Design.nl 2008 Review

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• Wim Crouwel
• Fashion talents 2008
• Dingeman Kuilman
• Dutch Design in Asia
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Foreword
“Timelessness
is impossible”
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Design.nl’s annual magazine. This
digital edition takes a whirlwind look back at the year and offers a Top
8 for 2008 along with some of the most exceptional events and
personalities that made the year so grand.
We sit down for a long chat with cultural icon Wim Crouwel whose
career traces the path of Dutch design through the second of half of
the twentieth century. Crouwel, who just turned 80, is a staunch
modernist and reflects back on how the movement shaped his ideas
and why it all fell apart. He also proffers some big opinions about the
best minds shaping the industry now describing Li Edelkoort, who this
year resigned from her post as director of the Design Academy
Eindhoven, as the “wonder woman of Dutch design”.
– Wim Crouwel
Design.nl review 2008
The year was a great one for Dutch fashion with Red Light Fashion
Amsterdam making local and international headlines. Just this month
the decision to extend the project, which is part of the broader plan to
clean up the red light district, was announced.
In other news, Anneloes van Osselaer won accolades as a new fashion
talent and Christien Meindertsma swept the Dutch Design Awards for
her Pig 05049 book. “The House of Viktor & Rolf” exhibition stormed
London and with the support of Premsela, the Dutch Platform for Design
and Fashion, relocated to Utrecht Centraal Museum. The director of
Premsela, Dingeman Kuilman, also sits down to chat with us about
what role the foundation will play in Holland’s design future, and how it
can better shape industry values.
The best of design.nl 2008
Debuting in 2008 were FreeDesigndom and the Graphic Design
Festival Breda. Elsewhere, Dutch designers were exhibiting, lecturing
and working the globe with big stars like Marcel Wanders, Jurgen Bey,
Marije Vogelzang and Pieke Bergmans generating debate and
inspiration from Miami to Hong Kong.
For this issue, we cast the spotlight on Asia where Dutch designers are
producing and benefiting from local traditions. This theme will continue
next year with a closer look at just what is happening in the Middle East.
Keep a watch out for more international coverage, more videos and a
new “What is Dutch Design?” section.
See you online in 2009!
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Design.nl review 2008
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Colophon
The best of design.nl 2008
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• Top 8 for 2008
• Calendar Highlights
• Wim Crouwel • Fashion talents 2008 • Dingeman Kuilman • Dutch Design in Asia Design.nl is an initiative of
Premsela, Dutch Platform for
Design and Fashion
Editors
Gabrielle Kennedy
Karina Smrkovsky
Jeanne Tan
Production
Karina Smrkovsky
Contributors
Roel Klaassen
Esther Muñoz-Grootveld
Concept & Design 2008 review
SEK - (Typo)graphic design
CCCC
Website d esign
Strawberries
Cover image
Pieke Bergmans for
Priveekollektie, Light Bulb
Chandelier. Photography courtesy
of Design Miami.
Copyrights
Design.nl 2008
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Top 8 for
2008
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Just in case the year flew by a little
too quickly, let’s rewind and check
out the 2008 highlights from
design.nl...
Award winners
Collections
Monique van Heist – Dutch
Fashion Awards
★ C hristien Meindertsma –
Dutch Design Awards
★ TuttoBene – Best stand at
100% Tokyo
★ Autobahn – Utregse
Diezijnprijs
★ S enz Storm-proof Umbrella –
5 awards total for 2008
★
Melody Deldjou Fard
Tjep. Public furniture Amstel
station
★ Tord Boontje – Witches’
Kitchen
★ … and Beyond – Spectacle
collection
★ Royal Tichelaar Makkum –
Pyramids of Makkum
★
Design.nl review 2008
★
The best of design.nl 2008
Christien Meindertsma PIG 05049
Pieke Bergmans for Priveekollektie, Light Bulb Chandelier
Tjep. Public furniture Amstel station
Onitsuka Tiger Electric Light Shoe
Everywhere designers
WOW ideas
Marcel Wanders – Mondrian
Hotel/Apartments, De Bijenkorf
Christmas collection, Milan
★ J urgen Bey – NAi Maastricht,
Tytsjerk, Milan
★ S tudio Job – Geneva, Desire
(book), Zuiderzee Museum
★ M arije Vogelzang – Tokyo,
London, Baarn
★ Pieke Bergmans – Paris,
Tilburg, Miami
★
S ustainable Dance Floor at
Club Watt – Studio Roosegaarde
★ Curiosity Cabinet – Jon Stam,
Graduation Galleries 2008
★ E lectric Light Shoe –
Amsterdam Worldwide and
Freedom of Creation (FOC)
★ S omething to Hide (carrier
pigeons) - Marco Ugolini
★ Text Bridge – Ogul Oz
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19 Start Red Light Fashion
19-27 Amsterdam International Fashion Week
14-20 IMM Cologne
focusses on Dutch Design
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January '08
Photography courtesy of Design Miami.
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Design happenings
Photography courtesy of Scott Burnham
New design talent
Maaike Roozenburg
Elsien Gringhuis – Hema
competition and Createurope:
Best Avant Garde Award 2008
★ Sarah van Gameren
★ Mae Engelgeer
★ Ilse Waltjen
★
Li Edelkoort leaves Design
Academy
★ Viktor & Rolf bought by Diesel
★ Police sweep away Stefan
Sagmeister’s work during
Urban Play
★ Logo of Dutch government
cost e 60.000,★ M arcel Wanders wins
copyright case against Loods 5
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Design.nl review 2008
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The best of design.nl 2008
Maaike Roozenburg
Red Light Fashion Amsterdam
Stefan Sagmeister Urban Play project.
