Julie Merlino is a French interdisciplinary designer based in Amsterdam. Her work and research interests focus on material research and eco-social design. Her practice,  traces the interconnections between environmental and social change, whilst looking at and with both climate and natural processes deriving from non-human, or more than human species and human vernacular habits and rituals. To make the resonances among these two visible, she has adopted a transversal and holistic approach.

She finds infinite possibilities in material research and textile production, longing to find alternative methodologies to transcribe or materialize research and eventually generate discussions around them. Moreover, as a textile expert, in her projects, she embodies the importance of designing flexible, lightweight products and technologies for our future.

Eager to make a positive contribution to the bigger picture of sustainability and a future-oriented perspective, through her practice, she closely questions material use, energy consumption, recycling, user-friendliness and social responsibility. Being committed to inclusive design practices, narratives and meanings is essential for her creative practice. These ethics and poethics guide her research and allow her to turn complex concepts into more accessible forms. Fiction, especially the Solar Punk genre, promoting innovation and regenerative processes, has greatly influenced her most recent work. Merlino utilises storytelling for encouraging the viewer to re-establish our (as humans) relationship with the environment on a personal level, and by doing so, to reflect on bringing technology, infrastructure and politics back to an (inter-) human scale.

Convinced of the designer’s role as a mediator and bridge-builder, Merlino engages with experimentation and interdisciplinary collaboration. She works in various fields, communities, and localities in order to establish common languages and enable us to face common challenges.

NEWS


Julie is currenly in residency at Design Regio Kortrijk in Belgium.

Beside, she is working on SOLAR MATTER(s) project with her design studio and as a freelancer. 



EXHIBITIONS


2024  (Currently)
Wonder Festival - Kortrijk, BE


2022-23
The Energy Show - Het Institut - Rotterdam, NL

2022
Van Pasvorm tot Polygon - Centraal Musuem - Utrecht, NL