SPECULATIVE DESIGN WORKSHOP

UNEXPECTED RESULTS REQUIRE UNEXPECTED STEPS! A 4-hour dive in seeing, thinking and making differently. WHAT IF YOUR NEXT BIG IDEA STARTS WITH A LEEK? To create unexpected results, you have to take unexpected steps. Think about the last time you tried to come up with something genuinely new. Did you brainstorm? Research? Analyse? Use a method you already knew? We have been trained to solve problems in familiar ways. We learn methods at school. We inherit processes from our industries. We repeat what has worked before. And then we ask ourselves to come up with something nobody has thought of before. What if we did something completely different? For four intense hours, you will step outside the familiar and into an experimental process designed to challenge the way you see, think and create. And yes,- You will prototype with a leek. Not because we are designing food. Because you probably wouldn't choose a leek. And that's exactly why we use it. When you are forced to work with something unexpected, you can't rely on your usual answers. You have to look closer. Question what you think you know. Find properties you would normally ignore. Make connections you would normally never make. Then you build. You experiment. You fail. You surprise yourself. And somewhere along the way, something completely unexpected starts to take shape. THIS IS NOT ANOTHER BRAINSTORMING WORKSHOP. This is for people who are restless with the usual. People who don't sit back and wait for the next idea. People who question the obvious. People who are curious enough to enter unfamiliar territory. People who are excited by the possibility of being wrong. People who want to push themselves—and see what happens when they do. You might be an R&D professional, entrepreneur, designer, chef, creative, innovator, manager or simply someone who refuses to believe that the way things are done is the way they have to be done. You don't need a design background. You just need to be willing to experiment. FOUR HOURS. TEN PEOPLE. ONE VERY UNEXPECTED PROCESS. This is a hands-on experience. No long lectures. No sitting around talking about innovation. You will look, question, explore, connect, imagine, make and prototype. You will learn how to: → see possibilities in ordinary things → break objects down into properties instead of purposes → find inspiration where you wouldn't normally look → challenge assumptions and familiar ways of thinking → connect seemingly unrelated ideas → turn unexpected inspiration into speculative concepts → prototype quickly and without overthinking → use multiple senses to make an idea tangible and memorable And you will leave with a physical first prototype of your own speculative idea. Made from a leek. You have no idea what that prototype will look like yet. That's the fun part. THE REAL THING YOU TAKE HOME The leek prototype will eventually disappear. The way you see things might not. Because once you experience what happens when you stop looking at an object for what it is—and start looking at what it could be—it's difficult to go back. You may never look at an ordinary object in quite the same way again. And that's the real experiment. Can you train yourself to see possibilities where other people see ordinary things? COME MEET THE UNUSUAL Bring your curiosity. Leave your expectations at the door. Come ready to make something strange. Come ready to question what you know. Come ready to discover what you're capable of when you stop taking the expected route. Because if you want unexpected results, you have to be willing to take unexpected steps. DUTCH DESIGN WEEK 2026 STRP-S · Eindhoven Thursday, October 22 · 18:00–22:00 NOR, Leidingstraat 17B, 5617 AJ Eindhoven 10 people only €177 per person Your ticket includes all workshop materials, a drink and a shared soup at the end of the workshop. Four hours. One leek. Infinite possibilities. Are you in? About the organizer Laila Snevele, SENSOVERSE Laila Snevele is a sensory food designer and founder of Sensoverse- a food design studio in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. With a design background from the Design Academy Eindhoven, Laila specializes in speculative design, creating innovative multisensory experiences. Laila’s work has gained international acclaim. In 2023, she gave a TEDx talk on the creative use of senses and perception. Her work has been recognized by Instagram’s @design channel, dezeen, designboom and she recently received the Core77 Runner-Up Award in Speculative Design. This workshop is annually held for the leading Basque Culinary Center students. If interested to have a private workshop for a larger group, please email details to:[email protected]