Urban and industrial remnants costantly recur in the work. Their incorporation becomes a tool to investigate on their ambiguous status, circulation and alternative possibilities to diminish the impact of the industry.
At the core of her practice lies an interest in daily repeated gestures and in process as a form of knowledge. This extends beyond objects into the design of shared workspaces. They are intendend as environments that support exchange and collaboration.
Permanent collection
Part of the show “Investigating a footprint”
Curated by Wendy Gers and Lab air
November 2025 - ongoing
The history of asbestos is woven through a complex web involving its uses in architecture, within building pipes and insulation, and the textile industry. Given its extraordinary insulating properties, asbestos was applied in countless ways.
Already Afterwards applies a glaze crafted from asbestos-containing concrete on a revisited kantharos, an Etruscan drinking vessel widespread throughout the Marche region, where the designer originates. Used in both convivial and funerary contexts, the kantharos was realised in collaboration with Etruscan replicas expert and potter Andrea Desimoni.
The glaze finishes were developed over the past three years in collaboration with the research centre AC Minerals, which treats asbestos-cement from buildings in the Netherlands. The development process of the glaze started during the Tech fellowship in 2022 in close collaboration with specialist Marianne Peijnenburg.
Within the focus of the exhibition on sustainability, having the cup as an entry point, the piece envisions the afterlife of ceramics, highlighting not only their durability in time, allowing to record past uses and communities, but also their narrative abilities. Asbestos was once used in antiquity to preserve fire in temples, symbolically keeping the divine flame alive, and later became known for its lethal presence in modern industry. The glaze process becomes a vehicle for storytelling about elemental transformation, circularity, and embedded history.
Already Afterwards applies a glaze crafted from asbestos-containing concrete on a revisited kantharos, an Etruscan drinking vessel widespread throughout the Marche region, where the designer originates. Used in both convivial and funerary contexts, the kantharos was realised in collaboration with Etruscan replicas expert and potter Andrea Desimoni.
The glaze finishes were developed over the past three years in collaboration with the research centre AC Minerals, which treats asbestos-cement from buildings in the Netherlands. The development process of the glaze started during the Tech fellowship in 2022 in close collaboration with specialist Marianne Peijnenburg.
Within the focus of the exhibition on sustainability, having the cup as an entry point, the piece envisions the afterlife of ceramics, highlighting not only their durability in time, allowing to record past uses and communities, but also their narrative abilities. Asbestos was once used in antiquity to preserve fire in temples, symbolically keeping the divine flame alive, and later became known for its lethal presence in modern industry. The glaze process becomes a vehicle for storytelling about elemental transformation, circularity, and embedded history.
Curated by Manuel Cirauqui
December 2025 - May 2026
In the context of the show, Conversing with Matter proposes a journey into clay, exploring and researching local, traditional and unconventional resources to make. The set-up of the project was redesigned in dialogue with the architecture of the museum designed by Frank Gehry, characterised by curved titanium, limestone and glass surfaces. The original cargo structures, that have been transporting and showcasing the project since its beginnings, were re-adapted to design new archival shelvings and an expositive cabinet with a biodegradable material obtained from rice husks and in use as a red thread along the rest of the show.
Cureted by Martina Muzi
2025 - ongoing
Glaze—historically both a surface treatment and a form of containment—becomes a method of material disclosure. In the kiln, chemical residues react with heat to reveal the hidden compositions of the sites they came from. The iron can easily mute the copper. Growing amounts of zinc can show through a perfect gloss, or dramatic crystals and crawlings. Each tile becomes a kind of map that records the tensions between standardisation, opacity and contamination in the chemical industry.
‘Le Sere’, meaning ‘the evenings’ in Italian, offers a gesture of care toward materials at their end cycle. Through design, industrial residue is amplified rather than concealed, making visible the complex interdependencies that define the chemical sector.
Lisbon Architectural Triennale 2025 ed.
Supported by AC Minerals
2025 - ongoing
Asbestos remains a persistent and large scale global health and environmental crisis. Though its use is banned in many countries, it endures in ageing buildings, legacy mine sites, landfills and older housing stock.
AC Minerals Asbeter has developed a mechanical‐chemical process to destruct asbestos fibres and convert asbestos-contaminated cement into benign, CO2-neutral raw materials.
The installation, presented as part of the 2025 Trienal de Arquitectura de Lisboa, comprises two sculptural columns, each made from a distinct material derived from neutralised asbestos: one from MACMA, a cementitious structural material, and the other from a former-asbestos mineral glaze, applied to a ceramic base.
Glaze development for Ola’s Hassanein’s solo The Watcher
2025
In The Watcher, Ola Hassanain‘s solo exhibition at Kunstinstituut Melly, Ola reflects on the act of watching as a form of responsibility—of bearing witness to both environmental and political catastrophe. Central to the project is the figure of the watcher, drawn from Sudan’s Gezira irrigation scheme: a community caretaker who monitors water levels and signals early signs of floor. Rooted in communities facing environmental precarity, including Ola’s own, the role becomes a lens for considering how people respond to the slow unfolding of catastrophe—whether natural or engineered.
