What if waste doesn’t disappear, but marks the beginning of new design? Da Trash Club – a collective of young designers – was named winner of the Kazerne Design Award 2026 on 13 May with The Trashifesto. Through dance, hilarious costumes and infectious energy, they unmask the myth that what you throw away actually disappears. The jury unanimously awarded them the prize.
What at first glance appears to be a performance is meticulously thought-out design. As a collective, they create a total experience in which waste is incorporated into carefully designed costumes, publications and videos. It was precisely this combination of innovative design and humour that tipped the balance: a worn yet urgent subject brought to attention in an entirely unique way.
On behalf of Da Trash Club, Erle Hobbs thanked the club members watching online and addressed initiator Annemoon Geurts: “Thank you for your openness, your willingness to experiment and for welcoming us with open arms.”
New Generation, New Future
How does the young generation of designers give shape and meaning to the ongoing transformation of our increasingly complex world? What are their dreams – or fears – and how do they envision them? In installations, performances and material experiments – all personal stories that touch on societal themes. Compelling, hopeful, playful, poetic, critical. Always with craftsmanship, creativity and urgency. With their beautiful, well-considered, hopeful and engaged designs, the ten nominees each take responsibility in their own way to contribute to a more sustainable world.
The projects ranged from practical innovations to philosophical reflections. Benjamin Onno Dikmans showed with Rewild Farming: Starter Kit how discarded shipping containers can create a complete system for local food production. Aglaé Jerry Wilson depicted the diversity of Black and mixed-race identities in a colourful installation of ceramic tiles and sound. Gad Lomholt Nimér gave linoleum a new life as ship cladding and developed a new production technique together with Swedish glassblowers. Laurin Böhm mapped the living world of the Rhine on a handmade raft, while Matthijs Koerts dissected the loudspeaker to its essence and elevated the mould to a design source. Da Trash Club unmasked with dance, hilarious costumes and infectious energy the myth that waste ever truly disappears. Baguette Studio showed with Le Labo 1.0 how lamps made from natural wax can be produced locally and circularly. Sara Ballout made visible how informal energy networks emerge in Lebanon, Valdís Steinarsdóttir recovered gold from electronic waste and told the story through Icelandic mythology, and Valentin Dugrais uses horsehair, a more sustainable material that is visibly and tangibly, as an alternative to plastic foam. Each project offered a unique perspective on what design can achieve – as a critical mirror and as a source of alternative futures.
Award Show
During the festive award show on 13 May, the nominees presented their work live to an enthusiastic audience and the jury. In a short time, the show offered surprising depth across ten diverse works – an insight into the world of a new generation. Moderator Jeroen Junte, journalist and founder of DesignDigger, hosted the evening.
Junte identified a revaluation of industrial processes and old techniques: “The nominees take it back and make it their own.” At the same time, it is about slowing down and a personal touch – home country, identity, heritage. “They work very close to what the world needs. A big compliment to all of them.”
Jury Report
The jury found it a difficult decision to choose a winner, precisely because of the diversity of subjects and approaches. They are all winners. But the prize money went to Da Trash Club, because they bring a worn yet topical subject to attention in an innovative way and with great humour. What tipped the balance: as a collective, they create a total experience in which waste is meticulously incorporated into well-designed costumes, publications and videos. A design award for what at first glance appears to be a performance – but the design is what makes it extraordinary.
Annemoon Geurts addressed the nominees: “You are our future, take your responsibility and don’t end up in bullshit jobs. I feel the hope of your generation.” The jury was impressed by the high level but found it an impossible task to choose. But there can only be one winner – or actually ten, because the winner is Da Trash Club.
The jury consisted of Anne Ligtenberg (Social Design Bureau AM), Daphna Isaacs Burggraaf (Design Studio Daphna Laurens) and Annemoon Geurts (Kazerne Foundation). All DAE alumni.
Bureau Binnenstad Eindhoven
Joost Helms, chair of the Supervisory Board of Bureau Binnenstad Eindhoven, emphasised the importance of these young talents for Eindhoven during the show.
Helms: “The Brainport ecosystem with technology alongside design deserves much more visibility. The Kazerne Design Award connects these worlds and that is why we support this initiative.” Bureau Binnenstad Eindhoven aims to explore how design can become more visible in the city centre and hopes to welcome Da Trash Club and all other DAE alumni frequently.
The Kazerne Design Award 2026 is an initiative of Kazerne Foundation and made possible with the support of Bureau Binnenstad Eindhoven, EE exclusives, Cultuur Eindhoven and Provincie Noord-Brabant. The winner receives, in addition to eternal fame and an exhibition at Kazerne, €5,000 in prize money.
Looking Back and Looking Ahead
2026 was the seventh edition of the Kazerne Design Award. Teun Zwets, winner of the first edition in 2021 and now an internationally active designer, was present and reflected: “I was given a stage to tell my story at one of the best design hotspots in Eindhoven. It led to publications, interviews and direct sales. And it taught me to speak in front of a large audience.”
Antonia Vincenza Schreiber, winner of 2025, shared via an online connection that after graduating she didn’t know what her future as a designer would look like. Until she won. She calls it a catapult into professionalism.
Through the Kazerne Designlab network, connections will be sought for all ten nominees with people and organisations that can help these talents further develop and realise their projects.
The 2026 Nominees
Sara Ballout, Laurin Böhm, Benjamin Onno Dikmans (& Bram de Vos), Valentin Dugrais, Philippe Gaud & Emma Lohner (Baguette Studio), Da Trash Club (Catrine Faurby, Noam Hasak-Lowy, Rosetta Penna, Adèle Visser, Rosalie Braamkolk, Tabby Flynn, Erle Hobbs, Chantal Kluitman, Hyunjoo Lee & Elie Seksig), Aglaé Jarry Wilson, Matthijs Koerts, Gad Lomholt Nimér and Valdís Steinarsdóttir – all recent graduates of Design Academy Eindhoven.
See for Yourself
The award show, including presentations by all nominees, can be watched on the Kazerne YouTube channel. The exhibition featuring work by the nominees is free to visit at Kazerne, Downtown Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Kazerne is open daily from 12:00. Admission is free.
Photography presentation: Maria Paloma
Photography exhibition: Ruud Balk