ADCN Annual report – Stone Twins
Exhibitions
Best books
Talent 2008 – Dutch Design
Week
★ Urban Play – Experimenta
★ House of Viktor & Rolf –
London, Symposium and
Utrecht
★ R ed Light Fashion Amsterdam
★ Thonik Retrospective China
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PIG 05049 – Christien
Meindertsma and Julie Joliat
★ Desire – Die Gestalten
★ A DCN Annual report – Stone
Twins
★ Eureko annual report with
cover made of porcelain –
Koeweiden Postma
★ Raapsteeltje – Simone Kroon
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25-26 Amsterdam hosts
FITC Festival
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28 Start of
Dutch Design
Month in
Madrid
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5 Sotheby’s New York auctions David-Schiller collection
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February ‘08
Photography: RVDA
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Calendar
highlights
A msterdam
International
Fashion Week
D utch Design Month,
Madrid
G raphic Design
Festival Breda
F reeDesigndom
The Netherlands’ newest design
festival brought together diverse
design disciplines in Amsterdam
and Utrecht, hosting an original
line-up of events topped off with
ExperimentaDesign.
All eyes were on Breda for the
debut of The Netherlands’ newest
graphic design festival.
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February
March
R ed Light
Fashion Amsterdam
(RLFA)
May
June
L ondon Design
Festival
With less fanfare than in previous
years, Dutch designers made a
strong impact at the world’s biggest
design event.
March ‘08
The Netherlands’ biggest design
event grew even more this year
with the biggest highlights coming
from the new talent.
Amidst the current economic
situation, the feeling at Design
Miami was still positive with
the unearthing of exquisite new
design masterpieces.
July
August
Dutch Design Days in
Belgium
Dutch designers painted the
town orange in a series of events
spread throughout the urban
expanse that is London.
Seven Weeks, Seven Events,
Seven Cities. This traveling
festival put the spotlight on Dutch
design with major events hosted
all over Belgium.
September
October
November
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December
T okyo Designers Week B usiness of Design
Tuttobene at 100% Design Tokyo Week Hong Kong
and Marije Vogelzang’s exhibition
made the headlines this year in
Tokyo.
The Netherlands was the partner
country for this year’s event,
meaning an impressive line-up of
Dutch speakers for the symposium
and fantastic satellite events in
the city featuring Dutch and Hong
Kong/Chinese collaborations.
28 Streetlab does Istanbul
• •
8 Exhibition private collection Benno Premsela
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April
Milan
This was THE Dutch fashion event
of 2008, providing both inspiration
and controversy for an infamous,
eclectic and beautiful part of
Amsterdam: the Red Light District.
Design Miami
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The best of design.nl 2008
January
Dutch Design Week,
Eindhoven
Design.nl review 2008
A month-long celebration of
Diseño Holandés, this was the
first time that the Spanish capital
had dedicated an event of this
scale to showcase design from a
single country.
Held in winter and summer, the
week-long fashion event uncovered
new talent and saw the growth
of Dutch fashion in the country’s
capital.
What a year! 2008 saw the debut of several major festivals
in The Netherlands as well as solo exhibitions and
presentations of Dutch designers at international fairs and
festivals. Here’s a selection of this year’s happenings that
caught our attention.
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Wim Crouwel and
Modernism –
a match made
through Dutch
Design
Text by Gabrielle Kennedy
Design.nl review 2008
“Fascist!” yelled a voice from the floor. It was
1979 and Wim Crouwel had just delivered a
defense of Modernism to a full house at the
Paradiso in Amsterdam. “I was shocked,” he
says. “But I didn’t react. I just swallowed it and
moved on.”
Wim
Crouwel
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designer needed to show something honest and raw
that could reflect the chaotic reality of the world.
The best of design.nl 2008
From as early as the 50s, Crouwel was already a
staunch modernist. He saw it as a movement that
could work for the people - a beautiful and yet very
Dutch ideal. “After the war, Europe was looking for
ways to build better societies,” he explains. “Of
course I’m left-wing, like most creative people are
and wherever I looked, I found the best solutions in
the visionary principles of modernism. I really did
believe that design was a way of helping people, a
way of guiding them through their lives.”
By then, Crouwel was already an icon of Dutch
typography and was accustomed to criticism. As
head of Holland’s first multidisciplinary design
studio, Total Design, his work and aesthetic had
become a visual mainstay. “We worked for everyone
from the museums to the post office,” he says, “so
I can understand why some people disapproved
of that. Their issue was probably more a feeling
against our influence than anything else.”
Today, Crouwel shakes his head at the irony of this
- that such a movement flourished during the harsh
and ugly intellectual environment of the inter-war
years; a time when a disastrous financial crisis
spawned the rise of Nazism, which lead to war. “It
was a very strange period,” he says. “It’s like design
was moving against the tide.”
A few years before the fascist taunt, Crouwel and
arch-opponent (but good friend) Jan van Toorn went
head to head in a very public debate over style. Van
Toorn the humanist versus Crouwel the modernist,
a conflict that came to symbolize more than just
different aesthetics, but different and clashing world
views. It was an era when people still believed in the
power of political and social ideals.
