Dutch Design Week 2017: in4nite
In October of each year, Dutch Design Week (DDW) takes place in Eindhoven. This year; 2017, it is held from 21-29 October. Mimi Berlin Blogger Team visited and reports to you; our readers. Let us start with one of our favorite presentations so far: in4nite (as in; infinite possibilities)
For the in4nite exhibition Low & Bonar (international marketleaders and producers of high-tech performance materials) invited 10 designers from Arnhem (productdesigners, architects and a graphic designer) to experiment with Colback®. Why only designers from Arnhem, you ask of us: well, just like Low & Bonar they all work at Industrial Park the ‘Kleefse Waard’ in Arnhem, they probably met up at the local canteen?!
Anyways; Colback® is an overall brand name for a non-woven cloth-like material which is used to support technical fabrics used in transportation, interior carpeting, resilient flooring and for decorative solutions. (read more colback-nonwovens.com)
Since the Colback® “cloth” is never used as a visible material by itself we think it’s a smart move of Low & Bonar to invite designers who are trained to come up with products that are gentle to the eye (and brain). As L&B state themselves: “The ‘in4nite’ project enables Low & Bonar to provide relevant design solutions extrapolating the aesthetical and functional properties of the Colback Technology.”
After visiting the top floor of ‘Building TQ’, which is filled with the results, we guess L&R can say that they succeeded; most of the ‘reinventions’ and/or designs seemed useful and ready for production. We think a visit to the ‘in4nite’ exhibit is certainly worth your while!
Rick Tegelaar designed a 3D-printer for the Colback® yarn. He used this printer to both embellish and strenghten the Colback® material at the same time. Tegelaar presented this all in the form of different panels. Erik Stehmann and Tijn van Orsouw folded and pleated the raw material to create their (lightweight) designs. More pleating was done by Joris De Groot; he designed ‘The Pleated Seat Collection’. De Groot created a pliseé-like material by laminating Colback® in combination with different materials. This seating material is mounted on metal frames. Klaas Kuiken designed a capsule collection of lamps named ‘in4fite Shades’, which looks like an ode to industrial material, executed in a fragile manner. The actual shades reveal the fibre texture of Colback®. Robbin Baas made use of the water permeable character of Colback® and designed plantholders for vertical gardening (with an incorporated irigating system.)
These explanations are written in a nutshell, please click the links for more detailed information, why don’t you? It’s interesting!
All participating designers; Klaas Kuiken, Rick Tegelaar, Joris de Groot, Erik Stehmann, Tijn van Orsouw, Robbin Baas, Mieke Lucia, Charley Reijnders, Dana Dijkgraaf en Kraft Architecten. Why do these designers work in Arnhem, you ask of us. Our guess is that maybe it’s because of the fact that the Product Design department at the ArtEZ University of the Arts, in Arnhem, is supposed to be one of the best in The Netherlands.
Building TQ -Strijp T area, Achtseweg Zuid 151, 5651GW Eindhoven. That’s opposite of the Strijp S area. Tip from Mimi Berlin: Best to go by train from Eindhoven Central Station.