Tag: nature based solutions
Arpad Pulai
Arpad Pulai is a distinguished textile artist and Senior Artistic Associate at the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade. His practice focuses on sustainable textile design and the exploration of sociological themes, working exclusively with eco-friendly materials and recycling techniques.
His work is part of the collection of the Museum of Applied Art in Belgrade, and he has received numerous prestigious awards in Serbia for his contribution to contemporary textile art and sustainable design.
Maja Halilovic
Maja Halilovic, an award-winning biodesigner and innovator, who transforms organic waste and living systems into next-generation materials. She works with biomaterials derived from eggshells and unicellular organisms, exploring how natural intelligence can be integrated into design and manufacturing.
Her research challenges conventional boundaries, demonstrating that the future of design lies in nurturing materials rather than extracting them. By bridging the gap between biological systems and functional objects, she redefines unicellular organisms, agricultural residues, and urban waste streams into intelligent, sustainable materials that unite technical innovation with refined aesthetics. As one of the leading voices in Balkan biodesign, Maja is widely recognized for her pioneering work in organic biomaterial synthesis, advocating for regenerative production cycles that eliminate waste at the source.
Henriëtte Waal
Artist and designer known for her interdisciplinary work in artistic research, environmental design, and community engagement.
She is the artistic leader of Veenweide Atelier and the co-founder of Atelier LUMA, LUMA Arles’ biodesign lab dedicated to bioregional practices and material engineering. Henriëtte has led fieldwork in Mediterranean wetlands, collaborating with remote wetland communities from Southern Europe, Africa, and West Asia. Her work spans co-fabrication systems for beverages, footwear, colors, crafts, and spaces, as part of an ongoing search for new ecosocial balance. Her projects have been exhibited internationally.
In her recent book Water Works (Waal & Driessen, 2025), she outlines ecosocial design as a method, in which the relationship between humans, ecology, and systems is central. The book positions water infrastructures as socio-ecological systems that require new forms of ecological imagination, storytelling, and alliances between human and non-human actors.
Resilience in Design
Period poverty and designing eco-friendly sanitary pads
Natasa Perkovic
BLENDING AESTHETICS, INNOVATION AND A DEEP CONNECTION TO NATURE IN HER DESIGN PRACTICE.
Born in Sarajevo into a family in which her father and grandfather worked for the well- known Yugoslav-era wood industry, SIPAD, Natasa grew up surrounded by the scent of wood samples and an appreciation for wood crafts and industry. Though she once found furniture design uninspiring, her perspective shifted after studying Product Design at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Sarajevo and gaining international experience.
Returning to Sarajevo in the early 2000s, she began teaching at her alma mater and built her design practice in a country still recovering from war and industrial decline. As the country’s furniture sector moved from exporting raw materials to developing its own products, Natasa established her studio and began collaborating with local manufacturers.
Today, she is a leading voice in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s design revival, dedicated to education, regional collaboration, and shaping a bold, innovative and sustainable design culture.