Istanbul-born Merve, is an inter- and transdisciplinary designer-artist, and researcher at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. She holds a BA in Industrial Product Design from Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts and an MA in Eco-Social Design from Free University of Bozen-Bolzano with honours. Merve blends practice-based research and research-through-design methodologies with eco-social transformation, engaging with critical, speculative and multispecies design approaches. She addresses contemporary planetary challenges through collective efforts, that involve both humans and other-than-human beings. Her research examines multispecies relationships, materiality, and technologies for circular design production processes. Her works have been exhibited at the Museum of Nature South Tyrol, Bolzano Art Weeks, Long Night of Sciences, and Contemporary Istanbul. Her current research project, Feral Wool, and she leads the WOLB Woll-e-lab project—funded through Young Researchers – iNEST at unibz.

🐑 🤖🧶 WOLB Woll-e-lab is an ongoing project, exploring alternative possibilities of local wool production through design, technology, and crafts with a more-than-human approach. Situated in the mountainous region of South Tyrol, WOLB connects urban and rural contexts. The design research questions are: How can small-scale alternative technologies transform the way we process and value wool? How can more-than-human data be materialised with wool?

WOLB is a research project awarded with funding within Young Researchers - iNEST of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. The external project collaborators are Bergauf, Salewa, Winterschule Ulten; the internal project collaborator is Smart Mini Factory - unibz.