During the debate, Crouwel argued that designers
had to be neutral, professional, and always trying to
rise above the trends of the zeitgeist. The message
was the essence, meaning the design had to be
clear and functional. Van Toorn’s counter-argument
was that such neutrality does not exist. To him, a
April ‘08
Wim Crouwel
Those techniques, although borne in the early 60s,
are still now hailed as applicable. Without getting
too technical, Crouwel’s method was to develop a
16-21 54 Dutch Designers at Salone del Mobile
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Crouwel’s designs between 1956 and 1972 for the
Van Abbemuseum and the Stedelijk Museum are
renowned for their experimental typesetting. His
grid-based work was always resolutely systematic,
which gave the posters a very clean and modern look
even before the introduction of digital typesetting.
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Countries explored and utilized modernism
depending on culture and context: in Russia it was
expressive, in Italy it was more futuristic and in
Germany, by way of the Bauhaus, it was restrained.
It’s essence everywhere, however, concerned
dreams of a better world via design that stood for
utopian universalism, objectivity, and timelessness.
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“The New Alphabet”
By the 80s though those ambitions were dead, and
because the broader objectives proved impossible,
modernism was mostly reduced to little more than
an aesthetic. “In the beginning I really believed that
I could strive for something neutral,” Crouwel says.
“I thought that by being strict and orderly and by not
letting influences that deflect from the message into
the work, I could be timeless. What I know now is
that timelessness is impossible. That is probably the
real change in my opinion.”
May ‘08
19 Opening Graphic
Design Festival Breda
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14 Fire destroys part of TU Delft
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“I look at it now and see it as something very
typically 60s,” Crouwel says. “I could never have
created it in the 50s or in the 70s and I think the band
might have been attracted to that.”
Crouwel breaks into passionate German as he
aligns the ideas behind his New Alphabet with those
of the Bauhaus. “German is a very difficult language,”
he says. “They use capitals at the beginning of every
noun, but Bauhaus scrapped that. They put
everything in small case to save time. It was
revolutionary. To fit with the parameters of the
machines, I also used all lower case, but added
under-strokes to indicate capitals.”
One of Crouwel’s favourite examples is the New
Alphabet he created in 1967. The project was a
reaction against the first generation of low-resolution
computer typesetting. As a functional modernist, he
was always unashamedly willing to submit to the
demands of the machine. “The critics all said that
Crouwel’s poise under attack is unsurprising. Now,
just one month older than eighty he retains all the
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“The New Alphabet was over-the-top and never
meant to be really used,” Crouwel says. “ It was
unreadable.” But to his great surprise, the script
made a come-back decades later in 1988 when
legendary British rockband, Joy Division used a
version of it on the album cover of Substance.
Flicking through catalogues, Crouwel points to the
sorts of details in his work that reveal dates. “Liberal
politics, man walking on the moon, the introduction
of digital typesetting,” he says. “You can see the
influences quite clearly.”
Crouwel just shrugs. “I hadn’t even met her until that
awkward evening at the Paradiso when I was called
a fascist,” he says. “We were introduced afterwards
in the foyer and we both behaved graciously, like
human beings.”
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Early computers had low resolution output and
could only make straight lines - beautiful classic
typefaces were badly damaged. Crouwel, therefore,
stripped the round edges from traditional letters to
create characters that consisted of only horizontal
and vertical lines with corners at either 45 or 90
degrees. At the time, he called his results a
theoretical exercise, more about testing the
possibilities and limits of new technology than
creating good typefaces. Its genius was that it could
be created on those first computers consistently
and in every size and grade.
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As modernism lost its hold, graphic design, as the
more functionalist side of the movement, fared
better than architecture and object design. As a
discipline, it was less affected by the weaknesses
22 Streetlab does
New York
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31 Opening retospective
Marlies Dekkers
25 Reopening of Textile
Museum Tilburg
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Perhaps least saddened by his decision to leave
designing for the museum world was his harshest
and most vocal critic, the well-known writer and
feminist Renate Rubinstein. A few years earlier she
had baptized his work “The New Ugly” in a column
for the left-wing weekly, Vrij Nederland.
To commemorate the discovery and subsequent
publication of a long-lost transcript of the original
1972 debate between Crouwel and Van Toorn, both
designers were invited back last month to readdress
their differences. “Nothing had changed,” Crouwel says. “He still believed in his work, which was
always very politically engaged, and I still believed
Some things, however, have changed. Crouwel
might still be a modernist but the crumbling of his
chosen ism has forced him, albeit reluctantly, to
soften his perspective. “I don’t think I got it wrong,”
he says. “But maybe I’m a bit milder now. I think I
understand a little better why people do their work
differently and I can see why many designers like to
be influenced by the past rather than my preference
for the future.”
The best of design.nl 2008
In the exhibition, furniture by Marcel Breuer and Le
Corbusier stood along side a Bugatti Type 35 B GP.
There were architectural photographs by Jan
Kamman, building models by Johannes Duiker and
Mies van der Rohe, and graphic design by Piet Zwart.
“It turns out that this year was a very important one,”
Crouwel says.
“We were both very much influenced by what was
going on in the world,” Crouwel says. “We were both
children of our times, but how we indicated that was
quite different.”
we shouldn’t follow technology and that it should
follow us,” he says. “But my point was that for the
next twenty years, we would be dealing with
technical limitations so it would be best to develop
typefaces that at least worked.”
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“I think the feelings and intentions of designers
working particularly between 1927 and 1932 were
so influential on me,” he says. “That was the real
crystallization of modernism and functionalism, and
the aesthetic I always found most moral.”
