Lecture programme Wednesday 4 March 2026

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

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This lecture programme explores the durability, evolution, and future of leather as a material. Bringing together designers, researchers, and industry experts, the series examines how leather can be made to last — technically, aesthetically, and ethically.

Moderator: Simone de Waart

Discover the evolution of 3D printing at MaterialDistrict Utrecht’s lecture programme. Initially focusing on plastics, resins, carbon fibre, and metal, 3D printing now embraces diverse materials including wood, food, clay, and sustainable options like corn or algae-based binders. Despite the promise of material efficiency, scaling up poses challenges.

10:45 – 11:15

Femke Mostert, Circuleather
Preserving our treasures

Femke Mostert is a Dutch circular and social entrepreneur based in Almere and founder of La Femme Qui Rit and Circuleather.
Driven by a treasure-hunter mindset, she sees value where others see waste. Through her life, finding treasures in material and people is a common thread. This way of life guides her towards creative projects, which are often quite challenging.
She is convinced that sustainability must be personal, and that this means a holistic point of view.

11:00 – 11:30

Dennis Teeuw, Planq
‘Rezign Your Waste’: Your company sustainability goals accomplished

Dennis Teeuw is founder of Planq and Rezign, where he combines design, material innovation and entrepreneurship to rethink how furniture is made. Together with his twin brother Anton, he builds circular furniture and interiors from recycled textile waste and biobased materials. Driven by the belief that sustainability and contemporary design should strengthen each other, Dennis focuses on turning waste streams into high-quality, meaningful products that inspire positive change in both the furniture and fashion industries.

11:20 – 11:50

Emma van Werkhoven
From hunt to design: a story of conscious leather tanning

In recent years designer Emma Werkhoven developed a special love for leather. Learning more about its origins and implications comes with ethical questions. Rather than avoiding these tensions, Emma sees it as a source of inspiration. To learn the most about leather as a material she traveled to Sweden to work with a hunter and veg-tannery. Taking the full responsibility into her own hands while learning more about the industry. Back in the netherlands Emma is creating this circular system locally. She aims to always use leather mindfully and be transparent to the user so they can too.

11:35 – 12:05

Jamie van Duuren, From Waste To Wonder Workshops
From Waste to Wonder — one workshop today, a generation of changemakers tomorrow

Jamie van Duuren is a Swiss-born product designer passionate about sustainability and social impact. With a curious and hands-on approach, she continuously explores new materials and innovative design methods. Her work ranges from home furnishings and board games to educational workshops that raise awareness about environmental issues.
During her bachelor’s in Switzerland, Jamie gained expertise in user research, prototyping, and material exploration. Her master’s at Design Academy Eindhoven deepened her focus on sustainability, leading to her project “From Waste to Wonder”, a workshop where children create compostable toys from recycled bio-waste. Through bio-design and alternative materials, Jamie strives to inspire creativity and environmental responsibility in future generations, using design as a tool for positive change.

12:10 – 12:40

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12:25 – 12:55

Victor Kroeske, Diggels
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12:45 – 13:15

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13:00 – 13:30

Aummy Ninkamhang, Stelapop
Stelapop

Aummy spent 9 years in textile development in the U.S. market, learning hard way how much waste the industry produces. In 2019, she co-founded Stelapop to turn textile waste into circular, next-gen materials.

Door: TBI

13:20 – 13:55

TBI Pitches
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The continuation of the lecture programme about recycled materials.

14:00 – 14:30

TBI Pitches
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14:15 – 14:45

Nikki Krul, Studio Nikks
Rethinking textile waste

Nikki Krul is a designer and material researcher based in Eindhoven. After graduating from Design Academy Eindhoven, she founded Studio Nikks, where she works with textiles, colour and interior applications. Her project RAG focuses on reusing post-consumer textile waste through hand-tufting, transforming discarded garments into new tactile surfaces and wall pieces.
She explores how waste materials can become aesthetic, functional and socially meaningful alternatives within interior and architectural contexts.

14:35 – 15:05

TBI Pitches
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14:50 – 15:20

Vivian Erdtsieck, VivErdie
Textiles and what to do with them

Vivian Erdtsieck is a designer and material researcher working with recycling as both a practical and conceptual framework. Her work focuses primarily on recycled textiles, while also engaging with other reclaimed raw materials and waste streams. Trained in design, she later completed two master’s degrees in material science and material philosophy to better understand and challenge the systems behind material production. This shift reflects her ambition to contribute to a more sustainable industry at a structural level, rather than through aesthetics alone. Design remains an essential part of her practice, guiding how materials are shaped, experienced, and understood.

Additive Manufacturing is transforming how materials are designed, produced, and applied. This lecture programme explores the latest developments in additive manufacturing, from experimental materials and digital workflows to real-world applications, highlighting its potential to reduce waste, rethink production systems, and redefine the relationship between design and making.

15:25 – 15:55

Marc van der Heijden, Triboo
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15:45 – 16:15

Rik Ruigrok, Herso
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16:00 – 16:30

Matthew Catania, Ambitious
Bio-Digital Fabrication: 3D-Printed Limestone

Matthew Catania is a Research Architect and the Founder of the Ambitious Lab. He is an Architecture graduate from the University of Malta. After completing his Bachelor’s degree, he moved into the field of Bio-Design, where he focused upon an exploration in the design of material behaviours, and as a result obtained a distinction in his Master’s degree.
Over time, his research has propelled him into developing a interdisciplinary design approach, operating within the intersections of biological design, digital-fabrication and programmable-matter. Matthew puts forward a material-based design agenda. A central attribute to his unique creative process is the ability to design in collaboration with matter.

16:20 – 16:50

Carolien Weerstand, Studio Weerstand

Why waste? Questioning our relationship with waste, and what natural cycles and ancient techniques can teach us about more resilient ways of designing and producing

Carolien Weerstand is a circular designer and material researcher based in Eindhoven, and founder of Studio Weerstand. As a maker, she works hands-on with waste and residual streams, exploring their physical, cultural and systemic potential. Her practice is driven by experimentation, material research and craftsmanship, often drawing inspiration from ancient production techniques to address contemporary challenges. Through her work, Weerstand questions how and why materials become waste, and what it takes to give them new value. As a speaker, she examines our societal relationship with waste, asking why waste exists at all, how it differs from natural systems, and why older, low-tech methods can sometimes offer more resilient answers than contemporary high-tech solutions.

16:35 – 17:05

Nedzhmie Yusufova
Beyond Plastic: Bio-Material 3D Printing for Circular Spaces

Nedji Yusufova is a Delft-based bio-material designer working at the intersection of architecture, circular materials, and 3D printing. She develops home-compostable material recipes from local food waste, such as oyster shells and coffee grounds, and works with self-built bio-paste 3D printers that use significantly less energy than plastic printing. Her practice focuses on custom applications for architects and interior designers, including sculptural elements for public spaces, bioreceptive ceramics, seasonal shop-window installations, event objects, and bespoke interior pieces. Through material research, prototyping, and collaboration, Nedji helps designers translate circular ambitions into tangible, site-specific outcomes.

16:55 – 17:25

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