Report: Czech Design Week 2026
The New Art Nouveau?
If you’ve been paying attention to the latest news of the tech world, your spirits are likely down. If not, I envy you – but to catch you up to speed, the chief executive of Anthropic published an essay calling for a collective slowdown in artificial intelligence advancement due to “safety risks”. Now, I don’t know Dario Amodei, but if a CEO of a billion dollar company is both writing an essay and urging an industry whose mantra is “move fast and break things” to move slow and fix things, then I do believe we have reasons to be concerned. However, today I don’t want to induce panic, but rather make a case for hope – with the help of the various exhibitions at this past Czech Design Week.
As technology seems to be moving at a faster rate than we can keep up with, the design world seems to be turning to nature for its intricate, inimitable beauty. This is not a new phenomenon. In late 19th century Europe emerged the Art Nouveau movement – artwork recognizable by its use of organic shapes, natural motifs, and other fantastical elements. As art historians claim, the movement sprung out of the allure of new scientific advancements of the time, like the discovery of microorganisms. These discoveries, along with the industrial revolution, uprooted many aspects of society, but it also inspired people to make great art – Alfons Mucha being one of them.
I believe a similar trend is present in design – and if you didn’t make it to this year’s festival, here’s a roundup of a few designers who explored how the creations of human beings’ and the natural world can be intertwined.
Designing Like Nature
The most easily connected to the natural motif is the exhibition PREMENA, led by Sylvia Jokelová and Petra Rybánská, which explored how we define and can ultimately repurpose materials during a climate crisis. “The current industrial paradigm has taught us to perceive materials as passive qualities optimized solely for production and consumption,” they wrote, “leaving a mark not only on the landscape but also our mindset.” Featuring student projects from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, the works consistently prove that we can redefine the way we think about materials not as static objects, but autonomous entities with their own history, culture, and memory. To reflect this idea, the artists embraced the natural qualities of the materials rather than dominate them – like the brittleness of glass, or the malleability of sugar. This way, the medium is not a tool for creating art, but shines as the art itself.
Also representing Bratislava was Antónia Morvayová in her project REFLECTONY. By playing with the fragile yet moldable glass bubble, she creates mesmerising vases and sculptures. However, what contributes most to the visual intrigue is her use of silver, stainless steel, and light which blur the lines between the beginning and end each material. Accompanied by the flower arrangements, what’s produced is a dynamic yet harmonious flow of color, light, and life.
Clearly borrowing from nature are the shoe designs by Mária Baumann Pobočková. Using 3D printing, she explores how digital tools can improve and personalize footwear and fashion. The two shoes shown undoubtedly resemble plants and even porous microorganisms – with roots and stems at their base. Utilizing these new technological mediums like 3D printers, Pobočková claims “…the result is a clean solution that combines aesthetics, form, function, and technical reasoning, seeking a balance between material, technology, and user needs.”
One of my personal favorites was the work by sisters Anna and Zuzana Gállyová, whose jewelry and vase designs showcased human beings’ decaying relationship with nature. Anna’s jewelry took inspiration from Slovakia’s endangered and protected species, incorporating animal prints, string-like feathers, and other natural materials resembling wood, stone, and seashells. Zuzana vases, while beautifully shaped from glass, were designed to resemble a dying or cut tree. Together, both sisters criticize humanity’s exploitation of the earth and its inhabitants.
Kristýna Kovaříková’s rugs act as both art pieces and home decor. Made from New Zealand wool, they clearly pay homage to the outdoors in both serene and playful ways. I particularly enjoyed the installation at the exhibit, as having carpets in an outdoor setting offers a whimsical juxtaposition.
Tydle Datle’s packaging, Barbora Šmejkalová’s furniture design for FORMA, and Monika Pacíková’s glasswork are just a few of the other designers who wove nature into their work.
Touch Grass
In 2025, Merriam Webster deemed the word of the year to be slop: “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” The word hasn’t decreased in popularity as we near 2027. It seems that “slop” is being slapped onto anything we deem to be low quality – a quick Google or YouTube search will provide you with an array of critiques of slop content. Clearly, people are fatigued with not only the amount of content they are bombarded with, but also with the tolerance for cheap, low-effort art.
But if you scroll a bit further down that same Merriam Webster article, you’ll find another phrase: “touch grass”. It’s a command which urges one to go outside, experience the real world, or reconnect with nature. “Though originally used as an insult,” Merriam writes, “touch grass also became something of an aspiration, even a physical quest, for many people who wanted to break their digital addiction.” The work at Czech Design Week embodies this spirit. Unlike slop which hijacks your attention, nature requires the discipline of deeper examination to appreciate its intricacies.
As a journalism student, I will always advocate for the importance of being informed. However, I understand the toll that takes on your ability to remain optimistic about the future. But in the same way informed citizenry is a discipline, so is directing your attention towards what is good and beautiful. So, in the face of slop, digital malaise, and talk of dystopian doomsday, I encourage you to remember that people are still creating good art, humans will continue being humans, and if we got through the technological uncertainty of the late 19th century, perhaps we can get though it again.
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