To illustrate his point Crouwel picks out a book that
juxtaposes his and Jan van Toorn’s designs. “It’s
easy to see how differently we worked,” he says.
Images of various posters, stamps and exhibitions
lie side by side to maximize the contrast – Crouwel’s
work is ordered, neutral and honest; Van Toorn’s
is dynamic, passionate and messy. A stamp by
Crouwel depicts graphics from Holland’s famous
De Stijl movement. Van Toorn chose instead to use
overblown faces of prominent politicians. Even the
atmosphere of the exhibition photography is enough
to pick up on their wildly opposing mindsets.
in mine. I never wanted people to see my work and
to think immediately of me. The message had to be
number one.”
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Crouwel’s next step was Director of the Boijmans
Van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam. A highlight of
that period was an exhibition he curated of objects
designed in 1928, the year of his birth.
“You see I was never a romantic,” he says. “I think
that is what really bothered my detractors the most.
That I could remain so cool, if you’ll permit me to use
such a modern word.”
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That era came to an end though when the director at
the Stedelijk decided to divert limited budgets away
from posters and into newspaper advertising. “It was
a smart thing to do,” Crouwel says. “The posters were
very abstract and probably not helping to really sell
tickets.”
“I was never a Romantic”
grace of a proper, old-school gentleman. He picks
his lean and elegant body up off his favourite
Rietveld chair and moves forward to pour coffee.
Design.nl review 2008
“grammar of form”, which could be used to create
all necessary “form conjugations” in precisely the
same way as today’s blog software provides internet
users with a basic grammar for self-publishing. His
self-imposed challenge was to think through the
fundamentals of how such a system could work and
then realize it.
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“I was always influenced by the future”
Modernist’s response to the post-modernists. They
had very clear answers.”
when they work from their stomachs like chickens
without heads. I much prefer the thinking types.”
Looking back, Crouwel thinks Holland struggled
with the freedom offered by post-modernism and
really lost its way design-wise. As if in survival mode,
object design, at least, came back strongly in the
90s with a new brand of hard-core conceptualism.
Crouwel points to the restrained ambitions imposed
on graphic design by the advertising industry as the
cause of the discipline’s slump. “Nobody is seeking
out the universal anymore,” he says. “I want to see
the next big idea and less of this convenient
adjustment to circumstances. It’s that sort of
commercial approach that has caused Dutch
graphics to lose so much influence. It’s lost its edge
and has become so much less visual.”
Wim Crouwel
“Design education was no longer about producing
professionals who were ready to do real commercial
work,” Crouwel continues. “But rather, it became
about developing the person. Schools started
producing artists who were big on attitude, very
conceptual and who all had a very strong point of
view, but they had no real skills. Consequently, a lot
of them ended up disappearing.”
Which is how the 80s began and evolved into a
“highly uncritical” decade of post-modernism and
anything-goes mind-sets. “I was glad to not be designing then,” Crouwel says. “I really did not believe
in any of it. Design had become such a fashionable
world and included just about everything. I called it
collage design.”
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“I like designers who think about their work,” he
says. “I get examples sent to me all the time by
people asking for an opinion. Recently I received a
typeface and I told the boy I didn’t like the uneven
word shapes and thought it was unnecessary. He
wrote back to me saying he did it because he was
bored and wanted something new. I hate that …
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27 Best Designed
Books Award
21 Opening retrospective
Piet Zwart
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The most enthusiasm, and in spite of her rather
conceptual direction, is reserved for Li Edelkoort,
the recently departed head of the Design Academy
Eindhoven. “She is the wonder woman of Dutch
design,” Crouwel says. “She is so influential… is
100% design and a true concept thinker. She
foresees things and is a master. If you talk to her,
you immediately get under her influence and I am
afraid for the school’s future now she has left it.”
11 Queen Betrix opens
Graphic Design Museum
De Beyerd
3 Streetlab does Magnitogorsk
Crouwel is a Dutch cultural icon, and perhaps the
country’s most important graphic designer. Frederike
Huygen recently described his work as a poetic
form of cold art. “But I’m not an artist,” he says,
immediately stripping away the shades of
romanticism that coloured his final comments. “My
work has always been for paying clients, and it was
really only ever about designing solutions.”
When it comes to graphic design, Crouwel picks
out Experimental Jetset as the operation doing the
most interesting work: “Clear, strong and one-track
minded,” he says. But his enthusiasm stops there.
During his tenure at the Boijmans Van Beuningen
museum (1985-1993), Crouwel chose not to use a
Dutch graphic designer for its posters and instead
found two young English designers trained in the
New Modernist style in Basel. “I just didn’t like what
was happening in Holland at all then,” he explains. “I
couldn’t relate to it, but I did like the New
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June ‘08
Paralleling all this were the massive changes
happening in design education in Holland during
the 70s. The Bauhaus tradition of mastering the
basics in disciplines like typeface and materials was
replaced by a freer, more personalized approach
to learning. “It started with Joop Hardy, director at
AKI in Enschede,” Crouwel says, “and soon spread
throughout the country.
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So Crouwel waits for a signal of a new beginning.
“Something that belongs to the times,” he says. “I
still believe that people need sharp, well defined
ideas that they can follow and work from, and which
help them to believe in something. I’d love to be able
to witness the birth of a great new style, a direction
that we all can look towards for new solutions.”
It’s not all grim, however. About others Crouwel is
happy to heap on the praise. “I’m a big fan of Rem
Koolhaas,” he says. “I enjoy his Mies van der Rohe
influence and his very experimental personal point
of view.”
