Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Teresa van Dongen is a designer and scientist who is interested in science and nature at play in design. Van Dongen is already receiving recognition for her work in this field and was recently awarded the Young Designer Award at the Dutch Design Awards 2015 for her bioluminescent lamp installation, One Luminous Dot.
In her work, Van Dongen uses design as a visual and expressive platform to showcase the wonders of the biological phenomena and scientific discoveries she has come across in her studies such as glow-in-the-dark energy produced in nature. In her opinion, design is a vital tool of communication that can be used to share knowledge in a way that is understandable for everyone.
On the Design Indaba stage this year, van Dongen shared the creative journey of her award-winning Ambio light and her fascination with uncovering the design of nature. She encouraged the audience to think about how much is still to be discovered saying, “I sometimes have the feeling that we’ve been on the moon but we barely know our own planet.”
