Julia Lohmann's Kelp Sculptures at the Design Museum

In contemporary design discourse, moving beyond a human-centered approach has become a crucial agenda for creators aiming to rethink our relationship with the planet. German-born designer Julia Lohmann has continuously pushed these boundaries by investigating how living organisms are transformed into design materials, offering a provocative look at the biological systems underlying our material culture.

At London's Design Museum, Lohmann arranged five towering kelp sculptures in a circle for the 2025 exhibition More than Human. Their translucent skins stretch across ribbed frameworks, resembling unfamiliar creatures brought up from the ocean floor. Titled Kelp Council, the installation imagines a gathering of marine organisms discussing the condition of their environment, with visitors invited to join the conversation and reflect on ecological responsibilities.

Lohmann's fascination with the origins of everyday materials dates back long before her seaweed experiments. In 2004, she created Waltraud Cow-Bench, a leather-covered piece of furniture shaped to resemble a reclining cow. By returning the familiar material to the bodily form of the animal it originated from, she drew attention to an intimate connection that typically vanishes during mass production.

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

This line of inquiry eventually led her toward marine algae. During a 2013 residency at London's Victoria and Albert Museum, she founded the Department of Seaweed, a collaborative research initiative exploring the properties of kelp. Working alongside scientists and specialists, she developed techniques that allowed the material's natural drying and contracting properties to dictate sculptural forms, such as in Kombu Ahtola (2020) where kelp is stretched across rattan frameworks.