knitted sculptures by luna haverkorn only come to life when you use them

luna haverkorn on knitting and interactive textiles

For Dutch textile designer Luna Haverkorn, knitting is a structural system capable of producing interactive objects that shift, fold, and respond to the body. Currently completing her Master’s in Textile Interaction Design at the Swedish School of Textiles after studying Product Design at Willem de Kooning Academy, Haverkorn develops body-scale knitted forms that invite people to discover their own ways of engaging with them, whether sitting, balancing, reclining, or disappearing inside.

Speaking with designboom, Haverkorn reflects on designing through making, the knowledge that emerges from working directly with materials, and why she believes craft remains a powerful form of innovation in an increasingly automated world.

Haverkorn starts with the material itself. Observation, experimentation, and repetition form an ongoing cycle that gradually reveals the final object. ‘I love making things with my own hands. I design through making,’ she tells us. ‘By really immersing myself in a technique, like knitting, I begin to understand where I can make small changes that lead to unexpected outcomes. The better I know a technique, the more I can push its boundaries and discover new possibilities.’

all images courtesy of Luna Haverkorn

knitting as a construction technique

Looking at how plants combine rigid structures with softer, more flexible elements helps Luna Haverkorn solve questions of construction and movement. She develops ideas directly through prototypes, allowing every one of her experiments to reveal new possibilities. ‘My process often begins with observation,’ she explains. ‘When I am trying to solve a problem, find a new form, or develop a new connection between elements, I look closely at my surroundings.’ Technical precision enters only once those discoveries have been made. ‘Only once I truly understand what I want to create does technical precision become important,’ the textile designershares with us. ‘At that point, I carefully program the knitting machine to translate what I discovered through experimentation into a finished piece.’

Haverkorn approaches knitting as a method of building three-dimensional structures. Her pieces are often knitted continuously, with few or no seams, allowing a single strand of yarn to form complex forms before being filled to create their final volume. ‘I like challenging people’s expectations of what knitting can be,’ Luna Haverkorn tells designboom. ‘Many people associate knitting with clothing or traditional craft, while I use it as a way to construct sculptural, transformable objects.’

Her background programming industrial flatbed Stoll knitting machines has fundamentally shaped this way of thinking, considering how an entire object can grow from one continuous thread. ‘Because of my knitting background, I always think about how the yarn travels through an object and how a three-dimensional form can grow from a single continuous thread.’ Years of working with knitting have also shaped the way Haverkorn approaches construction. ‘Working directly with a material and technique teaches you things that you otherwise cannot know,’ she says. ‘By spending a lot of time with a machine and technique, you develop an intuition for how small changes affect the final result.’

each configuration invites a different way of sitting, resting, or curling into the textile

designing objects that move with people

Haverkorn’s objects only take their final form once someone begins to interact with them, leaving each person to decide how they are used. ‘I never see the things I make as static objects,’ she notes. ‘I’m always curious about how they can move, transform, or be played with.’ For the Dutch designer, transformation creates opportunities for participation. ‘When an object transforms, it can surprise the user and create a moment of discovery or play,’ the designer says. ‘By designing objects without one fixed form, I give some agency back to the user.’

That openness becomes especially evident in her recent body-scale textile works. There is no intended way to use them. Visitors can sit, lie down, fold, balance against, or even hide inside the knitted forms. Depending on the interaction, the same piece can encourage movement, offer a place to rest, or surround the body with a sense of comfort and enclosure. ‘The design doesn’t define behavior,’ she highlights. ‘It invites exploration.’

the knitted sculpture creates a soft enclosure that supports the body

can craft still innovate?

While innovation is often framed through emerging technologies, Haverkorn argues that craft offers its own forms of invention. ‘Innovation doesn’t have to come from new technology,’ she points out. ‘It can also come from approaching an existing craft with new questions or using a familiar technique in an unexpected way.’ Rather than introducing new digital systems, her work explores how material, form, and interaction can reshape relationships between people and objects. ‘I think innovation can exist just as much in material, form, or experience as it can in technology.’

That perspective also shapes how she thinks about artificial intelligence. While AI can generate possibilities from prompts, she believes many of the most important discoveries emerge through physical experimentation. ‘Many of my ideas emerge while I’m making, through testing, making mistakes, or noticing unexpected behaviors in the material,’ Luna Haverkorn adds. ‘That kind of knowledge comes from working with your hands.’

Looking ahead, Haverkorn expects craft and technology to become increasingly intertwined. Yet as daily life becomes more digital, she believes tactile experiences will become even more valuable.‘Craft offers experiences that screens cannot: touch, movement, and direct interaction,’ she reflects. ‘I believe those qualities will become increasingly valuable, making handmade and materially engaging objects even more relevant in the future.’

the body-scale forms can also be worn

flexible textile panels suspend the body between structure and movement

the body becomes part of the sculpture as it transforms through use

participants explore the knitted forms together during an interactive session

the sculptures remain open-ended, allowing users to determine how they are experienced

one knitted sculpture can be used for sitting, hiding, or resting, depending on the participant

body-scale knitted forms invite different ways of inhabiting the textile

participants reshape the knitted sculpture through touch and movement

the flexible textile structure folds around the body to create different spatial configurations

the objects are knitted in a continuous process before being filled to create their final volume

openings within the textile allow the body to move through and interact with the form

a close-up reveals the knitted construction and integrated structural details

project info:

designer: Luna Haverkorn | @luna.haverkorn

This interview is part of designboom’s Crafting the Future chapter, exploring what it means to be a maker in today’s world and the future of craftsmanship. Discover more related stories here.