Whispers Bench photo: Alka Murat
With the support of Polish Cultural Institute in London and On&On Designs from 15–17 September 2026, Zieta Studio will present its work at Material Matters London, the international platform dedicated to material intelligence in architecture and design.
Material Matters London
15–17 September 2026
UNLOCKED Shoreditch
118 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3PJ
Material Matters London
15–17 September 2026
UNLOCKED Shoreditch
118 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3PJ
Lampin photo: Mateusz Żurowski, Grzegorz Kurzejamski
Whispers Bench photo: Alka Murat
Taking place at UNLOCKED Shoreditch as part of Shoreditch Design Week and the London Design Festival, the fifth edition of the fair brings together practices exploring new relationships between material, technology, craft and design. Zieta Studio joins the programme alongside Pani Jurek Studio, presenting two distinct approaches to material experimentation emerging from Poland.
Whispers Bench photo: Alka Murat
Whispers Bench: material, pressure and form
At the entrance to the fair, Zieta Studio will present the Whispers Bench, a unique sculptural seat originating from Whispers, the public installation first unveiled at Ludgate Hill in London’s Fleet Street Quarter during the London Festival of Architecture 2025. Formed through FiDU — our proprietary process of free internal pressure deformation — the bench embodies Oskar Zięta’s structural approach to metal, in which air becomes a tool for transforming flat steel membranes into complex, three-dimensional forms. At Material Matters, the work takes on a more intimate role: a place to pause, while retaining the structural language of the original public sculpture.
Whispers Bench photo: Alka Murat
An expanding London collaboration
The presentation marks another chapter in Zieta Studio’s ongoing collaboration with On&On Designs, whose programme has consistently created opportunities for Polish design to enter into dialogue with London’s international creative scene. Following Whispers at Ludgate Hill in 2025, the collaboration continued in 2026 with the presentation of Whispers Bench at Fletcher Priest Architects, where it was shown alongside Pani Jurek as part of Common Ground: Curated Connections. The bench subsequently travelled to Maison&Objet in Paris, Impact ’26 in Poznań, ICFF in New York and LFA 2026, developing from a public installation into an independent collectible object.
Whispers photo: Alka Murat
Worshiping Polish creativity
Zieta Studio and Pani Jurek Studio join around 40 exhibitors, each selected for their commitment to material intelligence. Supported by the Creative Industries Institute and the Polish Cultural Institute in London, in collaboration with On&On Designs, the two installations bring the work of these Polish studios to Shoreditch, exploring materiality and the diverse forms of contemporary Polish creativity.
The collaboration with On&On Designs continues following Zieta Studio’s presentation oof Crystals at Curated Connctions: Cahapter 5: Reflections at Mandarin Oriental Mayfair celebrating Polish design across London.
Polish material intelligence
At Material Matters, Whispers Bench will be illuminated by Zieta Studio’s constellation of Lampin lighting pieces, creating an encounter between reflective steel, light and the surrounding architecture. The presentation will be accompanied by Café Conversations with a panel discussion: Local Knowledge, Global Design: Poland’s creative industries’, bringing together Oskar and Agata Zięta of Zieta Studio, Michał Borecki of Pani Jurek, Samta Nadeem, Curatorial Director at STIR, and Grant Gibson, Founder of Material Matters (15 September 4pm). The conversation will explore process-led making and material intelligence in contemporary Polish design.
