Design Academy Eindhoven

Koert van Mensvoort

2009-06-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

Written by Saara Järvinen

Koert van Mensvoort (PhD) gave a lecture at the Academy on 13 May 2009. He started by amazing the audience with an entertaining introduction on himself. He even proved us his boogie skills. This gave us a taste of what to expect: a visual rollercoaster of Koert’s visions.

Koert defines himself in many ways. He has an art background but also a PhD from the Technical University Eindhoven. His field stretches from art to technology and philosophy. This shows in the pieces he presented to us.

A good example is the Datafountain, that displays the money currency rates in a water fountain. Koert claims this kind of “information decoration” can be a more calm and open way to present data. ”Currently many digital information appliances force people to retrieve information from sources that are not attuned to our human physical bandwidth at all”, says Koert.

Koert focuses on explaining the theory of Next Nature. By this he means the nature emerged from human culture. Our naïve idea of nature as forests and wild animals isn’t very accurate anymore. His new definition of nature is that it is something beyond control, whereas culture is what we control. There are many examples of the blurring of culture and nature, such as indoor beaches, man-made islands in Dubai and tissue engineering. Next Nature is a particularly Dutch issue of course, considering that The Netherlands is so much shaped by humans.

Our view on nature is affected by what we see in the media. Something fake can be more real to us than the real thing. Koert deals with this in his documentary “The woods smell of shampoo”. The title refers to a girl who goes to a forest and associates the smell of trees with pine-scented shampoo.

The lecture created controversy in the audience, and raised questions on individual freedom. It seemed that the theme made us feel anxious and powerless. This is interesting considering that we study in a future-oriented field and even have possibilities to have an effect on the development.

Koert reminds us that not only culture imitates nature, imitation exists also in nature. Koert gives an example of the walking leaf, an insect that disguises as a leaf. Imitation is natural, and according to Koert, this gives us hope. Also, human manipulation over nature has always existed. “Playing with fire is what we do” says Koert. We long to control nature, but there are always surprises.

Furthermore, fusing goes both ways. Culture takes natural forms for instance in the construction of Internet and road networks. It is important to remember that our culture is a product of nature.

Chiang Ping Fan: Editing the video.

Huang Tzu Chun: Filming the lecture, Weblog update.

Henry Wilson: Biographical article, Interview, Presenting the lecturer.

Kitikoon Worrasorratorn: Photography, Poster, Graphic design of dvd cover and vlag package.

Saara Järvinen: Review article, Communication.

Eric De Clercq and Gert Staal

2009-05-25T02:21:00.000-07:00

written by Carl Harris

photograph by Hanna, Chester, Kwak

On April 28th 2009 Eric De Clercq and Gert Staal visited the Design Academy for a workshop with the students and source publication meeting respectively. The workshop taken by Eric was divided into two parts.

The morning session focused on creating a small video that could be analyzed by the students. Students dispersed into small corners of the masters space, each thinking of how to get the most out of the task. There were only a small amount of students that were present in the workshop. If I think back to the past workshop with Eric, it lacked any depth and technical aspects within the medium of video. The lack of numbers corresponded to the frustration felt by the students whom previously attended.

This workshop however had a better balance between technical interview techniques delivered in an academic way, and a creative quick video that delt with editing.

The short videos that were presented by students, all varied in style and technique. There was an interview, a past video morph project and a stop motion photo shoot video. All were analysed in a quick, swift but informative manner.

The afternoon session had a more academic feel. Eric gave a lecture about interviewing techniques within video. He gave examples, anecdotes, information regarding dos and don’ts of interview styles; How to frame the interviewee, the importance of building a relationship, all combined to present a very informative two hours. Although the number of students diminished everyone who attended participated in discussion. There was a sense of thirst for knowledge.

The success behind the video workshop was due to the structure and content that differed to the previous workshop. It was more about educating and less about developing our creativity. We as creative students don’t need a lesson in creativity with video; we need a lesson on video and how to edit.

Overall I believe the day was very productive. The only disappointment was the lack of students whom could have witnessed a transformation in workshop and video technique.

DAMIAN O’ SULLIVAN (01/04/2009)

2009-04-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

Editorial Article
DAMIAN O’ SULLIVAN (01/04/2009)
Text: Maurizio Montalti
Photo's: Nichon Glerum

Damian O’Sullivan is a dutch designer who also works covering the role of mentor in the bachelor course at the “Design Academy” in Eindhoven.

He has been one of the “lucky” selected designers who have been invited by Paola Antonelli, director of the MOMA in New York, to join with his work one of the most exciting and astonishing exhibitions ever presented in the design field: “Design and the Elastic Mind”.

That’s why on april 1st 2009 he has been coming on the 5th floor of “De Witte Dame”; to give us a lecture: a presentation and a general overview on some of the content of that great event he has been part of.

Over the past 25 years, under the influence of such milestones as the introduction of the personal computer, the Internet, and wireless technology, we have experienced dramatic changes in several mainstays of our existence, especially our rapport with time, space, the physical nature of objects, and our own essence as individuals.
“Design and the Elastic Mind” considered these changes in behaviour and need.
It has been highlighting current examples of successful design translations of disruptive scientific and technological innovations, and reflecting on how the figure of the designer is changing from form giver to foundamental interpreter of an extraordinary dynamic reality.

It’s an exploration in the explosively reciprocal relationship between science and design in the contemporary world.
His lecture started with a friendly critique adressed to the “Design Academy” in itself, a very good school specialized in conceptual design and craftmanship expressed through high aestethics, but still lacking that very important approach with a scientific oriented level, if confronted with other big institutions in the world, as the MIT or the RCA, dealing a lot more with future scenarios and technologies.

After explaining the way the exhibition was set up, through the seven main chapters, he gave us examples of some of the presented projects, one for every chapter.

Then he started showing some of the works made by the italian designer Elio Caccavale; a collection of toys (MyBio) exploring the emergence of biological hybrids in biotechnologies, as well as our moral, social, cultural and personal response to these “transhuman” creatures; each of the twelve dolls he made symbolize a possible biofuture and aim to introduce young children to emerging technologies, inviting them to think about the ways biotechnologies can affect their lives.

Another shown project was “Technological Dreams Series” by Dunne&Raby, objects meant to spark a discussion about how we’d like our robots to relate to us in a possible future. As technology advances and robotic experiments abound (ranging from the pragmatic to the exquisitely absurd) designers are taking a closer philosophical look at our future interaction with robots. Will they be subservient, intimate, dependent, equal? Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby look at robots as individuals with their own distinct personalities and quirks, thinking that devices of the future might not be designed for specific tasks but instead might be given jobs based on behaviours and qualities that emerge over time. New entities: technological cohabitants.
One more was the task devoloped by portoguese designer Susana Soares, titled “BEE’S, New Organs of Perception”; a project based on the evidence that bees have a phenomenal odor perception and can be trained within minutes using Pavlov’s reflex to target a specific odor. Their range of detection goes from pheromones and toxins to disease dignosis. That’s why she developed a range of alternative diagnosis tools that use trained bees to perform a health checkup, detect diseases, and monitor fertility cycles.
After passing through some other shown projects he finally came to present his own as the last one of the lecture: the “Solar Lampion”.

Unlike most solar lamps, which are left in a fixed position outdoors, Damian O’Sullivan’s “Solar Lampion” has been concieved so that at night users can take the light with them into their homes. The designer came in contact with solar technology at a very young age, as his father was responsible for the energy supply for the satellites launched by the european space agency.
The geometric spiraling of the “Solar Lampion” recalls both natural structures, such as pinecones, and the shape of traditional chinese paper lanterns. The lamp is composed of layers of concentric rings, each one holding six solar cells inclined thirty degrees to better catch the sun’s rays .Each solar cell is connected to an LED fed by a rechargeable battery. The solar cells store the sun's energy during the day and release it at nightfall wherever you need it."
Unfortunately he did not give us all these informations and i personally think he could have give us a better insight into the different projects; the overall lecture was sounding a lot like a very general presentation of the amazing MOMA’s exhibition, probably still astonishing for somebody that was completely unexperienced about it, but surely not for all the others.

Frank Theis

2009-04-01T02:16:00.000-07:00

A Brief Look into the Transhuman Revolution

By Dana Cannam

Frank Theys is a Belgian visual artist who currently works out of Brussels and Amsterdam. He recently visited the Design Academy Eindhoven showcasing his 2006 documentary Technocalyps, a science fiction meets reality documentary describing the potential realities of a human being enhanced by the seemingly limitless boundaries of technology. The film includes various interviews by a selection of specialists currently working on shattering the limits of the human kind however, does little to question the ethical considerations of such fundamental changes. Can this reconfiguration of the human species be carried out successfully without the total understanding of the possible consequences to our future?

There is no denying our natural ability to question what we perceive as a means to manipulate the environment around us. The advancements in technology today are allowing the human species to harness and control this ability at levels never seen before. Are we heading towards a future dictated by someone else who creates these technological options or will we have the ability to control over our own destiny. Who will decide what is ethically right and wrong when designing an existence without limitations? The unforeseen consequences of these decisions may prove to be disastrous but is technology willing to wait for our permission? It does seem as though a technological apocalypse suggested by the title of Theys documentary is inevitable.

Daijiro Mizuno - Rationalizing Intuition

2009-03-30T02:21:00.001-07:00

Daijiro Mizuno and Bas Rajmakkers
Photograph by Susana Camara

Article by Carolina dos Santos Reis

Young PhD Daijiro Mizuno took us on a journey through his work and views on design during his presentation last Friday, 27 March in the Design Academy auditorium. Unlike most of our lecturers that are active designers designing commercial products, he distinguishes himself by focusing his investigation on the act of designing itself. He surprised us with new and different perspectives showing us how all components of the creative process overlap.

If I were to describe Mizuno in three words, they would be passionate, curious and playful – all qualities a designer needs to pursue studies at the higher level and dedicate his career to research. Although Mizuno feels there is no difference between Japanese and Western design anymore, he is influenced by his environment. Since he is now spending most of his time in Japan, his Paperbag Girls project was an installation showcasing the phenomenon of Japanese women who collect branded paper bags, carrying them as a secondary bag carefully matched to their outfit. Even if this is very particular of the nippon society where fascination and addiction to brands is at it’s strongest expression, it happens also in other countries. Mizuno’s interest goes beyond the local cultural definitions. He would rather elaborate on why and how this represents new Zeitgeist as a contemporary form of consumption. This project was inspired on the theories of Bourdieu and Foucault, on accumulated photographic data and influenced his students to create new paperbags. What emerges from this study is how ideas are interwoven between theory, research and practice.

In his professional discourse, Mizuno cites issues like identity, ethics, sociology, history, economics, and psychology, among others, to understand fashion. But his main interest is the irrational dimension present in fashion. For instance, when he studied Universal Fashion Design, that is, garments specially designed for physically impaired persons, he questioned why they were so dull and unattractive, and why it is so important for fashion to offer irrational matters as a social object related to identity. This led him to develop a collection of clothing based on analyzing the physical limitations of the disabled and the kinetics of the body. While the resulting pieces looked like ordinary garments, they had hidden details that facilitated mobility.

Mizuno’s fascination about how designers make sense of themselves led him to focus on the mechanisms of the design process and its inspirational sources for his PhD thesis. When he worked as a part time assistant for Shelley Fox, he became very intrigued with the creative process and how the formal outcome emerges. This motivated him to study the mechanisms of the process more deeply, by both examining other designers and his own method. He stresses intuitive properties in the development of design and the importance of synaesthetics in the outcome of creations. His investigation was based on the concept of orality by Walter J. Ong, to find the traces of tangible shapes hidden in the language and expression of fashion. To cite Mizuno’words, he “applied "Orality" as a means to analyse the psychodynamics of designers represented as clothing design. It can mean shapes of collars etc..., although it can be problematic to analyse clothing in linguistic manner”. Moreover, he used the theories of Seigo Matsuoka, an editorial engineer, to critically reflect on how ideas arise. According to Matsuoka, the world is composed of a sum of information and the idea is the synthesis of this; this is where intuitive enlightenment begins. To better explain his investigation, Mizuno assembled diagrams to help us visualise the links between all parts, and to identify clusters and reoccurring patterns.

Another project he is working on is Belonging and Belongings with STBY, a social research service for design innovation. It examines identity through different means and how style is associated to location; in other words, how a context can alter what is communicated by a subject, and conversely, how a subject can influence the perception of a place.
What arose is that the most common objects of daily use, like clothing, often encompass the most complex considerations, including social matters like identity, communication and moral values. Maybe it was the richness of this content, touching on such intricate, abstract and diverse subjects, that made us seem somewhat perplexed at the end of the presentation. Maybe it was the hidden theme of his lecture, as he later explained to me, that challenged our own preconceived notions - to demonstrate how theory, research and practice can be incorporated without conflicts.

The lecture would not have been complete without the workshop introduced by Bas Rajmakkers that followed. The students of the Man & Humanity Master programme were able to reflect on and discuss their own creative and research processes using a diagram based on Mastuoka’s concepts. In this way, Mizuno shared a part of his work in a more practical context, which gave us a better understanding to what intuition is linked in our personal research patterns.

Diagram used in the workshop to analyze our personal research process

Resumè of the interview:Kiki van Eijk & Joost van Bleiswijk

2009-03-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

Written by Maurizio Montalti

On march 4th we had the possibility to conduct an interview with two well-known dutch designers: Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk.

The interview started with an investigation for a better understanding of their perception of “time”, a subject strongly present and recognizable in most of their works. What emerged is a vision of time as something not very strict, but something that still exists and that’s reflected, for instance, in the time consuming pieces that are a result of the accurate polishing process in Joost’s work. At the same time he was highlighting how the past is still the present , and this can be found in the archetypes , where the concept of time does not exist anymore.

For Kiki, instead, time equals quality, time is life itself and it’s about enjoying things around you, referring to very personal things . Afterwards, Joost pointed out how his interest in architectural forms and construction methods, born from the experience in working and the curiosity of discovering elements, became a strong inspiration for his work. Initially he started highlighting the relevance of the translation of the round shaped feminine profiles into strong masculine representations, based on edges and squares, but when we tried to understand better this difference between masculine and feminine design he said that there’s not this big gap; it’s just something emotional and subtle.

Kiki, differently, was adressed with a question about the value of memory in her works, something she said is not really there; she described her designs as something much more related with quality and real craftmanship, objects not only functional but that also contain, in the way they are looking, an emotional feeling, like she found out in some books about old tools.
She said her inspiration comes out by itself, she’s never looking for it...it just happens...all of a sudden you open a drawer and there is something, asking her to create something with it; it’s an intuitive process, that she tries to lead to the creation of something very pure, helped by the unconscious active experience in materials and technology.

Then we came to talk about the influence and the relevance of Dutch Design in the past and in the “now” and they talked proudly about how Dutch Design had improved the world of design in general, even if nowadays it doesn’t really matter anymore; indeed sometimes it’s also becoming “bad” being dutch, as it is often associated with a marketing tool.

Talking about the educational system in The Netherlands, they were appreciating it a lot , and in particular they were underlining how the “Design Academy”, where they also studied previously offers a very good combination of a vague, “arty” approach and of the structured goal of education: in a way it’s an environment in which you’re always “forced” to go in depth, research, find what fascinates yourself...and explore yourself, find out the best for you as a person; that’s the main distinguishing carachteristic from any other institution, they said, the overall mentality...;and the fact that the academy is specialized in design...and just that.

When we came to talk about the design industry and the topic of “limited editions “, connected with the actual economic crisis , they pointed out how this phenomenon is not always “honest”.
They said that “limited editions” are there for a reason: they respond to the request for an expensive product in terms of time and materials. They said it wouldn’t be fair for the collectors to make endlessly pieces when they cost a lot...

At the same time some people are using these phenomenon as a tool to make more money, so that it becomes a trend, just by changing colors or materials of previous popular designs and increasing the price. They forecasted that these people and companies are gonna disappear, faced with this crisis, but the “Limited Editions” reality will still be there in its autenticity: things made by hand, attention to the detail and expansive materials and processes. They consider limited editions as an investment as they did it for quite years; and because of this there’s a value; because there’s a range of evolution over the years; it’s a keep-on-growing process.

Afterwards we talked a bit about Milan, adressing them with a question about their prevision on this year’s “Salone del Mobile” edition; they see the possibility of having something a bit less extravagant; they also decided not to have a solo show this year; they will only present projects they made for labels. And what they predict is that probably many designers will do like that.
Kiki was saying that this is because a solo show has to be at least at the same level of the previous one and to do so it needs time to develop a collection and also, because maybe there are more appropriate platforms for showing these kind of “limited edition” collections, like, for instance, “Design Miami/Basel”. Besides Joost said that it’s not necessary anymore for them to show their works in the popular Salone’s windows as they already know the press agents and the gallerists and they are not anymore in need of promotion and publicity. But never say never; it’s always a big fun to make a good show for a collection.

