Dutch Design Week Delights

Eindhoven hosted a week long design extravaganza which was brimming with innovation and novelty.

The Dutch often say that ‘God created the world and the Dutch created the Netherlands!’ This small scale country is certainly capable of giant performance, which was evident during the Dutch Design Week hosted in Eindhoven from the 22-30th of October this year.

Design has an industry status in the Netherlands, and it comes as no surprise when you learn that this profession contributes more than a billion Euro every year to their economy!The idea of a Dutch Design Week was started a decade ago by members of the local design fraternity, and now in its 10th year, it has grown to become one of the biggest events on the design calendar where cutting edge and experimental work is on show.This year’s 10th anniversary celebration had a sophisticated mix of young talent and established design studios showcasing their work and ideas. The event comprised of a string of exhibits, product launches, lectures, workshops and pop-up venues allowing visitors to experience a variety of design disciplines by more than 1800 participating designers and organisations.To help navigate this design extravaganza the entire city of Eindhoven was carved into four areas, namely, the Strijp, Central Station, WitteDame and Stadhuisplein, with most locations being walking distance from each other.

Strijp is the creative heart of Eindhoven with many well-known designers, artists and inspired folk setting up base in this former Philips complex. A prominent attraction of this venue was the Klokgebouw, an exhibition of work by up-and-coming talent as well as established designers. This is also where Piet Hein Eek, one of Holland’s most prominent designers, has his studio. This maverick designer’s workplace is more of a design destination in itself; it hosts a restaurant, shop, art gallery and also serves as a collaborative space for other designers, making it a buzzing centre for numerous activities.The WitteDame was a former Philips light bulb factory, and during the design week played host to the Graduation Show of the Design Academy of Eindhoven. On display was inspiring work and conceptual design by 153 young designers. Also at this venue was an exhibit called the Bit Rush which looked at the role of design in the ‘post digital age.’At the Central Station was the Eindhoven University of Technology, where recent graduates of Industrial Design emphasised the role of technology and how it is likely to be used in a socio-cultural and business context in the future. While the Stadhuisplein hosted a unique exhibition where prominent designers (Maarten Baas and Piet Hein Eek amongst others)  showed their work alongside people of the past who had inspired them as well as young emerging talent whose creations impressed them.

With so many different design events happening all at one go, it was difficult to see all of them, leave alone write about everything. For more information on what was on show during this design extravaganza please visit their website, or better still, make sure you are here next year!

Contact:
web: www.ddw.nl