Dutch designer Juliette Warmenhoven’s work is based on, “…very small everyday things that get little attention because they often are considered to be too ordinary and common.” Her potato music box (right) is made from paper and rope that has been plastic coated. They look like delicate bird cages. The colors are unreal – just like the roof outside the building of the exhibition.
Dutch artist Dre Wapenaar designed these tree tents several years ago, originally for an English protest group that was fighting a deforestation project. Wapenaar created the tents as a way for the activists to remain comfortably in the trees they were trying to protect. The tents have since been set up in a campsite in Holland for people to rent. The structure houses a round interior floor, which spans nine feet in diameter.
Dutch designers Scholten & Baijings recently presented their ‘Vegetable’ series at Rossana Orlandi in Milan. The pieces are entirely hand made and constructed in the designers’ Amsterdam studio. The pair are beginning a new research project on the designer as craftperson, exploring whether the work changes because of the intensity of making a product by hand from start to finish. For ‘Vegetables’, it took one person one week to hand dye and then stitch each work.
Industrial lamps re-interpreted in leather forms by Dutch designer Pepe Heykoop. Each light is handmade, foldable and available in a variety of colors.
For her new collection, Cut & Paste, Kiki van Eijk created, “an imaginary world in which everything is mixed, combined and questioned.” Her ‘Machine Box’ (right) stands out for its visible blend of the handmade – from sewn felt to gold twisted rope. Each hybrid creation reflects a personal touch.
Sjoerd Jonkers ‘Neolastic tableware’ is a mix between stone age craft and modern materialism. Jonkers makes sand molds of common household objects and covers them with plastic; creating rough edged vessels that have eternal life.
One of my favorite products of last year came from Aldo Bakker, the Dutch designer who created this beautiful collection of porcelain tableware. What makes these pieces so fascinating is that when you first see them, you might not know what they are used for – the function only becomes evident when you hold the object in your hands. As Bakker describes it’s, “a new language of form in a field where everything has been done and shown many times over.”
The Dutch design studio Demakersvan recently launched a new website for ‘Lace Fence’. The product, “combines the ancient craft of lace making with the industrial chainlink fence.” Beautiful new patterns and examples of their custom work here.