We ended the interview with a light question about the connection between food and design, something relevant for Kiki, that is also art director of “De Witte Tafel”, a resturant placed in the basement of the same building, in which the Design Academy is placed: for her working with food and design is just an interest, an opportunity that came out after her graduation and that she decided to develop, adressing it in the exactly same way she designs...creating connections, transparent visual feelings and fresh atmospheres. They both were very kind and warm. It’s been a pleasure.

Editorial article: Kiki van Eijk & Joost van Bleiswijk

2009-03-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

Written by Michael Leung

Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk started with a photo of themselves in a workshop, both dressed up. In the picture, Kiki was leaning against her ‘High Table’ made with powder coated steel and Joost standing beside her, both staring a trophy in the ‘No Screw No glue’ series Joost had made for himself as he wanted one but have received none so far, he said. Kiki and Joost are known as part of the new generation talented Dutch designers. They graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven and started their studio since. Kiki is working on her own projects which have been exhibiting in many places and also work on projects for brands such as Swarovski and Moooi. Joost have been working mainly on his own projects like the ‘No Screw No glue’ series.

“Hands on” as the theme of the lecture, Joost explained how they set up the new studio in Strijp-s and showed us the before and after pictures. Like the theme, they prefer to really get their hands on making things, from their studio to their design, even the snacks in their exhibitions. They believe it is the way to design, really get your hands on to it. It’s also a reason that most of the works shown are limited editions. Like the first few pieces in the ‘No Screw No glue’. The material used is plywood, not the most precious or valuable material, but Joost said the time and effort they had to spend on it makes the difference. Also with the later pieces, which is made with stainless steel sheets that are laser cut and then polished and hand assembled. Another reason for making the limited editions is that they have to worry less about the production costs. It is also a way to protect their client since they believe it is not reasonable if someone paid so much for one piece, but they keep making them, which eventually diminishes the value of the object.

The lecture then divided into two parts, first with Kiki explaining her works and then Joost explaining the exhibitions they did during Milan Furniture Fairs and his works. The way they work is quite similar, focusing on the technique, material and archetypes, yet, the style is rather different. Kiki’s design is more emotional, like some elements repeatedly used in her design, which she personally links to. She explored different materials throughout her works and it is not difficult to see some well crafted details. Joost’s works is more masculine, like his ‘No Screw No glue’ series which he had worked quite a lot on. It is a series of limited edition objects that he made with plywood and stainless steel sheets. Like the title, it is all about the way the pieces are constructed in. with over 4 years of development, Joost now mastered the skill and is able to make more complicated objects through the simple structure.

The lecture ended with an interesting Q & A section. A question from the audience triggered Joost to give some very useful and practical advices, especially about the Milan Furniture Fair, where they have been showing their limited edition pieces. With the financial crisis, Kiki and Joost will be showing a lot less limited editions this year. Limited editions are now becoming limited. It is time to show some designs that are for users and not collectors.

Ying Gao

2009-03-11T18:01:00.002-07:00

YING GAO

It is not possible for us to stay away from fashion as clothing stay so close to our daily life. There is a close relationship between clothes and our own body as well as building up our own image. We are so close to “clothing” but how many of us know what it is. The definition of fashion changes constantly. Technology also affects the fashion industry and gives new idea to fashion designer. By thinking “clothing” as individual, somehow it also interacts with the environment.

With her interest in fashion and interactive technology, she is pushing the boundaries of what a garment could be. She covers a lot of her works which are more like statements than garments. “Walking city” is one of the best examples. The garments and sculpture, origami and draping interact with the environment by adding technology. The garment looks like it is breathing as human does. It seems like there is a human behind the beautiful form and structure of contemporary clothing. Besides showing videos of the apparel, she also shows the mechanism under the pieces while we are thinking how magical it is. The magical moment breaks when we heard the sound made by the mechanism. Ying Gao tells the students in the Design Academy, “I love the sound made by the mechanical movement that make the pieces more real.” Compare to the similar art projects by fashion designer Hussein Chalayan, Ying Gao’s seems more interested in the technical elements and see the pieces as sculptures.

Through her works, it is not hard to see that she is more into the technology than the human body. By looking at her way of presenting the garments, most of them do not use models. She mentioned how fashion design always deal with “body” so she tends not to mention human body in her works. “My work is more static.” She said, “I want to put art into fashion.”

Ying Gao believes fashion is a sociological and cultural phenomenon. By looking at the “copy” in fashion industry, she makes a move to copy her own design and make a cheaper version with different material. Though she talked briefly about this issue, but it is obvious that the “copy” problem happens in all design fields in different ways.

Ying Gao is now living and teaching in Montreal, Canada. She enjoys the freedom of being a teacher than a fashion designer that needs to meet the deadline of manufacturer. She found the best of teaching is having the interaction with students and learn from each other. She also let her students participate in her projects and she enjoys working with them.

When we set too much boundaries, we will lost our creativity. Ying Gao reminds us to be creative and avoid making gadgets. No matter she is being a fashion designer, an artist or teacher, her main role is to make people dream and think more.

By Rony Chan

ying gao

2009-03-11T18:01:00.001-07:00

Alberto Meda - Workshop and Lecture

2009-03-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

VLAG Group
Rony Chan - video editing, lecture photos
Mie Frey Damgaard - graphics
Nichon Glerum - interviewer, lecture images
Luke Jenkins - essays, workshop images
Kitikoon Worrasorratorn - video editing

Date
Workshop February 9-11, Lecture and Interview February 11

Workshop Images

Reportage

There are generally two rules for those who are invited to give Source lectures at the Design Academy: they must either be young, upcoming, and quickly rising, or a bit more mature and non-mainstream. Either way, the presenters do not have a long-standing fame to speak of. Perhaps between the lines the Academy may not be able to afford to pay for long-standing fame. So it came as a surprise when I found that I was to write a reportage on Alberto Meda, an Italian engineer-turned designer who many regard as a design idol.

Meda visited the Design Academy to run a three day workshop for the Man + Humanity students, which culminated in a general lecture on his work. Although his workshop built off of his most recent design, the humanitarian Solar Bottle, the designs which gave him most fame over the years were central to his lecture. These are artifacts of the post-industrial Italian design boom from the 1980’s and 1990’s, a time in which established production companies such as Kartell, Luceplan, Alessi, Olivetti, and Alfa Romeo Auto began to produce more “sophisticated” objects that focused on technical innovation rather than affordability. Meda, incidentally, worked with or for these companies, and many more, during this period. His work has become a paradigm for Italian design from those decades.

For instance, Meda presented Mix, a reading lamp produced by Luceplan in 2005, uses LED’s as a more energy efficient light source. Although this technology normally compromises the color balance of the light emitted, Meda and Luceplan were able to recreate pure white light, overcoming the given limits of this technology. It was subsequently awarded the “Light of the Future” and “Design Plus” awards in 2006. Four years later, Mix retails for €369, which, at least for me, is more expensive than the furniture I sit on while reading. It is indicative of the slim, minimal design coming out of Italy, which claims that the products that people surround themselves with should not visually or mentally interfere with one’s daily activities, give support when in use, and calmly disappear into the background when not needed.

Light Light, designed in 1984 and produced by Alias, was one of the pieces that helped Meda enter a design career from his background in engineering. It is a wonder of composite materials, utilizing the strengths of each material as reinforcement against the vulnerabilities of the other materials. Drawing from lightweight processes in the aerospace and racing industries, a honeycomb core of Nomex is sandwiched between layers of carbon fiber fabric. The result was the lightest traditional chair that had ever been industrially produced. Through economy of material and implementation of new materials, Meda was able to make this chair successful in 1984. However, in a contemporary context the worth of the piece may be more questionable. It does not address issues regarding the reuse of the chair, recyclability if it can’t be reused, or ethics/ecology of production methods.

Although it did not win Meda additional fame or awards, Partner, designed in 2000 for Kartell (and also designed with Paolo Rizzatto), suffers from a lack of ecological considerations before and after use. In this bookcase, two sheets of aluminum are used to rigidify a transparent plastic honeycomb structure. A special robot was designed to affix the sheets to the structure, using 80 plastic tacks for each shelf of the bookcase. Although this piece was produced in our current century, the hi-tech fabrication process has totally negated any chance at easily recycling the piece after it has reached its end of use. Tremendously stable (and relatively expensive), the object itself can be considered one that will be around for quite some time; most likely until the next time one redecorates, which is only a few years for the high-class establishments who purchase Kartell designs. The three designs mentioned above were all included in his lecture, as they were technological achievements. While they are very interesting from a design history perspective, I had hoped that he would show us more of a build-up to his groundbreaking (at least for his portfolio) Solar Bottle, which has been designed to purify water using only solar energy. Meda hopes that it will be sold for €1.50 when it is put into production in developing nations. When researching his design work, I found several pieces that won little acclaim, but that, like the Solar Bottle, were ethically sensitive.

Water, designed in 2001 for Arabia Finland, is a carafe meant to celebrate the use of tap water for those in developed countries. Drinking from the tap will reduce the amount of plastic bottles and other disposable storage vessels from entering the waste cycle. Kalura, a project for Alessi, combines hi-tech ceramics with an antiquated object: a food warmer. Made almost at the same time as Water, this piece re-presents a technology used by peasants to conserve the use of cooking fuel. As the ceramic stores heat very well, it can be used to keep food warm well after it has been cooked.

Water and Kalura, like the Solar Bottle, both question the dependence the “Western” world has on technological advancement over other environmental concerns and social sustainability. They are much more thoughtful of the user, and how the user can be ethically influenced by design products, than much of his other work. Although they share the same visual sensibilities of his other work, these pieces are not minimal in the sense that they mentally interfere with the daily activities of the user. These products may work towards maturing technological processes, but they exist as objects that respectfully take the user into consideration, and are hence more humanitarian in concept.

While I would like to think that the Solar Bottle is the turning point in the career of this highly respected designer, the work that he showed in his lecture mainly epitomizes the mark of a great designer married to the industry which he has spent his whole profession supporting. However, when I consider some of his other work, I feel encouraged by his statement nearing the end of his lecture, that the designer has an “ethical responsibility to educate.” Hopefully, we will see him produce more work that demonstrates interactive education, rather than products which blend into the commercial or domestic landscape as design camouflage, essentially forgotten both in and out of use.

Lecture Images

Editorial

2005 was a great year for hurricane lovers. Hurricane Wilma was the fourth storm to develop into a Cat 5, which is the highest strength. After it hit Cuba, and destroyed the tourist town of Cancún, Mexico, it brutalized southern Florida - it was one of the most destructive hurricanes to ever hit the Florida shores. All utility supply grids were damaged; most of South Florida had no electricity for weeks, and no running water for one week. Stores were closed, as there wasn’t electricity to keep them operating. The only water that my household had was the bathtub that we had half-heartedly filled in anticipation of a very weak storm. Rationing that water became a very important consideration, especially because we had no idea when running water would return to our area.

Cleaning, cooking, and drinking ceased to support one another, becoming adversaries all vying for attention. Finally, after almost one week, the bath was empty. The only option was to find a natural source of water, which, in the city of Fort Lauderdale, was the manmade canals used by yachts and other large vessels. Carrying a 20L bucket full of slimy, less than transparent water back to the apartment forced me to consider what modern infrastructure has gifted us with: the opportunity to worry about other things. When we returned to the apartment, it was time to boil the water down, to kill bacteria and hopefully boil off any petroleum. Luckily, the stovetop was heated with natural gas, so the water could be boiled without making a wood fire. Although I was doubtful that boiling the water would remove all impurities, it would most likely not make us sick. Giving one last twist to the water faucet, I was surprised to hear groans and spurts from the water pipes. Running water had been restored while we were on our water retrieval adventure. Relief.

Fast forward four years - I am a student at the Design Academy. When I learned that I would be attending a three day design workshop on water use and sanitation, I was intrigued. Organized for the Man + Humanity Department, the design charrette was fronted by Alberto Meda. Not knowing much about him, I went online to find out more. The results of my research made me quite skeptical of his value to a program based in humanitarian design. He is something of a design giant in Italy and a known name in the rest of the world for pieces which are minimal, elegant, and expensive. This type of design is precisely what many of us in the program intend to avoid designing.

It seemed that the Solar Bottle, designed by himself and Francisco Gomez Paz, was the only object that he had designed that took people’s basic survival needs into consideration. Much of the rest was office furniture that was more about pushing technology and materials and less about rethinking how normal people use these objects. So I looked further into this piece. It seemed to be very well thought out, and was intended for those in developing nations. It followed his minimal design aesthetic. It checked all of the right places on the solar water disinfection checklist. It won several international design awards, such as the Index Award in 2007. And the product is still only at the level of nonfunctional prototype, as Meda and Paz continue their search for producers who can meet the €1.50 retail goal. In the field of hardcore industrial design that Meda is grafted to, it is surprising to see a mere prototype gain such recognition, especially one that does not function.

Perhaps Meda, a father figure to a younger generation of designers, was given the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps everyone agreed with the implications of distributing the Solar Bottle. Perhaps critics foresaw a reformation of a design giant who is known for his material and process-based products, into one whose products are more user-centric. Perhaps, at the end of the day, those who praised this design did so because they were able to envision a life without access to drinkable water. Back in Florida, life without utilities was like being on vacation. Then the bathtub was dry, and life gained an essential sense of seriousness. Had I been confronted with this reality for my entire life, how would a Solar Bottle change my life? In this context, it is easy to support this project on many levels, as well as easy to support Meda. When you meet him, it is easy to see that his care is genuine. Although he presents himself as a simple man and a simple designer, and, when confronted with complex systems in design ethics, replies, “that’s for your generation to figure out,” his generous gift to the design world is evident in a simple object that fuses mass-production materials and technology with an authentic concern for the user.

Interview Images

Extra: Video Interview Satyendra Pakhale online

2009-03-04T00:46:00.000-08:00

On the 22nd of October of 2008, Satyendra Pakhalé gave two lectures to both bachelor and master students at the Design Academy Eindhoven and accorded us a private interview.

This video interview has been published on Google Video, so it's there to watch!

Lecture Simone De Waart + Ton Teerling

2009-02-26T12:49:00.002-08:00

Materials & experience, a Sense of touch and smell

January 28 2008

Vlag team :

Seo Jeonghwa
Riviere Aurelien
Ito Fumiko
Chiang Ping Fan
Cadamuro Alessia

As students of design, in training to become masters of the profession, one would imagine a lecture from a fellow designer, an expert in materials, would bare more weight and raise more response then a food and taste psychologist working in a seed company, who came to lecture about the nose. But when Ton Teerling had finished his presentation, he was flooded by questions from eager students. Why?

Simone de Waart, an industrial designer, a material expert and an educator, had come to lecture about her expertise - materials. In 45 minutes, she had shared her view on the design process as one that should consider it’s materiality from the beginning, discussed the link between materials and experience, and presented a few of the projects she was involved with, most recently with the NS trains in Holland. It had been quite informative, and it had a point, and the audience was lost.

At first it seemed lost because of a few rules of design lectures broken: not enough pictures of products, not a lot of discussion about “real projects” (she couldn't share much on those), not enough controversial statements. It was a nice, safe, informative lecture in a quiet, self-assured voice. But when Ton Teerling took the stage he seemed to have broken most of the same rules, and still he kept his crowd fascinated.

Wearing a suit, Talking in a field much different from design, with a presentation so un-esthetic that even an accountant might suggest some font and color considerations, maybe even a picture or two, Ton had grabbed his audience from the get-go. Talking about the awesome power of recognition over our minds, and the way smell could be used to channel it (among other things), he jumped from side to side, talking fast and enthusiastically, keeping all eyes and ears on him. He even concluded his lecture with a list of reasons why designers shouldn't use smell in their objects, like he was trying to convince us his lecture was not really useful. Yet, the moment he finished speaking, the audience was shooting questions one at a time, eager to learn more about scent and recognition.

What was it that made his lecture so memorable and Simone’s so forgettable? At first, one might say its charisma. Ton seems like the kind of man who could convince an Eskimo to by sun tan lotion. His enthusiastic way of speaking and the genuine curiosity he beams (and of course his knowledge of human psychology), creates a man who makes most of what he says interesting enough to listen to.

But eventually, I think the real issue is that the designers where refreshed by the “unrelated topic”. It sometimes seems that lectures by designers on design have little to learn from. The information is circling between students, and most of them keep informed on-line. The designers sometimes get tired with hearing about design. Yet when introducing them with a new field, the wheels begin to turn. It is a profession in search of new, unpredictable influences, with an eagerness to know at least a little about a lot.
Ton’s lecture seemed to do so well simply because it wasn’t design. It was fresh, like a sip of water on a warm day.

