Conversations

Mycela, founded by Sondre Eng, Renée Isabel Jung and Maria Aaslund is an Oslo-based mycelium studio and lab founded in 2020. On a warm summer day, Elementa visited Mycela at their studio at Tøyen in Oslo and got to know their concept a bit better.

In a mini-series of interviews, Maren Bang of the Elementa crew presents the work of some of her fellow alumni from Design Academy Eindhoven. Leo Maher is a British designer currently based in the Netherlands. His work collects research from material cultures, past and present, and the narrative they present tethered to, before reformatting archives into new physical pieces. Read our conversation with the designer, tapping into legend, queering canons, and the agency of the archiver.

In a mini-series of short interviews, Maren Bang of the Elementa crew presents the work of some of her fellow alumni from Design Academy Eindhoven.

Delphine Lejeune is a visual designer and material researcher working experimentally across 2D and 3D printed surfaces. Her curiosities lie within designed objects, and how they critically shape our social behaviors.

Carlos Sfeir is a Chilean architect, designer and artist currently based in Berlin. A little while back we had a talk about the rational and the poetic, forces of nature, and the consequences of colonialism. And about design and arts potential for being a trojan horse - bringing insight and perspectives within conventional systems.

Benedetta Pompili is an Italian interdisciplinary designer currently based in Amsterdam. Her practice is focused on a dedication to earthwork ethics and local narratives, and she explores making processes, rethinking them for sustainability aims. We had a conversation with the designer about savior faire, toxicity and the dialogue between maker and material.

Swedish designer and artist Niclas Ekwall recently exhibited his project “The Resonance of Play“ as a part of the Graduation Show during Dutch Design Week, and this coming summer he will be showing his work during the design week in Milan. We had a talk with Niclas about his approach to design and his relationship to sound and music.

In the work of Norwegian designer and artist Nebil Zaman, objects found in digital space are materialized and turned into unusual furniture and objects - sometimes with an almost otherworldly touch. We have met Nebil at his space at the Kroloftet makers space in Oslo to learn more about his work with found objects - digital and physical.

What can be found in the spaces in between the beautiful and the ugly, feminine and masculine? How can dragqueen culture inform and expand design thinking?

Maren Bang of the Elementa blog meets the Uruguayan designer and artist Bruno Baietto.

In the midst of the pandemic the communal coworking initiative Kroloftet has taken over an industrial complex formerly used as as a biker gang hideout - and turned it into a thriving hub of creative and social activity.

We have spoken to designer Oscar Honeyman-Novotny, one of the driving forces behind Kroloftet about maker spaces and design as a force of cultural change.

Plasticiet is a Rotterdam based startup that has found a way to upcycle plastic waste into long living new materials for use in interior design. We have chatted with the founders of Plasticiet about recycling and the role of small companies in closing the loops.

Human life is intimately bound together with insect life, not only by means of honey bees - but with pollinating insects of all sorts.

We have spoken to biologist, beekeper and microactivist Tora Fougner Økland about the work of Bybi Oslo, on friendship with bees - and the role of architecture and design in preserving life.

A new kayak building kit from Yamana Boats in Oslo beautifully embodies design ideals that are getting ever more relevant:

Local production, use of natural materials, intuitive design and infinite repairability.

As they launch their first Kickstarter, we had the chance to meet with designers Nina Havermans and Nico Ibaceta about boat building, makerspaces and finding time to spend time outdoors.

Birgitta Ralston & Alexandre Bau are behind the design practice Ralston Bau, working with material science, research and design with an activistic approach. With the ambitious Bioregion Vestland project, initiated by Design Region Bergen, they are exploring how experimental material design can help revitalize local industry on the Norwegian west coast.

We have spoken with Birgitta on the project and the way forward for new plastics.

Artificial Intelligence is on everybody’s lips, and yet so few seem to have had the chance to really come to terms with even its basic terminology and concepts. Norwegian design and tech agency Feed have co-produced The Elements of AI - an enormously popular free online course aiming to demystify AI.

What are the historic precedents of the computer? How can compuational thinking be applied to explore artistic creativity and the inner workings of the human soul?

