The Dots nr5 - September 2012 London

interview
Deyan Sudjic
about the Dutch
p.12

column
the article
Socially Responsive
Design
p.42

interview

dots
Ineke Hans and Max Bruinsma and
the RCA Pao Lien Djie
p.17 about the future of
interview
Items magazine
p.52
How Droog can it get?
p.18

Connecting the Dots showcases
all Dutch presentations
at the London Design Festival 2012

#5 September 2012 London

Partners Connecting the Dots · London 2012

Hello London,
this is

#002 WorkSofa by Studio Makkink & Bey

#001 EarChair by Jurgen Bey, Studio Makkink & Bey #005 SitTable by Ben van Berkel, UNStudio

Curious about #006?
Join us @ Superbrands London for the premiere
of PROOFF #006 by Studio Makkink & Bey.
Stand 13-14 | 20th - 23rd September 2012 | Old Truman Brewery, London E1

Not able to visit us during Superbrands? PROOFF’s pop-up showroom is located at Foundation Studio, Unit 1,
49-59 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HX. For visiting please contact us at +31 10 211 00 80 or contact@prooff.com

www.prooff.com

Precious™ is proud to present

only on our online store
www.precioustore.com

The n°1 removable adhesive skins
with a coloured glass-like finish that fit
on your MacBook Air or Pro screen frame.
Available for:
MacBook Air MacBook Pro iPhone
11-inch & 13-inch 15-inch & 17-inch 4 & 4s

Rachel Griffin, Rotterdam · Rachel Griffin is an American designer, who after her graduation at Design Academy Eindhoven in 2011 started
her own firm named Earnest Studio. Thought the name is not related to Shakespeare’s novels, Earnest Studio wants to keep its work pure and
honest through researching traditional and sustainable production methods. Griffin is based in Rotterdam, where she did her internship at
Studio Makkink & Bey, designers whose she admire and value, together with the London-based studio Industrial Facility. www.earnestly.org

Jólan Van der Wiel, Amsterdam · Jólan van der Wiel graduated at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam where
he established his studio in 2011. Soon became a designer-to-keep-an-eye-on with his ‘Gravity Stool’ that was especially
acclaimed at Milan Design Week 2012 in Milan. His favourite designer is Olafur Eliasson. www.jolanvanderwiel.com
Connecting the Dots presentation p. 30

Emmanuel Babled, Amsterdam · When asked who was his favourite artist he replied: Mother Nature. The European Institute of Design in Milan
had between its students Emmanuel Babled, a French designer who established his independent studio in this famous design city in 1992.
In 2010 he moved his firm to Amsterdam where he continues to show his talent after 20 years of experience in the design field. www.babled.net

Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta, Amsterdam · While half of Europe was packing to leave for vacation, in the summer of 2006 Lonneke Gordijn
and Ralph Nauta were deep in their work, starting their design brand. Design Drift is a duo design firm created after graduating at the Design
Academy Eindhoven. In their childhood they wanted to become a horse (Gordijn) and a robot (Nauta), growing up they kept their fantasy and crea-
tivity alive developing a personal Wonderland of shapes and lights that you can visit in their studio in Amsterdam. www.designdrift.nl

Maarten Baptist, Eindhoven · The young Maarten Baptist dreamed of selling ice creams on the beach. Growing up, he decided
to stick to the food and restaurant business, but started to make furniture pieces from the age of 8. After graduating at Design
Acad my Eindhoven, he founded JOINE in 2008, which mostly creates kitchen furniture as cutlery and glassware. Though not
e
even close to the food design field, his favourite design item is ‘TEDDY BEAR’ by Philippe Starck (1998). www.joine.nl

foreword index article
From networking to collaborating Dutch Design London 2012 Socially Responsive Design
David Heldt Hannah Jones and Anette Lundebye
25
11
Guide Dutch presentations
interview Moooi
A view on Design, Dutch design, Ineke Hans
Research and the Museum: Bolefloor
Deyan Sudjic Sabic
Deyan Sedjic interviewed Mint
by Anne Bates Social-Unit
42
Vij5
Pastoe
column
Bo Reudler
London – Olympic Games and Design
Prooff
Jan van Weijen
Studio Lambert Kamp
NgispeN
Mosa
Van Rossum Meubelen
Anon & Co.
Bathroom Mania!
Dennis Parren
12 Imme van der Haak
Jólan van der Wiel
Studio-Re-Creation
50
column Studio Rik ten Velden
Design Faces Teun Fleskens
interview
Ineke Hans The Cottage Industry
Items, the conscience of Dutch design
Tiago Sá da Costa
Max Bruinsma and Pao Lien Djie
Versaflex Systems
interviewed by Tracy Metz
26 – 31

Maps London
32 – 37
17
Program
interview
How Droog can it get?
38
Renny Ramakers and Agata Jaworska
interview by Daniela De Lorenzo
52
Index
39 portraits
Ten portraits of Dutch designers
Photographed by Judith Jockel

18

article
Waste Mountain as Arm Accessory?
Heleen Willemsen

4 – 8, 57 – 61

22

11 content the dots #5

Favourite everyday object of Julius Vermeulen
Advisor visual communication PostNL, The Hague

From networking to
collaborating
Cultural entrepreneurs and institutes in the Netherlands have to defend their
raison d’être and adapt to the new economic reality whenever necessary. It can be
a painful but often healthy development. Whereas five years ago the new creative
class met each week for sponsored network drinks, radiating success and armed
with a stack of business cards wrapped in rubber, now it has become more modest,
is open to far-reaching collaboration, and meets by appointment. The trendy jackets
are back in the wardrobe awaiting better times. In the interview with the design
magazine Items on page 52, managing director Pao Lien Djie has this to say
on the present economic conjuncture: ‘It does mean that we have to become more
creative in forging collaborations with partners who share our stance on the
cultural importance of design and the arts in general.’ Networking has given way
to collaborating. This is as true of magazines as it is of government bodies such
as Premsela, which is on the eve of a merger, and certainly of designers as well.
The design sector is redesigning itself, and that is a job we will have to do together.

