Side Gallery

Sabine Marcelis (b.1985 New Zealand) is a designer living and working in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Raised in New Zealand, she was recognized from a young age for her design abilities, being awarded the New Zealand Young Designer of the Year. Marcelis studied industrial design for two years at Victoria University in Wellington, and continued her studies at the Design Academy Eindhoven, where she graduated in 2011. When graduating the designer was nominated for a fleet of prestigious design grants, such as the ‘Unge Talenter Designpriser’ by the Norsk Designråd, the René Smeets Award, and the Keep an Eye Grant.

Since graduating, she has been operating Studio Sabine Marcelis, working within the fields of product, installation and spatial design with a strong focus on materiality. Her work is characterized by pure forms and natural elements such as the reflections of light and water, which she believes highlight material properties. Growing up in New Zealand Sabine was surrounded by dramatic landscapes, always sensitive to the light of the sky, the ocean and the snow on the mountains, the artist was inspired by the communication of the natural elements. Her work captures these beautiful moments in nature on a smaller scale, as objects or installations.

Over the last decade, the award-winning designer has become known for her work with resin and glass. Her receptiveness for these two materials is due to their manipulability; sharp angular shapes as well as spineless curves can be protracted giving the artist endless scope for form. Moreover, the translucency of the both materials can be adjusted from sheer transparency to milky or solid opaque finishes. Working in collaboration with industry specialists, Marcelis intervenes in the manufacturing processes using material research and experimentation to achieve new and surprising visual effects, applying a strong aesthetic point of you to the material development processes. The series Candy Cubes is an example of the designer’s complex material investigation; a polyester resin mold is used to cast the piece, followed by an intensive polishing process. The cast resin is light sensitive, as sun rays shine down onto the solid blocks, the light illuminates the edges, sugar coating the sides, making the aptly named “marshmallow” colored candy cube appear edible.

As well as playing with natural light, Marcelis also experiments with artificial lighting in her work. The introduction of neon light to her material combinations expresses the relationship between light, color and transparency in a more constant context. In 2015 Marcelis produced the series Dawn Light whereby the introduction of a white neon tube to a series of different geometric resin objects was used to reflect a unique moment in nature; when the sun, clouds and sky all join together, creating a momentary riot of hues. The series was on show at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Holland. Since then Marcelis has continued to work with neon and resin developing complex colour recipes and finishes, resulting in her Totem Series commissioned and sold exclusively by Side Gallery in 2019. The collection is composed of four different sized lighting elements, two table and two standing lamps. The Totems are built with several stacked translucent resin volumes which are slightly rotated on a central axis. The carved-out void where the neon light is inserted allows for a multifaceted play between the twisted planes of polished resin and light reflections. Every angle of the lights is a unique visual experience.

As well as designing object pieces, the Dutch designer has a series of impressive installation projects associated with her profile including, the Aesop Vedovelle Fountain, the Dutch Pavilion at Cannes Film festival 2017, a Light installation at Biennale Interieur 2018, The Solo Sun Dial project 2018, Burberry x OC in 2018 and De/Coding ‘Alcantara in the tapestry Rooms’ in 2019. Perhaps her most famous installation was her Shapes of Water or Fendi Fountains installation, first exhibited at Design Miami 2018. The ten water sculptures designed from cast resin were a continuation of Marcelis experience and experimentation in material practices, projecting her own vision her elegant avant-garde creativity corresponded directly with the Fendi philosophy.

The designers most prestigious exhibition yet, was her museum show “NO FEAR OF GLASS” in December 2019. The intervention commissioned by Side Gallery in collaboration with the Mies Van de Rohe Foundation, consisted of five original works by the Dutch designer, meticulously placed within the Pavilion. The five pieces were designed to extrude from the architecture itself; two large chaise lounges were pulled up from the ground by extending the travertine floor to form a base, they were sliced with a singular sheet of curved glass which was seemingly pulled from the walls. The two materials met and became sculptural yet functional furniture pieces. Eight chrome columns provide the structural support for the roof of the pavilion. Marcelis introduced a ninth mirrored-glass column which functioned as a light and was placed in line with the structural columns, blending in seamlessly with the architecture, both in form and materiality. In the water pond outside the pavilion, a curved glass fountain could be seen bending the water upwards from the ground, and letting it spill over and back down.

Marcelis won the 2020 Wallpaper Designer of Year Award, her material exploration continues to create surprising applications as her reputations reaches all corners of the world. The designer continues to be represented by Side Gallery where a number of her pieces can be seen, including the series, Voie Lights, Seeing Glass, Filter lights, Totem Lights, Candy Cubes and others.

