Concrete Gardening: Studio Lilo

Amidst the concrete buildings and looming shadows of Berlin, one can find pockets full of joy and light. A city of contrasting worlds, Berlin serves as a springboard for some of the most exciting creatives today – including LIEBESKIND BERLIN. In their latest collection Arch’nature, the brand tastefully reflects the expression of the city through a variation of refined colours, materials and architectural lines. And like LIEBESKIND BERLIN, the latest LIEBESKIND BERLIN collaborator Studio Lilo stands out among the shadows. Studio Lilo creates a sense of something bigger, even when the walls of the city feel as though they’re moving ever closer. 

Transforming spaces with a floral decadence, Studio Lilo’s organically shaped constructions feel like catching a glimpse of a fairy tale. Still, the essence of a place remains. Trees, flowers, bushes and mounds of moss are transformed to create unusually fascinating – arguably even avant-garde – spaces, sculptures and installations. Floral arrangements are found unexpectedly in urban surroundings, even blooming from concrete walls: the juxtaposition between the man-made and the natural taken to new, unexpected heights. Undeniably, the bond between humans and nature can’t be severed. Studio Lilo’s ornaments offer an escape into the arms of Mother Nature – or perhaps a return to her in our increasingly fast-paced, disconnected lives.

Lilo Klinkenberg, founder of Studio Lilo, graduated from the University of the Arts Berlin with a degree in fashion design. Over time, Klinkenberg’s craft evolved – as did she. Moving in a more conceptual and multidisciplinary direction, her design studio became her outlet to express her perception of the world around her. Born and raised in Berlin, Lilo and her design studio remain deeply rooted in the capital, bringing blooming brightness into the narrowness of closely stacked buildings. In Klinkenberg’s approach, fleeting moments are turned into a long-lasting reminder of the beauty of nature in a world that often fails to remember. 

We speak to Lilo about the beginnings of Studio Lilo, the harmony of opposition and how design is a vessel for change.

SLEEK: How did Studio Lilo begin?

Lilo Klinkenberg: Studio Lilo began around five years ago. While I was studying for my bachelor degree in fashion design at UdK, my siblings and I opened a restaurant. In 2017, we started to rent out the space for private events and this is when I began to experiment with floral decoration. Of course, I fell in love with it. A year later, I was convinced to shift my focus completely to floral and spatial design. And that’s how it all began.

S: You were born and raised in Kreuzberg. How has the energy of this part of Berlin influenced your creativity?

LK: Being born and raised in Kreuzberg has been and still is a major influence for me. Growing up here meant growing up between a lot of contrasts but also keeping up an open mind. And that’s what I still live for especially when working with flowers. 

S: As a floral and space designer, you work with a variation of materials. Which one excites you the most?

LK: I love working with different materials but I have to say flowers still excite me the most. I feel like there is still so much that hasn’t been done before. There’s so much potential. I also love how I as a creative develop my aesthetics year by year and the flowers change with me season by season. I feel like that’s the reason why it never bores me. 

S: From Highsnobiety to Google, you’ve worked with some of the biggest names across multiple industries. What has been your favourite project and why?

LK: One of my favourite projects has definitely been the floral design for “Flos” during this year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan. The project was amazing. Being able to design over 90sqm of greenery in the centre of a beautifully designed space and having the complete trust of the client was a great experience. 

S: Now, You collaborated with LIEBESKIND to create an installation with their handbags. How was it working with them? How did the medium of the handbag alter from different activations you’ve worked on in the past

LK: Working with Liebeskind was fun.  The gradient bag worked really well with the set, it picked up on the different shades but in a floral way. It was a perfect match! Handbags in general are a nice item to work with as you can play around with them a lot. You can hang them or fill them with materials. 

LK: Thank you for recognising. This is what it’s all about for me.  Playing with contrast is what excites me about what I do. It makes me not want to stop. If there are lots of straight lines in the surrounding, I have the urge to play with organic shapes. If the surrounding is super romantic and too beautiful to be true, I like to break it with something that has a brutalist touch to it. If everything is too harmonious it makes me nervous. 

S: This harmony of opposition allows you to create something more long-lasting beyond the space itself. When building such a space, how do you hope that people will interact and perceive it – both in the moment and after?

LK: I love when people tell me that my work has activated a totally different association than what I had in mind. That’s what art and design is all about in the end. It’s emotional and everybody has a different perception. I’m grateful if my work either awakens forgotten memories, makes somebody dream or slip into interesting fantasy worlds. 

S: This same opposition also sparks a dialogue about the man-made versus the natural. Is this intentional? What are your thoughts on this? 

LK: Working the way I do and creating shapes and sculptures out of ‘the natural’ is already an opposition within itself. Bringing flowers into shapes and surroundings you wouldn’t expect them in is intentional and what I strive for. And then of course mixing materials has the same effect. 

S: How can design – in any form it may take – become a vessel for change both environmentally and socially?

LK: This is a very big question. One short answer would be that design has the potential to educate, to communicate and to make people rethink. And for sure if a design is putting aspects of sustainability and inclusivity in the foreground, it should not only be for marketing purposes. 

Credits: 

Photography: Matthias Leidinger
Styling: Theresa Gross
Hair: Kosuke Ikeuchi @ Shotview
Makeup: Florina Vyas
Talent: Lilo Klinkenberg
Set Design: Lilo Klinkenberg
Location: Roam SPACE
Art Direction and Creative Production: Claude Gerber
Creative Production Assistant: Quirin Emanga
Special thanks to Roam SPACE

As featured in SLEEK 77 – TRUST. Available in print and digital here.