I dare not say whether the financial situation has anything to do with it, but the
meaning of the word design is also changing. When we talk about design, we
increasingly have to explain which part of the spectrum we are referring to, because
it is growing broader and broader. In the article Socially Responsive Design on
page 42, the London-based design researchers Anette Lundebye and Hannah Jones
go into what we mean by the term Social Design. They explain: ‘In line with societal
changes, we are seeing designers that are forging new roles as facilitators, mediators
and change agents. Design thinking is moving out of the box and into the world.’
So collaboration is not just confined to the professionals, but the public seems to
be playing a crucial role in the design process too. Lundebye and Jones continue:
‘Rather than looking at people as mere passive consumers, they are included as
active participants and offered a chance to co-design the lifestyles and livelihoods
we want.’ We have to find out what we need before we start to make it.

Once again Connecting the Dots is full of articles and photos. We have deliberately
opted for shorter articles but more of them. As in previous editions, the magazine
is illustrated by 10 portraits of Dutch designers, this time photographed by
Judith Jockel. Besides the articles mentioned above, we have invited the director
of the Design Museum in London Deyan Sudjic for his opinion on Dutch design,
we interviewed Droog design about their striking presentation in Milan, and both
the designer Ineke Hans and the Head of Public Diplomacy, Press & Culture at
the Dutch Embassy in London Jan van Weijen have each written a column. You will
have seen that the design of Connecting the Dots has been completely renewed.
Design studio Haller Brun has carried out the graphic design of this edition with
great care and precision, as well as providing Connecting the Dots with a new
housestyle and website.

Of course it is not so much design thinkers but design makers who will be present
at the London Design Festival. No less than 25 Dutch companies will present
themselves on various locations in the city. For the first time, Connecting the Dots
will itself present a selection of 12 companies at Tent London. Please come and
see our presentation, and make use of the maps on the inside of the magazine
to view all the other exhibitions as well.

David Heldt
Editor-in-Chief

13 foreword the dots #5

A view on Design,
Dutch design,
Research and the
Museum:
Deyan Sudjic
Deyan Sudjic interviewed by Anna Bates
Photography by Hege Saebjornsen

This year, eight Dutch design studios were
nominated for the Designs of the Year prize at
the Design Museum in London; among them
a land mine detonator, a conference exploring
‘What Design can Do’, and a speculative project
that imagines a present without oil, through
a series of vessels made of natural polymers.
Anna Bates spoke exclusively for Connecting
the Dots to Deyan Sudjic, the museum’s
director, about the changing landscape of Dutch
design. Or, at least, she tried to. Is it relevant
to speak of ‘Dutch design’ or ‘British design’
today? Do these terms actually mean anything?

the dots #5 interview 14

Deyan Sudjic, director Design Museuem London

I always think of the museum Anna Bates · How do you choose what is ‘good’ design?
How do you decide what goes on a pedestal?
as being like a multiplex cinema, Deyan Sudjic · We are in an agnostic era. People are
anxious of using terms like ‘good design’ and
it needs to have different shows ‘bad design’. But when you show something in a
magazine or museum, it is seen as an endorsement.
and qualities: you need art-house So how does one introduce a nuance there? It’s
difficult. I think that this is not a museum of ‘good
and blockbuster. design’, but a museum that tries to look at con
temporary design – in particular mass-produced

• design – to make sense of it. I keep repeating a
phrase, which I think Paola Antonelli first used:
‘design is a way to understand the world around
us’. I think this is a very powerful idea.

AB · Isthis your ethos as director of the museum?
DS · Yes, I wrote a book called ‘The Language of
Things’ around the same time that I became director
of the Design Museum, and it’s a manifesto of
sorts: a bit of the intellectual knowledge that goes
into the museum. But the Design Museum is not
mine; it’s a platform for many viewpoints. I always
think of the museum as being like a multiplex cinema,
it needs to have different shows and qualities: you
need art-house and blockbuster.

AB · One of the nominations for the Design
Museum’s Designs of the Year prize was a con
ference in Amsterdam: ‘What Design Can Do’.
The designers that organised the event claim
‘design thinking’ can be used as ‘a response to
the challenges of today’s world’. Do you agree?
The Design Museum DS · I took part in the conference and I sort of
in London. enjoyed it. It seemed a little innocent in its beliefs.
Deep down there is a system idea that if you
analyse a problem carefully enough, there is a de
sign answer to it. But I never really believed that,
because some things are intractable. There are
not solutions to everything. It’s a bit like the idea
of psychoanalysis: if you put a problem into words,
that somehow solves the problem, but I don’t think
this is true. Would I go again? Probably not, it’s a
theatrical event. The really great conferences they
had in Holland about design were in the 90’s, when
John Thackara was doing ‘Doors of Perception’;
that was amazing. He was really thinking about the
subject before it became mainstream, and he really
understood it.

AB · Designers in the new generation are increas
ingly interested in the claims of the conference;
that design can be socially and politically moti
vated. The output of this line of enquiry is more
often systems than things; will you address this
work in the museum, and if so, how?
DS · The museum is not only about exhibitions. We
have a teaching programme here from primary to
postgraduate; residencies; talks and other different
ways of looking at things. The worst thing a museum
can do is become predictable, and what interests
me about design is that it keeps on changing its
shape. Fifty years ago a design museum could have
told a story in a selection of well chosen chairs,
which would trace the history of technology; people’s
approach to the act of sitting; the architectural
languages expressed through the chairs. I still have
a collection of chairs – personally and here – but
design is about much more than just these things.


Deyan Sudjic in
Museum bookshop.

