21 rising stars for 2021
Handpicked by Wallpaper*, we showcase the brightest, most exciting graduates, in every creative field
Our Next Generation showcase shines a light on 21 outstanding graduates from around the globe, Wallpaper’s pick of the best new talent in seven creative fields. See more on all our graduates at Wallpaper.com∏ #Wallpapernextgeneration
01 JIANI ZENG & HONGHAO DENG MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
This Us-based Chinese duo use lenticular 3D-printing to create dynamic colour and texture in design objects. ‘Our designs consist of two basic layers: a top layer of lenticular lenses, and a base layer of colours or patterns. The technique can be used to create a variety of 3D designs, such as shifting patterns, interactive written content, and even touchsensitive visual effects,’ they say. Dream collaborators: Norman Foster; Tokujin Yoshioka. @jianizeng; @honghao_deng
02 CÉLESTINE PEUCHOT Design Academy Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Peuchot’s project, ‘Inert Domestic System’, explores the idea of what would happen if our machines and production systems stopped – a far-fetched scenario made more plausible by the pandemic, which has exposed the fragility of our manufacturing supply chains. Her series of six handmade ceramic objects points to how industrial production techniques can adapt and take note from artisanal manufacturing. Dream collaborators: Didier Faustino; Destroyers Builders. @celestin.peuch
03 RICK CAZEMIER, MARTIN STEFFNER, ORELIO DE JONGHE, EMILIO DE JONGHE, THOR GERARD, DIMITRIOS SELERIDIS Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Imagine a home audio system that is fully recyclable and produces perfect sound using a sheet of glass. This is what these six industrial design students, working with Delft-based technology start-up Denoize, have achieved with their ‘Ammos’ speaker. Made of smart glass, bamboo and a sturdy aluminium frame, it is environmentally sound, and can easily be repaired by users. Dream collaborators: Gispen; Victor Papanek; Spacex; Bertone; Leica; Jony Ive. @ammos_techlabs
04 CHARLOTTE KLINGE CCA, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
German-new Zealander designer Klinge’s ‘Boochi’ home-compostable cutlery is made from a by-product of kombucha production known as symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (or ‘scoby’). Finished with an antibacterial beeswax glaze, the pieces resemble textured polystyrene. ‘This project seeks to provide a secondary value stream for the waste industry,’ says Klinge. Dream collaborators: Scion; Callaghan Innovation; Fraunhofer; Braun. charly.klinge@gmail.com
05 ARIADNA SALA NADAL Elisava, Barcelona, Spain
Sala Nadal’s Balisa project is a series of 21 therapeutic tools that are intended to facilitate communication between psychologists and survivors of child sexual abuse. Each element has a unique colour, weight and texture to help express the different emotions a survivor can experience during the healing process. For use in therapy sessions and at home, they stack to form a totem that can signify a safety zone in any space. Dream collaborators: Ellen Bass; Faig Ahmed; Vitra. @arisvla
06 WEICHI HE PENG ECAL, Lausanne, Switzerland
He Peng’s ‘Photonic’ is a modern iteration of Cooper Black, the famously heavy display typeface. The Chilean designer has explored ways in which Cooper could be transformed into three cuts, Black, White and Grey, thinning out the structural elements to create different characters for different applications. Dream collaborators: Dimitri Bruni, Manuel Krebs and Ludovic Varon of Norm. @weshehe
07 ABBIE REILLY Birmingham City University, UK
‘My work is digital, but having a physical colour palette is the best way for me to create the right feel for my illustrations,’ says Reilly, whose project is inspired by her lockdown experience and Adam Martin’s GABA meditation podcasts. The illustrator also cites Birmingham’s brutalist architecture and skate culture as influences. Dream collaborator: Carhartt WIP. @abbieblah
08 ANNELI OPPAR Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn, Estonia
Oppar’s collection of 3D-printed nylon and stainless steel jewellery explores the concept of time. Titled ‘The Actual Calculations’, the series is based on the idea of Oppar retracing the steps she used to make around a pond during her childhood, and counting them as a way of defining the human perception of time. The pattern she found in these endless loops is encapsulated in her mesmerising brooches and rings. Dream collaborator: Patrícia Domingues. @annelioppar
09 SANG WON LEE Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, USA
Lee’s concepts range from an electric version of the classic Citroën DS to this striking racing aircraft, the result of an inspirational internship with Daniel Simon, the concept designer on films such as Tron: Legacy and Oblivion. ‘This is an imaginary propeller-driven craft for future air races. The canopy is replaced by cameras, and the pilot is surrounded by an interactive display,’ says the South Korean designer. Dream collaborator: Daniel Simon. @sangtheowl
10 GABRIELLE LIEW National University of Singapore, Singapore
Liew recently graduated with a highly praised final MA project that investigates global food production. ‘Despite urban agriculture being a widely discussed topic, I wanted to deconstruct it and twist it to create an extreme example of how we could achieve not just food selfsufficiency but also climate positivity for a country,’ she says. Liew is now working at the Singapore HQ of architecture studio Raglan Squire & Partners. Dream collaborators: Kengo Kuma; SANAA. issuu.com/gabrielleliew
