Life can only be understood backwards

Holis was founded by Maxim Dedushkov in 2014 but the idea of interdisciplinary learning was born around 2010. Maxim was heading the design agency of Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest. He was running client-facing projects with teams of university students and realised quickly that designers are not capable of doing everything (despite some of them claiming the opposite). Thus the idea of a project-based interdisciplinary learning experience was born.

Maxim had to wait 4 years to put his idea in practice when he became the Head of Research and Education at Design Terminal, a governmental organisation to support the Hungarian creative industry. With the generous support of this organisation and an exciting opportunity in a small Hungarian town, Kőszeg, Holis started.

The first Holis focused on the future scenarios for an old felt factory, which at the time was suffering from a 90% loss of income due to the rise in popularity of synthetic felts. As a result of the solutions that Holis participants helped to identify and implement, the felt factory now has new owners, new products, and other thriving business activities. Since then we’ve been working on many social challenges in many places around Europe.

Early Childhood Development System in Visegrad Region

Early childhood experiences affect the development of brain architecture, which provides the foundation for all future learning, behavior, and health. How might we improve the system of early childhood development in the Visegrad Region?

Live Online Sessions
October-November 2021
Read more

Revitalizing Economic and Social Fabrics

We partnered with CLARA - Center for Rural Future to revitalise the economic and social fabric of the Odemira Region in Portugal

Sabóia, Portugal
2019
Read more

Rural social innovation

In 2018 we explored what are the challenges of rural Poland and what can we do about them.

Sobole, Poland
2018
Read more

Community and business

We partnered up with Spomlek, a local cheese factory and asked ourselves: how a local business can serve the community around it?

Sobole, Poland
2017
Read more

Future of a castle

Interdisciplinary teams developed future scenarios for the reconstruction of the ​Rákóczi-Bánffy castle which was built in the 15th century.

Gyalu, Romania
2016
Read more

Ageing opportunities

We focused on the issues and opportunities inherent in ageing, with the support of international experts and team facilitators. The aim was to give long term solutions to keeping senior citizens economically and socially active with the help of design.

Ajka, Hungary
2015
Read more

Future of a felt factory

The first HOLIS was organized in July 2014 in Kőszeg, Hungary. The participating university students and fresh graduates explored the possible future scenarios of an old felt factory which by the time lost the 90% of its market.