If design didn’t keep changing its definition it would DS · I am always cautious about seeing national
become as marginal as bookbinding. characteristics in design, it can quickly degenerate
into stereotyping. Look, for example, at how inap-
AB · What do you think is lacking in design propriate it is to describe what Jonathan Ive does
discourse now? as ‘British design’ simply because he is British.
DS · I think we need more research. On the one hand It’s equally problematic to call it American design.
we know that an iPhone lasts eight months and Apple puts it well when it prints the words designed
depends on strip-mining lithium from the high in California on the side of the box. What is inside
deserts in Chile. On the other hand it does away is assembled in Shenzhen from components made
with a telephone, music system, camera, GPS. It in a dozen different factories all around the world.
does away with packaging, transport, shipping etc. To British eyes the Netherlands is a country
So we need to work out whether this could be the which initially seems very familiar; both have a
guilt-free consumption Reyner Banham and the queen as a head of state; both are beer drinking
Independent Group were interested in or whether and football loving; both have lots of 18th century
it is really an evil. There was a very strong piece brick terraces with sliding sash windows. But in
at the Design Biennale in South Korea last year, fact the superficial similarities conceal utterly dif-
which was doing exactly this; it presented how an ferent characteristics. The Netherlands depends
iPhone is made and sourced. But really this kind on an almost Japanese social cohesion that the
of research is beyond the scale of an individual; British have trouble with. They live very close to-
it requires the effort of universities. Unless we get gether with big windows; you see your neighbours
to the root of things we might be doomed to make all the time, which is rather un-British.
a huge effort to recycle without much purpose.
AB · Do you think this characteristic is reflected
AB · Do you think it should be part of the work of the in Dutch design?
designer, to pay as much attention to the process DS · What has come to be called Dutch design is
of how things are made, as the final outcome? better called design in the Netherlands, which
DS · I think the good ones do. Vitra doesn’t want is the product of some well publicised educational
to put poisonous pigments into its supplies so it experiments, and the residual afterglow of a state
chooses to make things in different ways, but of that once felt obligated to reflect certain cultural
course if you manufacture in eight different factories values for example, through the design of the PTT,
around the world, how do you keep track? and the Pre Euro banknotes.

AB · How would you compare design values in the
UK and the Netherlands?
•
17 deyan sudjic the dots #5

Favourite everyday object of Anouk Vogel
Landscape architect, Amsterdam

In 1995 I graduated from the Royal College traditional.” Marjan explores the potential
of Art. Two years earlier I had made a very use of new and high-tech technologies for our
conscious choice to go to London and study lifes now and in the future. In her field she
there. London was tempting and my impression certainly is an outcast as a woman, but equally
was that design in the UK was more focused Dutch in her storytelling way of confronting
on industrial thinking. Coming from Dutch us with technology and getting us acquainted
education that taught conceptual thinking and with it.
having graduated there with one-off pieces
(limited editions avant-la-lettre, you could
say) this seemed a very wise and interesting
move to me.

The Energy Collection,
by Marjan van Aubel.
Graduation show RCA,
London 2012.

380 chairs for Ahrend What is experienced as Dutch still seems to
by Ineke Hans
be part of them and me after two years of the
RCA. Do London and the UK make any sense
This year I was external examiner at the for Dutch Designers, you might ask?
RCA for Design Products. In 1997 I had my
RCA exams myself and – unlike my main You could also say that design has many faces.
reason to study in the UK – I graduated with The storytelling, conceptual part is perhaps

Design mainly one-off pieces, exploring designed
objects, their functional visuals and sculptural
not just a typically Dutch phenomenon but
one of the faces of design. To me it seems that
powers. Not very industrial but very con the UK’s educational system just embraces

faces nected to the more artistic work I made in the
Netherlands before.
more designers with different faces in the
courses and this might perhaps be the real
eye-opener for Dutch Designers!

Ineke Hans
According to Marjan and Imme: “The design
world in the UK is bigger and more varied
than the Dutch one, which means more possi-
bilities.”

Personally I believe that the future of design
lies in where these different faces of design
meet: if the worlds of one-off experiments,
high technology, storytelling, asking questions
Beyond the Body (film) and industrial production get together, it pro-
by Imme van der Haak.
Graduation show RCA,
vides us with great and interesting things.
London 2012. Designers have to be aware of all these worlds
to make that happen. And London is a great
It’s interesting to hear that recent Dutch RCA melting pot to make you aware of this.
graduate Imme van der Haak still experiences
this similar difference in design attitude
between the UK and the Netherlands: “My
•
impression is that the background of English
Ineke Hans has a Studio in Arnhem, the
design is more based on industrial design Netherlands and had her first self-initiated design
history and Dutch design is more conceptual presentation in The Tramshed, East London, in 1997.
and artistic.” Imme made impressive and per- (www.inekehans.com; www.immevanderhaak.nl;
www.marjanvanaubel.com)
sonal work: She printed photos of her own
body, her mother’s and grandmother’s on trans
parent robes. Persons wearing these garments
become laden by the body of someone else.
According to her own description you could
say Imme’s work is very Dutch.

Marjan van Aubel, another Dutch RCA grad
uate in Design Products, also recognizes:
“The Netherlands has a rep ation for an inno-
ut
vative and storytelling way of design. English
design is very to the point, is well made and
uses high-quality materials. In general it
remains quite male-dominated and is more

19 column the dots #5

Daniela De Lorenzo · What was the Milan Design Week
2012 audience reaction to the Droog presen ation?
t
People expect to see brand new objects, instead
you brought an idea, a concept.
Agata Jaworska · We had quite a mixed reaction. While
some passed it by, looking for the next show that
would feature new objects, others stayed, often for
quite a long time, examining each company and
discussing their thoughts with us. Many people
told us it was refreshing to come to a presentation
that was not about the latest product launches. It
seems there is a need for presentations that reflect
upon the design industry at large, and also upon
the furniture fair in Milan as its Mecca.

NI · What were the criteria for your selection
of the design projects?
AJ · It was a combination of finding existing initia-
tives by designers, incorporating some of our own
past and present initiatives, and inventing new ones.
We wanted a broad range of business propositions,
ranging from the realistic, like We Fix, a company
that specializes in creative repair, to the entirely
fictional, like the 10kg Institute, an institution that
How Droog rations 10kg ‘polyblocks’ that can be endlessly re-
printed in different shapes. The 10kg Institute came
from a speculative scenario by Justin McGuirk in an
can it get? article he wrote about Material Matters, which was
recently published by Domus.