11 ISAAC NANABEYIN SIMPSON Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, UK
Inspired by Horace Ové’s documentary satire The Black Safari, Simpson’s master’s graduation project, which scooped the Bartlett Architecture Medal for 2020, explores ideas of race, power and identity. The project looks at the British landscape through the African gaze by designing a ‘vessel’ that travels across the Scottish Highlands, sparking conversations and challenging ideas around land ownership. Dream collaborators: Grace Wales Bonner; Asif Khan; James Baldwin. @issi.nanabeyin
12 ANAM IZHAR AHMED GSAPP, Columbia University, New York, USA
Supported by the Dean’s Scholarship for the academic year, Ahmed’s research on the concept of home for her master’s programme at Columbia received the 2020 Honor Award for Excellence in Advanced Architecture Design. Raised in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan but now based in the US, Ahmed sees architecture as a means to make life better for communities, and she is currently working at New York studio MOS. Dream collaborators: Neri Oxman; Assemble; Lex Pott. @kar___da
13 SHAWN ADAMS Royal College of Art, London, UK
Adams’ MA graduation project explores the relationships of the ‘burner boys’, young men in Agbogbloshie, a 20-acre material graveyard in Ghana, who earn a living by extracting the metals inside discarded electronic devices. In 2019, Adams founded the POOR Collective to help young people get their voices heard, and he is also a member of New Architecture Writers, a free programme for emerging BAME critics. Dream collaborators: David Adjaye; Francis Kéré. @_shawn_adams_
14 IGOR PJÖRRT ECAL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Madeira-born, Paris-based photographer Pjörrt’s series Apartamento – meaning both ‘apartment’ and ‘separation’ in Portuguese – draws parallels between the transformations that occur within homes and the shifting of gender identities, and offers a glimpse into confinement during the pandemic. Dream collaborator: ‘Onfim, a medieval Russian boy, whose doodles were preserved.’ @pjorrt
15 RORY HAMOVIT Yale School of Art, New Haven, USA
Hamovit’s practice is equal parts photography and performance. The Los Angeles-based artist subverts masculinity’s historic tendency towards self-adoration with staged scenes from a land in-between reality and absurdity. Understanding humour as a unifier, he disarms his audience, compelling us to linger, but the punches don’t land as you expect. Dream collaborator: Rembrandt. @roryhamovit
16 OLIVIA JOAN Parsons School of Design, New York, USA
New York-based Joan’s joyful portraiture of her female relatives challenges negative stereotypes of Black women and pays tribute to Black matriarchy. While her subjects are mostly directly engaged, regal in their strength and stature, there are also moments of tension. The best images, she says, often happen as she’s setting up her lens. Dream collaborator: Tyler Mitchell. @_olivia_joan_
17 IOANNA SAKELLARAKI Royal College of Art, London, UK
Following the death of her father four years ago, Sakellaraki returned to her homeland of Greece and, as part of the grieving process, began a project exploring her mother’s grief in relation to local social and religious norms. She was also drawn to the ritual laments of the last professional mourners in Greece’s Mani Peninsula. Dream collaborator: René Magritte. @ioannasakellaraki_photography_
18 MATHIEU GOOSSE Institut Français de la Mode, Paris, France
An elegant, gender-subverting fluidity features in Goosse’s pieces, which include both birdshaped bikini tops and leather suits. A former industrial design student, Goosse grew up in the Belgian countryside among a family of artisans. As a result, he favours craft-focused techniques and fabrics that have a time-worn quality: ‘Growing up in a remote region, I often had to work with materials I had right next to me.’ Dream collaborators: Expert artisans. @mathieugoosse
19 KANMIN KIM Coconogacco, Tokyo, Japan
As a student in Seoul, Kim lived in a tiny room with no wardrobe – ‘My clothes were always wrinkled,’ says the South Korean menswear designer. Having dropped out of his business degree and moved to Tokyo to study fashion, he reinterpreted the undesirable creases as elegant draping in his Wall Street-worthy first collection, made mostly with deadstock fabrics sourced while working a pattern cutter. Dream collaborator: A public bathhouse. @kanminkim
20 CARLA CORPAS PARET Istituto Europeo di Design, Milan, Italy
Spending lockdown in her mountainside home in Catalonia, Paret found it difficult to source materials. ‘The postal service doesn’t operate where I live,’ explains the Spanish designer, whose creations are inspired by the contrast between urban and rural life. Evoking early 19th-century garments, her deconstructed overcoats are imagined in upcycled materials and dyed naturally. ‘Nature is the main subject,’ she says. Dream collaborator: Iris van Herpen. @carlacorpasparet
21 PAOLO CARZANA Central Saint Martins, London, UK
Based on the idea of healing garments and designed as a response to personal trauma, Carzana’s MA project, ‘The Boy Who Came Back to Life’, features sustainable materials hand-dyed with anxiety-reducing lavender oil and spa water from Tuscany and Wales. ‘It was about blurring the rigidness of tailoring into something more fluid,’ says the Welsh designer, ‘and creating my own cauldron of healing therapeutic formulas.’ Dream collaborator: Anohni. @farfallapaolin0