Kőszeg, Hungary
2014
Read more

Few alumni

Hover me!
Fine Arts
Sarah El-Haddad
Cairo, Egypt
Architect at Paradigma Ariadné
Dávid Smiló
Budapest, Hungary
Designer
Jeremiasz Rzenno
Glasgow, UK
Business Administration
Merle Niester
Vienna, Austria
Ludmiła Lesisz
Warsaw, Poland
Service Management
Kitija Matisone
Copenhagen, Denmark
Pattern designer and illustrator
Lili Veszprémi
Budapest, Hungary
Designer
Maciej Budzisz
Lodz, Poland
Experience Designer at Mirum Agency
Larasati Larasati
London, UK
Product Designer
Fanni Csöbi
Düsseldorf, Germany
Service Design
Amber Francis
Savannah, GA, USA
Innovation & Service design
Fei Feng
Beijing, China
Business Analyst
Katalin Zsuzsanna Nagy-Szabó
Budapest, Hungary
International studies
Zsófia Méhes
Berlin, Germany
Strategic Designer
Sara Galan
Mexico City, Mexico
Vype Activation Manager at British American Tobacco
Dóra Németh
Budapest, Hungary
Designer
Eszter Horváth
Budapest, Hungary
Strategic Product Design
Gunjan Singh
The Hague, Netherlands
Landscape architect
Enikő Tóth
Gyöngyös, Hungary
Creative Direction
Sandra Dernbach
Cologne, Germany
Service Designer
Zsófia Szatmári-Margitai
Innsbruck, Austria
Bence Bán
Budapest, Hungary
Service Designer
Pieter Overgoor
Copenhagen, Denmark
Service Design
Marta Salas
Madrid, Spain
Architect and graphic designer
Sára Dányádi
Budapest, Hungary
Account manager at Mito
Anna Mészár
Budapest, Hungary
Philosophy
Bence Makkai
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Researcher
Áron Miszlivetz
Budapest, Hungary
Event manager
Bettina Alscher
Budapest, Hungary
Urbanism
Emese Burista
Louvain, Belgium
Graphic designer
Karolina Styczeń
Cracow, Poland
Founder at Stilblog
Petra Hoffmann
Budapest, Hungary
Art history
Beáta Bordás
Romania
Engineering Project Manager at Hello Wood Group
Nóra Láng
Budapest, Hungary
Strategic Service Designer
Mani I
London, UK
Service Designer at Cocomore
Miriam Schmalen
Cologne, Germany
Product design
Bálint Eckhardt
London, UK
Architectural designer
Csaba Szalai
Budapest, Hungary
Singer
Andrea Vâță-Diénes
Romania
Architect
Zoltán Takács
Bratislava, Slovakia
Production Coordinator
Katarzyna Witkowska
Katowice, Poland
Social Design
Lesley-Ann Donnell
Copenhagen, Denmark
Customer Experience Designer at O.P. Holdings
Hitomi Tachikawa
Tokyo, Japan
Finance
Ágnes Marczinkó
Budapest, Hungary
Urban planner
Zsuzsa Czeiz
Budapest, Hungary
Product designer at Frontíra
Zsófia Elek
Budapest, Hungary
Design and Innovation consultant
Eliana Vargas
Quito, Ecuador
Project manager
Eszter Kalóz
Berlin, Germany
UX Designer
Karina Rachwał
Wrocław, Poland
Digital Design
Miriam Loos
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Designer at ChemAxon
Gábor Lukács
Budapest, Hungary
Brand manager
Júlia Eszter Ürmösi
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Design student
Jarmila Martinková
Ede, Netherlands
E-commerce entrepreneur
Aniko Brachmann
Budapest, Hungary
Fashion and textile designer
Zsófia Papp
Budapest, Hungary
Head of Global Marketing at OnRobot
Nóra Bereczki
Budapest, Hungary
Service designer at Globant
Silvia Romano Redondo
Madrid, Spain
Industrial Design/ Speculative Design
Dominika Majewska
Kolding, Denmark
Furniture designer
Amira El Shawarby
Cairo, Egypt
Communication & PR
Sarolta Lapohos
Romania
Project manager
Zsófia Anna Rutkai
Budapest, Hungary
Product designer
Zsolt Sarkadi
Budapest, Hungary
Service Designer
Collyn Cooper
Düsseldorf, Germany
Architect
Attila Ágoston
Romania
Industrial design
Tamara Lašič Jurković
Ljubljana, Slovenia
PhD student
Zuzana Waszczuková
Bratislava, Slovakia
Customer Success Manager
Iwona Kastunowicz
Warsaw, Poland
Ecology
Anikó Bakos
Romania
Luca Elek
Budapest, Hungary
Product and Industrial Design
Tamara Olbrys
Warsaw, Poland
Preservation of Cultural and Architectural Heritage
Anna Regina Enyedi
Romania
Programme Manager at Prime Minister's Office
András Stefanik
Budapest, Hungary
Graphic Designer
Panna Júlia Petró
Budapest, Hungary
UI/UX Designer
Daniela Haas
Cologne, Germany
Digital Storyteller Designer at Yello Strom GmbH
Miguel Lobato
Mexico City, Mexico
Architect
Beáta Bartha
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Consultant, project manager
Alvaro Valls Boix
Elche, Spain
Integrated Design / Landscape Design
Shumin Luo
Cologne, Germany
Mathematical Modeller at Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Beáta Tünde Szabó
Budapest, Hungary
Social designer
Eliza Chojnacka
Vienna, Austria
Theology
Anna Diósy
Budapest, Hungary
Communication in Social and Economic Context
Vitalia Safronova
Berlin, Germany
Industrial Designer
Simon Izidor Rozman
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Designer
Sadaf Uddin
London, UK
Media design
Evelin Horváth
Budapest, Hungary
Google Ads Specialist at Majorel
Lóránt Korodi-Vass
Romania
Industrial, Product Design
Dan Pikalo
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Human Centred Design, Ergonomics
Robin Hancock
Bristol, UK
Architect
Erdenejargal Rinzaan
Budapest, Hungary
Product Designer
Michał Kociszewski
Łódź, Poland
UX designer and researcher
Zsófia Czémán
Vienna, Austria
Service designer
Mishell Orta
Milan, Italy
PhD student
Monika Favara-Kurkowski
Warsaw, Poland
Artist, Freelance Graphic Designer
Daniel Kozma
Budapest, Hungary
Architect
Márk Kendernay
Bath, UK
Innovation & service design
Meijin Li
London, UK
Communication specialist
Mónika Simon
Budapest, Hungary
Product designer
Robert Raimann
Gdansk, Poland
Market research analyst
Szvetlana Juhász
Budapest, Hungary
Textile design
Petra Debnárová
Berlin, Germany