NATURAL MATERIAL STUDIO

Working on the premise that the best way to change people’s perception of bio-materials is to make intriguingly beautiful ones, Natural Material Studio led by the visionary Bonnie Hvillum has done some landmark work for the likes of Noma restaurant as well as exhibitions exploring phenomenological, speculative themes about sustainability, nature and future. “I am educated to design interactive user experiences, but the playful game of using up what I have with sustainability in mind has always been a great part of me.,” says Hvillum, who established the Copenhagen-based studio around the two pillars of immersive interactions based on residue. “I see my working approach very childish, with a naive beginners mind, but also very visionary constantly exploring the potential in the overseen to create highly sensory experiences.”

The Lighting Works series, commissioned for Ark Kollekt 01, use bio-textiles developed by the studio from ingredients and pigments gained directly from nature such as bio-polymers, natural softeners, clay and chalk. It is a living material - texture, colour and shape are reactive to the material’s environment and can interact with temperature, humidity and time. During casting in rectilinear frames, the bio-textiles behave and transform with their own will and strength. “The Lighting Works pendulate in this tension of human-nature agency using ‘the frame’ as both the working method and central theme for the designs.”