Ola commissioned to the studio a crackle glaze for two stool tops she had previously designed and made. The glaze was mainly composed of treated asbestos and clay, aiming at resembling soil in drought periods.
The project began with a gesture of preservation of form, material, and process. The focus shifted to reinterpreting the traditional hama, the porcelain props used to avoid cracking and helping the shrinking. The large majority of objects made in porcelain are fired on a hama, that is daily tossed away after one use.
A large quantity of hama was once produced in Arita, Japan. Following the retirement of a local Hama maker, the Saga Potters Association acquired his moulds to support continuity among regional kilns. Through this initiative, the project gained access to communal moulds—offering a foundation rooted in the region’s ceramic heritage.
Among a vast and largely undocumented variety, the moulds selected were those used by the recently assigned Arita kiln, Housem. Renting these moulds eliminated the need for new forms, ensuring alignment with shapes already integrated in local kiln practices.
In its early phase, we produced over 200 Hamas in three sizes, using a jiggering machine typically reserved for mass production. With the support of Eguchi-san from the Saga Research Laboratory, this system was adapted to suit a more exploratory context. The Hamas were kept leather-hard for several weeks—paused in transition—while the next design phase unfolded.
Further development required an understanding of porcelain variation and its subtle shifts during drying and firing. Theproject drew from the expertise of master mould maker Mr. Yamaguchi.
Parallel to the form-making, the project investigated the archival potential of colour—specifically the pink hue of bisque porcelain. Using nerikomi techniques, pigments were blended into the porcelain body, with extensive testing to determine the ideal ratios reproducing the pale pinky shade of the bisqued porcelain. Under the guidance of Masami Kuwabata, three porcelain grades were mixed, tested, and refined. Over time, the process established its own rhythm—of timing, thickness, and drying—repeated across multiple forms.
The outcomes were presented in a Tashiro Japanese-Western house in Arita,a symbolic hybrid site combining harmoniously and sharing a blend of cultures. Displayed on traditional green crates used for porcelain transport, the pieces reflected a continuous dialogue between tradition and its reinterpretation.
Co-founded with Yuval Harel and Hannah Rose Whittle
2024 - ongoing
vuur collective is a shared workspace committed to the introduction of innovative and sustainable materials in the daily life of a ceramic atelier. It offers makers, artists, and designers a space to gain knowledge and develop a circular approach and get to know local materials for their own practice. vuur collective is also a space for local research in the form of brief residencies, workshops, masterclasses, and lectures. The project aims at making the knowledge more accessible outside of institutional frameworks.
Curated and tutored with Thomas Amann, Hannah Segerkrantz
Projects by Finn Blindow, Julia Cazar, Jacques Ernzer, Charlotte Eybl, Anna Gramm, Eugen Halbhuber, Benjamin Kislich, Martin Kohlbauer, Karolina Kolencikova, Beyza Koruglu. Sara Kosanovic, Ana-Elisa Kresitschnig, Elisa Kreuzer, Raman Levoshka, Marlene Melkus, Isabella Mundle, Lea Notsch, Jeremias Pointner, Charly Schneider, Paul Sebesta, Johanna Syre, Julius Wolff
Supported by LINA
2023-2024
Material Assemblies explored the bioregional resources of Vienna, focusing on alternative material narratives and sustainable infrastructures, in collaboration with LINA and the department of Architecture of TU Wien.
The research was divided into four main categories: excavation, construction and demolition, food production, and agriculture. Working with the architecture students, we conducted site visits to production plants, construction sites, and museums, physically gathering materials and collecting data on their origins, locations, and availability. This data was compiled into fact sheets, contributing to a map of Vienna's resources, industrial by-products, and waste streams.
The project encouraged a deeper reflection on the ecological, cultural, and historical context of the materials. This led to a shift from simple cataloging to questioning the impact of material choices, especially on a large architectural scale. The students engaged in hands-on testing, experimenting with the materials’ properties, and creating small samples. They began crafting narratives around the materials, documenting their compositions and processes, and selecting those most suitable for scaling up.
The students scaled up their experiments in a 10-day workshop, producing small series of materials such as bricks, panels, and glazes. They worked collectively, inventing new methods and machinery to process the materials and experimenting with synergies between different materials. Each material was accompanied by a bioregional map detailing its composition and potential applications.
The final phase focused on documenting and testing the outcomes. We collaborated with experts from TU Wien to test the mechanical properties of their materials. The results were compiled into product sheets, providing a foundation for future applications in architecture and design. The materials were presented at Vienna Design Week in September 2024, where they were applied in the hospitality area designed by Studio Dreist, showcasing the potential of local resources.
2024-ongoing
Supported by Stimuleringsfonds
This project explores the history and evolution of bone china, from its invention by Thomas Frye and Edward Heylin in 1744 to its refinement by Josiah Spode in 1759. Thanks to collaborations with the Spode Archive Trust, Stoke-on-Trent City Archives, and other experts, historical recipes and letters have been uncovered, shedding light on its development.
