Black & Beige Cotton Bowl by Krupka-Stieghan
  The Exceptional

Krupka-Stieghan is a Berlin-based design studio focusing on experimental products for the home and office. Cofounders Philipp Stieghan and Katrin Krupka first met in 2007 in Hanover; they joined forces professionally in 2014 with the launch of their studio—first out of a shared space in Berlin’s Moabit neighborhood, and, as of 2016, in a home studio in the city’s Wedding area. 

Innovative materials and production methods drive the studio’s work. According to Krupka, “Materials reach our senses in an immediate way. They arouse curiosity and challenge us to explore. In studies and experiments, we reveal new potentials and applications of materials and technologies.” Recreate Textiles (2015), for example—arguably the studio’s most standout project to date—consists of a series of vessels that give new life to cotton waste from the textile industry. Working with a team of chemists, manufacturers, and research institutes, the studio created a range of bio-based compound materials that were then used in hand-formed, elegant vessels as well as non-woven materials that champion the unusual patterns and textures of the upcycled cotton fibers.

As of this writing, Krupka-Stieghan has exhibited at several prestigious locations, including, but not limited to: London’s Mint Shop (Twisting Traditions, 2015) and Aram Gallery (Extra Ordinary, 2015), Berlin’s DMY International Design Festival (2015), and the Frankfurt-based fairs Heimtextil (Young Creations, 2016) and Ambiente (Talents, 2016). The studio has also been honored with multiple awards, including a Young Creations Award from Heimtextil (2016), a New Talent Selection at DMY (2015), and the Designpreis Brandenburg, a prize awarded every two years by the German state’s Ministry of Economics and Energy (2015).

Katrin Krupka was born in 1981 in Hanover, Germany. From 2001 to 2005, she studied German philology, history, and architecture at Leibniz University of Hanover, graduating following an intermediate examination. After school, Krupka worked as an independent bag designer in Hanover. She went on to study design at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam, graduating with a Master’s degree in 2015. While still a student, she interned at Hermann August Weizenegger and Culture Form. After graduating, she worked for Max Borka in Berlin (2013) and Benjamin Hubert in London (2013-14), before settling in Berlin in 2014.

Born in 1977 in Hildesheim, Philipp Stieghan was trained in advertising sales and studied marketing and communications at Norddeutsche Akademie. He graduated in 2007. During and after school, he worked as a producer in Hanover; he went on to work as a project and account manager in Berlin for various communications and design agencies, including, most recently, branding design firm Minigram Studio and infographics design agency Golden Section Graphics.