Gala Espel

Eyes on Talents member, Gala Espel’s research project Semis (seeds in French) invites us to reflect closely on our relationship with the natural world. Paper forms that blossom into living plants, Semis is a series of organic sculptures containing seeds that, once watered, will gradually come to life. As the seed grows, the paper sculpture gently fades away. A light design vocabulary that celebrates fragile beauty. Gala Espel explores the ephemeral nature of objects and questions how design can engage with principles of transformation inspired by the natural world. Semis encourages a shift away from material permanence, focusing on impermanence and renewal as a new lens to design.
Gala Espel is a French architect and designer working between Paris and Tokyo. Her practice is constructed as a critical field of experimentation between industry and craft, permanence and disappearance. From her creations emerge narratives and forms that allow us to reflect on how to collectively rethink design.