MAYA BEN DAVID
E
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manocki@gmail.com
+972 50 7562092
About
I’m a design leader working at the intersection of product strategy, emerging technology and material research, with over 15 years of experience across industry and academia.
For the past four years I’ve led design at Strauss Water, bridging industrial design and UX to take a 50-year-old brand into new global product categories.
In parallel, I run an independent studio that leads 0-to-1 projects for companies such as Keter Group and Eatwith, exploring new technologies and developing them into new concepts and experiences.
My research practice explores the edge where technology fails to fully replicate nature, using 3D scanning, generative AI and material science to open new design languages.
Shipping products at scale while pushing research to the edge of what materials and technology can do: this dual practice shapes how I lead design teams and set direction for new experiences.
Teaching
I have taught undergraduate and graduate students in Bezalel’s Industrial Design department for over 14 years.
My courses focus on practice-based research, material research and experimental approaches to design. I encourage teams to work across disciplines and experiment with new techniques, treating the process itself as something to design and developing new tools and methods along the way. I push students to sharpen intuition into a precise tool, to see design in contexts wider than personal curiosity, and to practise critical thinking that proposes alternatives rather than stopping at a statement, as part of our responsibility to shape better living environments.
From 2016 to 2020 I led the Experimental Design track of Bezalel’s M.Des program, guiding a team of ten senior mentors and building collaborations with cultural institutions and tech labs. In 2019 I received Bezalel’s Excellence in Teaching award.
Leadership & Recognition
[ 2026 ] Red Dot Design Award, Product Design Winner
[ 2025 ] Edmond the Rothschild Design Awards- Shortlisted
[ 2022 ] Sandberg Award for Design Research, Israel Museum
[ 2021 ] Design Incubator, Design Museum Holon & Mifal HaPais
Selected Exhibitions
[ 2025 ] “Present Matter” | Edmond de Rothschild Design Award Exhibition | Edmond de Rothschild House, Israel
Curator: Tzafi Sivan Spivak
[ 2022 ] “Food” | Design Museum Holon, Israel
Curator: Liora Rozin & Dana Ben Shalom
[ 2022 ] “And I lived amongst you” | B.Y5 Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Curator: Michal Krasny
[ 2020 ] “ First Person. Second Nature” | The Tel-Aviv Crafts and Design Biennale| MUZA Eretz Israel Museum, Israel
Curator: Henrietta Eliezer Brunner, Yuval Saar
[ 2020 ] “X,Y,Z,T- Material Investigation” | Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Curator: Shlomit Bauman
[ 2019 ] “State of Extreme” | Design Museum Holon, Israel
Curator: Aric Chen, Maya Dvash and Azinta Plantenga
[ 2019 ] “To The Glory- Local Souvenirs” | Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Curator: Galina Arbeli
[ 2019 ] “Not In Heaven” | Jerusalem Biennale
Curator: Judith Cardozo and Dr. Suzan Nashman Fraiman
[ 2019 ] “Point Cloud” | Manofim Festival, Azrieli Gallery, Jerusalem Multidisciplinary College (JMC). Curator: Galit Shvo
[ 2018 ] “Conservation” | Jerusalem Design Week
Curator: Anat Safran and Tal Erez
[ 2018 ] “Nature-Technology” | Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Curator: Shlomit Bauman
[ 2017 ] “High Contrast” | Seoul, Korea
[ 2017 ] “Image” | Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Curator: Shira Keret & Itay Laniado
[ 2017 ] “Violent Object” | Vitrina Gallery, HIT, Holon, Israel
Curator: Shira Keret & Itay Laniado
[ 2017 ] “Violent Object” | State of Design, Berlin
Curator: Shira Keret & Itay Laniado
[ 2017 ] “3D Print Studio” | Cuypershuis museum in Roermond, The Netherlands
[ 2016 ] “Over View” | Design Museum Holon, Israel
Curator: Maya Dvash
[ 2016 ]“High Contrast” | TWDW, Taipei, Taiwan
[ 2016 ] “World Design Capital” | TWDW, Taipei, Taiwan
[ 2016 ] “Yes&” | Triennale Museum Exhibition, Milan, Italy
[ 2016 ] “Matter of Fact” | Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Curator: Maya Ben David & Jhonathan Hope
[ 2014 ] “Design Underground” | Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Curator: Shlomit Bauman
[ 2014 ] “Design Museum at The Artists House” | The Artists House,
Tel-Aviv, Israel . Curator: Yuval Saar
[ 2013 ] “Online Offline” | Beit Meirov Gallery, Holon, Israel
Curator: Yuval Saar
[ 2013 ] “Imprinting on Clay” | The Tel-Aviv Crafts and Design Biennale | Eretz Israel Museum, Israel. Curator: Anat Getanio
[ 2012 ] “How To...” | Design Hop, Dashilar, Beijing Design Week, China
Curator: Liora Rozin & Nitzan Debbi
[ 2012 ] “Growth Curve” | Jerusalem Design Week, Israel
Curator: Dan Hochberg
[ 2012 ] “Memorabilia” | Liege, Belgium
Curator: Giovanna Massoni
[ 2012 ] “3D Print Show” | London
[ 2012 ] “The Machin- Designing a New Industrial Revolution ” | Z3 House for Contemporary Art, Design & Architecture | Belgiume
Curator: Jan Boelen