Merel Karhof

Merel Karhof is a designer of objects and installations, whose practice bridges the fields of design, sustainability and storytelling. She is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, (Design Products MA) and the Design Academy Eindhoven (Man and Leisure BA).

Her practice blends a scientific approach with storytelling, to develop poetic designs for the living environment. Her designs create an engaging narrative that entice the viewer to investigate complex ecological concepts. For example her ‘Wind Mill Knitting Factory,’ makes the potential of wind energy and energy harvesting, tangible, as her wind-powered knitting machine produces textile used to make objects, from upholstered furniture to knotted scarves.

Merel Karhof & Marc Trotereau, Future Heritage 2017 Alumni

Mill blades that are over a metre in diameter, catch the wind, making it possible to knit an extremely long scarf. When it is windy the machine knits fast and with less wind, the machine knits slowly. The knit is ‘harvested’ and transformed into scarves, each one labelled with the time and date that the wind knitted the scarf. This is complemented by a windmill brooch, which is not just a piece of jewellery, but also a producer of energy and a green striped scarf that daily reveals the changing colour of the water in Venice.

Karhof’s knitted harvest is also used as upholstery on her ‘Windworks,’ furniture. Here wind powers the sawmill that cuts the wood, the mill that grinds the natural dyes and the mill that knits the yarn; a production triptych between three windmills that makes visible what can be produced with wind power

Merel Karhof has presented her work in exhibitions in London, Milan, Venice and China. In 2011, the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, purchased her work and recently the Zuiderzeemuseum bought her ‘Tanning-Laboratory’ for their permanent collection.

She is, with Marc Trotereau, the co-founder of lighting design label ‘ShadeVolume.’ ‘The lighting collection is a modern interpretation of the classic lampshade. Karhof and Trotereau developed a strong and simple system to link lampshades together, in a variety of groupings. With few generic shapes, the system allows an endless combination of lamps, from a single product to a large-scale bespoke installation. By combining and de-forming this familiar object, the project explores a new language of lighting.

Merel Karhof is a lecturer at a number of institutions including the London College of Fashion and ArtEZ in Arnhem.

ShadeVolume Totem 4m20 By Merel Karhof

At Future Heritage

For Future Heritage Merel Karhof collaborated with designer Marc Trotereau to create ‘Shade Volume- The Forest,’ a forest of lights. At the centre of this installation of different light stacks, was a slowly rotating light, made of 18 lampshades, which connected together, created a 3m50 tall totem. This lit sculpture revolved slowly in the space revealing the diversity of shapes of their ‘ShadeVolume’ collection.

“ShadeVolume got a commission to design a floor light for a private residence through an interior designer, we met at Future Heritage. We made a 1m30 lamp with a diameter of 70cm. It was quite a challenge because we usually make our lights in a 50cm diameter. As a result of this Future Heritage commission, we started to make larger size lights.” - Merel Karhof

Current work

‘ShadeVolume’ is currently working on a 2m20 tall, bespoke ‘Totem lamp’ for a private residence in Los Angeles and has just completed a bespoke floor standing 2meter tall ‘Totem’ for a private home in the Television Centre, London.

Merel Karhof is making corporate gifts for the Province of North-Holland, created by her ‘Wind Knitting Factory.’ She recently made a set of bespoke Windworks benches for a shopping mall in Sweden and also created a blue variation for a private residence in New York.

The Zuiderzee Museum in the Netherlands has recently acquired her ‘Tanning Laboratory’ for their permanent collection. The project demonstrates the history of traditional Dutch tanning which uses raw cutch, an extract of the acacia tree. Karhof’s new applications include jewellery and stools upholstered in fish skins tanned in cutch.

Windworks Collection By Merel Karhof

If you would like to make an enquiry about Merel Karhof and commissions, get in touch here or visit her websites www.merelkarhof.nl