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WELCOME... 


Hey! I am Monique Holthuizen and move across disciplines
to design experiences, systems, and objects that question, connect, and provoke. I explore how design can become a tool for reflection, resistance, and emotional grounding, especially in uncertain times.



            
     

-> Designing Futures-> Events & Installations-> Visuals & Politics-> Documentation & Print-> Photography -> Video-> Physical Concepts
        


reFuture (Ma.)
reFuture Workshop
Coevolution
reflective Echoes
Zwischen Traum:a Welten (Ba.)    
 
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MASTER THESIS→ Designing Futures

reFuture


Designing Futures 
2025













 08. February 2025
Cooperation: Neongreen Market @ Schrotty

 In times of multiple ongoing crises such as climate change, social polarisation and anxiety about the future, emotional resilience is becoming an essential prerequisite for a society capable of acting. My master’s thesis explores how individual and especially collective future resilience can be strengthened through emotionally charged design and shared meaning-making.

The project began with the participatory workshop “Re:Future,” in which participants developed their personal visions of the future. The unexpectedly optimistic results inspired the idea of a collective time capsule: an object that preserves hopeful memories and messages from the present and can only be opened collectively in times of emotional disorientation or crisis.

This work combines methods from futures design with psychological concepts such as future resilience and the intentional use of ritual in the design process. At its core is the development of a long-term remembering ritual: a recurring time capsule event that may take place approximately every ten years, depending on how intensely societal crises are perceived. The goal is to bring people together in order to reactivate courage, connection and orientation. In this way, design becomes a medium for collective self- efficacy and hope.

Thesis of: Monique Holthuizen
Supervisors: Prof. Philipp Heidkamp (Interface Design), Alicia Shao (Future Design)

TH Köln, Köln International School of Design (KISD)







Process














MASTER PROPOSAL
→ Designing Futures

reFuture Workshop


Designing Futures 
2025














February 8, 2025
Cooperation: Neongreen Market @ Schrotty

 The Re:Future workshop translates the theoretical concepts of my Master Proposal into a participatory format and examines their effectiveness through the experiences of its participants. The goal was to make individual and collective futures resilience tangible and to analyze which visions of the future emerge under the conditions of ongoing crises. By combining speculative and immersive methods, the workshop invites participants not just to think about the future but to actively experience it.
Project Instigator, Manager: Monique Holthuizen
Project Manager: Viola Stein
Visual Designer: Lena Renz


















EVENT PROJECT
→ Events & Installations

Coevolution


Event Project 
2022
COEVOLUTION

February 1, 2022 – July 7, 2022
Cooperation: Verein proArte (HSG)


 The self-initiated project entitled: “Coevolution / KISD (Köln International School of Design) meets ProArte (Hochschule St. Gallen)” was a cooperative project with students from the ProArte Club. Together we created a collaborative exhibition event. Through a walk-in artwork, we developed together an installation to stimulate reflection, experience and exchange between design students, business students and art interested people.
Project Instigator, Manager and Marketer: Monique Holthuizen
Project Manager, Marketer and Graphic Designer: Lea Gründler
Creative Director: Mariam Mikadze
Photographer, Videographer and Documentarist: Oona o’ Brian
Sound Designer: Max Scholpp
Production Assistance: Franka Blum, Nina Rebhan
Production Assistance and Graphic Design Assistant: Karolina Aysha Heuer
Graphic Design and Production Assistance: Serin Gatzweiler
















Coevolution

x Museumsnacht


February 1, 2022 – July 7, 2022
Cooperation: Verein proArte (HSG)


 On 05 November 2022, our installation was exhibited as part of the “(UN)NATURE” exhibition at KISD and was therefore part of the Museum Night Cologne 2022. We installed our installation again in the transitional space behind the Guten Stube. Size and arrangement were adjusted and so was the video installation. The room was also darkened, and the video was visible to visitors outside the room.
Project Instigator, Manager and Marketer: Monique Holthuizen
Project Manager, Marketer and Graphic Designer: Lea Gründler
Creative Director: Mariam Mikadze










EVENT PROJECT

Reflective Echoes


Event Project 
2024



→ Events & Installations











March 1, 2024 – May 4, 2025
Cooperation: UN-DRESS 

“Reflective Echoes” is a spatial installation developed as part of the Master Interdisciplinary Project (MIP) at KISD. The project was conceived for UN-DRESS, one of Europe’s largest sustainable fashion events, organised by students from the University of St. Gallen. Traditionally held in St. Gallen, the event took place in Zürich for the first time this year, offering a new scale and visibility for interdisciplinary formats that critically engage with fashion culture.
Project Instigator, Manager and Marketer: Monique Holthuizen
Creative Director: Mariam Mikadze
Video Designer: Martha Herfort
Production Assistance: Pavla Geschwandtner












BACHELOR THESIS

Zwischen Traum:a Welten*


Event Project 
2024




→ Visuals & Politics











28. February 2024
Focus: Image and Motion

 With the research question “To what extent can multivision dream simulations create a deeper connection between outsiders and survivors of sexualised war crimes?” this thesis explores how complex and often unimaginable experiences can be made more tangible. Developed during my second year in the MEDes – Master of European Design program at Universidade de Aveiro, under the supervision of Rui Costa and Nina Juric (Köln International School of Design), the project combines theoretical research with an interdisciplinary design approach.

At its core lies a multivision dream simulation telling the story of Miryam, a survivor from the Central African Republic. By bridging research on CRSV, dream representation in art history, psychological theories on trauma, and speculative design, the work seeks to foster empathy, awareness, and societal dialogue.


* Note: The title creatively combines the German word for "dream" (Traum) with "Trauma" to reflect the interconnectedness of dreams and traumas explored in this work.

Bachelor Thesis of: Monique Holthuizen
Supervisors: Prof. Nina Juric (Image and Motion), Rui Costa (Information Representation and Project)












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