We are delighted to launch the podcast accompanying the Jil Sander Design Talks at MATTER and SHAPE 2025, curated by Dan Thawley for Jil Sander and presented by KoozArch.
MATTER and SHAPE is a design salon that takes place in the Jardin de Tuileries on the occasion of Paris Fashion Week. The salon invites exhibitors, great and small, to present exceptional projects and products in an elevated setting, celebrating the culture of global design today. The Jil Sander Design Talks seek to catalyse intersectional conversations on and around design, engaging with the topic both conceptually and philosophically as well as exploring this from the scale of the individual object to that of the pavilion. You can listen to the episodes on Spotify and Apple podcasts.
Speakers include: Jayden Ali, Felix Burrichter, Julia Capp, Anna Carnick, Meriem Chabani, Chris Dercon, Seb Emina, Jermaine Gallacher, Christoph Gantenbein, Toshiya Hayashi, Rozana Montiel, Ido Nahari, Michela Pelizzari, Willo Perron, Adrian Prieto, Dima Srouji, Dan Thawley, Sumayya Vally and Francesco Zorzi.
EP. 01 | Welcome from the Curator: the Jil Sander Design Talks at MATTER and SHAPE with Dan Thawley
In the first episode, MATTER and SHAPE curator and editor Dan Thawley sits down with KoozArch founder Federica Zambeletti to discuss the second edition of the MATTER and SHAPE design salon and the Jil Sander Design Talks emphasising the importance of cross-disciplinary conversations and the integration of tradition and innovation in design.
EP.02 | PHILOSOPHY OF THE HOME co-moderated by Dan Thawley and Seb Emina ft. Dima Srouji, Jermaine Gallacher and Michela Pelizzari.
In this second episode, speakers share their own personal and professional experiences of the home. Starting with a reading of Emanuele Coccia's book "Philosophy of the Home" to explore the tension between ideal and reality, authenticity and flexibility, professional and private as well as the intergenerational stories embedded in space.
EP. 03 | BUILDING CONNECTIONS: ARCHITECTURE & ADVOCACY moderated by Anna Carnick ft. Jayden Ali, Meriem Chabani, Rozana Montiel and Sumayya Vally.
In this third episode, speakers explore the intersection of architecture and advocacy by sharing their own experience through projects as Counterspace’s Serpentine Pavilion in London, New South’s Mosque Zero in Paris, Rosanna Montiel's Fresnel Playground and Common Unity projects in Mexico as well as JA Projects’ Queen's Market project in East London. The panelists underscored the importance of listening, community engagement, and advocacy throughout their practice.
EP. 04 | ARCHITECTURE AT LARGE moderated by Ido Nahari ft. Christoph Gantenbein, Julia Capp, Francesco Zorzi and Toshiya Hayashi
In this fourth episode, speakers explore the intersection of architecture and design with societal issues touching upon the impact of scarcity, the importance of historical continuity, and the role of beauty in design. Contrasting the importance of hierarchy with collective work, the speakers also debated the role of architects in creating sustainable and emotionally bonded spaces.
EP. 05 | 1925-2025 moderated by Dan Thawley ft. Adrian Prieto, Chris Dercon, Felix Burrichter and Willo Perron
In this fifth and final episode, speakers draw on the 1925 International Decorative and Industrial Modern Arts exhibition in Paris to discuss the significance of temporary architectures and their historical context. The conversation, which references the Wiener Werkstätte, Burrichter’s 2015 show at the Swiss Institute and Perron’s design for this year’s Matter and Shape pavilion, emphasises the ephemeral yet lasting influence of these structures on architecture and design.
Bios
Dan Thawley is an Australian-born journalist and editor whose interests span fashion, architecture, design, and contemporary art. In 2023 he became artistic director of MATTER and SHAPE, a new design salon in the Tuileries Gardens that takes place in March during Paris Fashion Week, with satellite 'hors les murs' events and happenings throughout the year.
Jayden Ali is an architect, artist and filmmaker, whose interdisciplinary practice JA Projects works at the intersection of architecture, urban strategy, art and performance. Ali is a trustee of Open City, and a Design Advocate for the Mayor of London.
Felix Burrichter is a New York-based creative director, curator, editor, publisher and the founder of the multimedia platform PIN–UP. Burrichter also curates exhibitions and consults on design and architecture projects for various design brands. In 2022 he founded the platform for contemporary home accessories, PIN–UP HOME.
Anna Carnick is an American-born, Berlin-based independent writer, editor, and curator. Her work celebrates the storytelling power of design; nurtures emerging talent and community; and champions the belief that good design can and should make a positive impact. Carnick is also cofounder of Anava Projects, a creative agency dedicated to supporting designers and endeavors that center social and environmental awareness, with the aim of achieving a healthier, more connected, and more equitable world.
