Nienke Hoogvliet: design as a tool to shape new perspectives

Green Canvas

Nienke Hoogvliet is a designer, artist and founder of Studio Nienke Hoogvliet – a design studio for material research, experimental and conceptual design. At the centre of Nienke’s work is a focus on materials that contribute to a more holistic world and raise awareness for the social and environmental issues in the textile, leather and food industry.

Studio Nienke Hoogvliet’s projects have ranged from creating rugs out of sea algae, to making household objects using reclaimed toilet paper, to utilising kaumera, a new bio-based raw material extracted from sludge granules, to create a Kimono.

Other projects include RE-SEA ME which uses discarded fish skins – a waste product from the fishing industry - to create a leather. As well as Mourn, which explores the soil and groundwater pollution that exists around graveyards and ash scattering fields as a result of the waste substances our bodies release when we pass away.

Nienke’s work has been exhibited worldwide, in institutions like Centre Pompidou, Paris, Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, New York, and the V&A Museum, London. If you’d like to see some of Nienke’s work, here are a few links to some the projects we spoke about in this episode:

• SEA ME
• RE-SEA ME
• KAUMERA KIMONO
• MOURN
• WATERSCHATTEN
• H.E.R.B.S. QUILT

And if you’re interested in learning more about Green Canvas, you can find us on our website. We hope you enjoy the episode!