Da Trash Club wins 2026 Kazerne Design Award with The Trashifesto

A collective of 2025 graduates from Design Academy Eindhoven, has been awarded the 2026 Kazerne Design Award for their project The Trashifesto. The winning work combines dance, waste-built costumes, publications, and video to dismantle the myth that discarded objects simply disappear.

A celebration of Critical Design

The Kazerne Design Award recognises recent DAE alumni whose work challenges conventions and sparks dialogue. This year, ten nominees: Sara Ballout, Laurin Böhm, Benjamin Onno Dikmans, Valentin Dugrais, Philippe Gaud & Emma Lohner (Baguette Studio), Da Trash Club, Aglaé Jarry Wilson, Matthijs Koerts, Gad Lomholt Nimér, and Valdís Steinarsdóttir; exhibited projects that explore what society ignores, forgets, or renders invisible. From practical innovations to philosophical reflections, each work invited visitors to engage with design as both a critical mirror and a source of hope.

Da Trash Club is Catrine Faurby, Noam Hasak-Lowy, Rosetta Penna, Adèle Visser, Rosalie Braamkolk, Tabby Flynn, Erle Hobbs, Chantal Kluitman, Hyunjoo Lee, and Elie Seksig. Their victory is a testament to the power of collaboration and the role of design in questioning societal norms. Their collective work: The Trashifesto stood out for its ability to transform waste into a meticulously designed performance, using humour and movement to expose the persistence of discarded materials. The jury, composed of DAE alumni Anne Ligtenberg, Daphna Isaacs Burggraaf, and Annemoon Geurts, awarded the collective €5,000 and a place in the exhibition at Kazerne Eindhoven.

Exhibition: 13 May – 24 September 2026

The exhibition following the Award 2026 is currently on display at Kazerne Eindhoven and features the work of all ten nominees. The exhibition is free to enter and open to the public, offering a glimpse into the future of design through the eyes of DAE’s emerging talent.

Visitors can explore projects ranging from Benjamin Onno Dikmans’ Rewild Farming: Starter Kit, a local food system built from repurposed shipping containers, to Valdís Steinarsdóttir’s extraction of gold from electronic waste. Alongside these, The Trashifesto invites audiences to confront the hidden life of waste through performance and design.