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“The problem was that ordinary people didn’t like
it,” says Crouwel. “It was so far from their romantic
views about living. It was too revolutionary. People
were still living in over-decorated houses with heavy
curtains and tapestries, the very opposite of what
this style represented … but look at it now, you
have a sort of Mies van der Rohe chair sold by the
thousands in Ikea.”
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The best of design.nl 2008
of the system, perhaps because of its less personal
relationship with the public’s domestic lives. Many
modernist public housing projects were dismissed
as soulless, bureaucratic and inhuman; and the
furniture was considered elitist, prohibitively
expensive and intellectually confusing.
Design.nl review 2008
But even the most celebrated names of that
movement didn’t entirely convince Crouwel. “I was
a bit puzzled by the influence of Droog Design,” he
says. “I saw it as too much about linking nice ideas
into one scene than doing anything really important,
and the ideas always seemed more important than
the execution.”
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Lichting
2008
Text by Esther Muñoz Grootveld
Elena Pereira
Itske van Deursen
Severine Jessen
Selina Parr
Sarena Huizinga
Sanne Karssenberg
Oda Pausma
Melody Deldjou Fard
Maarten van der Horst
Lotte Biermasz
The concept of Lichting is simple: the 20 most
promising graduates from the seven fashion
academies in The Netherlands show their work
on one catwalk during Amsterdam International
Fashion Week. The second edition was presented
on 24 July 2008 to an audience of influential
Dutch fashion figures, photographers, journalists
and stylists who eagerly awaited the new talent.
The year’s winner was AMFI graduate Anneloes
van Osselaer. Design.nl spoke to her about
being part of this unique project.
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The best of design.nl 2008
Lieke Zonnenberg
Lana Lin Turina
Hafida Larkoubi
Janneke Verhoeven
Ellen Rooijakkers
Hyan Yeu
Danny Cremers
Anneloes van Osselaer
July ‘08
http://lichting.design.nl/2008/
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1 Post CS Amsterdam closes
1 CoC registratration compulsory
for ‘free occupations’
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Your profile has obviously steadily increased
since then.
Among others I was featured in Elle Girl, Items and
NRC Next. The Zuiderzee Museum recently borrowed
my work for a photo-shoot for their new exhibition.
Above all, I was contacted by Chinese Vision, the
fashion and design magazine in China. I am also
becoming internationally recognised!
Has Lichting been important for your career?
Absolutely. Winning the G-Star Raw Talent Award,
I was invited by G-Star to tour their offices and join
them in New York to assist during one of their shows
during fashion week. G-star involved me in several
aspects of the show so that I got a good idea of how
something like this works. I spoke with the Manager
of design and styling at G-Star. Before I knew it, I had
an interview and now I work there at the design
department.
What are your future plans?
Sometime in the future I would like to start my own
label. I’d like to do this from Japan, Asia is the most
interesting market for me. But so far in the
Netherlands it’s going very well. I’m still learning
incredibly much at G-Star. It’s wonderful work
experience that you don’t get at the academy.
When you did hear that you were nominated for
Lichting?
Just after my final exam in June. I was very happy
because it was really my goal to try to achieve
something with my graduation collection. Of course
you never expect that you will be chosen.
And the day itself?
Happily I didn’t need much preparation. On the day,
it was very hot I remember. There was a chaotic but
upbeat atmosphere behind the scenes. Everyone
helped each other even though there was more or
less competition between all the designers.
Did you have a favourite designer?
Like Diane Pernet (editor, curator and blogger, who
together with José Teunissen gave an overview of
the show), I thought that Elsien Gringhuis was very
good. The collections shown were all very different.
It was difficult to guess who would win.
And the moment of truth?
Afterwards, everyone tidied up backstage. Ten
minutes before the winner was announced, we were
called into the lounge.
I really couldn’t believe that I had won. Amazing!
All sorts of people came to me to congratulate me.
Even now I’m still approached by magazines for
interviews.
Lichting 2008 is a cooperation between Amsterdam
International Fashion Week, HTNK, and Premsela in
collaboration with G-Star Raw and the Dutch fashion
academies.
17 Opening of 100 years expo of Dutch Design in Rotterdam
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Elsien Gringhuis
Design.nl review 2008
Lisanne Stoop
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Photo by Leo Veger
Premsela, the Dutch platform for design and
fashion, is a rare occurrence in a world where
governments are more likely to be bailing out
banks than nurturing culture. Its focus is not
just about furthering the commercial viability
of designers, but to more generally improve the
cultural climate for design in the Netherlands.
Design.nl review 2008
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The best of design.nl 2008
Dingeman
Kuilman
Premsela Works
Towards Improving
the Cultural Climate
for Dutch Design
Text by Gabrielle Kennedy
first be properly archived. “And most designers are
lousy archivists,” says Kuilman who plans to use
resources to help fix this. “We will never be able to
connect the present to past traditions if we don’t
have reliable records,” he says.
Premsela’s second goal, called People’s Republic of
Design, is about changing the relationship between
design and the general public.
“That makes a huge difference,” says Director
Dingeman Kuilman. “Institutions rarely exist that
have such a purely cultural goal. It is exceptional…
even luxurious.”
“I like photography because anyone can buy a
camera and be a photographer,” Kuilman says. “It’s
a totally open cultural field.”
To ensure that design does become a bigger part
of the national identity, Kuilman has laid down three
“Design World” objectives for Premsela to pursue
over the next four years.
But the point is that anyone can be a designer too.