We have conversed with philosopher and international Ramon Llull-expert Amador Vega on these exciting questions which were the topic of a recent exhibition at the Art Lab at EPFL in Lausanne.

For every person on Earth there are 200 million insects. Yet their numbers are dwindling and without insects, people and animals would die. Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson has written the book “Extraordinary Insects: Weird. Wonderful. Indispensable. The ones who run our world”. Elementa had a talk with the much sought-after biology professor about how and why our future depends on these life forms.

The Climate Festival § 112 of January 2019 is a broad climate celebration that encourages and inspires people to support political measures to ensure a sustainable future. Elementa had a talk with Anders Selstrøm Moe, one of the driving forces behind the festival.

Fremja is a new social therapeutic initiative in Norway for youths and grown-ups that for different reasons need adapted work or living situations. Frode Wendelboe is one of the founders and call himself an artist of care. We had a talk about the need to merge ecological and social work and why the solutions are interdependent.

The Global Seed Vault, situated deep in the permafrost of Svalbard is celebrating its 10 years aniversary this year. We have spoken to Seed Vault Coordinator Åsmund Asdal about the importance of storing original seeds safely in an unstable world.

Nicanor Perlas is a global activist, writer and speaker and regarded as one of the most remarkable leaders of the peoples movements of today.

In the midst of his active existence Perlas graciously took the time to talk to Elementa about what he sees as being the most crucial concern of our times.

Oslo is one of the rare capitals in the world that have an official City Farmer. Andreas Capjon has a passion for soil. We had a talk with him about why it matters. Also for you.

According to The New York Times List of Top New Food Words: CLIMATARIAN (n.) A diet whose primary goal is to reverse climate change. When 2017 arose, Cecilie Dawes, green entrepreneur and founder of Food Studio, had decided that she wanted to actually do it. She wanted to walk the talk.

The earth is alive, we know it intuitively - but can it be scientifically proved? And even more important, can it be experienced?

We have had the honor and pleasure of talking to  eco scientist Stephan Harding about the present status of Gaia science and about how we can connect to the living presence of the Earth.

In a basement in Storgata in Oslo, old bikes from containers and roadsides are being transformed into beautiful and durable bikes that inhabit the norwegian capital. Retour is a new and social responsible bike workshop that not only creates wonderful steel frames on wheels but also creates jobs and meaning for young people.

Daniel Eugene Lacey-McDermott - better known as Captain Credible, is an uncompromising Norwegian electronic artist that has been pushing the limits of electronic music releases and building his own hacked instruments since 2008.

Dimension 10 is an Oslo-based tech startup working to revolutionize the workflow for architects, engineers and designers with an app that makes it possible to work with 3D models in a realtime virtual environment. The Elementa Blog went to meet up with founder Aleksander Langmyhr to learn about their product and the future of VR. 

Eriksen Skajaa is a small Oslo based architecture studio founded by Joakim Skajaa and Arild Eriksen. By focusing on people in their work they have been able to create human friendly city development and living environments in both larger and smaller scale. We headed down to their beautiful office in Oslo to have a talk with Joakim and Arild about their approach to architecture.

Teenage engineering is one of the guiding stars in innovative, disruptive and quirky synthesizers and audio products. For the past 12 years they have pushed the limits for what synthesizers are and kept surprising the world with their wrinkled minds and strange creations born in a garage in the Swedish capital.

We had the honor of speaking with co-founder David Möllerstedt and pick his brain on their creative process and on the future of music.

Nils Faarlund is a legendary Norwegian eco-philosopher, mountaineer and a great friend of nature. We spoke to him about the Norwegian term for outdoors life, Friluftsliv, natural materials and design.

# How would you explain the Norwegian term friluftsliv to English speakers?

In my opinion, outdoor activities in modern societies are responses to the stress, boredom and effort for building identity caused by an urban lifestyle.

Growlab is a small design studio truly dedicated to find new ways of making our cities better and more sustainable. Mads Pålsrud and Tabea Glahs founded Growlab in 2012 with a shared passion for solving social issues with design thinking. We went to talk to Mads and Tabea about how they use design and what they want to achieve with their approach.