Muller Van Severen was founded in the early Spring of 2011. With Fien Muller a trained photographer and Hannes Van Severen an artist, it’s natural that their work sits somewhere between design and art. The couple create sculpturally interesting furniture objects, which interact with the space around them, characterized by careful research into art, architecture and materials. The designers explore the boundaries between art and design through a constant search for new innovative ways to make furniture with a sensitivity for functionality and practicality. Their constructions entertain a dialogue of austerity in conjunction with extravagance, lightness and severity, delicacy and solidity. Their fascinating world is based on their study of materials, their sense of color and proportions, as well as their apprehension of architecture

Materiality is another element that defines the work of the Belgium designers, materials often being the starting point of their designs. Striving to showcase the natural beauty of their chosen materials, they let the materials speak for themselves. Their objects reflect a deep appreciation of the materials they use to create their pieces. When it comes to colour, they prefer to use integrally coloured materials, in which colour penetrates to the very core of the object, if applying paint, they do so in textured layers, lending the designs a natural radiance.

One of the design duos first collections, Landscapes for Living symbolized their philosophy to “create is to live”. The collection of multi-functional furniture pieces embodied soulful design. Their works are created to come to life with the human form playing an essential part in the design; their book shelf “model writing desk”, for example comes life when the furniture’s second function is revealed, the piece becomes a bench, writing desk and shelf rather than simply the latter.

After winning countless awards and collaborating with prestigious museums (such as Vitra Museum, Centre Pompidou and Musée d'Art Decorative Paris) and galleries (Galerie Kreo, Side Gallery, Valerie Traan Gallery) worldwide, Muller Van Severen is considered to be one of the most image-defining European design teams of today. Their creations are globally identified in both private homes and public spaces. All of Muller Van Severens own production pieces are handmade by small-scale fabricators and skilled artisans, with an honesty to the rawness and irregularity of the chosen material.

New Zealander born designer Sophie Rowley (b. 1986) obtained her B.A. in Fashion and Textile design from HTW Berlin in 2011, and, having interned with Alexander McQueen and Diane von Furstenburg, completed an MA in Material Futures at Central Saint Martins in London in 2014. After graduating she worked for British designer Faye Toogood in London then for and Godrej and Boyce in India. In 2017 she returned to Berlin to set-up her own design practice.


In her work Rowley reveals hidden aesthetics of everyday matter through the experimentation with process, craft and material. She collaborates with the industry by developing bespoke studies and concepts for targeted applications of new materials. Through research and experimentation, she pushes the physicality of materials to their limits, revealing new features and hidden unexpected aesthetics. Using a wide range of techniques, her approach focuses on sustainability and innovative material development.


Her most iconic collection is her ‘Khadi Frays’. The series of textile wall pieces were developed by the designer during a one-year residency in India. They are inspired by the Khadi Spirit, an Indian term which describes the state of illimitable patience. In ‘Khadi Frays’, the repetitive actions of conventional handweaving techniques was reversed. Instead of building up the material thread by thread, a solid block of multiple weaves forms the starting point. Each layer undergoes a carefully calculated destructive process, during which over 10,000 threads are patiently removed, leaving a frayed finish behind. Through eating into these material blocks, multi-dimensional textures are created, gradually dwindling down to the base layer. The differences in weight and tension of the warp and weft lead to subtle variations in shade and dependent upon the perspective angle, reflections on the surfaces occur. Through this technique simplistic and modest materials were transformed into intricate arrangements and elegant wall pieces, endeavoring to give a modern twist to textile craft. The experiments with stencils led to different design outcomes made from natural canvas cloths, rough linen fabrics and cottons hand-dyed in Indian turmeric. Rowley and her ‘Khadi Frays’ series were selected as finalists for the renown LOEWE craft prize in 2019.

Another important collection by Sophie, was her Material Illusions series. The concept brought together a collection of conventional waste materials which, having undergone a range of craft and experimental techniques, came to appear “nature-simulating”. With these bespoke material studies and concepts, she helped brands repurpose their own waste in unique and experimental ways, which look beyond the standard aesthetics often associated with recycled materials.

A continuation of her Material Illusions series was her Bahia denim collection. Rowley was commissioned by Nissan in 2014 to develop her Bahia material into a dashboard, which was showcased in a Tokyo as part of an exhibition focused on innovative materials. Material Illusions won the Surface category of New Design Britain Awards 2015, and in the same year, Rowley was commissioned by David Chipperfield Architects to create bespoke material study for the Water Bar at Selfridges department store, London.

Her work is featured in Radical Matter: Rethinking Materials for a Sustainable Future, published by Thames & Hudson in 2018, and was exhibited as part of Poème Brut at Design Museum Gent in the same year.

Carlo Lorenzetti (b. 1990 Chicago, IL) is a designer from Michigan, USA. His formative training in pottery was the basis for his undergraduate studies. He graduated from the University of Michigan School of Art & Design with a B.A in Fine Arts, in 2012. He studied ceramics and furniture design and focused his research on the relationship between digital fabrication with traditional craft techniques.

In 2015 he received an M.A from the Contextual Design department at Design Academy Eindhoven, where his research focused on themes of the subconscious. His focus shifted away from hybrid fabrication methods to user experience. His craft background was foundational in his exploration of domestic and primal archetypes. He looked at human behavior, researching themes of the subconscious mind and psychoanalysis, relating them to his design objects. Vessels and containers offer a physical and symbolic platform. He currently lives and works in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Romain Coppin and Alexis Bondoux are two freelance designers, who regularly work together under the name of Messgewand (which is german for “chasuble” a word which, in French, not only means a priestly vestment but also a colorful sporty tank top). Messgewand is a collaborative practice based between Lyon (FR) and Amsterdam (NL). The two designers met eleven years ago, while studying at applied-arts school in Nevers (FR), where they bonded over a shared skepticism regarding the product driven nature of their design education. After seven years of training in product/object design, they now use this discipline as a medium to question its aesthetic conventions and defne their own plastic language.

