Iris van der Wal is a spatial designer and researcher based in Amsterdam whose work spans experimental installations, exhibition design, and architectural projects. Established in 2017, her studio brings a playful and investigative spirit to every project: whether that means dismantling a Japanese house piece by piece, designing an immersive exhibition, or reimaging how a space can tell a story. Fascinated by how buildings carry meaning and how people interact with them, her work engages with heritage that is often overlooked, contested, or too quickly dismissed. She has a strong belief in the potential of the existing: salvaging and reusing materials from threatened buildings, and exploring bottom-up approaches to circular demolition. She finds that working with the exisiting sparks a creativity that new materials rarely can, and that this approach feels increasingly urgent in an overconsuming industry. Her projects are often interdisciplinary and collaborative, engaging with relevant societal themes such as Post65 heritage, circular demolition, and housing. The scale of her work ranges from spatial installations to urban visions, with projects in the Netherlands, Japan, Hungary, Italy and Sweden. Iris is active in education and research, with (former) affiliations at TU Delft, Design Academy Eindhoven, Willem de Kooning Academy, and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.



 picture by Sander van Wettum