Through archival research, factory visits, and interviews, the project has examined the bone china production in both Japan and the UK. Key findings include differences in material composition—Japanese manufacturers use synthetic bone ash, while UK producers rely on natural bone ash. The visits to Stoke-on-Trent’s Wedgwood and Valentin Clays Ltd. further deepened the material research.
Parallel to historical studies, the project is actively developing a vegan bone china alternative. With support from Susphos, a sustainable material called Phoenix Bond—derived from recycled phosphoric byproducts—is being tested.
Prinsenhof Delft Museum
Single fired and raw glazed earthenware, various sizes, 2023.
The project adapts on 3D printed earthenware vessels the ancient single firing technique, which consists on obtaining a sintered and glazed ceramic object with only one instead of two or three firings. The process drastically reduces the energetic impact of the manufacturing process.
Raw.obj combines the traditional knowledge of the craft, as the technique requires a set of technical skills and practice, added to digital modeling. It pushes the technique to its limits by raw glazing thin 3d printed clay walls aiming at showing the applicability and functionality of the process.
In occasion of the exhibition “Pioneers in Ceramics” at Museum Prinsenhof in Delft (NL), the 3d printed Maas river clay is enriched by a baby blue underglaze made with 1% Cobalt Oxide in honour to the “Delft Blue”.
Supported by Rijskakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam
Relief of black mould spore ‘stachybotrys chartarum’, stoneware and treated asbestos glaze, 30x60x4 cm, 2024.
The series of ceramic reliefs depict a micrograph of the black mould spore ‘stachybotrys chartarum’. This specific species is found to grow on asbestos, a highly toxic material used within domestic and industrial construction. The panels are glazed with ‘Quenched Asbestos’, a glaze composed of treated asbestos and recycled Heineken green glass bottles, developed during the Techfellowship program of Rijksakademie in 2022.
- ADI Design Museum
- Lamp, porcelain, glaze
- made of treated asbestos,
- steel beam, LED, perspex
- tube. 33x33x20 cm.
In Presence of Your Absence is a lamp-assemblage, composed by a translucent porcelain diffuser and upcycled architectural parts from Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten building, where the production was held. It invites to look through the core of the project: a ceramic glaze made by treated asbestos.
The design promotes circular modes of production while supporting the research to counter the issues related to asbestos. The asbestos-cement, composing the 70% of the glaze, becomes inert through a low-temperature treatment, which in turn reuses local chemical waste. The patented process is the result of a collaboration with the research center Asbetter Holding (Rotterdam, NL), focusing on reducing the toxic impact of asbestos fibres.
Realised in collaboration with sunday morning EKWC, Wetering, and Asbeter Holding.
Graduation project for Design Academy Eindhoven
© Benedetta Pompili 2021.
Researching on clay and extraction
It starts with the collection of wild clay from the river Maas. The employment of river clay has multiple sustainability aims. A gradual harvesting method allows the riverbanks to clean and regenerate, lowers the CO2 impact of the transportation, keeps the connections with regional colours, textures, and properties. River clay additionally urges to care for what goes dispersed into urban waters as clay absorbs and tracks the chemical contamination encompassing it.
The potter’s wheel as an inquiry tool
The wild clay was purposefully marbled with a white stoneware from Germany for behavioural durability and stability during making. The conversations on the potter’s wheel between the hand of the maker and the two clay types, takes body in an archive of hundred pots inspired by Jacoba jugs. Mirroring the nature of the two clays, Jacobas were traded from Germany, the origin of the stoneware, to the Netherlands, where the river clay came from. Due to shipwrecks, many Jacobas still lay down in the river bed. The inspiration from the archaeologic findings was thought as a way to tell the stories of the materials and highlight their geographical origins while crafting a shape to archive the process.
A potters’ saying suggests that, to start understanding the clay on the potter’s wheel, it is needed to throw at least one hundred pots. Hence, one hundred samples of conversations were led.
Treated asbestos as a filler
By collaborating with AC Minerals, a Rotterdam-based research centre treating asbestos-cement and turning it into silica, the last chapter of the research explores the application of the by-product of the treatment of asbestos as a filler in the clay. This uncommon grog, thought of as such for the first time, strenghtens the body of the clay while reducing the quantity of material needed. It in fact can substitute the 50% of the amount of clay needed. The material research was further materialised in a set of 450 wall tiles, configuring the architectural and insulating possibilities of the composition.
- Designed and developed with Eleonora Toniolo
- Printed in Berlin on printed FSC paper, 2023.
- Special thanks goes to the FU Review team
FU Review Berlin (DE) is an independent literary journal. As with each issue of the journal, a main theme is assigned, representing the core of inspiration for the selected artists.
The new editorial design of the journal has been curated in collaboration with Eleonora Toniolo and with the support of the editors in chief since 2019. The design was thought to smoothen out the readers’ experience of the journal, that had been abruptly changed multiple times in the previous issues.
The typographic choices and the grid are designed for a pleasurable and airy reading with a sensitivity to detail. Each issue is unique, as the design is lightly adapted to the temporary main theme and the practice of the visual artist, changing as well for each edition.