Julia Capp is an architect and the Chief Executive Officer of RDAI, an award-winning architecture, interiors and design practice. Capp joined RDAI in 1998 coordinating the agency’s architectural projects, to then, in 2006, develop RDAI’s furniture and object design department ultimately becoming CEO in 2022.
Meriem Chabani is an Algerian born, Paris based architect and both founder and Principal of NEW SOUTH. Her work on complex sites includes the Taungdwingyi cultural centre in Myanmar, the Globe Aroma refugee art centre in Brussels, and the upcoming Mosque Zero in Paris. She teaches at ENSA Paris Malaquais (FR) and the Royal College of Arts (UK). In 2020 Meriem won the Europe 40 under 40 award.
Chris Dercon is an art historian, curator and the Director of the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain. He has been managing cultural institutions since 1988 when he began his career as program director of PS1 New York to then direct the Witte de With (Melly Kunsinstituut), the Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, the Haus der Kunst in Munich, the Tate Modern in London and the Volksbuhne Theater in Berlin. Dercon has also worked as a teacher, critic and journalist.
Seb Emina is a Paris-based writer and editor. His newsletter READ ME is concerned with subjects such as books, culture, travel, and food. Emina has been exploring the format of radio through projects as Wild Memory Radio with WePresent, Infraordinary FM, and the Five Radio Stations series.
Jermaine Gallacher is an interior designer, product designer and design dealer known for his singular style and innovative approach. He is Editor-in-Chief of TON, contributing interiors editor at British Vogue, and interiors columnist at American Vogue. Gallacher works internationally on residential and commercial projects, for renowned clients seeking innovation and/or steeped in tradition.
Christoph Gantenbein is an architect and the co-founder of Christ & Gantenbein an international practice dedicated to the broad realm of architecture. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, the office brings together a diverse team of 100 professionals from 20 countries. The firm's most prominent completed projects include the expansion and transformation of the Swiss National Museum in Zurich and the extension of the Kunstmuseum Basel, both of which are cultural landmarks with a global reach.
Toshiya Hayashi is the co-founder of contemporary design studio we+. we+ undertakes the design and direction of products, installations, and graphics, taking an experimental approach toward the use of technology and special materials. The design studio has exhibited works both in Japan and abroad and is represented by design galleries such as Gallery S. Bensimon in Paris and Rossanna Orlandi in Milan.
Rozana Montiel is an architect and the founder and director of the Mexico-based architectural firm ROZANA MONTIEL | ESTUDIO DE ARQUITECTURA. The office specializes in architectural design, artistic re-conceptualizations of space, and the public domain working on a wide variety of projects in different scales and layers that range from the city to the book, the artefact and other micro-objects.
Ido Nahari is a sociologist, researcher and writer whose interest lies in the fields of cultural revivalism, social welfare and the commodification of emotions. Nahari works as an assistant editor for Arts of the Working Class, a street newspaper covering art, poverty, wealth and precarity. He holds a Master of Science in Culture and Society from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he received a mark of distinction for his investigation of the marketability of authenticity.
Michela Pelizzari is the founder of PS, a milan-based strategic consulting agency, organized to create content and communication projects that revolve around design. It encompasses branding consulting, creative direction, strategic communication, press office & pr activities, social media as well as an extensive production of special projects. P:s co-operates internationally with institutions, designers, companies, brands and a wide creative network.
Willo Perron is a French-Canadian creative director and designer. He is the co-founder of the multidisciplinary studio Perron-Roettinger creating large-scale sets and live events for some of the biggest names in music and fashion. In 2022 he received an Emmy nomination for his groundbreaking Savage x Fenty show.
Dima Srouji is a Palestinian architect, visual artist and founder of Hollow Forms Studio whose work is concerned with politics and place. Srouji works with glass, text, archives, maps, plaster casts, and film, understanding each as an evocative object and emotional companion that help her question what cultural heritage and public space mean in the context of the MENA, especially in Palestine.
Sumayya Vally is an architect and the principal of Counterspace, an architectural practice dedicated to articulating expressions of hybrid identities and spaces, with a focus on African and Islamic conditions that are both indigenous and diasporic. Vally is the architect of the 2021 Serpentine Pavilion and artistic director of the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah. She has recently been appointed Honorary Professor of Practice at The Bartlett School of Architecture.
Federica Zambeletti is the founder and creative director of KoozArch. She is an architect, researcher and storyteller whose interests lie at the intersection of art, architecture and regenerative practices. Prior to dedicating her full attention to KoozArch in 2024, Federica collaborated with the architecture studio and non-profit agency for change UNA/UNLESS working on numerous cultural projects and the research of "Antarctic Resolution".
Francesco Zorzi is a designer and the CEO of NM3, a design company based in Milan. NM3 is a double sided entity, both a design brand and a consultancy agency which does architecture, interior, product, and custom furniture design.
