Sintesa

2025

Event | Collaboration | Exchange

Sintesa

2025

Event | Collaboration | Exchange

Here’s a riddle: A young designer, a professional designer, and a material producer walk into a studio. Wonder what they could come up with?

In this collaborative program, part of the Ekraf Design Festival, Sintesa brings together designers with different levels of experience to create something fresh. The fresh designers had the opportunity to work alongside seasoned professionals and exchange ideas and expertise. And to make things even more interesting, they partnered up to work on products using unconventional materials such as mycelium leather, algae leather, textile waste, and recycled plastic.

Design residencies are something familiar within the field. Yet they are often directed to more experienced practitioners. So what about the young ones? Newly hatched into the big and scary world of the industry?

Sintesa aims to bridge the gap between those, giving fresh minds the chance to collaborate with experienced professionals and help regenerate the industry. With our signature experimental and playful approach, the participants were allowed to explore as creatively as they wanted!

  • Ivan Nauval (Nouv Studio) x Adham Haekal Rizki
  • Alya Zahra Camila x Ari Triawan (Iter Soundsystem)
  • Hilwa Alifah A. x Roberta Pangestika & PRD Team (Exsport Bags)
  • Phiby Adhanayyar Arief x Givan Rangga (Studio Mahardika)
  • Shalsa Rifda Kamila x Ahmad Helmi Imaddudin (Hijack Sandals)
  • Marchellina Laurentius x Ilham Pinastiko (Pala Nusantara)

Searching for the right fit

Applications flooded in within a short time, and we were faced with so many incredible junior designers, but only a few spots were available. The process wasn’t as simple as picking the designers; it also involved a rigorous discussion for the matching, as we seek to partner those with similar interests together in order to create the ultimate dynamic duos. And in the end, we have the six incredible groups, each consisting of a promising junior designer and an outstanding professional designer.

But first…

We began with an online bootcamp featuring several notable speakers for both junior and professional designers to ignite their experimental visions. Wendy Teo from Borneo Lab shared an insightful presentation on reciprocity, and Ayos Purwoaji explained the concept of synthesis, which creates a new identity from its parts, while assemblage creates a new arrangement of its existing parts.

A peek behind the curtain

Participants were taken around Bandung to visit MYCL, Olah Plastic, and The New Factory to take a look at the process behind the alternative materials they are to respond to. Not only that, but each microfactory also presented its materials, informing participants of its features while also teasing about its untapped potential.

Time is of the essence

Within the 10 days of offline residency, the designers need to use each second wisely. It seemed jarring–it was jarring–yet somehow the very limited amount of time raised the stakes and made everything work out. In just a short time, the designers managed to whip up incredible products.

Altering the take-make-dispose industry model while passing on the knowledge to the next generation of designers through meaningful apprenticeship.

The sweet results

At the end of the residency period, the designers presented their initial prototypes during the mini showcase at Disbudpar Jabar. Then, they were given a week to improve the projects and put together the final products. At the Ekraf Design Festival, the projects were exhibited to the public, and the designers shared their insights with the audience during the talk.

Here’s a riddle: a young designer, a professional designer, and a material producer walk into a studio. Wonder what they could come up with?

In this collaborative program, part of the Ekraf Design Festival, Sintesa brings together designers with different levels of experience to create something fresh. The fresh designers had the opportunity to work alongside seasoned professionals and exchange ideas and expertise. And to make things even more interesting, they partnered up to work on products using unconventional materials such as mycelium leather, algae leather, textile waste, and recycled plastic.

Searching for the right fit

Applications flooded in within a short time, and we were faced with so many incredible junior designers, but only a few spots were available. The process wasn’t as simple as picking the designers; it also involved a rigorous discussion for the matching, as we seek to partner those with similar interests together in order to create the ultimate dynamic duos. And in the end, we have the six incredible groups, each consisting of a promising junior designer and an outstanding professional designer.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Marchellina Laurentius x Ilham Pinastiko‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ (Pala Nusantara)
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Ivan Nauval‎ (Nouv Studio) x‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Adham Haekal Rizki
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ Alya Zahra Camila x Ari Triawan‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ (Iter Soundsystem)
‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Hilwa Alifah Azzahra x Roberta Pangestika‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎& PRD Team (Exsport Bags)
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Phiby Adhanayyar Arief x Givan Rangga ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎(Studio Mahardika)
Shalsa Rifda Kamila x Ahmad Helmi Imaddudin (Hijack Sandals)

Searching for the right fit

Applications flooded in within a short time, and we were faced with so many incredible junior designers, but only a few spots were available. It wasn’t just about picking the designers; we also had a rigorous discussion to match them so we could pair people with similar interests and create the ultimate dynamic duos. And in the end, we have the six incredible groups, each consisting of a promising junior designer and an outstanding professional designer.

But first…

We began with an online bootcamp featuring several notable speakers for both junior and professional designers to ignite their experimental visions. Wendy Teo from Borneo Lab shared an insightful presentation on reciprocity, and Ayos Purwoaji explained the concept of synthesis, which creates a new identity from its parts, while assemblage creates a new arrangement of its existing parts.

A peek behind the curtain

Participants were taken around Bandung to visit MYCL, Olah Plastic, and The New Factory to take a look at the process behind the alternative materials they are to respond to. Not only that, but each microfactory also presented its materials, informing participants of its features while also teasing about its untapped potential.

Altering the take-make-dispose industry model while passing on the knowledge to the next generation of designers through meaningful apprenticeship.

Time is of the essence

Within the 10 days of offline residency, the designers need to use each second wisely. It seemed jarring–it was jarring–yet somehow the very limited amount of time raised the stakes and made everything work out. In just a short time, the designers managed to whip up incredible products.

The sweet results

At the end of the residency period, the designers presented their initial prototypes during the mini showcase at Disbudpar Jabar. Then, they were given a week to improve the projects and put together the final products. At the EKRAF Design Festival, the projects were exhibited to the public, and the designers shared their insights with the audience during the talk.

The projects are: