Biography
Meri Zirkelbach holds a diploma in Conservation / Restoration (2007), a diploma in Surface Design (2014), and an M.A. in Design (2019). She studied conservation and restoration of paintings and sculptures at the Bern University of the Arts and worked in her profession with her own studio in Switzerland and Finland. In 2012, she began further training as a surface designer at the Swiss Textile School in Zurich, completing her diploma after two years. She then studied Object Design at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and graduated with a Master’s degree in Design in 2019. In parallel, she runs a concrete manufactory where she realizes both client commissions and her own products.
Her master’s thesis «White Wood», developed in collaboration with ETH Zurich, was awarded the Zeugin Design Foundation Prize in 2019. She is currently expanding this work as part of her doctoral research at the Institute for Material Design (IMD) at the Offenbach University of Art and Design and at Empa Dübendorf, focusing on speculative and sustainable material explorations.
From 2019 onwards, Meri Zirkelbach worked as a research associate in the Master of Design program at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, where she was involved in program organization, curriculum development, and student supervision in both teaching and projects.
Today, she supports students in the Bachelor of Digital Construction program at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, School of Engineering and Architecture, with a focus on materialization and the scenographic implementation of digital prototypes.