2009-02-25T04:50:00.000-08:00

Arie van Rangelrooy Lecture

Source 04-02-2009

Arie van Rangelrooy confesses: he is not a hippie. When he leaves for Mali in the seventies, it is not to follow some spiritual or mystical path...
A year before graduating, the practical student is indeed advised to go to Djenné for a "spotting" mission by a teacher seeking for volunteers (mission that was to become his graduation project).

Djenne, it is a historically important small city in the Niger Inland Delta of central Mali. It is one of the oldest known cities in sub-Saharan Africa and its historic city center was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988.

This happened some years after Arie van Rangelrooy went to this place, where he was researching the city, the architecture, the urban planning, the living spaces, …

He traveled to another continent to stay there one year. During this year he was productive in measuring, drawing and archiving the cities architecture. This work lead to the protection of the city by UNESCO.

During the stay he connected to the people, their way of living and the culture. "We all know about misery and the huge differences between both lifestyles, but when it comes to seeing it, to experiencing it for real, you realize how hard their life can be and how lucky and disconnected we are" he says, still touched.
At this point, his African experience became all about exchange. Exchanging techniques, skills. Collaborating with local maçons, contributing to increase their efficiency, to facilitate their practice, yet not spoiling their ancestral building protocol. A humble observation and dialogue, he expected to have a proper social purpose.

He would go outdoors during the day, measure the streets, houses and rooms, while in the evening he would put all of this into plans. As there was no electricity and minimal contact with the outside world he would archive even the smallest ornamental decoration.

During the lecture he was talking passionately about the city and it’s architecture. And it is just the kind of architecture that makes the city interesting. Architecture of mud.

Why? Being close to the Sahara desert, the area lacked building materials such as wood and stone. People learnt to build houses with the mud from the Niger River. When the mud is mixed with rice husks and straw and fermented for a month, it becomes very tough, thick and rain resistant. To build a house, local people first lay sun-dried mud bricks. The brick walls are covered in mud plaster. This protects the inside of the house from the heat.

He talked about this, showing related pictures. Also reminding us of how this tradition was preserved. As the centuries passed by, the inhabits would restore their houses during the dry season. Although when Arie arrived this tradition went lost, as he arrived in a bad economic situation, where you have other priorities.

After the work of Arie and the protection of the site, the city was restored and now even grows again. Arie regularly goes back, and works together with master mud builder Boubacar Kouroumanssé. Together their busy with building an museum and school, using century old techniques. The changes with what Arie archived 20 years ago, is the fact that they now include electricity and running water into the building process. Also the “making a plan and reading the plan” is introduced in the process.

During the talk we had after the lecture, van Rangelrooy emphasized on the importance of social commitment in the practice of applied arts.
We also mentioned the difficulty to commit oneself in projects that make sense still making a living... According to Arie van Rangelrooy, this balance between ideals and survival is to be achieved once one has "showed its mettle".

Wise Arie first made a nice career in the Netherlands before recently going back to Mali.
He finally reached freedom of creation through social commitment because he was wise. Wise enough to wait. Wise enough to grow.

Daijiro Mizuno PhD (RCA) -Fashion Research and Design-

2009-02-24T01:47:00.000-08:00

“By looking at the space in between clothing and a body, both theoretically and practically, I aim to explore the fundamental aesthetics of fashion design in which the clothing and the body are harmonised.”

by Carolina dos Santos Reis
Although he was born in Tokyo in 1979, Daijiro Mizuno acquired all his university education in the UK. He completed an MA in Fashion Design in womenswear at the Royal College of Art and a BA in Fashion Design at the University of East London after having started studies in architecture. Then, he proceeded to investigate the non-verbal dimensions of fashion through its cultural characteristics for his PhD thesis while working for Shelley Fox as a part-time design assistant.
He has been teaching in Japan since 2006 at Kyoto University of Art and Design and at the Seian University of Art and Design, and also acting as a director at Critical Design Lab, a part of Kyoto University. Furthermore, he exhibited at the Royal College of Art and at the Dojidai Gallery, Kyoto.

In order to explain his projects, I will mainly cite his own words, not simply because it was the only information we received, but also in an attempt to provide the most accurate description of his work.
His previous project was entitled paperbag! girls, where he researched “on young girls reusing ‘brand’ shopping bags not in the context of recycling but in the context of consumption and (re)production of image”.
Also, he is currently working on two projects. The first is a joint project with the STBY and is entitled “Belonging and Belongings, investigating the relationship between virtual / real identity through the objects people carry”. The second one is “Universal Fashion, exploring the critical view on fashion design in the context of universal design”. Moreover, he explores “issues such as functionality, aesthetics, semiotics and commerciality in the cross-disciplinary manner”.

Focusing on such immaterial considerations in his practice, Daijiro Mizuno demonstrates the deep potential of the discipline and its link to a very wide range of social and individual considerations.
Despite the lack of data available on him, it can be said that his career has been oriented in a mostly theoretical manner, and that he seems to link his research into his creative work. The trajectory of his path is clear evidence of how his interest and passion directed his career into research, but it doesn’t reveal much about his personal motivation. All in all, Daijiro Mizuno appears to be a rather enigmatic character, who will definitely have much to share - especially from an academic point of view - when he visits the Design Academy on Friday, 27 February, 2009. Personally, I have a lot of expectations and I am looking forward to discovering Daijiro Mizuno.

Links:
Daijiro Mizuno PhD
STBY
Shelley Fox

The Stone Twins in flesh and bones

2009-02-24T01:43:00.000-08:00

by Carolina dos Santos Reis

The Stone Twins sounds more like the title of a Victorian novel than a duo of trendy graphic designers. But there is a storytelling feeling to their name that perfectly describes these Irish twin brothers and their creative process. They presented their work in a lecture at the Designhuis on the evening of 11 February, 2009. The atmosphere was relaxed and casual. The audience, made up of a group of designers and students, attended the presentation on the cushioned staircase of the entrance hall.
Declan and Garech Stone both graduated in Visual Communication at the University of Dublin. Soon after, they moved to Amsterdam, not only because of the lack of opportunity in Ireland, but for a genuine fascination for Dutch culture in design and arts. They set up their own studio and from their first days consistently created with inventiveness and humour while remaining profoundly rigorous in the study of typography and visual communication.
They characterise their approach as graphic designers more in branding and identity than in the development of graphics. When commissioned for a project, they start by questioning the brief itself before going forward. This produces work that transcends common graphic communications, work that has made them stand out since the beginning of their practice. Their clients are very diverse, ranging from event and marketing agencies to the Zeews Museum and Adidas. Even with the most corporate of clients, they don’t hesitate to take things literally. This is maybe what inspired them to shoot the ADCN yearbook with a gun rather than a camera. Another interesting projects is the Logo R.I.P. publication, a funerary journey through logos that have become part of a whole cultural heritage, but have since been slowly disappearing through the massive re-branding of the 80s and 90s.
On the whole, they shed light on the importance of thinking both formally and theoretically in negative spaces. For the Stone Twins, graphic design is all about storytelling and creating content. Still, as designers we make choices and therefore have the ability to influence. We not only have the responsibility of making ethical choices through our process, but also to question the system of the design world. The Stone Twins, for example, mentioned the boycott of a specific pitch - a practice that has become very common, but sometimes having negative effects, especially for young startups.
Despite their inspirational words on the design world, there was a somewhat sterile feel to the presentation whose cause I am still unable to grasp. Maybe they were just tired. But my impression is that they might have restrained themselves in order not to contradict each other, which might have made them less dynamic. Indeed, it was amusing to see that they were not giving the same answers during the Q&A period. But then didn’t they say that hopefully their work was schizophrenic?

Links:
http://www.stonetwins.com/
http://www.usualsuspects.nl/
http://www.soundcircus.nl/
http://www.zeeuwsmuseum.nl/

Gert Staal

2009-02-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

Vlag group : Hanna Chung, Carl Harris, Chulan Kwak

Date: 21 January 2009
Article: Carl Harris
Photography: Hanna Chung, Chulan Kwak

Gert Staal Workshop

On the 21st January 2009 Gert Staal a writer on design, and a regular visitor to the design academy, conducted a writing workshop. The workshop was designed to be an exercise in creating ideas for the up and coming source publication. After a late start, we were asked to group together and think about how the source publication should be materialised.

We were given a time frame of one an half hours, and were asked to think “outside the box’. The exercise seemed to be well received. Many students liked the challenge of coming up with concepts and ideas in such a short space of time. After the group session, we all congregated in the lecture room where we were asked to present our ideas.

What started off as a promising creative exercise, descended into a long and painful talk about the structure of the program, and the positive and negative aspects of the project. Gert Staal looked helpless and decided to reframe from getting into the crossfire of discussion. The words ‘short discussion’ seemed unimaginable farcical even, whilst the debate raged forth for another hour.

The arduous task of separating concerns for the course and the actual reasoning of the day came to fruition, as Gert Staal decided to take back the lead and put the workshop back on track.

Gert Staal’s teaching approach is extremely pertinent, he posed questions that were well received and had no condescending nature to them. One of Gert Staal’s biggest qualities is his ability to motivate and get the best from the class. He uses anecdotes that keeps the audience interested, but always relates it to the matter at hand.

After a prolonged day the main points of the publication were decided and two teams had emerged (Editorial and Design Team). Many students left the master space feeling, exhausted and slightly annoyed that a workshop with Gert Staal had been tainted by an administrative discussion.

The phrase ‘productive end to a pitiful start’ sprang to mind.

-Carl Harris

Writing Workshop-Gert Staal

2008-12-13T14:24:00.000-08:00

Vlag group: Fumiko Ito, Youngshin Sim, Saara Järvinen

Date: 12 November & 26 November 2008

Article: Youngshin Sim, Saara Järvinen

Photography: Fumiko Ito, Youngshin Sim, Saara Järvinen

The writing workshop conducted by Gert Staal was meant to support research and writing skills of master students in Design Academy to express their ideas and intentions and also to improve their critical understanding of journalists, critics and curators who might publish their work.
The lecturer, Gert Staal is a writer on design and architecture since early 80’s, staff-editor of major Dutch newspaper and has been a visiting teacher for master students in Design Academy since 2005.

In the first session, Mr. Staal emphasized on the importance of interview. Although some interviews might not be published or broadcasted for different reasons, they can deliver background information for a research project or an article. He gave some guides of interview to students. Towards the interview, the subject has to be recognized, a direction and a strategy have to be planed and a list of questions to be prepared. In between the interview and the writing, he advised students to take time, shortly after the interview, to ‘empty their memory’ and write down things that stood out, intrigued them or made them doubt. And tell them to identify the important themes in the conversation but also sidelines that might reveal an aspect of the personality. Finally, in order to put everything into a story, he advised to establish which elements are vital or necessary and to identify in what form the contents of the conversation to be represented. Regarding the writing, Mr. Staal made a point on the importance of using appropriate style and vocabulary.
From the participant’s point of view, it was a profound lecture on interviewing, especially it was interesting to hear how to get answers out of a reluctant interviewee, and what a good technique it is to empty your memory after the discussion and get everything you heard on paper. After preparing us for all the things that need to be considered when making an interview, we got an assignment. The class was put in three person groups in which there was an interviewer, interviewee and an observer. We got to put in practice all that we had learned. The results were promising, as Mr. Staal said. We managed to write some interesting texts in the very limited time.

The next session dealt with reportages and reviews. Mr. Staal proposed to students to practice on writing reportage which offers an editorial format that students might want to use in their thesis and the format necessarily combines ‘neutral’ representation of researched facts with personal perspective position. Moreover, as a journalistic tool its well suited for documenting research projects in a non-academic environment like Design Academy. In terms of the review, Mr. Staal stressed on that writing a review forces students to structure their thoughts and knowledge on an event, book etc. in an organized framework that consists of such as introduction, body and conclusion. The purpose of a review is to analyze critically a segment of a published body of knowledge through summary, classification, comparison of prior research studies, reviews of literature, and theoretical articles.
In this session, we learned the difference between the two and wrote about Don Norman’s lecture based on this knowledge. Surprisingly everyone had a different approach to the subject, and we got to hear some good reviews and reportages. Clearly many of us got very into the writing and Mr. Staal was happy about the texts.
Gert Staal gave useful tips for writing, and actually managed to make it sound easier for us. He told us about fruitful mistakes that can according to his experience lead to good results. “Interesting things tend to happen on the sides” was one good tip Mr. Staal gave, to make us pay attention to what the interviewee says after the actual interview is over.Mr. Staal is an absolutely devoted teacher and he clearly enjoys working with us. It was good that he actually made us write during the lessons and the assignments were not intimidating big. He gave us time during the day to complete the writing, so that everyone got something concrete done. Gert Staal is used to working with design students so he understands that we have limited time and energy to use on his course. He certainly succeeded well in making the most of it.

Demakersvan 19 November 2008

2008-12-10T08:07:00.000-08:00

VLAG group : Carl Harris, Nichon Glerum, Lucia Garcia Velez, Mie Frey Damgaard and Naomi Solomaniuck

Article: Demakersvan – Jeroen Verhoeven

Demakersvan are a design team comprised of Jeroen Verhoeven, his twin brother Joep and Judith de Graauw. They graduated from Eindhoven Design Academy in 2004 and set up Demakersvan ‘the makers of’ in 2005. Since their graduation they have experienced a considerable amount of success, collaborating with companies like Nike and Swarovski, enterprises such as Droog and have a permanent collection in MoMA.

On Wednesday 19^th 2008 Jeroen Verhoeven from ‘Demakersvan’ took a moment from his busy schedule to give an insightful lecture and interview. The interview started later than arranged as Jeroen was touring the academy reminiscing with his previous mentors. Once seated he began by giving a judicious analysis of his academy life: reflecting on the more negative aspects such as workshop space and his insecurities upon graduation. He described his relationship with the academy as love/hate and stated that the academy was a ‘communist system’ that ‘is a victim of paperwork’. However turbulent his time was, he still has admiration and respect for the academy. ‘They created the essential publicity that launched us onto the international stage.’

Jeroen talked briefly about how ‘Demakersvan’ works and the relationship with his twin brother and Judith de Graauw. In doing so, his posture became more relaxed as he stated the importance of working with good people. It was very evident that jeroen is a humble person and cares a great deal about Demakersvan success. This drive and need to prove mentors, critics and ‘the design village’ wrong has led him and Demakersvan to experience success in such a short period of time.

As the interview continued I warmed to Jeroen and felt admiration for his dreamlike ideals. He uses naivety as a tool to challenge any preconception of what design is. When asked if he were an artist or designer he stated ‘why do I have to put myself in a certain box? I don’t like labels’. This makes it very easy for jeroen to wonder through the design world choosing what commissions and briefs best fit his design style. This is a freedom bought from the success of the Cinderella table and something that Jeroen knows only too well.

After the interview finished I was eager to hear his lecture. I wanted him to elaborate on statements such as ‘functionality is only important if that’s the subject’ and ‘dream impossible things’. It became apparent that the lecture would be an overview of Demakersvan and targeted towards his new factory that was built in India. One main difference with other lecture’s given at the academy was audience participation. Jeroen stated that he would like students to ask him questions throughout the lecture, making the event more productive and as a result informal.

He started the lecture by reminiscing about his time at the academy. He stated ‘ we had no plan to start Demakersvan, but they are two people who I could not live without’. He talked with enthusiasm about Jeop’s graduation project ‘lace fence’ and the quick offers that came after graduation. This led him to reminisce about the factory in India and the fact that his brother is currently living there. It was apparent that the situation is difficult for Jeroen who acknowledges that he’s a better ‘designer’ because of his relationship with Jeop. This created an air of nostalgia, which lingered for the entire lecture.

His style of presentation was very loose, fluid and not scripted. He switched from slide to slide and back again; taking time to find the correct picture that best described his topic. It was slightly too sporadic and felt a little clumsy, as if he had created the presentation on the train coming to the academy.

He quickly spoke about a previous commercial project ‘Fatboy’, mentioning the royalties from that project helped fund his creative mind. He talked about his new idea for a chandelier made from 30,000 butterflies. The project was received with mixed emotions. Some students just smirked; others were perplexed by the ambitiousness of the idea. What it emphasised was Jeroen’s dare to dream big mentality, and his love of naivety. He gave an insightful anecdote regarding MoMA and how when asked to meet with them he did not know who they were or how big an achievement dealing with MoMA is. Yet it is this naivety that has shaped jeroen and his limitless approach to the design world. Whilst mentioning MoMA he was asked by a member of the audience to explain what it is like dealing with museums like the V&A. He gave an honest and frank answer ‘ Working with museums are great they pay for everything’.

