In Presence of Your Absence — Benedetta Pompili

Design, ceramics, editorials

As a social designer based in Amsterdam, I work at the intersection of material experimentation, cultural inquiry, and environmental responsibility. Trained in ceramics and shaped by collaborations with archaeologists, artisans, and industrial partners, I approach materials not as inert substances but as carriers of histories and forms of knowledge. Research and design become acts of learning craftsmanship, retracing tradition, and opening channels for interdisciplinary exchange.

In Presence of Your Absence

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. 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.

For information or collaborations: info@benedettapompili.com

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