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“OOLFAH”

Meichen Zhou

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My name is Meichen Zhou, and my work explores the overlooked potential of everyday materials through a lens of cultural reflection and sustainable design. I’m particularly interested in how natural, low-tech resources, like loofah, can be reimagined beyond their conventional uses. My design practice is shaped by both Eastern and Western perspectives, drawing inspiration from traditional Chinese aesthetics and modular, contemporary forms. Through my work, I aim to create objects that serve a function and invite curiosity, interaction, and a deeper awareness of material life cycles.

My name is Meichen Zhou, and my work explores the overlooked potential of everyday materials thro...

OOLFAH is a product design project that reimagines loofah—a natural, mouldable and breathable material—beyond its everyday cleaning use.

By posing subtle “what if” questions through form and function, OOLFAH encourages users to rediscover loofah’s overlooked affordances.

Through a series of sculptural pieces, this project transforms a biodegradable material into something both functional and poetic.

OOLFAH doesn’t just offer a new product—it opens up a new way of seeing everyday resources: not as disposable, but as rich with possibility.

Final work

Designer interacting with a modular loofah structure, exploring new forms through low-tech, glue-free connections.
A loofah-based modular structure displayed on a wooden table, highlighting material contrast and spatial presence in a calm setting.
Hands holding a triangle loofah module made from sliced loofah and laser-cut wood, exploring light, texture, and low-tech assembly.
Emphasizing the interaction and autonomy between people and products, users are free to combine modules to give new forms and functions to everyday ob

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“OOLFAH”

OOLFAH is a product design project that reimagines loofah—a natural, mouldable and breathable material—beyond its everyday cleaning use.By posing subtle “what if” questions through form and function, OOLFAH encourages users to rediscover loofah’s overlooked affordances....

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