He finally talked about the Cinderella table and how he made it. The audience seemed interested in the manufacturing process, something that Jeroen is very passionate about’ you have to see the positive side of manufacture, find craftsmanship in India for example and exploit it in a positive way’. This ambitiousness to make something that meets resistance shows how much resilience Jeroen has. He stated that the Cinderella table was something he just wanted to make, he did not think of ‘limited editions’ but merely the love of creating a form from his imagination or dreamlike reality.

He concluded the informal lecture by giving a somewhat motivational speech. He exclaimed that the master students should act, do, and be productive and naive at the same time. It felt warm hearted and honest, but was not particularly appreciated by some of the audience.

Carl Harris

Review: a day with Don Norman

2008-12-03T08:24:00.000-08:00

Sourcegroup: Anne-Marije, Tom, Hanna, Chester & José
Location: Designhuis, Eindhoven
Who: Don Norman
What: lecture sociable design
When: 20 November 2008, 12pm

As we were in charge of guiding this day, we started of with meeting Professor Don Norman. Although his picture showed us a friendly, social man, the first moments were quiet awkward. We were busy arranging the setting and he was guided through the Designhuis and preparing for lunch.

At two o'clock people started entering the Designhuis. Quickly the 70 placed chairs were occupied, while the rest of the 430 people started looking for a good spot. This was more than we expected, but for Mister Norman nothing new.

The introduction by Kees Overbeeke was absolutely not in place, he did not add anything to the day. Luckily Mister Norman took over the mic and set the tone for his lecture. Talking about sociable design, he sounded as he was doing this for the million times. The content of the lecture was really interesting and he had nice examples. Unfortunately the interaction with the audience about the subject was forced. Was this because of the unexpected high number of listeners or because of mister Normans well prepared footnotes?

The amount of people also had an impact on the "questions and answers". Only one question was asked and after the lecture people lined up to ask their question in person. Those questions could really add some value to the lecture. Mister Norman was very patience and took the time to answer all the questions. This leaded to a delay in our schedule and therefore we did not have the opportunity to interview him.

We took him back to the academy and on the way he opened up. We saw him observing street situations and he shared his personal vision on the Dutch street policy. During de guided tour in the academy we also shared our positive and negative thoughts about the Design Academy. This was appreciated by Mister Norman who, we assume, is always guided by high positioned persons. At the point that the personal contact was established, it was time for him to go to Amsterdam.

Maurice Scheltens and Liesbeth Abbenes

2008-11-29T23:54:00.000-08:00

Lecture and Workshop
29 Oct & 5 Nov 2008

photos by Hikaru Imamura

Reportage

Maurice and Liesbeth introduce themselves as a couple, who after some time realized that their working methods were very similar and began to work together professionally. After looking at their work individually this comes as some what of a surprise as their styles are aesthetically very different.
Maurice graduated in photography at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague, The Netherlands in 1995. Ever since he has cultivated a strong studio aesthetic, meticulously arranging his client’s objects into sometimes simple and sometimes intricate images. Liesbeth she started the Gerrit Rietvelt academy in 1998 (Audiovisual department) and graduated in 1993. In this period Abbenes moved from sewn objects, to performance and photography. Her two dimensional work has a much more illustrative style where she develops her own handwriting while looking at the history of wall tapestries. When working together it is Maurice’s approach which has the more influence. Liesbeth is likely to have her input and influence on composition, but the overall look and feel of their photography remains smooth, slick and very much studio based.
The lecture that they gave us about their work included work done as editorial for magazines, and commissioned photographs for large companies (all orientated around design, fashion and commerce). As said before the methods they employ to create their images involve the manipulation of objects to create a scene. The final outcome always having a strong two dimensional shape. Many times – although what they are photographing may have a complex shape – they reduce their objects to clean geometric lines, always showing an awareness that the scenes they create will eventually only exist as a two dimensional image.
This can be seen in their work done for Adidas, which used mirrors to duplicate and abstract the straight lines created in the clothing. Similarly Nike shoes were arranged in a symmetric way and hung using the shoe laces, which again created sharp protruding lines. Work for Vitra also focused on creating an ordered two dimensional pattern out of furniture. All this symmetry means consequently that the final image used (that from the point of view of the camera) is the only perspective where the lines fit together. If the eye is moved even a fraction the lines no longer match up and the image is lost. Other work focuses not so much on arranging objects that create geometric form, but more on arranging objects that create an entirely new object all together. This new object could be fantastical creatures made from clothing or New York tower blocks made from perfume bottles.
Their work can be compared to that of other studio photographers like Dan Tobin Smith, who orientate their photography around manipulated aesthetics rather than any human element, or sense of capturing a moment. Their work evokes more a feeling of static perfection. An arrangement that is totally fixed.
For their workshop, the couple asked us all to bring in a piece of our design which we would like to photograph. Upon bringing our chosen object however, we were then “assigned” another person’s object to photograph. This was said to be an attempt to recreate some of the uncertainties of professional life. Maurice and Liesbeth specifically cited their work for Vitra, where they had planned on using large rolls of colored paper, only to find upon arrival at location that the humidity made the paper crinkled and therefore unusable.
After having objects assigned to us we went around the class and were asked to talk about our object and about how we imagined photographing them. After which the couple talked a little about how they viewed the assignment. They broadly allowed us to do as we wished with the photo. Their only stipulation was that we do not produce a simple pack shot. That we try and photograph the object in a way that will somehow reinvent it.
The following week we exhibited all the photographs and had individual tutorials on the work. Maurice and Liesbeth were engaged and pleased with the results, though they did mention that they would have liked to have an extra day in order to allow us to act upon their critiques.
In all the workshop was very helpful and the work of the couple a useful insight into professional photography.

-Thomas Saxby

photos by Hikaru Imamura

Excerpts from Editorial

"It became clear during the workshops and lectures that the design approach of the couple extends into other parts of their lives as a design philosophy. It was during the workshop that their talents were most beneficially exercised."

"Scheltens and Abbenes bridge the realms of reality and fantasy in their work, and continued in this tradition during the workshop. The participants had been asked to bring in an object that they wished to photograph or document. Each student presented the object, and explained his or her reason for choosing that object, including their intentions how they would document it. However, what Scheltens and Abbenes did next was to separate designer and object. Each student was given the object of another student, with the instructions to document it however he/she saw fit. The duo misled the group, a method which mirrored their visual work. They removed the objects from their original contexts, purposes, and meanings. In addition, they gave complete creative control to the artist/designer, which is an integral part of how they work. The workshop became an intellectually stimulating experience before the graduate students even began to document their pieces."

"...it can be asked whether their works are design or art. The answer to the question would largely depend upon semantics, depending on who was asked. A more interesting question is how much their approach to design and art encompasses their life. Whether it is exercised through reason or intuition, design is every action that one makes throughout the day. Scheltens and Abbenes have shown themselves to be genuine in their daily attitude... it is all about the emotional context in communication that directly affects the audience. They showed that this is best achieved through repetitive actions."

-Luke Jenkins

Video of Workshop Images

video by Thomas Saxby

Gijs Bakker lecture

2008-11-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

Gijs Bakker needs little introduction among designers, and in the Design Academy Eindhoven, where he teaches and heads the IM master course for many years, it seems he needs no introduction at all. So, when Gijs got up to start his lecture, it was intriguing to see what he will show. We all know the famous Droog projects, and seen them in books numerous times, and were hoping this lecture would give us something more. It did not fail. Gijs Bakker’s one hour lecture showed the life of an interesting man, not only his designs shown in chronological order, but in them woven his inspirations, the designers he admires, his environment, and his other works, finishing with his teaching career at the design academy and of course Droog.

As these kinds of lectures often go, there was no time to go in deep into the ideas and projects of Gijs. It was a quick presentation of works and anecdotes, seasoned with a bit of humor, brief and general, but Gijs has done it very gracefully, keeping his audience sharp, telling us things we didn’t know, sharing a bit of his mind.

There was even a message, not a very common thing in a one-hour general lecture. Gijs told the students of the academy: “don’t wait – do!”, telling the students not to wait for commissions, but to follow their ideas through, stating how this way of working created Dutch design as it is today.

After the lecture, the master students of the DAE had another hour of Q&A with Gijs. This much more informal and intimate meeting took place in a classroom, with about forty students, when Gijs set on as sofa, taking questions from students. For the most part Gijs answered to the point and elaborated. It seemed Gijs had very clear views on design and could convey them very well. When asked if now that he functions, besides being a designer, as one of the biggest design curators in Holland through Droog, he heads the academy masters to look for talents, Gijs answered that this is a nice side effect, but he is looking for the arguments with the students, the disagreements. This is what stimulates him to teach. On some of the questions, Gijs showed a wonderful quality reserved to really great speakers. He was able to answer a very different question then the one you asked and still be very interesting, making you feel you got your answer.

The one question that seemed a bit unanswered is around the subject that draws a lot of attention recently – the subject of limited edition. It seemed Gijs had trouble defining his view on the subject, and said he is against young designers duplicating some of their old designs in different materials and exhibiting them again. It is almost understandable why someone like Gijs would struggle with such a question – Droog, in many respects, set an example for independent, conceptual, limited (and many times expensive) products. This phenomena, as often happens, is now being taken to extreme by young designers who might be missing the point of boundaries and creativity.

There is no doubt there was a lot more to get from Gijs, but under the time limitations, he gave an interesting, honest and different view of design, by one of design’s most influencing characters in the last 15 years.

17th September 2008

Marcel Sloots - Publication Workshop

2008-10-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

September 24 2008

Marcel Sloots is a Dutch graphic designer working out of Eindhoven for nearly 7 years within the firm Volle Kracht. Translating to “Full Power”, the firm name describes the way he approaches his work, full of ambition and creative determination. Some of his latest work, the interior of the Mu Gallerie, celebrated the gallery's 10th anniversary. Located on the first floor of the De Witte Dame, the home of the Design Academy Eindhoven, the Mu is an exciting gallery exhibits design, music fasion, architecture and new media by local and international artists.

In September 2008, Marcel Sloots came to the Design Academy in order to conduct a workshop with the second year masters students with intentions of creating a comprehensive publication for the Source program. The Source program invites guest speakers to the Academy with the intention of creating a personal dialogue between student and professional through lectures and interactive workshops. During this particular workshop Sloots gave each student three packages each containing records of Source lectures from the previous year. It was up to the students to format each lecture into one easy-to-read and informative publication. By the end of the day the students had completely reworked the layouts of each Source document, in some cases condensing three pages of records into one. The workshop allowed students gain a unique perspective on visual communication design while completing the Source publication in just one day. Under the guidence of Sloots the students produced quality work for a client (the Source program) in a very short amount of time demonstrating a brute force mentality, aparent in his work and his outlook on the design industry.

When asked about which projects he enjoys to work on the most Sloots states that he has no preference for what kind of design he may work on as long as he picks the right client to work with. He stresses that every designer should “Be very ambitious when choosing a client”, “find out what you may be asked to do” and understand the politics surrounding the client, something commonly overlooked by designers when taking on a new project. He offers this advice about the design insdustry to new designers: “what is important is the spirit of your work, as long as you are doing something what comes out in the end will be alright”, aiming to provide direction to those at a creative standstill.

The workshop with Marcel Sloots was an important demonstration of the challenges a designer may face when working for a new client. Having the students work along side Sloots in creating the publications taught them his “volle kracht” mentality of hard work and determinations, which has brought him success in the design industry. Student-professional interactions like these provide unique opportunites to the students at the Design Academy, teaching key design skills straight from proffesionals through the Source program.

Satyendra Pakhale

2008-10-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

Lecture from a cultural nomad

On the 22nd of October of 2008, Satyendra Pakhalé gave two lectures to both bachelor and master students at the Design Academy Eindhoven and accorded us a private interview. He began his presentation by sharing his vision of the world and questioning the audience on its own perceptions. He then proceeded to reveal himself through his works and motivations.
It was a great privilege for us, participate in the event, as well as an opportunity to get to know the designer behind the Man and Humanity Master department better. The team coordinating the event is composed of first year master students, Maurizio Montalti, Bart Nijssen, Cecelia Tzuchun, Timothee Magot and Carolina dos Santos Reis.

Satyendra Pakhalé is a very inspiring speaker with a persuasive manner of communication. His approach was very open-minded and he engaged in very interesting discussions on every topic. He started by addressing modern issues that haunt our planet, like environmental crises and social inequalities. According to Pakhalé, such issues are no longer isolated and need to be addressed by everyone, especially the new generation of designers. He preached appropriateness in our practice, which can be reached by approaching every project according to its context. Sustainable and ethical issues need to be part of the process but there are no rules on how to incorporate them. According to Pakhalé, it is all about perspective. For example, a material that in one context is not environmentally friendly can in another case be the best solution. To support his argument, he cited famous thinkers in the field like Vitor Papanek and Buckminster Fuller. Altogether, his discourse was very inspiring and moving, however it is one that has been around for many years without really producing any impressive ideas. Ultimately, Pakhalé urged us to take a position and to have our own point of view, but there was a contradiction in his reasoning: he answered every question with a positive and negative response and ended up questioning everything, and by doing so, never really took a position himself.
Next, Pakhalé showed us some of his most emblematic creations, like his famous ceramic works and his metal crafted horse. It was highly stimulating to discover the details of the production methods he employed. Without going too deeply into technical considerations, he explained his process, of how he joined traditional techniques and materials with modern expertise throughout his work. He built his reputation by transcending materials and techniques to come up with uncommon uses and results. That is what makes his singularness, and his view of design refreshening.
The interview session was for us the time to bring up Pakhalé’s role as the head of the master in Man and Humanity. He at first hesitated to accept the position, but the system in which the DAE works appealed to him. By having a freelancer status, he is able to contribute to the education of design without having any time-consuming administrative tasks involved, and thus he can continue to devote time to his creative activities. In creating the structure of the program, he brought in different professionals from the industrial design and creative fields, enriching the course and making it very resourceful to the students. In this way he definitely crossed the lines between disciplines and gave the master his cultural-nomadic flavour. Getting to know the person behind the program permitted us to have a better understanding of the program’s agenda and to see how his influence shaped the master.
Pakhalé’s presentation and his concepts fit the Man and Humanity Master perspective, but his professional success is more of a commercial accomplishment, being associated with big names that have no true link to social issues. What is unsettling is that his achievement comes from his stylistic and material approach, not in giving and sharing real solutions for the future. His clients and his projects don’t address the issues that worry most of the young generation, those who will have to pay the bills for the decisions that are made today. However, this does not take away from his considerable contribution to the design world. Satyendra Pakhalé remains an admirable designer and a greatly motivational speaker to inspire worldwide designers and creators of all generations.

Article: Carolina dos Santos Reis
Poster: Timothee Magot
Photograph: Bart Nijssen and Maurizio Montalti

John Thackara lecture

2008-06-11T00:59:00.000-07:00

John Thackara lecture

2008-06-11T00:56:00.000-07:00

John Thackara

John Thackara is a enterprising design lecturer, author and symposiarch. He leads a number of design projects including Doors based in Amsterdam and DOTT from the UK. He has advised numerous government organizations on design including the Dutch government and the European Commision. Constantly travelling, Thackara has lectured in over 40 countries and written 12 books about the predicament of design in contemporary society. His primary research focus is to answer explore advances in technology and how it affects our lives, that is, not what technology and design can do, but what can they be used for.

Transcript of Interview:
This transcript begins mid talk; Thackara has been introducing the St Etienne Design Biennial which as Director of Doors, he is co-ordinating. The subject being discussed in the nature of objects to comprise the Biennial and whether could be contributions from the Design Academy masters students.

*** represents inaudible dialogue.

QUESTION (Saron Paz) - Usually we find in design that the things that succeed are not always the things that work the best… we like simple things that can make a difference in our lives, but some things are very efficient, but no one will actually use them…

> Exactly. And thank you for saying that. That’s we need to find out the difference between something that is clearly brilliant but is never going to make any difference, versus, that looks sort of “hand to mouth” or *** but will make a difference. So the criteria is, how do we know the difference between those two things. So for example, Cisco Systems has decided that $500,000 video conferencing machines, about which they say, nobody need ever go in an aeroplane again, if they have one of these things. Its just bullshit, whereas, maybe some man in Kerala makes telephones calls work better for people so that we wouldn’t feel isolated when ringing up our mothers and loved ones, having no longer the possibility of going on aeroplanes, which the future I am facing for myself. Two extremes. And I don’t know the answer by the way. 12 months. Its 5000 square meters this show. It’s a bloody huge empty space.

QUESTION (Saron Paz) – So what about setting up criteria for *** any object?

