Sophie Falkeis is a multidisciplinary designer from Vienna, Austria, and Alumna from the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Her work investigates evolutionary mechanisms under anthropogenic influence by envisioning future scenarios of multi-species cohabitation.
Her work is part of the permanent collection at MAK Museum for Applied Arts Vienna (AT) and has been exhibited at various venues, including the London Design Biennale (UK), Vienna Design Biennale (AT), Dutch Design Week (NL), Floriade Expo 2022 (NL), Beijing Art and Technology Biennale (CN), and Kornhausforum Bern (CH), and has been featured in the New York Times. She has previously worked at Iris van Herpen Couture in Amsterdam and was a research fellow at Terreform One in New York City. Sophie gave a keynote at the 2023 Species on the Move Conference in Florida, spoke at the Centre for Marine Socioecology Tasmania, PRIMER21 Global San Francisco, DDW Talks Eco Pioneers, as well as other international conferences. For her work, she has been awarded a START-Stipendium by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts & Culture and the Planet Love Prize by the Vienna Business Agency.
She is also the founder of The Encounters Lab, an interdisciplinary research platform connecting science and design.
photo by designingesellschaft
SCHOLARSHIPS & AWARDS
Falling Walls, Breakthrough of the Year, Global Summit
Art and Science, Finalist | 2023
Art and Science, Finalist | 2023
Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport
Project Grant | 2023
Project Grant | 2023
Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research
Project Grant | 2022
Project Grant | 2022
Vienna Business Agency
Content Vienna, Planet Love Prize | 2021
Content Vienna, Planet Love Prize | 2021
Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport
Start-Stipendium Architecture & Design | 2021
Start-Stipendium Architecture & Design | 2021
TALKS & CONFERENCE CONTRIBUTIONS
World Futures Studies Federation: Ecological Speculations - Narratives of the Future
Paris | 25 Oct 2023
Paris | 25 Oct 2023
CCIM Symposium: Climate Change and Infection, the rising Challenge. Medical University Vienna.
Vienna | 16 Oct 2023
Vienna | 16 Oct 2023
Species on the Move Conference, Keynote - Anticipatory Ecology meets Speculative Design, Cross-disciplinary approach of communicating scientific data through visual storytelling
Bonita Springs | 16 May 2023
Bonita Springs | 16 May 2023
New Design University, Lunchtime Lecture - Facts with Fiction, Ecological Speculations and Immersive Installations
St. Pölten | 16 March 2023
St. Pölten | 16 March 2023
Kornhausforum Bern, Artist Talk - Im Gehen begriffen
Bern | 14 September 2022
Bern | 14 September 2022
CMS Webinar: Anticipatory Ecology Meets Speculative Design
Hobart | 2 May 2022
Hobart | 2 May 2022
DDWTalks: Eco Pioneers - Next Biodiversity
Eindhoven | 23 Oct 2021
Eindhoven | 23 Oct 2021
PRIMER21 Global Conference - Now What?
San Francisco | 8 July 2021
San Francisco | 8 July 2021
HASI Human Animal Relations Conference - Challenges and Opportunities in Changing Realities
Tel Aviv | 3 June 2021
Tel Aviv | 3 June 2021
Exhibitions
2023, Sep: Vienna Design Week, Unding, Design in Gesellschaft, Vienna (AT
2023, June -July: DateDing, Design in Gesellschaft, Vienna (AT)
2022 - 2023, Oct - Feb: Synthetic Ecology, Beijing Art and Technology Biennale, 789 CUBE, Beijing (CN)
2022, Nov: Turning the Ecological Gears (solo show), Vienna (AT)
2022, Sep: Vienna Design Week - Design in Gesellschaft, Ding Dong, Vienna (AT)
2022, Sep: MAK Design Nite - MAK Menu, Design in Gesellschaft, Vienna (AT)
2022, Sep - Oct: Alpen Traum & Wandlung, Kornhausforum Bern, Bern (CH)
2022, Sep: MAK Permanent Collection, Design Labor, Vienna (AT)
2022, Apr - Oct: Floriade Expo, Dutch Innovation Pavillion, Nature Loves Technology, Almere (NL)
2021, Oct: Dutch Design Week: Bibliotheek Eindhoven, Eindhoven (NL)
2021, Sep - Oct: Vienna Design Week - Design in Gesellschaft, Vienna (AT)
2021, May - Oct: Vienna Design Biennale - CLIMATE CARE, MAK Vienna (AT)
2021, June - July: Angewandte Festival, Vienna (AT)
2020, June: Angewandte Festival, Vienna (AT)
2018, September: Austrian Pavilion at London Design Biennale 2018 (UK)
2017, June: Vienna Design Biennale - Design for Agency, MAK Design Forum (AT)
2017, June: Vibrations, KADK, Copenhagen (DK)
2017, March: Possible Sustainable Future at Guldminen, Copenhagen (DK)
2016, June: The Essence, University of Applied Arts, Vienna (AT)
Experience
Iris van Herpen Couture, Amsterdam
2D/3D Design Internship | Apr - Aug 2019
2D/3D Design Internship | Apr - Aug 2019
Terreform One, New Lab, Brooklyn NY
Research Fellow | Sept 2018
Research Fellow | Sept 2018
falkeis²architects, Vienna
Internship | Sept - Oct 2017
Internship | Sept - Oct 2017
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (KADK), Copenhagen
Exchange, Industrial Design and Ceramic Form | 2017
Exchange, Industrial Design and Ceramic Form | 2017
University of Applied Arts, Vienna
Studio Industrial Design, Fiona Raby | 2015 - 2016
Studio Design Investigations, Anab Jain | 2016 - 2021
Studio Industrial Design, Fiona Raby | 2015 - 2016
Studio Design Investigations, Anab Jain | 2016 - 2021
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London
Introduction to Product Design | 2014
Introduction to Product Design | 2014
University of Vienna, Vienna
English and American Studies | 2014 - 2015
English and American Studies | 2014 - 2015
University of St Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland
Creative Writing Summer Programme | 2013
Creative Writing Summer Programme | 2013