Gaia is a Rotterdam-based social designer, visual artist, and researcher originally from Milan, Italy. Her practice focuses on anthropogenic environments, contaminated landscapes, and pollution, exploring how human activities, production, and culture manifest in the material world. Gaia’s work involves collective experiences, multimedia installations, and performances that challenge the relationship between fiction, myths, and realities surrounding consumerism, standards, and exhaustion. Through material research and storytelling, she examines the interaction between environments, materials, and bodies to create tangible data and hybrid narratives that deepen the understanding of socio-environmental issues.

Exhibitions

2024 ITALY: A New Collective Landscape, Italian Pavilion, Shanghai Expo 2024 (CN)
2024 Runaway with WhyWhyNot at DOPO?Space, Milan Design Week(IT)
2024 Pressing Matter with WhyWhyNot at Keilewerf 2, Rotterdam Art Week (NL)
2024 ITALY: A New Collective Landscape,HKDI Gallery, Hong Kong (HK)
2023 Plan-B, Eindhoven (NL)
2023  ReA! Art Fair, Fabbrica Del Vapore, Milan (IT)
2023  ITALY: A New Collective Landscape, ADI Design Museum, Milan (IT)
2022  Design Academy Eindhoven,  Graduation Show, Eindhoven (NL)
2021   Zero Hunger, Zero Power, Klokgebouw, Eindhoven (NL)
2021   Working Through Conditions/Conditioning in collaboration with the Van Abbemuseum at Eindhoven Airport, (NL)

Grant and Residencies

UpComing   Elias 2069, Art Residency Program with Matilde Patuelli (SL)
2024 Marble Pyrgos, Art Residency Program supported by Mondriaan fund , Tino island (GB)
2024 “Saline Dimention: Meals from a salt burnt ground” Design Starting Grant with Studio Stolfa, Stimularing fond. (NL)

Education

2020 - 2022 MA Social Design - (Cum laude), DAE, Design Academy Eindhoven, Eindhoven (NL)
2016 - 2019  BA Product Design - (Cum laude), NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, Milan (IT)
2021   Depth Psychology Academy, Jung and Alchemy, Online course
2019  Workshop with Fernando Laposse “Succulant Voyage”, Made Labs, Siracusa (IT)

Lectures and Workshops

2024 “Under Water Creatures” Intro Week Master Department at Design Academy Eindhoven,NL)
 2024 “Dreamweaving the Grottesque” with Matilde Patuelli at Onomatopee, Eindhoven (NL)
 2024 “Spatial Tales of Unearthly Critters” MIARD and COOKIES at Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam (NL)
 2024 “Talk and Tour” Design Academy Eindhoven, Master Social Design. (NL)
2023 Piet Zwart Institute, “Marvellous Monsters” Studio by COOKIES, MIARD Department, Rotterdam, NL
2023 Future Materials Encounter: Pollution  - Jan Van Eyck Academie at Klokgebouw, DDW23 Eindhoven (NL)
2023 “Inizi Continui” at Italian Cultural Institute curated by Martina Muzzi and Studio Ossidiana, Amsterdam (NL)
2022 Design Academy Eindhoven, Master Social Design. Eindhoven (NL)
2022 “Story of Dust,” at Arena DAE Graduation Show DDW22, Microtuin (NL)

Other Experiences

2024 “Narrative Native Dining” Series of 3 dinner event in Collaboration with NOR,  Eindhoven (NL)
2024  “Saline Dimention: Meals from a salt burnt ground” Event with Studio Stolfa at Verfris, Rotterdam (NL)
2023 Catalogue and identity for Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Show 2023 with 1/8 Of WhyWhyNot (NL) 
2023  Commissioned sculpture by Ginevra Gatti for the project AMNAS, Milan (IT)
2022  Odd Matter Studio, Fendi’s shops window, Rotterdam (NL)
2019 -NOW     “SO X Tatreez Design” with SO, Cultural assosiation, Milan (IT) (Get in touch for SO CV)

Featured

Upcoming Slanted Publishers book project “Reload.Earth” (DE)
2023 Acre Magazine - Interview about “The Myth of the CiucciaNebbia” (IT) https://acremagazine.com/en/2023/06/14/the-myth-of-ciuccianebbia-by-gaia-darrigo/
2022 Future Material Bank, Jan van Eyck Academie (NL) https://www.futurematerialsbank.com/material/pollution/