Philia
Magazine

Thomas Van Noten is a Belgian artist and founder of TOGIGI, whose practice explores the relationship between architecture, nature, and ceramic sculpture. After leading large-scale construction projects, he established his atelier in 2024 to pursue a material-driven practice rooted in experimentation and craftsmanship. Working primarily with ceramics, he creates sculptural objects distinguished by their expressive textures, architectural presence, and organic forms.

Guided by a fascination with innovation and making, Van Noten continuously develops new techniques that expand the possibilities of ceramic craftsmanship. Drawing inspiration from both the built and natural environments, his work weaves together structure, light, and materiality, creating pieces that invite a sensory dialogue between human experience, nature, and architecture.

Marta Dervin is a Polish-born ceramic artist based in the Ardèche mountains of southern France, where she creates sculptural vessels and collectible objects shaped by archaeology, geology, and the surrounding natural landscape. Trained in Mediterranean archaeology, she founded her ceramics studio in 2018 after years studying ancient ceramic traditions, transforming her fascination with excavated artefacts into a contemporary sculptural practice. Working primarily with stoneware, porcelain, and glazes developed from wild rocks and natural minerals, Dervin creates works that bridge history, nature, and material experimentation.

Guided by a deep connection to the earth, Dervin’s practice explores the passage of time, the fragility of civilization, and the enduring force of nature. Through tactile textures, restrained forms, and a minimalist aesthetic rooted in craftsmanship, her ceramic pieces evoke weathered artefacts reclaimed by the landscape, creating a quiet dialogue between past and present, architecture and geology.

Bobby Berk is an Emmy-winning design expert, TV host, author, and founder of his eponymous interior design practice. He gained international recognition through Netflix’s Queer Eye, where his thoughtful and transformative approach to interiors helped establish him as one of the most recognizable voices in contemporary design. In 2020, Architectural Digest named him one of the “most famous interior designers working today.”

Originally from Missouri, Berk began his career in retail and visual merchandising before launching his own company and showroom in New York in 2006. He later founded his full-service design studio, which works across residential, commercial, and hospitality projects with a style defined by approachable luxury, functionality, and emotional connection to space.

Alongside his design practice, Berk leads the lifestyle platform BobbyBerk.com and is the author of Right at Home: How Good Design Is Good For The Mind, a book exploring the relationship between interior design, wellbeing, and everyday life.

Tero Kuitunen is a Finnish designer and ceramic artist based in Helsinki, whose practice explores the dialogue between design, art, and material experimentation. Working across collectible furniture, ceramics, spatial design, and curation, he creates sculptural objects distinguished by playful forms, tactile surfaces, and unexpected material combinations that invite interaction and emotional connection.

Guided by an intuitive, material-led approach, Kuitunen often begins his creative process with colors, textures, and unconventional pairings, allowing each work to evolve through experimentation. Balancing functionality with artistic expression, his practice celebrates humor, craftsmanship, and the sensory experience of objects, resulting in timeless pieces that blur the boundaries between design and art.

Mademoiselle Jo is a Belgian design studio founded by Joan Bebronne, whose practice explores the intersection of object design, craftsmanship, and architecture. After training as a fashion designer at La Cambre and spending over twenty-five years developing trends, colours, and textiles for the lingerie industry, Bebronne turned to furniture and collectible objects, bringing the same sensitivity to material, form, and detail. Guided by intuition and a commitment to local craftsmanship, Mademoiselle Jo creates timeless pieces that balance sculptural elegance with everyday function, celebrating thoughtful making, enduring quality, and designs made to be passed on.