Lara Braun is a designer working at the intersection of furniture, objects, and interior architecture, with a practice deeply rooted in material exploration and sustainable design. Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture and Furniture Design from Konstfack, Lara approaches design through both a furniture and spatial perspective, creating works that investigate the possibilities and limitations of materials while highlighting overlooked local resources.
During her studies, Lara developed Nära Grannar, a project exploring the relationship between wool and clay—two seemingly contrasting materials that share surprising similarities in their material properties. The project was exhibited during Stockholm Design Week 2026 at MDT on Skeppsholmen alongside works from students of Konstfack, Beckmans College of Design, and Malmstens.
Central to Lara’s practice is an interest in understanding how far a material can be pushed before it requires intervention beyond its inherent capabilities. Her work often begins with local and underutilized resources, investigating their untapped potential and challenging conventional assumptions about their use. Swedish wool has become a particular focus, serving as both a material and a point of departure for broader conversations around resource use, craftsmanship, and sustainability.
Materials play an active role in shaping the narratives behind her projects. Through her ongoing work with Swedish wool, Lara seeks to draw attention not only to the material itself but also to the network of farmers, sheep breeds, wool producers, and knowledge systems that support it. By making these contributors visible, she broadens the understanding of wool as more than a raw material, but as part of a larger cultural and ecological context.
Sustainability is a key consideration throughout her design process. In projects such as Tamed Wool, Lara explores methods for producing fully compostable products by avoiding synthetic binders commonly used in moulded wool production. Instead, she investigates alternative approaches that preserve the material’s biodegradability while allowing it to perform structurally and aesthetically. Her work demonstrates how contemporary design can be informed by environmental responsibility without compromising innovation.
Lara particularly enjoys working with wool and metal, two materials whose contrasting qualities create dynamic design opportunities. Wool’s elasticity, versatility, and natural performance properties continue to inspire new avenues of exploration, while metal provides durability, precision, and structural support. The combination of soft, raw felted wool and refined metal surfaces often becomes a defining feature of her work, highlighting aspects of each material that might otherwise remain unnoticed.
Her process is guided by materials and their limitations. Beginning with a clear understanding of a material’s inherent properties, Laura develops concepts through extensive hand sketching and iterative experimentation. Working between sketchbook, digital models, and physical prototypes, she continuously refines ideas until they align with the original concept while respecting the constraints imposed by the material itself. This dialogue between intention and material behaviour forms the foundation of her design practice.