They explore the concept of mental furniture, midway between functional sculpture and nonfunctional design. To do so they are experimenting with collage and domestic familiarity of sculpture. Through those mediums, they express their interest for the use of art pieces as objects and designed objects as art pieces. This position especially make them answering to professional assignments as much as self-initiated projects with a critical approach toward modes of production and representation. They disrupt the seriality of production by creating a mash-up of low design and craft interventions. 

Their experimentations are visualized using object, furniture, sculpture, image and drawing. By doing so, they try to challenge the contemporary visual codes and rules of the object design feld. Each project is an opportunity to experiment and precise their personal design langage. All of them put together are determining a large research area positioned in a narrow gap between art and design. They see themselves as designers/researchers that have a fascination for aesthetic ambiguity, which is something that they use as a tool to create aesthetic contrasts within their objects, and try to keep their work constantly in between. Always oscillating between sacred and cheap for instance, which is helping them to mix mass culture and avant-garde. Being ambiguous it’s also the way they choose to approach as closely as possible a new discipline related to object/furniture, and to the crossroads of many others.

They use their design background to hack the usual product design process of creating and making such as thinking - sketching - drawing - modeling - making. They see each step of it as a potential fnal proposal instead of having them linked in a global and closed production loop. For Messgewand, it is really more fulflling to experiment all these mediums independently from each other by keeping them in an open relation, where they all have the same hierarchy regarding the notion of fnality. One of their challenges is to display the results of their experimentations in some stages which are not the usual ones. They want their artworks to be “about” design more than being design themselves. Challenging the conventional process enables them to build abstract representations of functional design, based on a maximal and excessive ornamentation.

The intuitive and raw collage is the main part of their practice. Connected to an empirical production process, it became their favourite and most powerful way to produce their pieces so far. It really fts their desires of over materiality and obsessive decoration. It allows them to mix mediums, popular aesthetics and domestic codes. Their work is actually a collage of effects (texture, colors, decoration, accessories) combined with poor material, semi-object and leftovers that they enhance by layering, covering, composition and ornementation. Thanks to that re-reading of found material, they are able to create busy objects made of contrasts and ambiguity between trash aesthetics and plastic radicality.Romain Coppin and Alexis Bondoux are two freelance designers who regularly work together under the name of Messgewand (which is german for "chasuble," a word which, in French, means not only a priestly garment but also a colorful sporty tank top). Messgewand is a collaborative practice based between Lyon (FR) and Amsterdam (NL). The two designers met eleven years ago while studying at the applied-arts school in Nevers (FR). They bonded over a shared skepticism regarding their design education's product-driven nature. After seven years of training in product/object design, they now use this discipline as a medium to question its aesthetic conventions and define their plastic language.

They explore the concept of mental furniture, midway between functional sculpture and nonfunctional design. To do so, they experiment with collage and domestic familiarity of sculpture. Through those mediums, they express their interest in using art pieces as objects and designed objects as art pieces. This position especially makes them answer professional assignments as much as self-initiated projects with a critical approach toward modes of production and representation. They disrupt the seriality of production by creating a mash-up of low design and craft interventions. 

Their experimentations are visualized by using objects, furniture, sculpture, image, and drawing. They try to challenge the contemporary visual codes and rules of the object design field. Each project is an opportunity to experiment and precise their design language. They all put together to determine a significant research area in a narrow gap between art and design. They see themselves as designers/researchers who have a fascination for aesthetic ambiguity. They use this to create aesthetic contrasts within their objects and try to keep their work constantly in motion. For instance, they oscillate between sacred and cheap, which helps them mix mass culture and avant-garde. Being ambiguous, it's also the way they choose to approach as closely as possible a new discipline related to object/furniture and the crossroads of many others.

They use their design background to hack the usual process of creating and making, such as thinking, sketching, drawing, and modeling-making. They see each step of the process as a potential final proposal instead of having them linked in a closed production loop. For Messgewand, it is more fulfilling to experiment with all these mediums independently by keeping them in an open relationship. One of the challenges that they face is displaying their experimentations in unusual stages. They want their artworks to be "about" design rather than being design pieces themselves. Challenging the conventional process enables them to build abstract representations of functional design based on maximal and excessive ornamentation.

They work intuitively and are connected to an empirical production process. This became their favored and most powerful way to produce their pieces so far. It fits their desires of over-materiality and obsessive decoration. It allows them to mix mediums, popular aesthetics, and domestic codes. Their work is a collage of effects (texture, colors, decoration, accessories) combined with poor material, semi-object, and leftovers that they enhance by layering, covering, composition and ornamentation. Thanks to that re-reading of found material, they can create busy objects of contrast and ambiguity between trash aesthetics and plastic radicality.