One aspect was remarkable about the international Dutch Design exhibition: all the key figures of Dutch Design were living or working in Rotterdam. The Treetrunk Bench by Jurgen Bey, the No sign of design furniture by Richard Hutten, the Bone Chair by Joris Laarman, and the pieces of furniture by Atelier van Lieshout – all were ‘Made in Rotterdam’ and became design icons.
Jurgen Bey’s Light Shade Shade is a lampshade made of semi-transparent mirror film enclosing an ornate chandelier, which only becomes visible when the light is switched on. Bey: ‘If you do ordinary things in a slightly different way, you can make them special.’ This philosophy gave rise to a series of cabinets that can be transformed into something else in a few easy steps. The starting point is always an antique table, around which a suitable, cheap pinewood crate is constructed that can be used to transport or store the table. By taking the table out of the crate, and placing the crate on the table, you can create something new; a workplace, a place to sleep.
Judith de Graauw, Joep Verhoeven and Jeroen Verhoeven have been working together since 2004 under the name Demakersvan. Their ‘impossible’ table Cinderella has already been included in the collections of the MoMA, New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum, Londen. Cinderella was produced using a high-tech cutting machine to carve the table out of 57 layers of birch plywood. Demakersvan regard themselves as storytellers with a link to the past. And yet, their products are innovative, such as the ceramic dinner service linked together by a chain. Everything perfectly useable, although you first have to break the chain!
Simon Heijdens’ Tree is an eight metre high projection of a tree, which sways along with the actual wind and sheds a leaf for every passer-by. His fascination for nature and the fact that we spend most of the day in artificial environments, prompted Simon Heijdens to start his investigation into the reintroduction of nature in our everyday lives. One of the projects this spawned is Reed, an interior lighting installation that responds to wind sensors and moves with the subtlest of breezes.
Joris Laarman‘s Rococo radiator Heat Wave demonstrates that decoration and functionality can go hand in hand. Joris Laarman developed his Bone Chair after meeting a German professor who had done research into the principles of bone growth. By imitating nature’s most ingenious principle of growth, a chair has been created with a far more efficient way of dealing with material and weight than most modern, geometrically formed furniture.
’Designing,’ says Richard Hutten, ’is a mental process that I can do best in places where I won’t be disturbed, preferably on my bike, or in the car.’ This was also the case when designing his stacking chair with a wooden seat and steel frame. A concept that is still benchmarked by Arne Jacobson’s Butterfly chair. After extensive research, Hutten developed a chair with a complex, although very elegant shape without a single straight line, and so light that it is on the borderline of the application potential of the material.
In 1993, Hella Jongerius received instant international recognition for her graduation project, a collection of soft vases. The series of four vases she designed for Ikea Jonsberg is sold worldwide. ’As a designer, I want to explore new avenues, which means that you have to investigate a client’s background.’ This was also the case for the German porcelain manufacturer Nymphenburg, a company already established for 250 years. ’I chose existing décors from the Nymphenburg archives and added my own signature, turning the pieces into contemporary items.’
Chris Kabel graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2000 with the Sticky Lamp, a self-adhesive lamp in a plastic packaging that is at the same time the housing. His best-known product Shady Lace is a parasol that casts shadows of branches and leaves on a sunny day, giving the impression that you are sitting under a tree. ’My products must have a logical minimalism. I want them to be right, to radiate the thought that they couldn’t be made in any other way.’
Bertjan Pot says of his work: ’Nearly all my designs arise from material experiments. I also like to fantasize about production processes. I like holding a mirror up to the industry: you’re already able to do this, but why not do it the other way round. Or I think up something for which no machine has yet been invented.’ Such as for Random Light, a spherical hanging lamp made of filaments randomly coiled around a mould. Due to the great demand, a machine was developed specifically to manufacture the lamp.’
Studio Wieki Somers became known for Bathboat, a bathtub in the shape of an inverted rowing boat. Wieki Somers makes products people want to cherish, and which stir the imagination. As does her design High Tea Pot, a porcelain pig’s skull with a rat-fur hat. All these products display an interaction between function, content, and a passion for materials.
Board Room by Atelier van Lieshout
TENT added a new installation to the exhibition: the Board Room by Atelier Van Lieshout, designed as the headquarters of SlaveCity, an experiment in social and ecological autarky. This commercial and administrative centre clearly conveys the actions of the directorate. The richly decorated crockery depicts the activities that fall under the various departments and offices of SlaveCity, a personal place setting for each of the twenty directors, such as those from the Departments of Selection, Security, Organ Transplant, Slaughterhouse, Recycling, the Art and Culture Department, etc. Models of the Welcoming Center, the Gas Circuit, the Generator, the Female Brothel and a map of the Call Center, should remove any possible doubts about the nature of this future city.
(These descriptions are an adaptation of the text by Arjen Ribbens in the publication Dutch Design Port, Milk Gallery New York, 2007.)
Thanks to:
De Wereld van de Witte de With
Vivid Vormgevers