NI · What are the main features of the business
Renny Ramakers and Agata Jaworska
models you are trying to offer?
interviewed by Daniela De Lorenzo
AJ · There is no singular over-arching feature of the
Photography by Ilco Kemmere
business models. Some focus on developing alter-
native new materials, some on finding alternative
Palazzo Clerici in Milan looks like a piece material sources, on enabling people to share things,
of design itself, with its frescoed ceilings and on designing things that last longer, on satisfying
ancient golden-framed mirrors. This glimmering our psychological addiction to material goods,
location became just the surroundings on reuse, repair and upcycling. The imaginary fair
for a simple at-a-glance installation by Droog is an illustration of what is already happening
at the Milan Design Week 2012, as part of in the real world – designers are reacting in very
Domus Open Design Archipelago. different ways.
Driven by curiosity about this unusual presen
tation made me get closer; paper panels placed NI · This model goes completely against the flow
around the room revealed powerful concepts of the whole current system. Do you think that
for a revolutionary view of design. With ‘Material we will have to wait for new generations to fully
Matters’, Droog presented 20 imaginary develop this ‘maximizing’ mentality? Who is
design companies which introduce innovative most likely to follow this brand-new model?
forms of economic systems that draw AJ · If you provide a good experience with very
attentionto material scarcity. Droog showed simple means, there is no reason why it can’t exist
design through ideas, not objects. Is this now. Every generation has its own dynamics and
a U-turn in the Droog approach to design? urgencies. Perhaps the issue of material scarcity
Not according to Agata Jaworska, content and might not be so relevant many years from now.
project manager at Droog.
NI · How do you relate the early Droog products
to this new approach to design? What do they
have in common?
AJ · Material Matters frames some of the earlier
initiatives within a context that is relevant today.
Droog in the early days was very much about
improvisation and making use of existing things
as a reaction to design that aimed at formal and
material perfection. Rag chair by Tejo Remy of
1991 is a classic example, which was featured by
the imaginary company Scraps.
Material Matters shows a broader range of
possible alternatives to making new products from
scratch. The imaginary company Waste Watchers


Renny Ramakers (co-founder and director of Droog) and
Agata Jaworska (content/project manager at Droog)

It’s about reconsidering teaches you how to furnish your house without
buying stuff. One of its ‘products’ is Calorie stairs,
the full chain and redesigning which proposes using the stairs instead of buying
a work-out machine. This idea came from the ex
the process, which is part hibition Hotel Droog of 2002, which was all about
maximizing experience without the need for more
of the designer’s scope. stuff. Material Matters also presents digital and
other service-based alternatives to consuming

• tangible goods.
What is also noteworthy is that the formation
of Droog was curatorial. Renny Ramakers and Gijs
Bakker put existing developments within a common
framework which made a statement about design.
Material Matters also brings together existing initi-
atives as a curatorial act, but I would say this time
that the focus is more on a structural level – on
the impact of a policy shift, on the need to propose
alternative business models.
Top: Wild Goods, Wild
bone china by Christien
Meindertsma for Droog. NI · Clearly the tasks of designers are changing.
As designers used to be trained to design products,
Bottom: UP by Droog, what is the approach they should have now?
offers a range of goods
made with dead stock. Will they need to have new abilities? What sort
Snack set designed by of skills make someone a designer nowadays?
Studio Droog. Material: AJ · As an industry, but also like most industries, we
glass (supplied by
Royal Leerdam / Libbey are at a point in which reconsidering our methods –
Europe), coating, spoons. of production, of financing, of communicating,
of interacting with our audience – is particularly
necessary. Some designers are reconsidering the
various parts of the supply chain, proposing new
ways of sourcing, producing and distributing.
The great thing about the (fictionally named)
company Sea Treasures by Studio Swine is that
the plastic is fished from the sea. The company
Solar Sinter by Markus Kayser Studio similarly
is intriguing because it brings a self-sustaining
machine to the desert where there is an abundance
of material and energy from the sun. Crow Works
by Joshua Klein is fascinating because it turns
crows into material collection agents that gather
material wealth while cleaning our streets at the
same time. Joshua Klein happens to be a hacker,
but I think his way of thinking is also design think-
ing at its best. It’s about reconsidering the full
chain and redesigning the process, which is part
of the designer’s scope.

NI · Some of the fictional design companies of
Material Matters lease or rent objects for daily use.
Therefore the public, and not only designers,
are directly involved and have a main part in your
project. Do you think that consumers are ready to
change their attitudes towards this new concept
of ownership?
AJ · Renting makes a lot of sense at a time when
we change neighbourhoods quite frequently, not
knowing how long we will stay in any given place.
Renting homes and sharing cars are all quite ac-
ceptable notions. It can be the same for furniture,
and eventually maybe even for clothes.
If tax on raw material is increased, it changes
the value of existing material. People are likely
to treat existing material more carefully, they will
be more versatile with what they have, they will
be less likely to throw things away, they might
be more open to renting things, and so on. With
changed incentives, people’s behaviour and even-
tually attitudes might also change.


UP by Droog, offers a range of goods made with
dead stock. Shoes designed by Studio Droog.
Material: carpet (supplied by 2012Architecten/
InterfaceFlor), leather laces.

NI · Are reuse, repair, reboot the new words also interested in making statements on structural
to identify progress? levels, which means proposing alternative busi
AJ · Regress can certainly play a role in progress. ness models and scenarios.
Repairing – bringing something back to a previous
state – will never go away, but our incentives NI · The DNA of Droog consisted of a Dutch
to repair things fluctuate over time, becoming approach to problem-solving, and a dry sort of
especially relevant when resources become scarce humour. Is Material Matters something that fits
and the alternative of buying something new with that picture?
becomes less attractive. Raising tax on materials AJ · Material Matters presents a relevant framework
artificially increases their scarcity, thereby artifi for the design industry, speculating about a pos
cially raising the incentives for repairing, reusing sible state of affairs in the future. There is some
or rebooting them. humour or perhaps caricature involved, in the sense
Material Matters presented a myriad of pos that each response quite literally took on a ‘branded’
sible reactions to material scarcity. There is approach. Within the framework, we essentially
no single direction that the industry – and that presented a series of logos with one-line business
progress – should take, but ultimately the show propositions, in order to convey the message that
has a progressive and optimistic tone. Part of businesses will react to a top-down policy shift,
progress is rethin ng business models and not
ki turning the limitation into a market opportunity. The
blindly sticking to the same strategy and expecting playful and naïve tone of the logos designed by TD
the same results when everything else around (Theo Deutinger) made them seem as if they were
you is changing. part of another time.
Whether or not this fits with the DNA of Droog
NI · Was the Saved by Droog (2010) presen ation
t we’ll leave you to decide.
of items saved from liquidation sales and leftovers
the core and starting point of Material Matters?
What do you think Droog has achieved in the last
•
few years by taking this challenging path?
AJ · Saved by Droog is part of a trajectory that started
in the ’90s, when Droog was dealing with leftovers.
At that time, the main objective was to make a
statement about a different approach to design,
which manifested itself through new products.
We still have that ambition, but now I think we’re

23 how droog can it get? the dots #5

It seems as though hardly a week goes by without
the eco blogs reporting on a new waste product that
designers are converting into a trendy handbag.
It is a persistent trend in which the bag designers
are increasingly opting for industrial or other rough
waste materials. For instance, the Dutch company
Kazmok recently won a Red Dot Design Award for
its line of stylish, classically designed and robust-
looking briefcases and suitcases made from indus-
trial transport belts. If the Kazmok bags are not
entirely your thing, as a hip, environmentally-minded
consumer you can also choose a bag made from
discarded fire hoses, banners, lorry canvas, army
tents, men’s suits, parachutes, safety belts, bicycle
tyres, sheets, plastic bags, benches, sails, or rice
sacks. Most suppliers offer not only various bag
models but also purses, belts and protective sleeves
for mobile phones and iPads.

