EUNIC NEXT! 2026
The Imperfect Future
WOOD: Design between Symbiosis and Standardisation
Young European designers rethink wood, sustainability and designing with imperfection at EUNIC NEXT! 2026.
Richard Seneši, Morphosis. © Peter Čintalan
Date: Thurs., 21.05.2026, 18:30
Place: Aedes, Christinenstr. 18–19, 10119 Berlin
Registration: www.eventbrite.de
The event will take place in English. Admittance is free.
Introduction
What does it mean for design when materials are not perfect?
The Lab Talk by EUNIC NEXT! 2026 and Aedes brings together young designers from eleven European countries to discuss wood as a material in the context of climate change, resource scarcity and new production methods. The Imperfect Future – WOOD: Design between Symbiosis and Standardisation examines how designers are responding to flawed materials, the slow growth cycles of natural resources and the tension between craftsmanship and industrial standardisation.
The talk opens with short presentations by invited designers and studios, whose work ranges from experimental furniture and material research to site-specific design approaches. Some engage with locally sourced or reused wood, while others explore news forms of collaborations against the backdrop of natural growth processes or develop strategies for durable, sustainable products.
These presentations are followed by a moderated discussion addressing the origins, uses and future of wood and asking how imperfection, reparability and material constraints can become productive starting points for contemporary design.
The Lab Talk forms part of the wider EUNIC NEXT! 2026 programme, which includes studio visits, workshops and exchange formats for participating designers. The programme is developed in collaboration with partners including the Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge, the Wood Design programme at the Schneeberg Faculty of Applied Arts, the project BeFallen – Art from Infestation and Studio J.Mayer.H.
Programme
Welcome and Introduction
Dunya Bouchi, Aedes, Berlin
Saša Šavel Burkart, Head of the Slovenian Cultural Information Center – SKICA Berlin and Lead of NEXT! by EUNIC Berlin
Simona Binko, Art Historian and Cultural Manager / curator of The Imperfect Future, Berlin
Presentations
Jakob Niemann, Austria
Mirjam and Markus Pärnamets, House of Pärnamets, Estonia
Henri Judin, Design Studio Judin, Finland
Lucy O’Sullivan, Ireland
Cathy Wolter, Luxembourg
Pim van Baarsen, Netherlands
Beata Mielus, Poland
Cezar Blînda, LUN.Studio, Romania
Richard Seneši, Slovakia
Aljaž Celarc, Hiša Mandrova, Slovenia
Darren Appiagyei, United Kingdom
Discussion
with the designers and the audience, moderated by Simona Binko
In collaboration with EUNIC Berlin
EUNIC Berlin is the network of European cultural institutes in Berlin and part of the global EUNIC – European Union National Institutes for Culture – network.
EUNIC organisers: Austrian Cultural Forum Berlin | Embassy of the Republic of Estonia | Finnland-Institut | British Council | Embassy of Ireland | Grand Duchy of Luxembourg – Embassy in Berlin | Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands | Polish Institute Berlin | Romanian Cultural Institute | Slovenian Cultural Information Center – SKICA Berlin | Slovak Institute Berlin