> Yes. So I am happy for all suggestions, whether its criteria, or individual exhibits, I don’t mind. I foolishly agreed for the 50th time in my life for a too small timetable. And um, I am just entering the maxium anxiety phase, well, after christmas, when there is no more time left, at all, is when I will panic in a major way, so if you can find someway to help me I would be very very grateful.

QUESTION (Guy Keulemans) – I think that when you said “first aid kit” I think you hit the nail on the head, because if we soon get to the point where we cannot produce new objects, it’s all going to be about repairing the stuff we have, so first aid kits of repair kits for all these things –

> Well I had this conversation with someone recently who said, it all sounds very mcuh like going into hospital – but can it be beautiful, can it be a beautfiul first aid kit.

QUESTION (Guy Keulemans) - And can we create more attachment by repairing things?

> Well a bit part of this show will be people lashing up wireless networks from old nintendo consoles and stuff, because that’s part of it. And a friend who called *** who runs a festival called Pixelate, and there is a whole world of completely insane hardware and software hackers out there, which is just one bit of it but in terms of the rest of it… things like design software, do you encounters you know this “lifesycle analysis” this is a very sort of heavy and boring subject ,but various people are making tools to help designers understand the material consequences of a products. Do we need one of those? I think we need one of those in one of the tents. But there are all these snake oil salesmen, software companies, who do we believe?

QUESTION (Frans Parthesius) – Well, I would like to thank you for coming and talking about something very close to our hearts, and *** thankyou for bringing John here.

> Well, your welcome, and really I need help and between now and after christmas it would be great to figure out something tangible. Its 5000 square meteres before you agree to anything rashly, it’s a bloody huge shed. **** The risk as already been taken *** to genetically engineered ones ***** Do you know Stelarc? He’d now growing an artificial ear on his arm.

End Transcript.

Analysis:

John Thackera’s lecture was interesting and mainly concerned the activities of the British design initiave DOTT, which applies design thinking to problems usually considered in other disciplines (such as healthcare, sociology, nutrition). Its does strike one that as much as designers can offer new solutions in these areas because of their fresh persective, it also means they can become lost when delaing with subject matter out of their experience or training.

The St Etienne Design Biennial that John discusses in the discussion after the lecture, sounded full of potential as a design exhibition focussing on new well considered solutions. On Thackara blog website, he repeats his call for young designers to submit ideas based on the concept of “first aid kits” for technology and design. Hoever, the Biennial is due to begin in November and while Thackara’s conceptual initiative does not seem to have such a presence on their website, the exhibition does include references to urban planning and eco-design solutuons, as well as the usual fashionable new chairs and other meaningless products.

Thackara’s blog however, can be recommended for any design student as a casual and timely discussion on contempory problems in design. Recent posts touch on urban planning for increasing food localisation, the problems of bulk retail refridgeration, and the concept of “de-growth”.

Hans Wilschut workshop Rotterdam

2008-06-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

Lyric Reflections on Urbanism
by William Hunter

On Wednesday, May 28, 2008, Rotterdam based photographer Hans Wilschut delivered a lecture titled, ‘Lyric Reflections on Urbanism’, for the Design Academy Masters Department SOURCE program. Prior to his early evening talk, Wilschut conducted a workshop with the Masters students. In a personal narrative fashion, Wilschut presented examples of his recent work, mainly large format photographs depicting urban conditions across the globe. In these images, the artist attempts to spark a dialogue with the city. Admitting a keen interest in the boundaries between public and private domain, Wilschut wishes to challenge the viewer to sharpen their gaze. He believes that people too often merely walk the streets of cities oblivious to the details which tell the true stories. Wilschut asks “What exactly are we looking at?”

The piece ‘Rock’ portrays a type of incredible world. Using trickery in perspective the viewer tends to question or doubt the realistic nature of the illustrated scene. This method, as in much of his work, would seem to indicate signs of digital editing. But Wilschut is quick to defend this falsity. He admits using the computer in the production process, but notes that if the piece is planned correctly then no digital editing is required. In most of his cases, once the image is shot it is ready. Wilschut describes himself as an urban explorer, traveling landscapes with or without permission. These explorations often lead him to places hidden from view or places that people don’t manifest. An example of this was an image taking from the top of a heavily trafficked suspension bridge in Shanghai. The view from the camera, perched atop the bridge, looks to the directional axis of a bustling street below. The fascinating aspect of being in a place where people don’t exist, a place we don’t quite understand, and the vantage point achieved reflect the city in ways we haven’t seen.

The recent work, aptly titled ‘Landmark’, is perhaps Wilschut’s most socio-critical to date. In it we see the city from above. The image’s central focus is a building that has partially collapsed do to a severe rainstorm 3 years prior. The artist sees the building as a symbol of reverse urbanization as the building still stands in its deconstructed state. Adding to this commentary is the fact that the photograph, due to consciously chosen fading light and angle, is nearly a perfect architectural photograph, a genre in which the artist disassociates himself from, despite buildings and urban environments being the focus of his work. But this photograph isn’t highlighting new architecture, rather than exposing the economic malaise of the city.

In fielding a question following the talk, regarding the themes of his photographs, Wilshcut simply states that he creates works that stand alone rather than belonging to a formal series. And while there may seem to be reoccurring subjects of urban decay and industrial scenes, he would simply be too bored with the serial method.

Hans Wilschut workshop and interview

2008-06-10T12:06:00.000-07:00

Hans Wilschut Interview May 28, 2008
William Hunter (interviewer) Fumiaki and Gina (cameras/video)

WH: You say that the photographic study is a dialogue with the city. What does that mean for you?

HW: It means that I go to the city and try to react on the things that wonder me, that give me ideas and I can never predict what will happen. So the city sort of dictates what I will do.

WH: And is the product that you develop; is that sort of the answer to these questions or the dialogue, the conversation that you have? Do you see as sort of giving anything back to the city at all with this conversation? Or is just about the city’s feeding you these new things?

HW: Yeah the city is feeding me. I’m not really looking for answers actually. The city gives me reasons for other questions- not in the literal way, more in a process, as a process.

WH: You also mention that your images reveal what only the photographic eye can see? Does this mean we’re missing something or being too quick with our naked observations?

HW: Oh yeah. I think nowadays we are so use to image, with everything that comes, with all the influences that come towards us. Such as internet- we can travel the whole world through the internet. By television, by what you see on the streets, or the billboards. Image has become a very flucterative thing. I think if you take time- the photographic eye takes time for this. Sort of creates a moment of slowness.

WH: Right, rather than being lazy. The general person kind of going around is spoiled by the images. They don’t do enough investigation into things- seeing behind something.

HW: Do the fact that we consume image very quickly, we make conclusions very quickly as well. For me, the aim of making photographs is to slow this process down. And raise more questions. Not to aim at answers, but to get the process of thinking about the environment going.

WH: What’s the longest amount of time you have spent trying to capture and produce an image?

HW: On the spot you mean? Or…

WH: Well because you mentioned that, sometimes you have to- you go in- if you see something, going around a city that interests you and you take these quick photos as almost like documentation and memory devices to then possibly go back and then to capture it in the real way you want to. And you’ve also mentioned going to places that you’re not supposed to be at. Not necessarily trespassing, but sometimes its harder to get to a certain place. So what’s the most challenging piece or project that you’ve been involved with where it took more time to get what you wanted or to realize exactly what you wanted out of a site?

HW: I have a few actually. But an interesting one is one I did in Lagos last year, of a building that was collapsed partly, which made the building controversial because it was showing lack of direction by the city government. In Lagos they did not want tourists to photograph the building, so it was guarded by soldiers in every angle, every street. For me I found this location on top of the highest building of Lagos Island and to obtain this permission, I think only that cost me 4 days, 4 days of waiting in corridors and going from different stages and hierarchy of the company. And then at the moment that I thought I had the picture, coming back in Holland, there was something wrong with the light. It didn’t match, so I had to go back a few months later and I had to go through the same process again. Which was altogether a pretty long process of taking this photo.

WH: You’re talking about ‘Landmark’?

HW: Yeah, ‘Landmark’

WH: That goes to my next question. That’s one of your most recent projects. How does that piece represent your general, total ideas on urbanization, where it’s at now, for that one it was about- you talk about it being a regenerative urbanization, like the opposite direction, since it was collapsing or had collapsed?

HW: Before that I used to photograph a lot of urbanization things that were the result of capitalistic societies. So, architecture that exists through in investments. So here it totally reversed. When a country doesn’t play a role in the global economics, its somehow can result in a shape of architecture that is almost organic. For me that was an interesting change.

WH: With most of the pieces you do, you say you’re asking this question ‘What’s really there”. “What’s really behind what we see or don’t see”. What is it about that that interests you? It might be obvious what that is because you just have sort of an imagination that goes beyond what is always kind of presented to us. But how does that fuel your work? It seems to be that driving force behind what you get to seek and what you photograph. It’s always this sort of back door thing, whether it’s an industrial plant, or these backyards, or the city from a viewpoint that most people aren’t at. We’re not always on top of buildings. We experience most things from the street level. And a lot of your photographs take us to places that we haven’t been.

HW: Yeah it reveals something from another point of view or another harmony or disharmony of the city. But I don’t understand your question actually.

WH: Well, what is it about this sort of, this thing beyond that interests you, that seems to be very central to all your pieces? What is it about that, rather than, as other photographers might be, they take pictures of what exists. Its almost just a documentation of either a culture, or…

HW: Right, like a registration of things.

WH: Yeah.

HW: Well it’s the urge to see the things differently. It’s the urge to photograph in a lot of cities and still the urge to leave behind with only one city, the one that’s in my mind, that’s a result of the choices and not the geographical connection. I’m using real cities to make almost unreal photographs of them as if they were constructed.

WH: It also seems that a lot of your pieces are night scenes. I don’t know if that’s an effect that you’re getting after you take it, in the studio or… a lot of them seem to be- the sky is very dark and therefore you get to really see these lights of the city or a place, whether it’s a street light or all the lights of the buildings. Is that true or do you have other, do you take, do you also have pieces that exists during the daytime.

HW: I do have some. I do have some. It has to do with the subject of the photograph. If I would shoot something very literal, very boring, very naked as a subject, I might choose for daylight. I don’t want to make it more than it is. Sometimes it’s really interesting to see the influence of light to feel the intensity. Somehow the intensity of a place becomes more real if it’s a night seen for me. And also the fact that through the night light, it’s a tool to alienate the scene from reality. I’m very interested in taking the time for light, finding the right situation by the scene that I’m shooting.

WH: Maybe the last thing. How much time goes into the actual production of the photo? After you’ve got the image, after you take the picture and you bring it back to the studio?

HW: Well, most of the time goes to letting it rest. I usually make big prints as sketches, so like 140(cm) wide or so. I try to understand if a picture stays powerful or not. This can take half a year, and sometimes even longer. I just finished a work that I kept 4 years waiting or so, and after realizing now it’s the right time, now it’s fitting all together. But maybe you want to know how much time I spend behind the computer for post production- this is not so long actually.

WH: So often or hopefully you just get the shot and when it’s ready to be processed it’s almost there.

HW: Yeah. I do have some shots that I know on the moment of shooting that they are powerful. It happens a few times a year. But this is rare actually.

WH: And it seems like your work has taken you many places. Has there ever been a place that really surprised you or that you saw something in a place that you wouldn’t have imagined.

HW: Oh it happens all the time actually. That’s the interesting part of going to cities with the only goal of trying to understand the city in terms of making photos of it. And it means that sometimes I miss parts of a city that others usually see.
WH: Do you always do that? Are you always the photographer? Are you ever just the visitor? Or are you always looking at cities that way now?

HW: Actually I went to Turkey for a holiday and then I came to realize that it was very interesting to go back for photography and then I saw the city in a totally different way. But I had to disconnect from the other experience. It was difficult because I had been a tourist already. I had to change the approach. And it resulted actually in a work that expressed the feeling of being a tourist. It was a hotel situation that felt like a prison, because it was not finished yet at the moment I shot it was still concrete and there was only one person living in it- you could tell by the little light- it was a guard. But this particular photograph totally represented my feeling as a tourist being in such a resort disconnected from the other culture, which a lot of tourists do. They just go there. They eat there sleep there, they swim, they party, and they don’t enter the country or leave the resort.

WH: Do you guys have anything?

FG: What were your interests when you were a student? We are students now…?

HW: Actually when I was a student I studied painting. I painted very abstract paintings. But at that time I already made drawings of city details, which I made more abstract in the paintings. Funny thing is that nowadays I make a lot of abstract photographs, starting very sharp and very real, but by the tools that I have, I try to get more distance from the reality. So I’m sort of back where I started.

FG: Ok thanks.

WH: Good?
FG: Yep.

WH: Ok.

Lidewij Edelkoort lecture

2008-06-10T12:03:00.001-07:00

Lidewij Edelkoort interview

2008-06-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

Lidewij Edelkoort was born in Wageningen, the Netherlands.Since 1975 she works in Paris as coordinator of two research centers on trend-forecasting : studio edelkoort and trend union;She is also the publisher of two best known trend magazines- bloom and view on colour.Li Edelkoort is involved in a humanitarian project heartwear, a non profit organization which helps craftsmen in developing countries export their products with respect on their skills, culture and work conditions. Since 1999 Li Edelkoort is chairwoman at the design academy of Eindhoven.

We met Li Edelkoort in Design Academy Eindhoven on March 12th 2008.

We did the interview based on exchanging keywords.

Fast food
Old fashioned

Design
Future

Fear
Finished

Manipulation
Everywhere

Intuition
Capital

Relation
Major

Emotions
Strong… killing

Happiness
Sometimes

Nuclear energy
Maybe... coming

Droog design
Droog design I think will almost have a revival

Family
A form…and family like an extended family, like friends, neighbors

Politic
Sucks

Religion
Dangerous, discutable( debatable)

Cultural differences
Sometimes I think people makes more than they really are, I think there’s also a lots of things in common, maybe the aspect is slightly different but still similar.

Integration
Is it possible?

Mood
Bored, that’s what we do, we make more bored

Work
24 hours… around the clock

Creativity
Survivor of the planet

Death
Finally rest, sometimes I can long for because how nice to be never wake up. No I’m joking, I think we should try not to be so fearful of death, it’s not easy but I think it’s important.

What's your biggest fear?
My fear is maybe it’s to be regress.

Who are you in few words?

My name is Li, from Lidewij
Family name is Edelkoort.

I was borned in The Netherlands long time ago.
Double virgo which means I’m very synthetical and analytical
I cannot prevent myself for making analysis which has to become my job.

My job is to find fragmence of the future already now.
By digging all these fragmence like archeology of the future.

I’m finding these ideas and stocking even without knowing. And one day I just can see.
So my profession is to predict the future and to help industries, service industries, and creative industries to prepare the future better, not to do big mistakes.

And my second job is chairwoman of the Design Academy Eindhoven already for several years now.
Education is my big passion.

I live in Paris and I have other jobs like editing magazine, doing humanitarian design with a collect if of friends.
I travel a lot and my schedule is full. But I enjoy what I do because I can always be curious and not thinking about the past too much. It keeps me very young mentally and be able to work better than better. It’s amazing you can train the intuition like an athlete. The more I listen to my intuition the better I can perform.

How can you work with your intuition?

I just listen, it is like a person whisping ideas in my ears. If somebody phones me with big question in industry even on the phone in my head already has a sort of film which starts to turn and the solutions starts to immerge. I have a crazy imagination and I never would have to make like lots of other people. I have the idea it’s like already known. So I’m not a designer, I’m preparing the frame work for the designer.

Believing intuition is also giving power and confirmation to your self confident. What do you think about that and what’s the process?

Most of the time we lose the intuition because we don’t listen to it and simply discard it. But if we listen to it and research the reason, we can arrive to a greater solution. It’s a sort of passage way. Of course behind the intuition, there’s also analysis, good sense, movement, evolution and other rational things. But intuition remains the most important.

I’m just transmitting the ideas, I’m like capturing them, analysis them and give it back.
It stays only a moment in my body.

Few words about the humanitarian project Heart Wear.

We make crafted materials, garments in Morocco, India and Africa. We help few communities around the world to develop. We restyle for our current universe without losing the origins then we sell it and return money to the tailors.
It’s a small project existing for 15 years between friends. We do it for joy and I hope we can develop it into a more worldwide organization.

Some suggestions for humanitarian designer.

If you go into the humanitarian field, you need to be very very strong. You need to be idealistic and realistic at the same time. Because people who are going to get help, they are greedy, needy so you can not be a soft type of person. This field is not fashion but it’s a long term development, it’s another way of working. It’s better to balance the carrier, give part of time for humanitarian project and making money and have fun somewhere else.

