Rog Expo is an exhibition of work created by the community of Center Rog and guest makers. It opens the festival and offers a glimpse into what is being produced in the building, through its residencies, and across its wider programme. The selection of works is made through an open call, which is open until 21 September to everyone creating in the production labs.

This year’s theme, “More Than Us,” focuses on projects that place nature and all forms of living beings at the centre of exploration. User-centred design has shaped the way designers and engineers work, yet despite its good intentions, this approach has remained firmly centred on humans—and for a long time, primarily on men. Meanwhile, the billions of animals, plants, and ecosystems that sustain our lives have been treated as peripheral, as resources to be used without much consideration. This quiet distance has shaped entire industries, made exploitation seem self-evident, and obscured just how deeply interconnected we are.

The exhibition will feature a selection of works created by makers working in the project studios, participants in the Mladi Rog programme, individual lab users, and designers selected through the Designers in Residency open call.

As part of the opening event, there will be a community table, created as the outcome of the international residency Symbiotic Rituals and Material Ecologies.

As part of the Designers in Residence open call, we selected four projects that respond to this year’s theme of Rog Design Days, “More Than Us,” in different ways and will be presented as part of the exhibition. During their three-month residency at Center Rog, the designers are developing products that actively engage with environmental forces, new technologies, and living organisms.

Barbara Rakovská (Czech Republic): Root Alliance

Designer Barbara Rakovská works at the intersection of textiles, biomaterials, and speculative design. In her project, she is developing a wearable garment as a living ecosystem, co-created with plants, roots, seeds, and microorganisms. The garment is not intended solely for humans; rather, it functions as a temporary habitat and a platform for interspecies collaboration.

During her residency, she will develop the project in the Textile and Green Labs and will also present her research in a public workshop dedicated to creating with root-based materials.

BGGB Studio: Luca Gruber & Sara Bologna (Italy): The Arquà Manuscript

Design duo Luca Gruber and Sara Bologna are developing a speculative project inspired by motifs found in medieval bestiaries. They will combine furniture and textile pieces with writing and artificial intelligence. In the project, AI does not function merely as a tool, but as a non-human co-author participating in the creation of images, patterns, and myths. They are working in the Woodworking and Textile Labs and will also lead a workshop on collaborative design with artificial intelligence in early December.

Yoh Yasuda (Japan): Membranes of Wind

In his work, Yoh Yasuda explores the process of tuning relationships between natural forces and the role of wind as an active co-creator. In Membranes of Wind, he is developing a system of kites with membrane structures that exist only in relation to wind and gravity. The project draws inspiration from Japanese and Indonesian kite-making traditions, as well as from the morphology of the Carniolan lily, an endemic Slovenian plant.

He is working in the Textile and Woodworking Labs and FabLab, and will also present his work through public workshops and kite-flying events in open spaces.

Guillian Graves: More Than Refuge

Designer Guillian Graves works in the fields of bioinspiration, biomimicry, and biodesign. During his residency, he is exploring how design can actively contribute to the ecological restoration of urban environments. He is developing a portable habitat inspired by the ecosystem of a coral reef. It will be installed in the Park izbrisanih and connected to the beehive on the roof of Center Rog. Its purpose will be to support pollinators, fungi, insects, birds, and other urban species.