Freitag
The trend started in 1993 when the Swiss company
Waste Mountain Freitag introduced its first line of bags made from
lorry canvases. Freitag was also one of the first com-
panies to cater to the demand for unique consumer
as Arm products, since as each canvas is printed differently,
every bag is different. Freitag is a big international
brand that processes 390 tons of lorry canvas,
Accessory? 36,000 bicycle inner tubes, 220,000 safety belts
and 1,200 square metres of recycled airbags a year.

Slums
Heleen Willemsen in collaboration with
Some ten years later, but still as one of the first,
Vormberichten, magazine by BNO – Association
the Dutch designer Siem Haffmans introduced his
of Dutch Designers
Ragbag bags. These bags are not only made from
waste material such as plastic foil, but they are
There is no waste material that designers produced by slum dwellers in India into the bargain.
cannot turn into a bag line. Why are so many bag The company has won many prizes in the last ten
designers turning to discarded material? years and sales in various countries have increased
And will this save the planet? to a couple of thousand pieces a year.

Easy
Both Freitag and Ragbag have been imitated several
times. But why is designing bags made from recy-
cled material so popular? Haffmans: ‘Sustainability
is attracting a lot of attention. Socially responsible
enterprises are enormously popular. And the
poten ial of recycled material is limited, of course.
t
A bag is an easy item to make something of and
it is conspicuous in the street.’ So a bag is an easy
and eye-catching product when it comes to the in-
corporation of recycled material. All the same, many
of the designers behind the bag labels also have
big environmental ambitions with their products.
Take the mission of the British firm Elvis Kresse,
which makes fantastic bags from fire hoses: ‘Save
the world from waste’. Still, it remains debatable
whether you can save the world from waste by re-
cycling it in a product. Elvis Kresse prevents the
discarded hoses from ending up on the scrap heap
or in the incinerator. Instead, the waste material is
flown over the world to trendy design and clothing
stores in the form of bags, to be worn on someone’s
shoulder for a couple of years. In the end the bag
will wear out too, and will then still end up on the
scrap heap or in the incinerator. In the meantime
the hose manufacturers carry on using new raw
materials to make new fire hoses, which will also
be bound to be discarded at some point.

the dots #5 article 24

So saving the planet with a bag line is 1
a rather tall order. What Elvis Kresse and all the
other designers of bags from recycled materials
do achieve, of course, is to save on raw materials
for new bags.

Pallets
Siem Haffmans is more realistic about the environ- 2
mental effects of his own Ragbags and other bags
made from recycled material: ‘The environmental
effect is relatively limited. A bag is more of a sym-
bolic product, something that communicates. It
contributes to awareness of sustainability, but it
won’t save the world. We recycle maybe five hundred
grams of plastic per bag and the number of bags is
not so large. It would be better to make pallets from 5

recycled material, hundreds of millions of them
are made. But people simply find recycled pallets
less interesting.’ 3
Perhaps that is a bright new challenge for the
designers of bags made from recycled materials to
devote their creativity and ecological awareness to. 4
Who is going to make the first pallet from recycled
handbags? And who will design the first fire hose
made from discarded purses, or the first car tyre
from used iPad sleeves?

•
7
6

H
eleen Willemsen is a freelance journalist and
consultant in the field of ecodesign

9

8

10

11

1 Cyclus (inner tubes),
2 Freitag (lorry canvas),
3 Italian Coffee Hand-
bags (coffee packaging),
4 Edson Raup (men’s
suits), 5 Ragbag (cotton
saris), 6 Feuerwear
(fire hoses), 7 Doybags
(soft drinks packaging),
8 BELT! (safety belts),
9 Anne van Dijk (army
tents and jackets),
10 Demano (banners),
11 Doreen Westphal (inner
tubes), 12 ElvinKresse
(fire hoses), 13 Kazmok
(transport belts) 12 13

25 waste mountain as arm accessory? the dots #5

Favourite everyday object of Irma Boom
Graphic designer, Amsterdam

Dutch
Design
London
2012

01 08 16 24
Moooi Pastoe Anon Co. Teun Fleskens
02/10 09/18 17 25
Ineke Hans Bo Reudler Bathroom Mania! The Cottage Industry
03 11 19 26
Bolefloor Prooff Dennis Parren Tiago Sá da Costa
04 12 20 27
Sabic Studio Lambert Kamp Imme van der Haak Versaflex Systems
05 13 21
Mint NgispeN Jólan van der Wiel
06 14 22
Social-Unit Mosa Studio-Re-Creation
07 15 23
Vij5 Van Rossum Meubelen Studio Rik ten Velden

27 presentations the dots #5

Dutch Design Presentations 01 02
London 2012 Moooi
The Unexpected Welcome
Ineke Hans
SCP
Location Location
Moooi London – The White Building SCP West
555 Harrow Road 87 Westbourne Grove
London W10 4RH London W2 4UL

