Max Koch

I am a designer working at the intersection of research, material culture, and ecology. My practice is rooted in fieldwork, interdisciplinary exchange, and critical making. I use design as a tool to question extractive systems and to reveal both overlooked and established ways of living with environments, resources, and knowledge.

In my work, I focus on how landscapes are shaped - not only physically but also socially, historically, and economically. I am particularly interested in forests as contested cultural spaces, where questions of land use, ownership, labor, and tradition intersect. By collaborating with practitioners, documenting local knowledge, and engaging directly with materials, I develop design outcomes that make complex relationships tangible - often in the form of objects, spatial interventions, or narrative formats.

I completed my Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle in 2025. During my studies, I also spent one semester at the Design Academy Eindhoven, where I deepened my interest in systems thinking and contextual design approaches. My recent work Forest Tales explores non-timber forest products and their potential to diversify forest economies. It combines documentary methods with material studies and resulted in two functional objects shaped by vernacular knowledge.

Across all my projects, I aim to make visible what is often overlooked: the implicit values embedded in materials, practices, and territorial entanglements.