I don’t think we have to suffer to help people, if you are happy, strong and powerful then you can help. You have to love yourself before you can give.

Ellie Uyttenbroek and Arie Versluis lecture

2008-06-10T11:41:00.001-07:00

Ellie Uyttenbroek and Arie Versluis lecture

2008-06-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

For 13 years Ari Versluis and Ellie Uttyenbroek have been documenting street fashion in cities around the world. Beginning in Rotterdam, they have now canvassed the street of London, Beijing, and Cape Verde among many others, and been featured in many magazine and galleries around the world. Their method, as you will soon see, is highly stylized, unique and beautiful. And unlike most of not all other street photography, it is very probing: it questions our notions of identity, uniformity, and culture. INFLUECE MAGAZINE has said their work is “a direct assault on the mythic formula that photography plus the street equals authenticity.”

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

1. When I look at the work, I think I can immediately understand your function Ari as photographer, I think that this is because, even in the age of Photoshop, we are conditioned to believe the camera does not lie. But your function Ellie, as a stylist is more curious – could you explain how much your work influences the final photograph?
Ellie’s role seems to be in initially identifying the subject matter for each series and recognizing fashion, body type and body language traits that define a group. Additionally she will make minor adjustments to these traits during photography to realize their uniformity more strongly. This does of course corrupt the documentary integrity of the work, but then they don’t claim to be objective documentary makers.

2. All the photographs express the concept of uniformity, but also differences within tight parameters. For example, Morrocies you have the subjects wearing street wear so similar it almost becomes a uniform, whereas in Combat I noticed that body types are perhaps more a uniform than anything else. Is the point of the project, to expose unexpected expressions of uniformity?
I think yes, that is the primary, albeit possibly subconscious, intent of their work. They did not say this in so many words, but I think it’s a reflection of their Dutch-ness – a desire to dryly critique an institution that expresses the idea of individuality by mockingly showing that it does the opposite.

3. How long does it take to assemble a complete 3 by 4 block? What this more difficult working outside of Rotterdam?
Each block or series takes a different amount of time depending on the availability of subjects and their willingness to come into the studio. So for slutty teenage self-obsessed girls its no problem, but its harder with Muslim women who need to ask permission from their patriarchs. One series, Morrocies, took almost a year to complete.

4. In many, if not most blocks, you get the feeling that you set up a photo studio on the street and invite people in as they walk past. But for others, such as Formers, which I notice features Li Edelkoort, it must be a different system, can you explain that?
Actually the majority of the work involves inviting people into their studio over an extended period of time. So the sense of “street” probably derives more from the fashion application than anything else, the studio backdrop being sufficiently neutral although somewhat artificially contrived.

5. In an interview with the Guardian English newspaper, you mention that you like to dress similar to those you are taking photographs of? Can I ask, isn’t this practically very difficult, and doesn’t this possibly put you in uncomfortable situations of looking like you belong but not in other contexts (like the way you speak?)
Sorry this was not addressed in their lecture so I don’t know how this is managed, other than to say that they are outspoken and direct like many Dutch people and probably don’t have any problem sparking up conversations with strangers.
6. In many articles about your work, the word “language” is used frequently, and of course the way we dress is a visual language, but it occurs to me that fashion does not function exactly like language – for example, language and accents are strongly related to geographic areas, where fashion has more of an ability to cross geographic borders and be contained by cultural, gender or age borders. Do you see the work you do as a kind of cartography, a mapping of these borders?
Ari and Ellie confessed early on in their lecture that they are not themselves prone to sociological analysis of their work. Which does mean that I cannot. So yes, I think their work does create a social cartography, an interesting one because it is so explicit. Fashion has always been used to distinguish social groups from one another, but the presentation of this critique usually relies on the single exemplary image, so by visual grouping Ari and Ellie make this critique immediately tangible.

Prepared and written by Guy Keulemans, M&H masters program, Design Academy Eindhoven.

Marjan Slob lecture

2008-06-10T11:35:00.002-07:00

Marjan Slob lecture

2008-06-10T11:35:00.001-07:00

Marjan Slob studied philosophy in Utrecht and journalism in Rotterdam. Since her graduation she has worked as in independent writer and journalist and has published widely in general media on topics related to philosophy, technology and visual culture. She also organises public debates and moderates discussions within her field of interest. For the Rathenau Institute she has made two books, Another Me: technological interventions in human identity (2004) and Knowing for sure: interviews with politicians, rulers and scientists on dealing with uncertainties (2006). For the Centre of Ethics and Health she has made the study Freedom of choice or the obligation to choose: an exploration of opinions on the ideal of choice in health-care (2006). The last three years she has worked on the conceptual and societal implications of brain-research, aiming to make these accessible to a lay-public, both on a national and on a European level. -Centre for Society and Genomics

The Marjan Slob lecture that took place at the Witte Dame, Design Academy, Eindhoven in front of many bachelor and master students on the 7th of may, 2008 was a big success. Marjan Slob conducted her lecture on her philosophical vision of Fantasy novels. The lecture was based primarily on her philosophical standing where she elaborated on ideas such as romanticism and enlightenment. The lecture was a very thorough insight into the concept of Romanticism. Following the lecture was a dialogue between Slob and a group of masters students. Slob gave her philosophical insights into a range of students projects that consisted of a council organised prostitution project specific to Eindhoven as well as a Sao Paolo based public project. Slobs feedback was quite interesting and a lot of students gained a deeper understanding of their project material from the discussion. For further information regarding both the lecture and the following workshop please see accompanying videos. For further information regarding Marjan Slob then please see www.marjanslob.nl.

Lawrence Malstaff

2008-06-10T11:23:00.001-07:00

Lawrence Malstaff lecture

2008-06-10T11:18:00.000-07:00

Lawrence Malstaff lecture

2008-06-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

The Long Now

Lawrence Malstaf is a young Belgium artist that studied industrial design in Antwerp. Most of his works are very technological installations were the users have a new feeling of space and a new conscience of their own bodies.
Lawrence said that he liked very much the formation he had as a designer because he sees an artist learning much more art history and styles than materials and technology, which are very important to his work and also a source of inspiration.
He started working with theatre, as a scene designer. The main performances were connected to dance. We can observe that in this beginning his work was very much linked to the human body, the ephemeral and movement, things that are still part of his works.
Lawrence said that his first works as an artist were a kind of reaction against what he used to do in theatre - a collective event targeted to a group of people (an audience) which is usually passive, with the same perspective in the work. The first art pieces he designed were very individual: only one person could experience the installation at a time. One example of it can be “Mirror” (2002), an installation where he confronts the person with his/her own image through a mirror. But the experience is not only audio-visual, it is specially about change and movement: the mirror shakes, and, in a certain moment the image of the spectator also disappears.
Another experiences also focused on the individual and the totality of the human senses are “Periscope” (2001) and “Shaft”(2004). The first, an outdoor project, consists in a house with a glass ceiling and a monitor. The person lay under this ceiling and, outside the house, there’s a balloon with a camera, filming the person that is laying down inside. The balloon is released, and the person watches his/her own image getting smaller and smaller, getting lost in the infinite size of the universe. “Shaft” is also a contemplative experience, where the person lays under a big transparent tube. Inside it, porcelain plates seems to dance. In a certain moment, the plates brake and fall over the spectators head, which, of course, is protected.
“Nevel”(2004) is a bigger scale project, with more social interactions. It consists in a labyrinth with moving walls. The movements of the walls force the visitors to relocate themselves and adapt to the fast-changing environment. In the same “physical space”, machine and restriction themes, we have Lawrence’s “Compass” (2005) and “Tollen” (2006). “Compass” is a machine adapted at the user’s waist, which guides the person through an imaginary space, simulating barriers and more fluid passages. “Tollen” is a performance where spinning tops interact with each other. Here, the objects seem to be alive and to make choices independently.
One of the most interesting works of Lawrence Malstaf is “Shrink”. It consists in “packing” a person between 2 layers of plastic and hanging it. Although we can see the breathing tubes, the images are very shocking and impressive, the person inside seems to be suffering. However the relates are that the experience is quite comfortable, just like a big hug, and you feel relaxed. Like a re-conceiving moment, a re-birth.
Another very beautiful project is “Boreas” (2007). It is made of 64 plastic tubes which with a lot of technology slowly bend and come back to the original form. It looks like hairs or a field in the wind because the movements look very natural. People walk through it and experience this natural/mechanical space.
Other important works of the artist are “Sand Bible” (2000), “The Long Now” (2002), and “Sauna in Exile”(2002).
During the lecture, Lawrence showed not only pictures of his works, but also videos, and he said still it was not enough. He believes that the importance that the so-called soft senses (smell, touch, balance, taste) are very underestimated. Without them it seems to be quite hard to represent his work, because it is about total experiences.
About his timing, he thinks he is quite slow, and he said he develops about 2 or 3 projects a year. This is also because there are few people working with him and the projects are very demanding, as well as the other related activities.
Lawrence Malstaf is really an intuitive artist whose installations seem to be increasingly immaterial and more experience focused. If, in one hand, history and science are things we are taught in dogmatic ways because of the enormous need for accuracy, on the other hand our experiences are to a huge extent biased by our memories. These experiences should be generated by addressing all five senses without giving priority to the communication-technologies which are today still limited to the audio-visual. And the public becomes a physical part that is essential to the installation and experiences things from within.

Ursula Tischner workshop

2008-06-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

Timo de Rijk

2008-06-10T11:05:00.001-07:00

Timo de Rijk workshop

2008-06-10T11:04:00.001-07:00

Timo de Rijk studied art history at the University of Leyden, The Netherlands. He got his PhD in 1998 at Delft University of Technology on the thesis The Electrical House, design and acceptance of electrical domestic appliances in the Netherlands. He has written a few major and several smaller publications on the history of design, i.a. on Art Deco in The Netherlands. He produced TV-programs on design history and he is a regular organiser of exhibitions. He is member of the art and design committee of the Dutch Raad voor Cultuur (Advisory Board of the Dutch Government).

Introduce :
conventional typographic, 19C~20C, one color presentation, 1950 Antonio Gaudi, atmosphere -theater, multi-media, experience presentation.
Routing:
Importance of routing, design routing, playing with people.
Context:
Showed picture – Smile man in the jail, job exhibition in cubic space, store “ CINZANO”
Out of context, unexpected context.
Program :
What are you going to say ?
- contents
- context
Metaphor :
Most important communicate contents.
Value of life. Life is money? How to deal with it.
Animal farm.
Obvious metaphor, River – function of metaphor
Tango – traffic jam.
“ Do you think we’ve overdone the metaphor?” - coffee building

Workshop

Choosing a subject
Choosing a metaphor
Collecting material
Making a presentation

Pieter Desmet Lecture

2008-05-21T06:18:00.001-07:00

Pieter Desmet Editorial

2008-05-21T06:17:00.000-07:00

Pieter Desmet is a designer, researcher and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial Design at the Delft University of Technology.
He is the founder of the Design & Emotion Society and became a much requested international speaker after he†published†his book;†Designing Emotions.
The lecture that took place in front of the entire Design Academy body was based on a discussion of Pieters research in Design for Emotion; and more specifically
on the lawful nature of design emotions
Pieters main train of thought prescribed that although emotional responses to product design are subjective and therefore intangible, the process underlying these emotions is lawful. In his lecture, Pieter Desmet discussed some†universal principles in how emotions are elicited, and how these†can be used†to understand the complex and†personal nature of design emotions.

Following the lecture there was a intimate question time with a smaller group of students where various questions were asked, such as:
1. When were you first interested in emotion design?

2. I have read that you have stated there are general patterns in how products elicit emotions. Could you please explain further about one or more of these patterns?

4. In the bigger picture of design, how can you see emotional design influencing the well being of humans?

5. Do you also think that emotional design principles can be utilised in the design process to extend the life of a product as well as being utilised to encourage consumerism? how?

6. Do you go through a specific type of research procedure to describe whether the products you are endorsing are better for the environment or for the consumer than other products available?

7. What would you say to someone that might question the ethical responsibilities of an emotional designer that can possibly change someone’s behaviour either consciously or subconsciously through emotional design?

8. Where do you see your research going in the future?

There were other questions and all the answers that can be found on the accompanying video recording.
On the whole, the lecture was a great success with interesting questions and answers that many students enjoyed.

Anthony Dunne Lecture

2008-05-21T06:14:00.001-07:00

Anthony Dunne Editorial

2008-05-21T06:12:00.000-07:00

On January 23rd, Anthony Dunne, head of the Interaction Design Department at the Royal College of Arts (London) and former member of the Dunne & Raby design office, gave a lecture at the White Lady’s 5th floor open to all Design Academy students. After that he joined the master student’s group in a more informal discussion.
In both moments he tried to explain and gave very clear examples on his approach to design – the “design for debate”. He says that the design that is practiced “is out of synchrony with today’s world”, and that in this transition phase we must “redesign design”, experimenting and pushing concepts to their limits, as well as linking them to technology.
Instead of focusing on applications, Dunne’s “design for debate” focus on the implications of technology, on the effects it has or might have on us. He says that as designers we must notice the impacts of technology and point the directions we want it to go.
In his lecture he showed us some of his student’s works – as “Dressing the Meat of Tomorrow” by James King and “Sensual Interfaces” by Chris Wolbken – and works produced by his office, for instance the “Evidence Dolls” (Paris – Pompidou Centre, 2004-5), “Is this your Future?” (London, Science Museum, 2004), and the “Placebo” project (exhibited at MOMA), among others.
One main question that lies over Dunne’s work and that students asked him is why he doesn’t sell or introduce the products he conceives in the market, in order to give people the possibility to experience these interesting “museum-pieces” in a strongest way. “Placebo” was his only experiment where people could have the object in their houses, but even in this case it was a very limited group and for a limited time.
Anthony Dunne answered that industries are not interested in producing his objects. He tried it with some of them, for instance the “Compass table” (part of the “Placebo” project), but studies showed they would become very expensive and not commercially interesting. On the other hand, he also says that if his designs were produced, they wouldn’t be “for debate” anymore.
Anthony Dunne thinks that there’s potential for designers in other roles rather than just making products for the market. If there are museums specialized in design, these places should look for new scenarios and experiments, not present us things that are already in the shops. So, his position in design is to think of it in different ways, with new contents and ideas, relating it much more to science with a visionary but still realistic approach.
In this point comes another interesting question about Art “versus” Design: if the design exists only in museums and is made only to have a controlled experience of the user, then isn’t it an art piece with function, instead of a normal product? Isn’t design for debate just a design for designers?
Dunne goes back to his point and says that there are designers that work for mass-production, others make one-off series or work inside companies, and the world needs all these kinds of designers. But especially in the world of technology and electronics, designers are always asked to make skins, and not to elaborate ideas on the intentions of the objects. In his view there’s space for all this diversity to coexist, and designers should be more present in creating the concepts of the products, not only their look.
We agree and think that maybe actually there’s a lack of designers that produce debate, conceiving visions of our future life and inspiring designers that deal with different problems. A more critical approach is not only interesting, but also necessary in times when design seems to have its role and responsibility broadened.

Stuart Walker Lecture

2008-05-21T06:08:00.000-07:00

Stuart Walker Editorial

2008-05-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

Stuart Walker Article, 09 12 2007
Stuart Walker began our interview with a brief discussion of his new work
with Imagination @ Lancaster, a new initiative in the UK which concentrates
on interdisciplinary studies. It consists of PHD programs that conduct
research with other faculties, institutions and with industry.
In discussion of his new book, Sustainable by Design, he spoke about the
environmental and energy problems that our current systems propogate.
He posits that we currently live within a material culture where electronic
products have no value because they are immediately replaceable. The
book suggests ways to address this problem, including the creation of
objects that, after use, can be easily redistributed back into the built
environment. In this way, it becomes possible to reconsider existing
products as a material resource.
Walker focuses on electronic goods because there are virtually none
produced at a small scale, or on a local level. This is in contrast to more
craft-oriented products, such as furniture. However, it’s at the local level
that the electronics are discarded. It is on this part of the product lifecycle
that his work is focused.
The work shown in his book represents these ideas. He stresses that his
projects are only studies about the nature of functional objects, asking
questions about how we look at our built environment. As an academic,
he is able to work on a level removed from immediate consumer culture,
spreading his ideas through exhibitions and publications instead.
Last, Walker describes the myth of the “new.” He describes how newness
is immediately gone the moment you open the box, and this creates a
constant dissatisfaction with products, and an unending desire to buy more.
However, he notes that if we are able to build “elegant aging” into an object,
we can address this problem.
As a group, we appreciate Stuart Walker’s approach, and his theory that
it is important to acknowledge the ephemerality of objects, and to design
accordingly. However, we were often disappointed with the final results of
the work. His ideas of “re-presentation” and “re-appreciation” only address
product design at a surface level and put a new name to the age-old idea
of reuse. Furthermore, though the work can function very well as art, this
approach is very limited.