As this year’s Hacking Ikea project at Platform21
showed, encouraging amateurs to reclaim the
right to be creative helps everyone to improve their
design consciousness.
The first concerns heritage and history and will focus
on addressing issues like cultural transformation
and identity. A good example is the domestic
interiors of first and second-generation immigrants.
Objects and layout are completely different to
traditional white family interiors, but almost all
communication from advertising to TV set-design is
stuck in that white aesthetic.
“I really think design and fashion can develop in the
same way photography has,” Kuilman says. “But we
need to reinforce developments and research to find
out what this all really means.”
Kuilman refers to the amateurs versus professionals
debate surrounding photography and journalism.
Blogging and mobile phone image upload software
has put a lot of power back in the hands of the
people. The photographs of the immediate aftermath
of the London underground bombings in July 2005,
for example, were taken by a passenger inside one
of the coaches. “When an amateur captures an
important image that goes on to become a World
Press Photo, what does it mean for professionals?”
“Identity has become a serious issue in Holland,”
says Kuilman. “More than ever before we are asking
questions about who we are, and I think it is possible
to contribute an answer to that using design.”
Onbewoond Eiland, by Sander van Bussel. Part of Platform21 = Hacking IKEA. Platform21 is a Premsela initiative.
August ‘08
By that he means design that tells a national story.
But to be able to piece together the projects of
individual designers into a broader story, work must
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Thinking more about how people power can change
attitudes, Kuilman uses the example of school
sewing classes. “I think that if you have ever learnt
how to sew a pair of pants at school, it forever
changes the way you view pants,” he says. “It makes
you more respectful of the process.”
impressive and safe than they truly are. “How do you
make things trustworthy again?” he asks. “How can
we design transparency back in so that people are
encouraged to look behind the interface and believe
in what they are purchasing?”
Premsela’s own publications, Morf - design
magazine - and our very own design.nl both exist
to communicate the issues, challenges and results
of these initiatives as well as the broader world of
Dutch design. We hope to bring you that and more
over the next year so pass on the word that design.
nl is the place to be for everything about Dutch
design.
Similarly he thinks that beyond its clever concept
and designs, Ikea’s big positive is that it gives
construction back to the people. “If it is a chair that
you have assembled yourself, that does change how
you look at it,” he says. “If we can make that even
more of a conscious effort and even more of a ritual,
I’ll call it progress.”
Streetlab, a project by Premsela and Cultuurfabriek.
Design.nl review 2008
Platform21 = Hacking IKEA. IKEAtjas, by Sylvia Fennis
Premsela’s third goal is to look more closely at
the effects of loss of trust after globalization on
design. A complex and less tangible initiative, this
programme will explore how design contributes
to the erosion or building up of trust. Kuilman talks
about the move from bank-tellers to ATMs and how
sleek computer interfaces, financial products and
even expensive clothes are designed to look more
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Dingeman Kuilman, Director Premsela
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18-21 ExperimentaDesign in Amsterdam & Lisboa
14 Thonik branded IAB Venice opens
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September ‘08
Photo: Sanne de Rooij
The best of design.nl 2008
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13 Streetlab does Amsterdam Zuidoost
10 Start of
freedesigndom
5 Opening Dutch
Design Days
in Gent
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New Delhi,
India
Tokyo,
Japan
Nagoya,
Japan
Shanghai,
China
Hong Kong,
China
Nepal
Design.nl review 2008
Chaing Mai,
Thailand
Bangkok,
Thailand
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25
The best of design.nl 2008
Bali,
Indonesia
Dutch
Design
in Asia
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Shanghai, Richard Hutten
Richard Hutten was the keynote speaker at this
year’s 100% Shanghai 2008. Elsewhere in Asia he
continues to enjoy rock-star status in Japan.
Hong Kong, Business of Design Week
This year, The Netherlands was the partner country
of Business of Design Week 2008. The event focuses
on the value of design for businesses, this year
through Dutch successes and expertise. A host of
big name Dutch designers headlined the impressive
speaker list including Rem Koolhaas, Marcel
Wanders, Hella Jongerius and Marlies Dekkers. A
major satellite event was the Dutch Fashion Soirée,
initiated by the Dutch Fashion Foundation which
aimed to introduce Dutch fashion to the Hong Kong
Fashion community. The collections of seven Dutch
designers were showcased including Bas Kosters,
Hans Ubbink, Mada van Gaans, Monique Collignon,
Van Markoviec, Catta Donkersloot and Claes
Iversen.
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22 Li Edelkoort named
Honorary Citizin
of Eindhoven
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18-26 Dutch Design
Week Eindhoven
13 Five Dutch winners at DMEA awards
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Business and trade fairs
Dutch designers have been busy in Asia in recent
years with production, exhibitions and designbusiness. While some have dabbled their designer
10 Dutch Design Awards
October ‘08
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feet in Asia, others have launched head first. Some
designers who are producing in Asia didn’t want
to be featured in this article, others didn’t respond.
Judging from current trends particularly in the food
industry, where consumers are demanding more
transparency in the production process, designers
will need to rethink their approach to consider
responsibility for their actions. Collaborations in
Asia will no doubt continue in the future however it
remains a complex and controversial issue, as it has
for centuries.
Many in the West view Asia as a big gold mine due
to the rapid growth of their economies particularly
in China and India. Everyone wants a piece of the
pie, and that includes the design industry. Design
expertise from the west is a valued commodity from
which Asia wants to learn. But is the claim of western
know-how and ‘contribution’ an excuse to take
advantage of the situation? While it’s important for
the east to learn from the west, what’s equally
interesting is what can the west learn from the east?
