Mecca X NGV Women in Design Commission: Christien Meindertsma

Known for her game changing thinking and groundbreaking approach to design, Netherlands-based designer Christien Meindertsma asks us to imagine a new material future, enabled by creativity, ecological thinking, and emerging technologies. Over the past two decades, the famed designer has produced objects, textile and furniture works exploring wide-ranging subjects; from animal by-products, to flax, and forestry. Meindertsma uses design to investigate complex problems, and in her most recent research she has developed a new fabrication method using waste and recycled wool that demonstrates the material’s unique properties and potential uses – its softness, strength, warmth, acoustic and biodegradable properties. For the Commission presented at NGV in October 2024, Meindertsma will produce her most ambitious work to date; a large-scale form made from European wool that would be otherwise disposed of, revolutionising the ways that waste wool can be re-purposed. Developing a world-first robotic technology for 3D felting in collaboration with Netherlands-based company Tools for Technology, the designer will show you how it is possible to build structural, three-dimensional objects from wool and invite you to consider how you may embrace a new material era. On a mission to recognise the work of female-identifying designers and architects from around the world, the MECCA x NGV Commission series invites these creatives to produce a new work for the NGV Collection.