These are the Designers in Residence for 2026!

In 2026, Designregio Kortrijk and NERDLAB organize a new edition of Designers in Residence Kortrijk. This residency starts from the shared ambition of both organizations: creating space for experimentation and critical design research while developing new formats that bring design and digital culture to a broad audience.

Following an international open call, three designers/makers have now been selected for an intensive residency programme running from 7 September to 5 December 2026.

They will develop an experimental project situated at the intersection of design, technology, and society, with a public presentation during WONDER Festival and Mutation Festival.

Floor berkhout (NL) is an artist and researcher. She explores how digital technologies can be made more understandable and accessible to everyone. In doing so, she uses textiles and weaving techniques as tools. The loom is often regarded as a precursor to the computer, and it is precisely this link that she uses to make digital systems visible and tangible.

Through her work, she raises questions about democracy, inclusion and public participation in a world increasingly shaped by technology. According to Berkhout, digital systems can only be truly democratic when people understand how they work.

Oleksandr Sirous (Ukraine) works at the intersection of technology, nature and politics. He investigates how digital systems are linked to social and ecological crises.

Using artificial intelligence, game mechanics and real-time data, he creates interactive installations and simulations. His work highlights how societies and ecosystems cope with challenges such as instability, change and crisis.

Sergio Pinilla López, also known as Gio Pi, is a designer and researcher. They study how technology influences our identity and the way we experience the world.

In their projects, they create digital and often dreamlike worlds that demonstrate how technology can influence our perception of reality. They are currently working on an experimental video game about working from home, social class and illusion. In it, they combine a 3D world with printed textures and webcam experiments, developed using open-source tools. 
Through this project, he explores how technology creates new realities and how people navigate them, sometimes without being aware of its influence.