Makers in the Lab 2021 - 2025
The TextileLab is a space open to all—a place where creativity, experimentation, and collaboration thrive. Since 2021, we have welcomed a diverse range of makers, artists, and thinkers, each bringing their unique ideas and projects to the lab:
Individual Projects
Andrea Ósk
Andrea worked with the TC2 digital loom to create textiles for bridal wear — likely the first wedding dress fabric woven in Iceland in decades!
Hanna Dís Whitehead
,,Staðbundið": Research on straw & wool, resulting in the exhibition Blíður Ljómi at DesignMarch 2023. Since then, Hanna has regularly returned to work in the lab on various projects.#
Halla Ármannsdóttir
The first maker to use the digital knitting machine, Kniterate. Designed a shawl / new design for a shawl displayed at DesignMarch 2023. Halla returned in 2024 and 2025 to work with the felt loom and Kniterate.
Júlíanna Ósk Hafberg
Experimented with the felt loom, laser cutter, and digital embroidery machine. Work shown in her Reykjavík studio.
Kamilla Henriau
,,Áseta": Researched horsehair & wool as sustainable alternatives to plastic sponges. Supported by the Rannís Student Innovation Fund.
Valgerður Birna Jónsdóttir
,,Fundið fé" (Golden Fleece): Final project at the Iceland University of the Arts, Product Design program, in collaboration with the Textile Center.
Collaborations & Groups
Studio Flétta & Ýr Jóhannesdóttir
“Felt” is an ongoing collaboration between Studio Flétta (Reykjavík) and textile designer Ýrúrarí. Using offcuts from Icelandic knitting factories and donations from the Red Cross, Birta Rós Brynjólfsdóttir, Hrefna Sigurðardóttir, and Ýr Jóhannsdóttir experimented with the felt loom in the TextileLab to create felted pieces in a variety of shapes and sizes. Following their residency in 2022, Studio Flétta and Ýrúrarí presented Pizzatime at DesignMarch 2023—an exhibition and five-day performance where visitors could order freshly felted wool “pizzas” made on-site from leftover knits using a felt loom. The project received the Icelandic Design Award in 2023.
Intelligent Instruments Lab: The Reykjavík-based lab visited in 2023 and explored e-textiles to create an interactive, textile, and musical installation.
MunkLoua Design Studio & RE:TEX (Denmark)
The team used leftover textiles from Ghana to develop new sustainable designs on the felt loom.
Bosk & Sól
Bosk & Sól (Berglind Ósk & Sól) used the TextileLab in 2021 for their project Þráðhyggja and a clothing line made from recycled felted cleaning cloths. The project was supported by the Student Innovation Fund and the Design Fund, in collaboration with the Iceland University of the Arts and the Textile Center. The Icelandic Red Cross provided textiles from their clothing collections. Watch the video here.
Fabricademy Students (Sept 2022 – Apr 2023)
Alberte Bojesen
Final project: Seaweed Dialogues — explored seaweed for biotextiles. Nominated for the Distributed Design Awards!
Alice Sowa
Final project: Glacial Bio Pottery — used food waste (egg shells, ash) for ceramics. Co-developed Fjólublá, a bacteria dye project.
Emma Shannon
Final project: Hearty Party — heart health, e-textiles, and wearables.
Margrét Katrín Guttormsdóttir
Final project: Moving Shapes— captured the fluidity of dance movements.
