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dutch design week 2011: reimagination

Two days after our Manila Fame 2011 show, the designers from the Netherlands celebrated creativity with their annual Dutch Design Week. Amsterdam-based writer Deepa Paul-Plato, Ana’s batchmate from college, is kind enough to share with us the highlights of one of the most awaited design exhibitions in Europe. {Thank you so much Deepa! )

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In the last week of October, all things Dutch and design converge in the town of Eindhoven for Dutch Design Week (DDW). With over 1,500 designers (from household names to individual shops to fresh graduates) exhibiting their work at more than 300 events spread out over 65 locations, DDW is a massive showcase of the simplicity, originality and quirk that Dutch design is renowned for.

A sense of playfulness and curiosity transforms the ordinary—the ephemera of our everyday lives, such as home furnishings and lighting—into the extraordinary. Dutch designers have a knack for questioning the usual to produce something unusual, and infusing whimsy while retaining function. Examples of this mindset abound at DDW.

While designs for the home are generally reserved in color and pattern, they are bold with shapes and materials. It’s all about asking questions. Does this always have to be a certain way? Can a spade also be a chair? Why shouldn’t a vase live and grow along with the flowers in it?

(Top photo) Organically shaped bookcase, Smool design by Robert Bronwasser, (above) Spade Seat by Nic Roex,  (below) Birchwood chest of drawers by Werner Neumann and Fungus vase.

Curiosity begins early. Graduate projects by students of the Design Academy Eindhoven already show the same sense of playfulness and curiosity. Can food be a work of art, or playtime an opportunity for learning?

Refrigerator 2.0, a small transparent refrigerator for individual pieces of food, by Eva Smeltekop

Material Teddy, a toy combining the different smells and textures of natural materials to trigger cognitive development, by Makiko Shinoda (www.makikoshinoda.com)

House Wine, a winemaking system for the home by Sabine Marcelis

Tap Water Carafe, design that points to the origins of drinking water, by Lotte de Raadt

Oturakast, shelving that can be taken apart into individual units (for storage or seating) by Rianne Koens

Reverie, a table that revives embroidery in a modern and stylish way, by Anne Vader

For lighting, the sense of playfulness takes on the harder edge (and visual impact) of the industrial.

“Magnetic” describes the Nail Cloud (below) by Ilian Ernst, in more ways than one. This visually arresting lamp uses a strong magnet to suspend a “cloud” of metal nails around a central bulb. You can add more nails and change the shape of your lamp simply by holding each nail to the central cloud for a few seconds. Don’t worry, it’s not strong enough to pick up metal cutlery on the dining table.

The Refinery lamp, also by Ilian Ernst, is inspired by the gas pipes of a refinery.

What is color?” is the question that student Dennis Parren of the Design Academy Eindhoven seems to be asking with his graduation project. The CMYK Lamp (below) plays with the relationship of color and light. Casting cyan, magenta, yellow shadows, the lamp enlarges and recreates its own lines, drawing one into a network of color.

When we look at everyday objects, do we still ask questions or take things at face value? What kinds of questions are we asking? Ask, and ye shall transform. Seek, and ye shall design. -Deepa

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