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Mumbai,
India
These days, a label with ‘Made in China’ seems
to carry the tag, ‘Cheap and Nasty’. In the past,
‘Made in China’ would’ve been a compliment
due to the exquisite craftsmanship and detailing
found in certain Chinese and Asian goods, for
instance in ceramics, wood carving or textiles.
People are slightly distrustful if something is
made in Asia because the whole idea of
producing there was in most cases a cost cutting
measure which often resulted in a lesser quality
from cutting corners. However, the current
revival in craftsmanship and hand-made design
is putting Asia back in a positive light, in
particular with cultural cross-over and
experimentation where specialisations and
traditional skills from local craftspeople are
fused with Western design. Supporters applause
the shift into more ethical production while
sceptics question the romanticism of using
‘craftsmanship’ to mask cheap labour.
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25 ElHema opens in
Rotterdam
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Illustration: SEK - (Typo)graphic design
Beijing,
China
Asia has always been a hotspot for
Dutch design in terms of production
but increasingly now for business,
cultural exchange and education.
Beginning with this special we take a
look at who’s doing what in this region.
Text by Jeanne Tan
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“We as designers should stimulate much
more of a dialogue not a monologue with
what we do”.
Shanghai, Ineke Hans
Ineke Hans was invited by Frankfurt Messe to give
a lecture during the Lifestyle Interior Fair 2008 in
Shanghai.
Shanghai, Dutch Design Expo
The Dutch Design Expo was held for the fourth
consecutive time at the Shanghai International
Creative Industry Week 2008 in October. Over 20
companies participated, with the aim of building
business and creative bridges between China and
The Netherlands.
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China, Social Energy
With over 300 projects exhibited, Social Energy is
an ambitious exhibition showcasing the work of 11
designers including Karel Martens, Lust, Irma
Boom, Mooren & van der Velden and Studio Dumbar,
and the development of their work from purely
graphic design to communication design.
Li Degeng, director of OMD Contemporary Design
Terminal the exhibition organisers, explains that the
purpose behind the project, “is to show the Chinese
people, especially those working in design, the
exploration, accomplishments and methods adopted
by Dutch designers of contemporary communication.
And also to explain the relationship between Dutch
China, Judith van den Boom and Gunter Wehmeyer
Product designer Judith van den Boom has been
working with/in China for the last four years, mainly
with ceramics and furniture. Together with partner
Gunter Wehmeyer, they are continually researching
more meaningful ways to produce and work in
China, in particular with social sustainability. Soon
they will set up a Slow Design research and teaching
project about ‘Slow China’ instead of ‘fast china’.
The designers have much to say on the subject.
“As designers, we believe that we have the
responsibility to look beyond the product, customer
and its use, and reflect much deeper back to the
making, environment and heritage you leave behind
where you produce. There is never ‘just producing’
as in one way or another you always step through
the whole process of creating your products.
The choices you make, concerning material, quality
and price are unavoidable. Producing and the
choices with this can have a big influence on the
resulting work and the market it reaches. In every
discipline, it’s not always so much about the outcome
but also being able to ask the right questions before
you start the process.
A healthy and productive way to produce in China
needs to be grounded in a stable connection with
local designers, design institutes, universities or
social scientists. It’s not about going there, doing a
quick sketch, some fast designs and making the big
money. You need to invest in working business
Exhibitions
Shanghai, China, Thonik – 16 hand-knotted carpets
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10 Rem Koolhaas in
Time Magazine’s Top 100
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21 Wim Crouwel turns 80
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November ‘08
Photography: Zhangfei
Tokyo, Japan, Marije Vogelzang
Marije Vogelzang was invited by Axis Gallery in
Tokyo to hold her first solo exhibition in Japan,
Eating+Design: What design can do part 2, which
examined social awareness over food safety and
other food-related issues. Additionally, Vogelzang
conducted a special cheese-making workshop.
Tokyo, Droog
Droog debuted its first store in Tokyo this year. Kou
Hattori, manager of Droog Tokyo says: “Japanese
products don’t leave any space for fantasy,
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Bangkok, Marlies Dekkers
In 2006, Marlies Dekkers opened her first shop in
Asia in Bangkok.
Shops
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contemporary design and Dutch society, which will
not only greatly enhance the understanding of
Chinese people about Dutch design, but will also
contribute to the growth of the new generation
designers in China. The people are beginning to
‘understand’ Dutch design rather than ‘taking a look
at it’, which is important.”
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25 Opening House of
Viktor & Rolf in Utrecht
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28 Opening Moooi
Amsterdam
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imagination. Japanese products are the end whereas
the products of Droog are ‘on its way’. They are
tools. They give the user an opportunity, a hint to
use the products in a different way. In general the
Japanese tend to look no further than the surface.
They’re not interested in really getting into the
product. Consumers are programmed to accept
anything that designers come up with. One could
say that designers design the life of the Japanese.
But the designs of Droog are completely new and it
is up to us to discover how we can penetrate the
philosophy of Droog design into their minds.
Japanese have to learn to design their own lives.”
The best of design.nl 2008
Tokyo, Japan, Created in Holland
Organised by Tuttobene, Created in Holland was the
third group exhibition shown at 100% Tokyo 2008,
during Tokyo Designers Week with the aim of
increasing the market for Dutch design in Japan and
Asia. The stand designed by Laurens van Wieringen
won Best Stand this year. Thirteen designers took part.