Contact Designer
Laura Ramos Bello-Kluit Ineke Hans
Minervum 7003
4817 ZL Breda Contact
Netherlands INEKEHANS|ARNHEM
t +31 (0)6 388 231 22 Burgemeester Weertsstraat 132
laura@moooi.com 6814 HT Arnhem
www.moooi.com Netherlands
t +31 (0)26 389 38 92
map A p. 34 info@inekehans.com
www.inekehans.com
www.scp.co.uk

map B p. 34

03 04 05 06
Bolefloor Sabic Mint Social-Unit
Mint | A Spatial Surprise
Location Location Location Location
100% Design London 100% Design London Mint Gallery House
Earls Court Exhibition Centre Earls Court Exhibition Centre 2 North Terrace 19 Greek Street
Stand E112 Stand E40 London SW3 2BA London W1D 4DT
Warwick Road Warwick Road
London SW5 9TA London SW5 9TA Designers Designers
Daniel Hulsbergen, Daphna Isaacs, Wouter Kalis, Corinne de Korver
Contact Contact Mieke Meijers, Dirk Van Der Kooij,
Prinsengracht 13 Michael Smits Kirstie Van Noort, Jetske Visser Contact
1015 DK Amsterdam Plasticslaan 1 Corinne de Korver
Netherlands 4612 PX Bergen op Zoom Contact Maasstraat 160-3
m +31 (0)6 205 545 75 Netherlands Nadia Chin 1079 BK Amsterdam
info@bolefloor.com m +31 (0)16 429 29 11 2 North Terrace Netherlands
www.bolefloor.com www.sabic.com London SW3 2BA m +31 (0)6 340 249 80
United Kingdom corinne@social-unit.com
map C p. 35 map C p. 35 m +44 20 722 522 28 www.social-unit.com
info@mintshop.co.uk www.19greekstreet.com
www.mintshop.co.uk
map E p. 36
map D p. 35

the dots #5 presentations 28

07 08 09 10
Vij5 Pastoe Bo Reudler Ineke Hans
Bathware for SCP
SUSHISAMBA’s bathrooms
Location Location Location
Milk Concept Boutique Viaduct Furniture Location SCP Design Department Store
19 Greek Street 1-10 Summers Street Sushisamba 135-139 Curtain Road
London W1D 4DT London 1R 5BD Heron Tower, 38th and 39th floors London EC2A 3BX
110 Bishopsgate
Designers Designers London E1 6QR Designer
Framed: Breg Hanssen together Pierre Mazairac Karel Boonzaaijer, Ineke Hans
with Vij5 Studio Pastoe Designer
NewspaperWood: Mieke Meijer Bo Reudler Contact
together with Vij5 Contact INEKEHANS|ARNHEM
Rotsoord 3 Contact Burgemeester Weertsstraat 132
Contact 3523 CL Utrecht Bo Reudler Studio 6814 HT Arnhem
Arjan van Raadshooven Netherlands Krelis Louwenstraat 1-B29 Netherlands
Debussystraat 2 t +31 (0)30 258 55 55 1055 KA Amsterdam t +31 (0)26 389 38 92
5654 SC Eindhoven info@pastoe.com Netherlands info@inekehans.com
Netherlands www.pastoe.com m +31 (0)6 455 264 74 www.inekehans.com
m +31 (0)6 245 275 31 press@boreudler.com www.scp.co.uk
arjan@vij5.nl map F p. 36 www.boreudler.com
anieke@vij5.nl map G p. 37
www.vij5.com map H p. 37

map E p. 36

11
PROOFF
Hello London, this is PROOFF
Location About
Super Brands London PROOFF is about creating innovative products whose
Stand 13 – 14 every last detail has been refined and refined again.
Old Truman Brewery PROOFF involves spatial furniture elements for the pro-
Hanbury Street gressive office, communication areas and public spaces.
London E1 6QR From consultation furniture, in which unconscious
behaviour can naturally occur, creating conditions for
Designers concentration, to the simple functionality and creativity
Axia Design, Ben van of meeting places.
Berkel (UNStudio),
Jurgen Bey (Studio Presentation
Makkink Bey) Premiere of PROOFF #006 at SuperBrands London:
at stand 13 – 14 PROOFF’s newest product development,
Contact designed by Studio Makkink Bey (NL) will be exhibited
Antoinette Veneman for the first time ever. Of course, you can experience
P.O. Box 34095 #001 to #005 as well.
3005 GB Rotterdam
Netherlands
t +31 (0)10 211 00 80
antoinette@prooff.com
Photo‘s: Roel van Tour, Pim Top and Mathijs Labadie, Rotterdam.

www.prooff.com

map H p. 37


12 13 14 15
Studio Lambert Kamp NgispeN Mosa Van Rossum Meubelen B.V.
Be Seated Playing with Tradition
Location Location Location Location
Milk Concept Boutique Super Brands London Super Brands London Super Brands London
118 1/2 Shoreditch High Street Stand 25 Stand 8 – 9 Stand 28
London E1 6JN Old Truman Brewery Old Truman Brewery Old Truman Brewery
Hanbury Street Hanbury Street Hanbury Street
Designer London E1 6QR London E1 6QR London E1 6QR
Lambert Kamp
Designers Designers Contact
Contact Maarten Baas, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Mosa Design Team Hogeveld 8
Lambert Kamp Dick van Hoff, Richard Hutten, James 6617 KR Bergharen
P.O.Box 1157 Irvine, Iris Janssen, Jerszy Seymour, Contact Netherlands
9701 BD Groningen Wim Rietveld P.O. Box 1026 m +31 (487) 53 12 88
Netherlands 6201 BA Maastricht info@vanrossummeubelen.nl.
m +31 (0)6 482 733 16 Contact Netherlands www.vanrossummeubelen.nl
info@lambertkamps.com Charly Jongejans t +31 (0)43 368 92 29
www.lambertkamp.com Parallelweg West 23 info@mosa.nl map H p. 37
4104 Culemborg www.mosa.nl
map G p. 37 Netherlands
m +31 (0)6 510 028 27 map H p. 37
charly.jongejans@ngispen.nl
www.ngispen.co.uk

map H p. 37

Connecting the Dots 16
Presentations Anon Co.
Connecting the Dots Presentation
Location About
Tent London – Shop 25 AnonCo.’s journey began with a vision to create
Old Truman Brewery luxurious objects of desire by engaging the global com-
25 Hanbury Street munity to take timeless concepts to reality. Fashioned
London E1 6QR by you the design voyeur, AnonCo. is truly ‘designed
by everyone’. As purveyor of design, you, are empowered
Designer through our voting portal to elevate extraordinary designs
Bryan Steendyk to iconic status, and engage in balanced consumption.

