Design Map · Eindhoven
To Talk With Objects
Graduation project by Adi Romański at Design Academy Eindhoven, 2026. Shown during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven on Design Map, location F5.
Domestic objects usually wait obediently to be switched on, designed to work so seamlessly that we barely notice them. ‘To Talk with Objects’ proposes a different relationship. These lighting structures depend on continued interaction: the user’s breath activates and sustains the light.
Inspired by slip casting, Adi Romanski developed a technique in which they control the form of latex to create inflatable membranes. The translucent forms expand and collapse through an integrated air system. Meanwhile, barometers register changes in air pressure caused by breathing, brightening and dimming the light in response. Breath acts as both a physical force and a signal. Rather than offering an efficient or automated product, the project interrupts the seamlessness expected of domestic objects. By requiring the direct and conscious act of breathing, it asks the user to notice the object, engage with it and reconsider its role in everyday life.