, and Bouwen met Staal.

14:00 – 14:30

Isa Jansen
Living traces: designing with decay to increase the social acceptance of bio-based materials

Isa Jansen is a circular bio-designer exploring how aesthetics, materials and living organisms can shape a circular future. Inspired by nature’s non-toxic, waste-free processes, she seeks to collaborate with nature rather than work against it. Working with living, waste and bio-based materials, her multidisciplinary, research-driven practice combines experimentation, sample making and prototyping. In Living Traces, she challenges ideas of perfection and permanence by embracing imperfection, transformation and decay.

14:15 – 14:45

Alexander Beeloo, Krft architects
Timber Construction and Circular Design in Public Buildings

Alexander Beeloo (1990) is an architect and project leader at KRFT Architecture Studio in Amsterdam. He graduated in 2019 from the Academy of Architecture Amsterdam. He works on a broad range of sustainable public buildings, with a clear specialization in biobased architecture, timber construction, and circular design. His work spans both new construction and transformation projects, focusing on the creation of healthy, future-proof learning and community environments. Examples include IKEC De Zevensprong in Hoorn, where timber and biobased materials are central to the design, and a circular multifunctional center for the village of Zetten, where reuse and material-conscious design play a leading role.

14:35 – 15:05

Philippe Gaud
Le Labo 1.0 by Baguette Studio – What if we owned raw materials instead of objects?

Baguette Studio is a design studio based in Paris, founded by Philippe Gaud and Emma Lohner. Fostering craftsmanship and matter, we strive to question social and industrial systems in order to create viable, responsible and accessible solutions. We aim to combine in a sensible way Commitment, Industry and Services, to build together an optimistic future.
Le Labo 1.0 is a proposal for an alternative way of consuming goods. What if instead of owning objects we would own raw materials that would stick with us for the rest of our lives? In an attempt to value the ressources surrounding us, the objects produced are conceived not as a static product but as a material in motion — endlessly remouldable, thanks to their blend of 100% natural wax.

14:50 – 15:20

Dennis Hauer, Urban Climate Architects
Scaling up mass-timber through innovation

Dennis Hauer is architect director at the Dutch firm Urban Climate Architects, a progressive and innovative architectural firm with offices in Delft and Groningen. Their focus is on densifying and enhancing the quality and social livability of existing cities by using the power of architecture. Creating a healthy, biodiverse living environment and applying circular and biobased principles are key elements in their design. The firm is one of the leaders in timber construction design in the
Netherlands. In addition to his role as an architect, Dennis is a BREEAM-NL expert, Building Life Ambassador for the Dutch Green Building Council, and a member of the Built by Nature Advisory Board.

15:25 – 15:55

Anika Greyling
Layered Lines: Using gravity in experimental large-scale 3D printing techniques

Anika Greyling is a product designer working with material-driven design and experimental making. Her practice centres on exploring material behaviour through processes such as 3D printing, mould-making, and iterative experimentation. By combining digital tools with hands-on fabrication, she develops designs that emerge from the interaction between material properties, technical constraints, and form. This process informs durable, functional, and innovative design solutions.

15:45 – 16:15

Miriam Michon, KOW Architecten
Houtbouw in de Praktijk: Van Ontwerp tot Oplevering (NL)

Miriam Michon is an architect at KOW Architecten in Eindhoven and The Hague, where she has been working for nearly ten years. She studied architecture at Eindhoven University of Technology (Bachelor’s degree) and Delft University of Technology (Master’s degree).
Her work focuses primarily on housing projects and small-scale healthcare developments, with a strong emphasis on human-centred and integrated design solutions. Sustainability, circularity, and health are key principles in her approach. Timber plays a central role in her designs, with Casa Vita in Pijnacker as a recent example, which was nominated for the Timber Construction Award 2025.

16:00 – 16:30

Tim Couwenberg
Between Growth and Structure

Tim Couwenberg is a designer and material developer working at the intersection of material research and sustainable design. His work focuses on the development of biodegradable, non-toxic materials for applications in fashion, architecture, and furniture. These materials are designed to be adaptable to both rigid and flexible forms, offering low-impact alternatives to conventional materials.

16:20 – 16:50

Jarrik Ouburg, HOH Architecten
Osaka to Zuid-Oost

Jarrik Ouburg (1975) studied architecture at Delft University of Technology and ETH Zurich, where his graduation project received the Archiprix International award. Since 2017, he has been a founding partner of HOH Architecten together with Freyke Hartemink. The practice works on projects at multiple scales within the urban landscape.
The project Switi won the National Timber Construction Award 2024 and was nominated for the Zuiderker Prize of Amsterdam. HOH Architecten’s work has a strong international orientation, shaped by professional experience in, among other places, Switzerland, Belgium, and Japan. Jarrik Ouburg is a member of the Spatial Quality Committee of the Municipality of Amsterdam and is regularly invited to act as a speaker, critic, and jury member.

16:35 – 17:00

Verena Brom
From Juice Production to Material: How Apple Waste and Regional Plants Enable Healthier Living

Verena Brom is a material designer, initiator, and co-founder of the Berlin-based regenerative design startup A Matter of Fruit.
Drawing on many years of experience as a garment technologist in the fashion industry, she developed a critical awareness of the extractive use of resources and the complexity and opacity of global manufacturing chains. This insight became a key driver in her work: rethinking the material foundations of (textile) products to better align with ecological systems and human needs. Initiated in 2020, as a research-driven project at the Weissensee School of Art & Design Berlin, A Matter of Fruit transforms by-products from the juice industry into biodegradable, fully plant-based films. The work aims to reduce microplastics, microfibres, and dependence on petroleum-based plastics while contributing to a circular economy. By sourcing raw materials from regional juice producers, Verena’s practice also focuses on shortening supply chains and strengthening local agricultural networks – embedding material innovation within a broader socio-ecological context.
Photo: Linda Deutsch