Stuart Walker Interview

2008-05-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

Stuart Walker Interview Transcript, 09 12 2007
Rachel Griffin: So I thought it would be nice to first welcome you to
Eindhoven and the Design academy and then also to begin with you
speaking a little bit now about your current position at Imagination
@ Lancaster telling us what you guys are doing there, what kind of
projects you’re focusing on, so on and so forth.
Stuart Walker: I moved recently from the University of Calgary where I
was the Associate Dean of Research for a number of years and Professor
of Industrial Design, and the faculty of environmental design at the
University of Calgary is a small postgraduate faculty that concentrates
on interdisciplinary studies, industrial design, architecture, urban design
and planning, and environmental science—it’s really environmental
management—but it’s called environmental science. The design of large
scale landscape interventions, and management of that.
But it was founded on interdisciplinarity, so I was asked to take over
the position at Lancaster University which is a small research-intensive
University in the UK. Because they are setting up a new initiative which is
called Imagination @ Lancaster, which concentrates on interdisciplinary
studies and wants to set up new PhD programs and to conduct research
with other faculties, with other institutions and with industry. And thats the
kind of thing I was doing at Calgary.
It’s a rare opportunity, I think, that an academic gets to go in at the ground
floor and really build something from the start. And it was also back in
Britain, which I’d lived in Canada for 17 years and loved it, absolutely loved
it, but Britain is home for me, so that was an extra kind of enticement to go
back. So with the combination of the two, we decided to move back to the
UK. I’ve been there about a month and a half, two months.
Oh so it’s still very new!
It’s very new! We’ve just had the launch last Wednesday in London, at the
Design Museum.
Congratulations! So, stepping backwards, just for a moment, to
the book. You said something that I thought was very interesting,
comparing the sustainable design movement to religion. I thought
that was very potent, especially being in a department that focuses
on this sort of thing. So could you describe that idea further and
perhaps also it’s implications, if you feel that there are any for the
way that we deal with this issue.
Um, yeah, there’s a chapter in the book called Sustainabiity: the Evolution
of Contemporary Myth, which likens the sustainability movement, or our
current concerns, and articulation of sustainability, I liken it to a religion.
Now I don’t think it’s as profound as many of the religions, but I think in a
rationalistic, science-based world, where religion has been marginalized,

Rebecca Early Lecture

2008-05-21T06:02:00.000-07:00

Rosan Bosch Lecture Editorial

2008-05-21T06:01:00.000-07:00

Rosan Bosch, “WHY NOT?”

Rosan Bosch is one part of the duo “Bosch & Fjord” , she was born in Utrecht, but now she is working and living in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Rosan and Rune Fjord consider art to have a social and cultural importance in society. Art contributes to increasing the quality of life and takes part in creating refuges in society. Bosch & Fjord wishes to create a dialogue with the surrounding society and make art a natural part of everyday life.Read more about .
Bosch & Fjord create art projects in dialogue with companies, public institutions and others, where art gets a distinct function. Bosch & Fjord develops concepts and designs challenging space that directs towards a different usage, action and ways of thinking. The projects by Bosch & Fjord cut across expectations and professional groupings.
During the lecture she presented herself as an artist that is working with company in a sort of creative collaboration. The most interesting point come out during both the interview and the lecture, is probably her strong and creative approach at different projects experience and more her incredible collaboration with the company as an integrant part of the process.
Looking from the outside what Bosch & Fjord are doing, is quite surprising and unique how they are creating incredible art installation and transform them in an integrant part of an existing public or private space.
An example of they’re way of working is the project “Gumstrategy”, is a redesign of the Danish parliament that in a humorous way poses questions as to what democracy is and what democracy looks like. At www.gumstrategy.com visitors can experience a parliament where the politicians are discussing the future of the country sitting on fitness balls or wearing polar jackets in a cold, cold freezing room. In the new parliament the politicians are challenged into breaking habits and thinking new thoughts from different perspectives.

With Gumstrategy Bosch & Fjord wishes to open up for a discussion on democracy and pose questions like: what does democracy look like? How does the design affect the people who use it? What is the influence of the shape of the space and the materials on the government? How innovative and new thinking is a parliament really?

More practical but still unexpected is the result of the collaboration with Ordrup School in Gentofte, Denmark.
Bosch & Fjord has settled with traditional design of school interiors and instead created varied rooms with space for differentiated teaching and creative thinking. You will find heightened window seating where you can sit and watch the world outside, green platforms with round, red holes where discussions can buzz and bubble and large upholstered tubes where you can hide with a good book or to spend some time alone.
Rosan during the interview said: Thinking that all people are different, thinks differently and learn differently, wecreated a complete and challenging design at Ordrup School. The design is based in three concepts, 'peace & absorption', 'discussion & cooperation' and 'security & presence', that will separate the individual areas in distinct functions and create new rooms for learning. By separating the activities and creating varied rooms we created a space for dissimilarity in both teaching and play where the learning situation will be optimized.
The most interesting part of the project has been shown by Rosin during the lecture : the design process based with the employees and students of the school where habits and usual ways of thinking were challenged to move focus from the physical frames to functionality. During the fall Bosch & Fjord temporarily moved into the school and set the students and employees tasks that naturally could form part of the daily lessons. Organically formed pieces of carpet were used to create temporary territories and space for discussions, while Pippi gymnastics in each class hour brought movement as an integrated part of the lessons into focus. At the same time employees and students were given pads of yellow and pink post-it sticks to place on their favourite spots. This was supposed to show both parties an insight into each others different ways of thinking and considering rooms. The purpose of all assignments in the process was to challenge the traditional use of the rooms and create new ways of thinking rooms as active tools in the teachings.
During the lecture Rosan demonstrated her capacity to speak about her projects and her works with the same visual and poetic power of her installations, remembering to us an important and basic concept: there are no ideas too difficult to realize or situations too difficult to change.

Paula Dib Lecture

2008-03-16T04:19:00.000-07:00

Paula Dib Editorial

2008-03-16T04:18:00.000-07:00

Paula Dib is a Designer and Consultant Founder/Partner of the company Trans.forma.

Since 2003 acts mainly in urban and rural communities of handcraft production throughout Brazil. The development of products related with design, society and ecology has been the tonic of her work.

Paula believes that when a “new way of looking” arrives to a sleeping region, and awakes the people to the potential that they have, literally, in their own hands, a process of transformation is stirred up, first through observation, and then through acts and attitudes.

Her working methodology respectfully develops and adapts traditional craftworks into marketable products that generate income and improve quality of life for communities, while stimulating the people’s self-esteem and the value they give to their own culture.

For these activities Paula won the British Council’s International Young Design Entrepreneur of the Year award 2006. She has accomplished talks and seminars about the theme opening new opportunities to think the possibilities of performances within the design field.

Color, forms, volumes - To observe is to experience a world without rules.

Through the crossing of 3 elements: local available material, abilities found within the group and local culture; she promotes a collective exercise of self discovering and experimentation that reveal not only marketable products but gems that were asleep in the city and in the people.

All this process is built up collectively, guaranteeing results with meanings and references for the community, flourishing the belonging feeling of know how and all the elements related to it.

The company Trans.Forma. received this name for the force of the word “transformation” (the act or effect of transforming something, or oneself); along with the word “Form”, which is a prime-objective of Design. Transform, through the form.

Since 2002 acts in different segments of design: product, graphic, and exhibition, having as main characteristic and odds of work the look, that adds and directs, transforming the design into a tool for the approach between Man and his habitat.

We consider observation and design a rich confluence, looking for a delicate balance between: tradition, modernity, culture, conduct, art, politics, nature and social issues.

Paula Dib

2008-03-16T04:16:00.001-07:00

Paula Dib Interview

2008-03-16T04:11:00.000-07:00

26 September 2007

This weeks SOURCE lecture was held by Paula Dib, a social designer from Brazil.
The people in the VLAG team who accompanied her were Rachel Baker, Davide
Dulcetti, Damian Tonon and Samanta de Jong.
Prior to giving the lecture, Paula Dib sat down with us for a bit to have a chat. We
prepared some questions to ask her in an interview, which you can read the transcript
of below.

Interview
SdJ: Is there any particular person or people who have inspired you in your work?

PD: Yes, I have many different sources of inspiration. Actually, I was here at the
Design Academy Eindhoven, and I had contact with Hella Jongerius and I was
amazed with the way she was treating design, with an open view, everything that
happens within this word “design”. And for me, coming from Brazil, it made much
more sense because it actually fit in my reality, the Brazilian context. So, since I came
here 5 years ago, I came back to Brazil with another point of view about design. This
was very important for me, it changed a lot my point of view about design,
broadening the range of possibilities. Here I noticed this breakthrough, design can be
so many different things, the way you look a things is the most important, that is what
I learned here.

DT: You are professionally an industrial designer, did you find inspiration for your
work during your studies or afterwards?

PD: Actually before, my interest in this kind of field within design, more social in
this context, has to do with my education. I went to school with a human approach,
based in arts, we learned math through arts, we had a very humanitarian atmosphere
in Sao Paolo. It a is kind of school originally from Austria. It is not only about school,
the whole thing I guess.

SdJ: I was wondering about working so close with communities, which have been
your most positive experiences?

PD: It is something that you learn a lot from, it is very interesting way of working.
There is one moment, I just go there, naked you might say, we start to build-up a
whole relationship with the people and the environment, we start researching the
materials, research with different group of people, it is like a process, little by little
you get to know them, their history, and the talents, their background their interest
and as the work is a combination of all these elements, when we finally get to cross
them that is a very beautiful moment. Because before that everyone was inspired to be
there but they do not really know what we do there, but when they finally see one
product coming out from the group that is “the moment”; then everyone understand it,
it is like a refreshment in the process, we get new batteries, and everybody is ready to
start again…and it is so nice.

DT: Is it difficult to build trust with the people?

PD: I don’t ask them to change, my approach is not based on changes it is based in
opportunities. I think what I try to do it is just to try wake them for the possibilities
they have there. For example, sometimes I work with communities which never
worked with crafts before, actually they were doing nothing. So you try to find people
with some skills to teach the others, then the whole group starts learning. I am not
imposing something, I just show them and by interest they get there. This trust comes
with the process. I believe that at the end they will come-up with the product and we
have this goal. It is funny to see, we came here to play, slowly this changes, and I
think mmm…just wait and see…they change the perspective, they say
afterwards…well, I have a job now…they are in a different timing, they are small
communities, timing, sometimes small communities in rural areas. The income
generation is a consequence of their research within themselves and within the
community..am I clear? Sometimes I am metaphoric…

SdJ: Yes, you are very clear! In your website you talk about social and
environmental design, can you elaborate on these concepts?

PD: We have been discussing a lot about this “social environment”…I think the
social approach is the way we introduce ourselves to the communities, and what we
expect them to bring to us and this collaborative way of working , it is not something
that I go there as a designer and tell them, to change this and that. What we want to
have is this sense of belonging, we expect them to be involved. I do not expect at the
end of the process to go and sign with my name, because it is not mine, it belong to
everybody, this is the social approach, the environment is because we try all the
element we have there, sometimes we use other materials or native materials…we
always try to build a sustainable system…materials coming from industrial waste,
seed they have in their yards, the design in their context is to look for these kind of
things.

SdJ: In your opinion, doe you think that designers should always have a sense of
responsibility towards the environment and the community?

PD: I do not know, what I do it is something that came to me according to my
context…I think designers should be aware about the materials, we have to think
before, during and after, the life cycle o the product, you have to be aware of the
communities as the users, so you need to produce things useful for the people, my
direction happens according my conditions.

DT: do you relate your projects to Fair Trade, are you also involve with the trading
of their products?

PD: No actually not, there is a limit where you can go. There is another person
hired by NGO, she produces the bridge between the communities and the buyers.
There are many NGO, I just help them with contacts, magazine, but I am not involved
with the trade.

DT: Have you thought of expanding your vision to communities abroad.

PD: I work with urban and rural communities within Brazil but why not? I do not
discard the idea of doing the same in neighboring countries like Argentina, Paraguay,
i.e…I know Manu Rappoport, he has some work done in Patagonia. We tried with
Bas, we have this challenge, we brought student from Brazil and NL and went to
London, 3 mentors, and we tried to use these methodologies we use in Brazil,
transferred to a completely new context, a high school in London, teenagers, trying to
build a collaborative environment. W went there trying to build something related to
school environment, and then we were thinking maybe the school needs more chairs,
this and that and we realized that what they wanted and needed was communication.
There is something specific about the school, it is a multicultural place. In one room
we had up to 30 diff countries, so we developed 3 project and it was all about
communication, interaction. It was a very nice experience. Sometimes you work in
design not looking for specific products but for something else. Design can help you
find this…open to new alternatives.

DT: Could you tell us a bit about your company Trans-forma?

PD: I decided to open a company because I realize I had to professionalize my
work…I thought a lot about the name. It has this name because has a strong
connotation, transformation, and it is also connected to form, and object of design.
In the future, my company will hopefully grow, or maybe it won’t! Its flexible, and
as the needs change, so will Trans-forma.
Thank you very much!

Ole Scheeren lecture

2008-03-16T04:01:00.001-07:00

Ole Scheeren Editorial

2008-03-16T03:58:00.000-07:00

Ole Scheeren is a German architect and business partner of Rem Koolhaas.

Ole Scheeren is Partner of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture and Director of the Beijing and Rotterdam offices.

As partner-in-charge of OMA’s most ambitious project to date, he is leading the design and construction of the China Central Television Station CCTV and the Television Cultural Center TVCC in Beijing. Ole

Scheeren is responsible for OMA’s work throughout Asia, including the Beijing Books Building, a residential tower in Singapore, and offices for a media company in Shanghai. S

ince 1999 he has directed OMA’s work for Prada and completed the Prada Epicenters in New York and Los Angeles.

He has lead numerous other projects, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art LACMA, the Leeum Cultural Center in Seoul, and a competition for the masterplan of Penang Island.

In 2006, he designed 2 exhibitions for the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Beijing featuring the CCTV project.

Ole Scheeren joined Rem Koolhaas and OMA in 1995 and became Partner in 2002. Previously he worked for architecture firms in Germany; collaborated with 2x4, a graphic design firm in New York; and was engaged in a range of projects through his own studio in the United Kingdom.

He has been involved in various art projects and exhibitions, such as Cities on the Move in London and Bangkok, Media City Seoul and the Rotterdam Film Festival. He writes and lectures on a regular basis.

Educated at the universities of Lausanne and Karlsruhe, Ole Scheeren graduated from the Architectural Association in London and received the RIBA Silver Medal.

Ronald van Tienhoven Lecture

2008-03-10T05:16:00.000-07:00

Ronald Van Tienhoven Editorial

2008-03-10T05:15:00.000-07:00

On 16th January 2008, Mike Thompson interviewed Ronald van Tienhoven as part of the
SOURCE Lecture programme. Ronald is currently Domain Manager for Domain Play at
Technical University Eindhoven. The interview was roughly separated into 3 parts: the
cemetery project at Spijk; his opinions on the interaction between designers and engineers;
and, his thoughts on the future of design.
The interview with Ronald started with Cemetery project in Spijk we had discovered on the
TU/E ezine, “idzine.” This was an interesting project, as this project led the designers to deal
with the taboo subject of death. It is a difficult project to undertake due to the complex issues
surrounding different religions, beliefs and cultures. We were particularly interested in the
interaction between designers and the habitants. We also wondered how Ronald approached
the project in a manner which would be sympathetic to all religions and beliefs and indeed,
how the project had been received. It was inspiring to hear about the interaction with the
other designers and how they approached incremental prototyping, a process which Ronald
strongly advocates.
In a previous lecture at the Design Academy Eindhoven, Ronald briefly touched upon the
interaction between designers, engineers and scientists, and in particular, how they all
combine. The interview was a good opportunity to understand his thoughts on the future
of design, especially in relation to how design has evolved during his career. As young
designers, we sometimes feel confused about how we can define ourselves within the design
industry, and wonder what the future may hold. Since Ronald has had a long, and successful
career, his experience and opinions on design were of great insight to us.
We would like to thank Ronald Van Tienhoven for his is generosity in sharing his experiences,
and his passion towards design. Our brief time with him has given us much inspiration to and
encouragement for the future.

Written by Chen Chin-Shan

Ronald Van Tienhoven Interview

2008-03-10T05:14:00.001-07:00

16th January 2008

A conversation between Mike Thompson & Ronald Van Tienhoven.

