Jannis Kempkens

As designer and materials researcher, Jannis Kempkens explores the relationships between people and materials, the complex challenges that sustainable design brings, and the opportunities that arise when we are willing to enable change and discover new connections.

At weißensee school of art and design berlin, he is working within LignoLight, a research project to develop sustainable materials and products based on lignin, a waste stream from the paper industry worldwide. The focus of the project, in addition to the developing material applications of a resource of which currently almost 100% is burned, is the early integration of lightweight construction principles for the production of materials and products that require fewer resources in their production and processing as well as in their transport, thus saving CO2.

He graduated in 2022 with a master’s degree in product design from weißensee school of art and design berlin and, in addition to his research at the university, is co-founder of the Circology design studio in Berlin.