My artistic practice focusses on systemic structures of extraction that drive disconnection—whether through labor exploitation, environmental displacement, or land commodification. My work examines the structural separation of humans from their surroundings. As a trained carpenter, I value fine craftsmanship and material sensitivity. Craft connects people to the earth through technology, fostering belonging by merging social and material practices. My art often includes physical tools, reflecting my belief in their power to create connection. I design works to be used, altered, and reintegrated into natural cycles, viewing them as temporary assemblages rather than fixed entities. Previously, I worked on collective urban spaces and their architectural dynamics. At Sandberg Instituut, I am researching human-forest relationships, focusing on ecosystem transformations and dissolving extractivist views of what we call forest.

Leonard von Brenndorff (he/him, b. 1994, Filderstadt, Germany) is a multidisciplinary designer working with objects, prints, spaces, and events. Trained as a professional carpenter in Bavaria, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Cologne in 2022. His accolades include the Kölner Design Preis, Cartes Blanches of Passagen 24, and a scholarship from Kölner Gymnasial- und Stiftungsfonds. His work has been showcased in venues such as MAKK (Museum of Applied Arts Cologne), Kunsthalle Lindenthal, Galerie Neueröffnung, FUNK Magazine, and Niehler Freiheit. As a co-creator of “Noplace,” an art space, collective, and event series, he collaborates with Cologne collectives exploring cooperative living and working.
Leonard is currently studying at Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam. He is with the department Studio for Immediate Spaces.




Exhibitions
2024 NO-SOLO SHOW/ Passagen 24, CARTES BLANCHES
2023 Passagen, Interior Design Week Köln w/ mingbud
2023 Artbay, Kunsthalle Lindenthal
2023 Funk Magazin, Raum für unabhängige Magazine
2022 NOPLACE – progressive working community and interdisciplinary open space, Kölner Design Preis, MAKK
2022 430NM Gallery Hallmackenreuther
2022 Ein Entwurf kooperativen Widerstands, Book Launch, noplace
2020 Amorphous, Ecohopping, minhafaktur 
2020 Exibition Design + We Are Strong – Kölnberg, Ökorausch, MAKK
2019 Voelkel X Müllbel, Super Fashion Markt, MAKK
2019 Sugar Boulevard, minha galera, Hasenkaule
2018 Gewöhnliche Dinosaurier, Übermaß im Mittelmaß, Niehler Freiheit

Awards
2022 Award Winner Kölner Design Preis
2022 Final 300 iF Design Young Talent Award
2022 Prüfungswettbewerb BA Sustainable Design (1.)
2020 Auszeichnung Ausstellungsarchitektur ökoRAUSCH
2020 WDR Kinderrechtspreis 
2016 Prüfungswettbewerb der HWK (1.)
2016 Die Gute Form