Contact Presentation
Anon Co. Blurring the line between art and product, AnonCo.’s
Billie Holidaystraat 17 bold and energetic work utilises various medium to
2066 HA Amsterdam creatively convey a sculptural allure, exploring line,
Netherlands colour and form in objects derived from recyclable and
mail@anonandco.com naturally renewable resource.
www.anonandco.com

map H p. 37


17 18
Bathroom Mania! Bo Reudler
Connecting the Dots Presentation Connecting the Dots Presentation
Location About Location About
Tent London – Shop 25 Bathroom Mania! is an innovative Design company, from Tent London – Shop 25 Bo Reudler Studio designs and realises products
Old Truman Brewery Dutch designer Meike van Schijndel, that focusses on Old Truman Brewery (furniture and objects) and interiors commissioned by
25 Hanbury Street reviving the bathroom experience. By using images and 25 Hanbury Street both private clients and companies. Alongside, the
London E1 6QR stories in their designs they introduce a colorful fantasy London E1 6QR studio initiates and self-produces furniture collections
world in the conservative white bathroom. in limited editions.
Designer Bathroom Mania! received so many positive responses Designers
Meike van Schijndel to their Kisses urinal design, that led in 2003 to the Bo Reudler in collabo Presentation
decision to start their own production and market the ration with Olav Bruin The aim of the Bamboo Windsor Chair is to re-examine
Contact products worldwide! the reputation and aesthetic of bamboo furniture, and
Bathroom Mania Contact to use the inherent qualities of the natural material to
Brigittenstraat 2 Presentation Bo Reudler Studio create mass products that are all individual. The design
3512 KK Utrecht The Kisses urinal, also known as the ‘mouth urinal’, Krelis Louwenstraat 1-B29 is a contemporary interpretation, of the all-time western
Netherlands transforms a daily event into a blushing experience. 1055 KA Amsterdam classic windsor chair, made with Asian craftsmanship
m +31 (0)30 214 52 10 Netherlands and materials: in this way east merges with west.
info@bathroom-mania.com m +31 (0)6 455 264 74
www.bathroom-mania.com info@boreudler.com
www.boreudler.com
map H p. 37
map H p. 37

19 20
Dennis Parren Imme van der Haak
Tent London – Shop 25 Studio Dennis Parren is engaged in the design of Tent London – Shop 25 My work is playful, yet subtle in its approach. I constantly
Old Truman Brewery furniture and lamps. Old Truman Brewery strive to question and challenge our perception of what
25 Hanbury Street 25 Hanbury Street is ‘normal’, focusing on the everyday, which we might
London E1 6QR Presentation London E1 6QR take for granted.
Colorful mysteries of light.
Designer You can’t really say “that chair is red”. Actually, the chair Designer Presentation
Dennis Parren is reflecting red light while absorbing green and blue Imme van der Haak My interest has a strong relation towards the human
light. It is light that colors the world. My CMYK lamp body and its appearance, function, and behaviour.
Contact plays with the mystery of light and color casting an Contact ‘Beyond the Body’ focuses on altering the human form
Dennis Parren elusive network of lines of cyan, magenta and yellow Imme van der Haak by affecting its figure with just one simple intervention.
Fuutlaan 45 light on the ceiling. 31A Fonthill Road Photos of the human body are printed onto translucent
5613 AA Eindhoven London N4 3HZ silk, which will create the possibility of physically layering
Netherlands m +44 (0)7 733 84 40 36 different bodies, generations, and identities.
m +31 (0)6 143 556 96 info@immevanderhaak.nl
dennisparren@me.com
www.dennisparren.nl map H p. 37

map H p. 37


21 22
Jólan van der Wiel Studio-Re-Creation
Tent London – Shop 25 I admire objects that manifest the experimental discovery Tent London – Shop 25 While functioning on the grey borders of interior
Old Truman Brewery where natural phenomena are translated into functional Old Truman Brewery design and art, Studio-Re-Creation does more than
25 Hanbury Street design. In my design studio the production process 25 Hanbury Street re-cycle or re-use materials, it helps to preserve
London E1 6QR through which products are produced is investigated. London E1 6QR belongings and memories, that would otherwise be
This led to the development of new forms of craftmenship neglected or thrown away, by transforming them into
Designer I develop production techniques inwhere a natural force Designer iconic sculptural objects.
Jólan van der Wiel is the designer of the obejct. Nikola Nikolov
Presentation
Contact Presentation Contact For Connecting the Dots 2012 Studio-Re-Creation will
Jólan van der Wiel Departing from the idea that everything is influenced Nikola Nikolov be presenting a new series named ‘The Scrap Staffies’:
Nassaukade 369-2 by gravitation, a force that has a strongly shaping effect, Krommenieerpad 88 ‘The Scrap Staffies’ are sculptural English Staffordshire
1054 AB Amsterdam Jólan van der Wiel intended to manipulate this natural 1521 HB Maastricht Bullterriers snapping at light objects. They symbolize
Netherlands phenomenon by exploiting its own power: magnetism. Netherlands the playful relation between man, nature and design
m +31 (0)6 339 747 51 The positioning of the magnetic fields in the machine, t +31 (0)6 270 466 76 and remind us to treat this symbiosis with love, respect
info@jolanvanderwiel.com opposing each other, has largely determined the final nikola@studio-re-creation.com and responsibility.
www.jolanvanderwiel.com shape of the Gravity Stool. www.studio-re-creation.com

map H p. 37 map H p. 37

23 24
Studio Rik ten Velden Teun Fleskens
Tent London – Shop 25 By experimenting with material and manufacturing Tent London – Shop 25 Teun Fleskens is an industrial and interior designer,
Old Truman Brewery techniques Studio Rik ten Velden tend to create a base Old Truman Brewery graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven. He
25 Hanbury Street for its form statements. 25 Hanbury Street has worked for companies like: Douwe Egberts, RIZZ,
London E1 6QR London E1 6QR Habidrome, Design Academy Eindhoven, Commune
Presentation Veldhoven, Province Noord Brabant, Shoesme Inter
Designer I started my ‘Single Knotted Wire’ project with a visit Designer national and chyczy.
Rik ten Velden to the harbour museum in Rotterdam. I was fascinated Teun Fleskens “In a few words my style could be described as experi-
by all those different kinds of objects knotted. mental, pure, natural versus industrial and clearly present
Contact So I asked the Museum’s employees if they could teach Contact but not demanding”.
Rik ten Velden me some techniques. I knotted for three months to per- Teun Fleskens
Caeciliastraat 77 A fect the technique. Then started to work on my designs. St. Annaplein 18 Presentation
2312 XB Leiden For the lamps and chair only a single wire is used and 5038 TV Tilburg The V roots bank can ‘grow’ through their environment
Netherlands knotted in a form reflecting its maritime inspiration. Netherlands because they are modular. Whit 7 different element
m +31 (0)6 108 994 49 The combination of knotting technique and the applied t +31(0)6 300 664 44 in various colors you can create many options varying
info@riktenvelden.com material results in unique constructive features in info@teunfleskens.com in size and form. All plastic components are produced
www.riktenvelden.com these designs. www.teunfleskens.nl from recycled bottle caps. The steel parts from recy
www.fiberplast.nl clable (renewable) materials. Produced by Fiberplast.
map H p. 37
map H p. 37