Shanghai, China, Thonik
Thonik held their first retrospective in the Shanghai
Art Museum this year. Themed around Power, the
exhibition explored the studio’s work mainly in the
cultural and political realm. A highlight was 16
hand-knotted carpets, made by Chinese craftsmen
into existing Thonik designs. The hand-knotting of
carpets is a dying trade in China. Thonik have plans
to work in China but nothing concrete yet.
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Tokyo, Japan, Created in Holland
Design.nl review 2008
Judith van den Boom and Gunter Wehmeyer
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Nepal, Janske Megens (DDiD)
Janske Megens developed a range of products for
the home in collaboration with female producers in
Nepal using traditional Nepalese craftsmanship and
materials. Nepal is known for its hand-made products
in particular those with paper from the Lokta plant
which grows in the Himalayas. Megens first went to
Nepal as part of a design-paper contest.
Shanghai, Jurgen Bey and Maarten Baas
Contrasts Gallery is renowned for its cross-cultural
approach to design, where international designers
are commissioned to create pieces investigating
traditional Chinese craftsmanship, materials and
imagery. Maarten Baas’ pieces focus on Chinese
wood carving. ‘Plastic chair in wood’ was a particular
highlight in Milan this year, as was the new series
of melting timber furniture ‘Transformation’ shown
recently at Design Miami. Studio Makkink & Bey’s
‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’ series is inspired
by the Chinese obsession with cleaning, where
cleaners’ lockers and cleaning apparatus are
Chiang Mai, Thailand, Sander Luske (DDiD)
Ceramicist and product designer Sander Luske
recently developed a range of tea pots in cooperation
with a local Thai factory specialising in Celadon
ceramic which originates from the 9th Century.
China, Daryl van Wouw
With a rapidly expanding label and his first boutique
recently opened in Amsterdam, Daryl van Wouw has
been producing his collections from his factory
nearby Shanghai since 2007.
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carefully crafted from luxurious boxes and materials
such as silk and bone china. “Chinese designers
can learn from Dutch designers’ attention to detail
and curiosity in exploring new designs”, says gallery
founder Pearl Lam.
to be to increase the exposure of Dutch design in
these markets for business also with the intention of
contributing to their development in a longtime and
sustainable way.
Mumbai, India, Mada van Gaans
As part of a cultural exchange between Amsterdam
Fashion Institute (AMFI) and the National Institute
of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Mumbai, Mada van
Gaans was invited to teach in Mumbai, introducing
Indian fashion students to Dutch design. The theme
of India, particularly silhouettes found in Indian
clothing, was a strong influence for her Spring/
Summer 09 collection.
Bali, Indonesia, Miriam van der Lubbe and Niels
van Eijk.
The elaborate carvings on the Godogan table
designed by Miriam van der Lubbe and Niels van
Eijk depict an Indonesian fairy tale. The table was
carved in Indonesia which is renowned for its timber
craftsmen. “We wanted to create a product so
complex that it could never have been made in the
West”, says van der Lubbe. Production in limited
edition for Droog & Barry Friedman Ltd.
Hella Jongerius for Cibone
China and India, Dutch Design Fashion and
Architecture: DutchDFA
In the newly launched collaboration Dutch Design
Fashion and Architecture (DutchDFA), the markets
of China and India play a major role. The aim seems
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8 Holland partner of Hong Kong
Business of Design Week
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December ‘08
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Policy and Education
Nagoya, Japan, Hella Jongerius
Enamel is a series of ‘shippo’ enamel plates designed
by Hella Jongerius, commissioned by Tokyo design
3 Dutch galleries and designers
at Design Miami
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Maarten Baas, Transformation, 2008, Stage 2 Chair, Stage 2 Round Stool and Stage 2 Square Stool.
The best of design.nl 2008
India, Ferry Meewisse (DDiD)
The collection frrry ville was developed by Ferry
Meewisse in cooperation with a fair trade factory
near Calcutta. Made of vegetable-tanned leather,
the collection consists of both button and zipper
bags available in three colours. For the production
of the button bag for instance, the compartments
and components were deconstructed for ease of
manufacture and reassembled later with buttons.
Photography courtesy of Contrasts Gallery.
Asia, Dutch Design in Development (DDiD)
Dutch Design in Development (DDiD) is a
matchmaking platform between Dutch design and
ethical production in developing countries all over
the world, promoting exchange of knowledge on
design, trends and product development. DDiD
works with mostly local fair trade producers to
develop design products in a sustainable way for
the European market.
store Cibone. The traditional Japanese craft is based
on 19th century enamelware originating from The
Netherlands. The practice of enamelling has
practically died out in Europe but remains well
preserved in Japan. Jongerius collaborated with
skilled artisans from the Nagoya based company
Ando Shippo to create a new collection of plates that
allude to the fantasy world of flora and fauna found
in her work with a hint of Japanese imagery.
Jongerius says: “The Japanese enamelling experts
introduced us to the technique, showing the results
of years of tradition and refinement. For a designer
like me, respect and appreciation are the only
possible response to such a display of artistry.
Inspired by this body of knowledge, we have aimed
to wholeheartedly celebrate the wealth and diversity
of enamelling techniques and the differences between
Dutch and Japanese culture, in new designs that
bring the present and past together.”
Design.nl review 2008
connections, China is in every possible area built
upon relationships or ‘Guanxi’. We as designers
should stimulate much more of a dialogue not a
monologue with what we do”.
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See you
next year