Dit zijn de Designers in Residence 2026!

In 2026 organiseren Designregio Kortrijk en Nerdlab samen een nieuwe editie van Designers in Residence Kortrijk. Designers in Residence Kortrijk 2026 vertrekt vanuit een gedeelde ambitie van beide organisaties: ruimte creëren voor experiment en kritisch ontwerpend onderzoek, en tegelijk nieuwe formats ontwikkelen om design en digitale cultuur tot bij een breed publiek te brengen.

Via een internationale open oproep werden nu 3 ontwerpers/makers geselecteerd voor een intensief residentietraject van 7 september tot 5 december 2026.

Ze ontwikkelen een experimenteel project op het snijvlak van design, technologie en maatschappij, met een publieke presentatie tijdens WONDER Festival en Mutation Festival.

Floor berkhout (NL) is an artist and researcher working to pull computation down from the cloud and return it to the hands. She uses the craft of textile-making and the weaving loom, the ancestor of modern-day computers, to research invisible and closed-off digital systems and give them a tangible, physical form. This allows her to explore how agency, democracy, inclusivity and intimacy can take root within the rigid computational frameworks that surround us. She sees this as a necessary act of demystification: invisible infrastructures can never truly be democratic. berkhout holds an MA in information design from design academy eindhoven and has a background in cultural production.’

Oleksandr Sirous (Ukraine) operates in the unstable space between technology, nature, and politics. His work investigates the fragile connections between digital environments and real-world crises, using AI, game mechanics, and real-time data to create experimental systems that visualize collapse, adaptation, and resistance. Through interactive installations, algorithmic storytelling, and live game simulations, Sirous uncovers the hidden dynamics of social and ecological breakdowns.

Sergio Pinilla López, also known as Gio Pi, is a designer and researcher based between Spain and the Netherlands, investigating digitally mediated identities and exploring how technology generates synthetic dreamlike worlds in which we unknowingly deceive ourselves. They hold a Master's in Information Design from the Design Academy Eindhoven and have worked with Medialab Matadero, Next Nature Museum, and Worm. They are currently developing To Become a Trickster, an experimental videogame about remote work, class, and illusion, interweaving a 3D world with risograph-printed textures and webcam experimentation, developed in open-source tools.