With 20 to watch, Flanders DC presents twenty emerging talents, who recently took their first steps in the worlds of design or fashion. We believe they will have great success in the future.

Who is Marijke Jans?

• studied interior design at Thomas More University College Mechelen
• likes the combination of creativity and technicality
• innovates with a material based on residual coffee streams

While researching a fascinating biodegradable material, I stumbled across

the potential of coffee relatively quickly. People associate coffee with conviviality, and aesthetically it is more accessible than many other bio-based materials. As a designer, I did not want to contribute to the waste mountain, and thus work with a CO2-negative residual stream.

My practice is ongoing technical and formal materials research, with unique designs as tangible results. Although the idea or concept does increasingly come first now that I understand the material better. The fact that moments of uncertainty and eureka alternate during that creative process makes it magical. At the same time, it is not easy to get the general public excited about a material whose properties they do not yet know. If we want to make our material world more sustainable, we will have to accept this uncertainty. As a designer, I am happy to take on that pioneering role.

Thanks to my background as an entrepreneur in the construction industry, I have both feet firmly planted in reality. I combine my design practice with a job at Buro Kade, the Dutch architecture firm where I did my internship. They are also strongly committed to circular design and also support my coffee project. However, I am also working hard on the scalability of my material and designs so that I can achieve the greatest possible impact in the long term.