25 26
The Cottage Industry Tiago Sá da Costa
Tent London – Shop 25 The Cottage Industry products are less about form and Tent London – Shop 25 Small studio of Portuguese designer Tiago Sá da Costa
Old Truman Brewery more about content. What at first glance seems ordinary, Old Truman Brewery based in Den Bosch, the Netherlands. Presently its work
25 Hanbury Street will, upon closer inspection, turn out to be quite unique. 25 Hanbury Street is focused on ecological design, more specifically using
London E1 6QR Not too witty, not too clever, just simple products that London E1 6QR cork (one of the most sustainable materials) as a core
are guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. subject. This resulted in the Corkmatters series.
Designer Why the name? The origins of the term ‘cottage industry’ Designer
Charlie Guda date back to the days before the industrial revolution. Tiago Sá da Costa Presentation
In those days, artefacts were made in people’s homes In the Corkmatters series, cork is crafted in a way you
Contact in limited supply, and it is precisely this which we have Contact have never seen before. It explores the physical properties
Damian O’Sullivan in common with our namesake, namely, industriously Tiago Sá da Costa of cork to an utmost aesthetic use. The combination
Burg. Meineszlaan 109 A made goods with special attention to care and quality. Orthenstraat 282 of laser cutting technology with a unique non-pollutant
3022 BE Rotterdam 5211 SX Den Bosch handmade technique unfolds 2 dimensional sheets into
Netherlands Presentation Netherlands 3 dimensional almost sculptural objects with organic
m +31 (0)10 842 73 64 Ever wished you could see what the bee sees? Nestle m +31 (0)6 344 600 49 lines. Eco-design at its best with all natural, sustainable
shop@the-cottage- in close to those petals and see all of the flowers’ fine info@tiagosadacosta.eu and non-pollutant materials.
industry.com intricacies in much greater detail. Now you can, as the www.tiagosadacosta.eu
www.the-cottage- Big Blossom will greatly enlarge any flower due to its flat
industry.com magnifying lens. Whether it’s a rose you received from map H p. 37
your loved one or a flower plucked from your garden…
map H p. 37
this vase knows how to make the best of it.

27
Versaflex Systems
Location About
Tent London – Shop 25 Versaflex Systems takes great care to select materials
Old Truman Brewery from readily available and sustainable resources.
25 Hanbury Street With the invention of the Versaflex, a sustainable and
London E1 6QR adhesive-free modular flooring system with porcelain
top surface has become a reality.
Contact
Versaflex Systems BV Presentation
Arrestruwe 39 Versaflex is the new flooring system with a push, clip
6218 BE Maastricht and go feature. Unlike other clip tile systems, Versaflex
Netherlands allows for vertical tile lifting giving immediate access
t +31 (0)45 785 12 22 to under floor cables or quick tile changes. No grouting,
richard@versaflexsystems.com no cementing and no messy drying time make instal
www.versaflexsystems.com lations typically 6 times faster to lay than traditional wet
lay porcelain floors.
map H p. 37


01 Moooi
The White Building
555 Harrow Road
London W10 4RH

Kensal Green
Bakerloo
London Overground

02 Ineke Hans / SCP
SCP West
87 Westbourne Grove
London W2 4UL

Royal Oak
Circle
Hammersmith City

Bayswater
Circle
District

the dots #5 map 36

03 Bolefloor
04 Sabic
100% Design London
Earls Court Exhibition Centre
Warwick Road
London SW5 9TA

Earl’s Court
District
Picadilly

West Brompton
District
London Overground

05 Mint
Mint Gallery
2 North Terrace
London SW3 2BA

South Kensington
Circle
District
Picadilly

37 map the dots #5

06 Social-Unit
Gallery House
19 Greek Street
London W1D 4DT

07 Vij5
Milk Concept Boutique
19 Greek Street
London W1D 4DT

Tottenham Court Road
Central

Leicester Square
Picadilly
Northern

08 Pastoe
Viaduct Furniture
1 – 10 Summers Street
London 1R 5BD

Farringdon
Circle
Hammersmith City
Metropolitan

Chancery Lane
Central

the dots #5 map 38

10 Ineke Hans
SCP Design Department Store
135-139 Curtain Road
London EC2A 3BX

12 Studio Lambert Kamp
Milk Concept Boutique
118 1/2 Shoreditch High Street
London E1 6JN

Old Street
Northern

Shoreditch High Street
London Overground

09 Bo Reudler
Sushisamba
Heron Tower, 38th and 39th floors
110 Bishopsgate
London E1 6QR

11 PROOF
13 NgispeN
14 Mosa
15 Van Rossum meubelen B.V.
Super Brand London
Old Truman Brewery
Hanbury Street
London E1 6QR

16 Anon Co.
17 Bathroom Mania!
18 Bo Reudler
19 Dennis Parren
20 Imme van der Haak
21 Jólan van der Wiel
22 Studio-Re-Creation
23 Studio Rik ten Velden
24 Teun Fleskens
25 The Cottage Industry
26 Tiago Sá da Costa
27 Versaflex Systems
Tent London – Shop 25
Old Truman Brewery
25 Hanbury Street
London E1 6QR

Liverpool Street
Circle
Hammersmith City
Metropolitan
Central

Shoreditch High Street
London Overground

39 map the dots #5

The Dots nr5 - September 2012 London

The Dots nr5 - September 2012 London

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Plus de Italian Entertainment And More

Plus de Italian Entertainment And More (20)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

The Dots nr5 - September 2012 London