How much value is there in the leftovers that companies produce every day? Upcycling artist Lea Lahr-Thiele shows how new resources, inspiration and sustainable business models can be created from supposed by-products.
Lea, as a freelance designer and upcycling artist - what is it that essentially drives you and your work?
I am driven by the question of how systemic changes can be used to establish resource-conserving development processes that network industries across disciplines and thus strengthen them in the long term. I am particularly interested in how resource-conscious methods can have a positive impact on material consumption - for example, by promoting secondary markets and thus saving valuable resources.
"In my work, I have to be flexible and develop quick, precise solutions."
How can you use it to enrich companies' innovation processes?
As a designer and consultant in the high-end luxury sector, I have to be flexible and develop quick, precise solutions. As a result, I have developed a special sensitivity for hidden potential.
With my wide-ranging expertise, I open up new perspectives and approaches in keynote speeches, seminars, panel talks and think tanks. In in-depth workshops and the development of blueprints, I work with companies to develop concrete routines that can be implemented in the long term.
In doing so, I connect them with suitable cooperation partners or service providers from my network in order to provide the best possible support for implementation.
Your work is characterised by uncertainty and open processes. How do you deal with this and what can companies learn from it?
Through my aleatoric research processes and working with very limited resources, I am used to being guided by the process. As an expert in co-creative project development, I know the enormous potential that lies in open processes - especially when people are prepared to endure uncertainty and consciously leave their comfort zone.
"When development and production are separated, it is often difficult to find answers that go beyond theory."
What has been a highlight for you so far in your collaboration with companies as part of the Cross Innovation Hub?
I particularly enjoyed working with the DESY research centre in the Cross Innovation Lab. In addition to the joint project phase, the tour was also a real highlight for me. It was a project that I always like to talk about and often think back to.
Finally, what question would you ask companies to challenge their innovative thinking?
With my self-developed Counterformdesign method, I have been pursuing exactly this approach for several years - to provide innovation impulses through targeted observation. Typical questions are:
Large companies in particular often lose sight of the big picture and thus important connections. If development and production are separated, it is often difficult to find answers that go beyond theory. Things get exciting when we go into the production facilities - where people work with the resources on a daily basis and provide valuable insights.
Lea Theres Lahr-Thiele ist preisgekrönte Zero Waste Couture Designerin aus Hamburg. Sie entwickelt nachhaltige Textil-Composés und Kollektionen im High-End Luxus Bereich. Ihre Arbeit fokussiert innovative Designmethoden mit dem Ziel ausrangierte Materialien wiederzubeleben und traditionelle handwerkliche Techniken zu bewahren. Sie ist Mitglied im Pool der Kreativen des Cross Innovation Hub.
