In Between the Cocoon and Design
by Betül Hafızoğlu, Elif Tekcan and Melis Baloğlu aka 'KÜF'
Dutch Design Week 2021 Participant Project
Project ‘’In-between: the cocoon and design’’ is a speculative design research project conducted by three designers who came together to explore the co-designing possibilities with the silkworms, as non-human living agents, which have been isolated from their natural environments thousand years ago.
The project perceives design, nature and culture as networks and aims to create a dialogue between humans and non-human living agents in the process of design; rebuild the relationship between the silkworm and mulberry tree by reversing the process of domestication; and design in-between spaces for multiple interactions and interventions, and experiment how to design in flux. The project proposes a speculative response to the major problems of sericulture (domestication of silkworms, silk extraction process causing the death of pupae, etc.) in a designerly way.
may - july 2021
The model shown is one of the many layers of the project allow the silkworms to visit the mulberry tree again.
with many thanks to Melis Baloğlu and Elif Tekcan!
The Design Team 'KÜF'
KÜF (meaning mold in Turkish) is an independent design collaborative which brings like-minded designers, Betül Hafızoğlu, Elif Tekcan and Melis Baloğlu, from various disciplines together for bio-based design experiments, speculative queries, and sustainable solutions. Our approach is circular to design where it is a part of a network of science, nature, craft and technology. To sustain our circular approach, we support the hybrid relations between human and non-human living agents.