Mike Thompson:
“We’ll start with the cemetery in Spijk, it was interesting having read on the TU/E ezine,
‘idzine’” that you strongly believe in the process of incremental prototyping as an integral
part of design research. Bearing this in mind, I would be interested to know, how would
you then approach a project such as the cemetery in Spijk, which, dealing with death is a
taboo subject, and I can imagine that trying to deal with the idea of a prototype with this
is quite a difficult issue?”
Ronald Van Tienhoven:
“It’s well nigh impossible. Well firstly, you have to deal with local traditions, it’s a very
small village and not that many people are buried there. It’s quite a difference if you have
to design a cemetery in a big city where there are many different beliefs many religions,
and many cultural backgrounds. And that’s what you see in Amsterdam, which is a very
multi-cultural city. If you go to the biggest cemetery there are many, many different beliefs
on only a couple of square kilometres, but there its really a very cohesive, very small
community which everybody more or less is Christian, protestant, and for that reason it’s
a very kind of austere kind of notion or belief people have about how they are supposed to
be buried. Well there was one difference because there should also have been niches for
cremation for urns and part of the population there is very much against it because the end
of the day’s people should come out of their graves and are led to the kingdom of god. If
you’re burned, if you’re cremated, it’s a bit difficult isn’t it? So they were very much against
that, but at the same time, there was also a community of people that are not that Christian
or who actually support cremation and they were for it, and so the city, the municipality
actually decided to have both options in the cemetery.
Well, about incremental prototyping, you have hardware and you have software and
software basically is the kind of social interface that is needed as well, and it needs to
be researched with the people that live there. And so incremental prototyping is having
discussions, and listening to people’s stories and its necessary to be an empathetic
designer. On the one hand you really need to follow your own gut feeling when it comes
to design, on the other hand you’re designing for a group of people and finding the right
amalgam of interests from both sides is something that is absolutely necessary. So in this
respect incremental prototyping is the design process based on the social interface you
develop prior to making the definitive design.”
“Well I suppose equally as important then as incremental prototyping would of course
be the feedback once the project is fully realised. So, I take it you must have obviously
had some feedback from the project, how is it now received particularly with the religious
groups which maybe have had some slight issues?”
“Well they will always stick to their own ideas. They’re very, I don’t want to say they’re
radical, but they are very firm in that they say that cremation is something that should not
happen. But when it comes to the cemetery itself, its also landscape design. And because
it is a very small village, people are only, well there are only about 2 to 3 people that are
actually buried there, so it grows very, very slowly, unless an airplane crashes with lets say
half of the population inside, buts that’s not going to happen. So its something that grows
very, very slowly and for that reason we decided to design a garden. And we departed from
botanical ideas or botanical concepts, firstly and fore mostly. So, its, when something like
that when a cemetery like that grows so slowly we said we’re going to design a garden and
the people will be able to determine themselves where they are going to be buried. So its
not something like a parking lot where the places 1,2, 3, 4 and so forth are filled with cars,
or filled with bodies, people actually, there will be a slow filling up of the cemetery. So our
primary goal was to really design a beautiful garden based on botanical concepts, but not
based on lets say the kinds of greens and shrubberies you usually see in North Western
European cemeteries. So that was our big adventure basically, was to find new kinds of
symbols that are not part of the lets say, not part really of the general idea people have
about what should be in the cemetery but based on a kind of adventure we embarked on.
Finding new types of trees that could become new symbols for interment or new symbols
for cemeteries.”
“That’s interesting, because that makes me obviously think about, in that respect, what
process do you go for choosing what those symbols should be, obviously bearing in mind
that then those, they have the capability to evolve in a way where those symbols take on a
meaning which is very much based around that locality?”
“ Yes. Yes. It has a lot to do with the soil. What does the soil take? We actually chose Marsh
Cypress’ which is not really, not exactly a Dutch tree but which has properties that are very
special in the sense that they have the same kind of thickness, and the same kind of density
as the Italian Poplars that are so often used on cemeteries. They have a very, very heavy
root system, and they’re very expressive in that respect. So being rooted in the ground,
being part of the soil and having the same kind, or even more intense density compared
to other kinds of trees that are more easily chosen on Dutch cemeteries we thought would
be quite interesting. So we also had the botanical discussions about what the meaning, or
what the symbol, or what the potential symbol could become, if you would choose such a
plant on such a place.
It wasn’t only me of course; I did it with two other people, with Mike Tyler, who has quite,
a very good knowledge of botany and Laurien Wijers as well. She, by the way, is Tibetan
Buddhist, and so her background is quite different from ours, and so there was this mix of
backgrounds, which made it quite interesting to design a cemetery together. Actually, we
were supposed to do one part each one of us, but we thought it was ridiculous because its
not a very big cemetery so we said where are we going to work together?”
“That must be interesting particularly, I can imagine, with that background.”
“Yeah. And its also 3 different generations. Mike is much younger than I, and Laurien is
already in her 60’s so it was quite interesting from a generation point of view.”
“Yeah that sounds it definitely. Ok. I guess that…”
“But there’s something else I would like to say about incremental prototyping.”
“Yeah sure...”
“I mean, the design process very often is based on the end result as an illustration of an
idea, rather than having all kinds of these different prototypes with a social or hardware
that really gives feedback and that really bring you to the next strange. And even if it’s a
Wizard of Oz. Do you know what a Wizard of Oz prototype is?”
“No.”
“It doesn’t exist yet. The product doesn’t exist yet. You do as if it exists. And people if they
are susceptible to your ideas they will accept it for that moment. And they will react as if
it is existing. There are many ways and many methods actually you can use it in. You can
actually simulate a situation in which the product is already existing or which the idea is
already materialised, and people, if you do it very well, people might react to it in a way
that will provide you with the kind of feedback to go to the next stage of the process. So
its really part of a very rich and very layered way of dealing with concept development
and that’s the reason why I think incremental prototyping, which of course is even more
important if you’re a design engineer, is something that really should on a whole be applied
in whatever way possible.”
“Yeah sure. Well, that’s interesting, you’ve kind of almost brought me onto one of my next
questions because I remember in a previous lecture that you did here before Christmas
at the Design Academy, you were talking very briefly at the start, about the interaction
between designers and engineers in particular and how they all inter-relate, and I was just
interested to know, from your own experience do you think the 2 should, or will merge,
and what you think the advantages and disadvantages of that might actually be?”
“Well first of all, talking about individual people, I think you need to have a certain attitude
or certain temperament in order to accept or put into practice a design-engineering
attitude. And so you really need to be interested in a kind of, lets say, in the slowness or
in the thoroughness of scientific research because it’s a different tempo than developing
assumptions and working these assumptions out as soon as possible. It really belongs to
people’s temperaments, to certain peoples temperaments that, the cycle between starting
or developing an idea and putting it into practice, which for some people it really should be
very short, it really belongs to them, there are people you know, who have a kind of high
burning rate. On the other hand there are people who really like a kind slowness, and the
kind of slow pace of scientific research and of academic engineering, and I think it really
much, very much depends on your goals, your ambitions, and the context in which design.
So, I know people who actually, will not accept the kind of slow pace of scientific research
for one specific project, but who actually will use it and implement it as soon as it is
needed. And I think that, what I consider to be the future of design is the kind of fluent way
with which designers will use, or will be embedded in an academic environment in order
to reach their goals, but at the same time will have the kind of flexibility to avoid it. So
choosing it or not choosing it. Immerse yourself in it or not, should become something that
is part of the whole toolbox of a designer. And, I’m saying this especially because there’s
still too many divisions. The University I’m working in right now, right here in Eindhoven,
is actually trying to bring together engineering science and design as much as possible so
this triangular actually will get to the point that it will have impact on the way products will
be developed and design attitudes will find a different place in society at large. But, I think
it’s a big adventure, it’s really interesting.”
“You’ve kind of already answered a question which I was thinking of asking, about how
you thought things would develop in the future. I guess in some ways that also makes
me interested in, how when you were a student yourself, how you actually thought things
would develop, and how you feel design and this thinking has changed throughout the
span of your career so far?”
“I was very confused as a student. I was a very confused person. Firstly, you know, I’m
self-taught predominantly; I was never on an art school or never in a design school. When
I was about 19 or 20 I really had no, I could not imagine that I would be choosing from
Photography, Film, Fine Art, Drawing, Painting- well I hated painting so I didn’t need to
choose that- or sculpture. And, well, as it is right now, and also in those days of course
you had to choose department and I just had no idea what to choose because I was using
many things at the same time. So I decided to go to a postgraduate course, where usually
people are accepted who have done, who have a background in an art school, but, you
know, they accepted me without having these antecedents, without me having a diploma
or anything like that, and it turned to be confusing for me because I was not really trained
in accepting criticism, you’re being, you know, you’re being trained at an art school to work
with criticism and to harvest from criticism, and to reap basically, what you need to take
the next step, and I was just too young. So, if you ask me, did I envision anything when I
was a student myself, I was far too confused for that, in order to think anything at all at that
time. It really took me a couple of years, and several years on a different continent in South
Central and North America to get some clarity to what I wanted to do.
But, I must say, before I became a student, before I went to this postgraduate school, I
worked in an organisation for new music, avant-garde music, and we also organised film
weeks and so on, and so forth, it was a very good school for me actually to be in, because
you know, John Cage came there. And Martin Feldman and Karl Heinz Stockhausen, and
all these people. And that was really, really, an important environment for me, because,
of course it was about music, it was not about fine art, but at the same time, it was very
much about attitude, an attitude of how to make things or how to develop things. And,
at that time I also read books, I’m going to mention one during the lecture, about Robert
Venturi, about Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture. And the biggest thing for was
me, at that time, that I was taught in a post-graduate school where there was a kind of
either or attitude, it was very modernist. These were great artists, you know people such as
Karl Fischer, Heer van Elk, who are very, very fantastic people, but there was very much a
modernist 20th Century attitude. You have to choose, you have to choose very, very exactly,
and you have to keep to this choice as much as you can. Because somehow, if you stick to
this notion, or this idea, or this attitude, or this style, or this strategy, people will recognise
you. The more consequent you are, the easier it is for people to recognise you. To recognise
what you do. And in those days, well with the exception of Heer van Elk, who went
everywhere, who was all over the place, very good work by the way. I really had trouble
with that, and many students had. We thought, well, there should be a “both and” attitude,
there should be the possibility, depending on your temperament again, to play with the
possibilities, to play with the context, and to use or apply whatever strategy you think is
important or meaningful.
Its interesting that in the architectural discourse, and architects are however are usually
better writers than visual artists, in the architectural discourse I really came across with
some theories, ideas, and assumptions, I thought were really important for me to learn. So
these were basically the basis for me to accept this “both and” attitude and to see that its
contexts, styles, strategies, can be used in many different ways, depending on the situation,
depending on your state of mind, depending on the importance situation you find yourself
in. So for me it was a very slow, kind of slow development. It didn’t really occur in my
student days but rather after that that I was able to get some bearing basically.”
“Thank you. That’s quite comforting to hear actually!”
“Yeah. I can imagine!”
“Great. Thank you.”

Arne Quinze Editorial

2008-03-10T05:08:00.000-07:00

EDITORIAL 1

Arne Quinze got his education from the street, as he himself likes to put it. Never having gone to school to receive formal education, he incorporates the things he likes into his work.

Arne Quinze started out as an artist, making abstract paintings. His love for cars and speed is clearly to be seen in his work, visualized in many stripes. He also loves music, admitting to not being able to work without it. Being a father of four children, he tells how they all go to sleep with music still playing.

His big breakthrough came with the square gray pouf, which made a big sensation and still sells very well today. Arne says that he came accidentally into design, but since it does so well he set up a big studio comprising 60 + people. He likes to describe the way the studio works with the following image: he travels all over the world and gets all these ideas and then he comes back to the crew and they figure out how to get it done. In this way everyone is involved in the creation process.

The importance of teamwork is also clearly to be seen in his large wooden sculptures. Made of millions of pieces of wood, these huge structures are put together by a large team of people.

His latest enterprise is opening his own gallery, in which a collection of all of his work can be seen, from paintings, to sculptures, to furniture. It’s the Arne Quize world.

Arne Quinze seems to be at ease in all of these different fields, always trusting and allowing his intuition guide him.

Joana Meroz

EDITORIAL 2

On the 23rd January 2008, the Design Academy Eindhoven invited Arne Quinze to lecture as part of the Masters Source lecture program.

Arne Quinze is a very unique designer in that since about 1999 has been incredibly prolific in the disciplines of furniture, interiors, sculpture and graphics, yet without any formal training or design schooling. It’s a fact that comes up a lot when reading about Arne Quinze in the media and it seems a very important part of his identity and the way he represents himself. He uses it as a way to distinguish himself from other designers and as a catalyst for ‘speed’ in design.

1999 was the year Arne Quinze broke onto the international design scene with his popular Pouf chair. Prior to that he had led a life on the streets as a graffiti artist, whichh led to designing interiors for his friends. This playful, almost rebellious, nature pervades his work. It’s daring, stylish and a little over the top – but something to make you admire and occasionally gasp - as happens with his spectacular wooden constructions he made for Burning Man and Brussels. He discussed this approach during the lecture, and repeated it during the question time with student afterwards. The message was “why hold yourself back? You can break through any barrier”. Such an attitude explains the volume of his output and was an inspirational message that reportedly left one member of the audience in tears.

However, the speed at which he works can make some of the projects seem frivolous or ill-concieved. Without reason perhaps? This does not seem to bother Arne Quinze much because he jumps from one project to the next so quickly. But I wondered a few times during the lecture if he was not so much as designer, but more of a stylist. And of course, style is important, but where was the focus on the bigger picture of sustainability, or social context? Its not that every designer HAS to address these bigger issues; I believe in freedom and the choice a designer can make to focus on what interests them. But as a design student we are taught to question everything as a way to make socially relevant design. Arne Quinze, never studied, as he often tells us. The next question must be; is our design education holding us back?

Guy Keulemans

Arne Quinze Poster

2008-03-10T05:06:00.001-07:00

Arne Quinze Lecture

2008-03-10T05:02:00.000-07:00

An Interview with Belgian designer Arne Quinze.

Recorded a the Design Academy Eindhoven, 23/01/2008

GK: Guy Keulemans
AQ: Arne Quinze

GK: Well, welcome to the Academy, I'm speaking with Arne Quinze, thank you for coming. I guess the first thing that intrigues me about your work is that there is a very strong artistic side to it, as well as a very strong design side. Sometimes the artistic seems stronger, such as in the sculpture you did at the Burning Man festival, but you have also applied that in more a commercial design context with "Cityscape". Do you find that the way you approach a project based on this?

AQ: I think that first of all, design for me began as an experiment when I began 8 or 9 years ago, because before I did a lot of artistic solutions, sculpture and these things, but the experiment worked so well that now there is a whole company around, and production etc etc. And so I love to my art, because in the first place I can experiment; I don't have any rules. It's really to get my emotions a shape. And on the other side I also like design, because there I have rules. I don't like the rules - its always a sort of fight against them. But the first thing and most important thing is that only do things that I like to do.

GK: And with that design process, does it come from sketching and drawing? Or 3D models? How do you start the idea?

AQ: I never studied. I can't work with a computer. For me, computers go too slowly, from my point of view. I have my sketchbook always with me, and I travel so much, and so for me my sketchbooks, I can write in them my ideas and concepts and when I arrive at a company, and the company is like a big carrier, and I am just a small plane in front of the carrier, and I am always flying out, and when I come back I have my ideas. And when I give them to my studio, then they work on it. And for me its also important to have this synergy, because one plus one is three, and then we make it and we have success. So you need to have synergy, not just between you and your client, but within the company as well. I like to create this ***** inside the company, so I give them my sketches and they work on them and I come back and say "I like this, lets build up this".

GK: So would you say you sort of encourage competition amongst your staff?

AQ: Yes, in our own way, we do that, yes.

GK: I notice that on your website, and also in the media, your personal self-image is quite prominent. How important do you think your image is to your success?

AQ: My own image? I think they make my image just how I am. I think that maybe its normal that they write stories about it and they focus on it because, because the normal way is to go to school, to study, and da, da, da, da. and I never worked in this way, I did everything my myself. I was a street kid, and now today I have a studio of 65 people, and the studio is around 10,000 square meters.... Maybe its how we do it, thats maybe so unusual that people want to read about what happens there. And I think also that I take absolutely my own freedom to do really what I want.

GK: Ok, thanks, I think that probably the end of the interview, but I did want to ask one more question because I notice you have a few tattoos, and i have a few too, could you maybe show us your tattoos and explain what they are about?

AQ: No I don't want to do it because I would need to take all my clothes off! I have just one but its more than a square meter.

GK: Ok no worries, and thank you very much.