Dutch Design Week is a major annual design event held in Eindhoven, Netherlands, showcasing innovative designs from emerging and established Dutch designers. During the 10th edition of the event in October 2011, over 1,500 exhibitors displayed their work across 60 venues in Eindhoven. Major exhibition spaces included Strijp-S, a former Philips factory being redeveloped, and the Design Academy Eindhoven graduation show curated by British designer Ilse Crawford. The event highlighted Dutch design's conceptual innovation, whimsical flair, and influence on the global stage.

1. October/November 2011 // Wizz magazine 37
[ feature ]
Eindhoven
36 Wizz magazine // October/November 2011
[ feature ]
Eindhoven
A
s the former industrial
town of Eindhoven evolves into the
creative hub of the Netherlands,
so Dutch designers have steadily pushed
the boundaries of form and function.
Dutch design, distinctive for its conceptual
innovation, whimsical flair and new codes
of individual expression, has become an
influential force on the global design front.
Just as tulips seem to showcase Dutch
creativity at springtime, the same vigour
and artistic originality ripen in autumn
at Dutch Design Week (22-30 October,
www.ddw.nl). This dazzling blizzard of
shows, workshops and fringe installations
spotlights fresh ideas, insightful solutions
and life-enchancing products dreamt
up by emerging and established design
luminaries throughout the flatland.
During this year’s 10th edition of DDW,
cutting-edge cool oozes from all corners of
Eindhoven, with more than 1,500 exhibitors
show off their design chops in 60 different
locations. At Strijp-S (www.strijp-s.nl), the
city's high-profile redevelopment project
The season of
Dutch Design
Renowned for its variety of thoughtful
innovations, the decade-old Dutch Design
Week in Eindhoven has grown into a
must-see event on the city’s calendar
Words Anna J. Kutor
at the Witte Dame complex (the one-time
Philips factory grounds), the halls of
Klokgebouw (literally ‘clocktower’) heave
with daily lectures, seminars and displays
of up-and-coming talents. This autumn’s
exhibit includes novel electric scooters by
Qwic, the interior wares of local Smool,
Ontwerpduo and Cascando studios and
the kinetic creations of British collective
Laikingland. Across the site, the sprawling
showroom-cum-workshop of sustainable
design guru Piet Hein Eek (www.
pietheineek.nl) exhibits a retrospective of
designer and sculptor Joep van Lieshout
alongside the handiwork of Dirk vander
Kooij and Floris Hovers. For a more
experimental design experience, visit the
newly opened atelier of the bright young
duo Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk at
Strijp T or view the collective presentations
of the avant-garde Dutch Invertuals,
Premsela and Ontwerplabel Vij5 in the
city’s main cultural institutions.
To see the next wave of agenda-setting
masterminds, follow the hordes of
trend-scouts to the Graduation Show of
the Design Academy Eindhoven (www.
designacademy.nl) at Witte Dame. The
fair’s crowd-pulling centrepiece is curated
by British designer Ilse Crawford who
heads the school’s Man & Well Being
Department, and is densely packed
with the high-concept works of no less
than 150 graduates of the bachelor
and master programmes. Expect
investigative projects that reflect on issues
of globalisation, sustainability and the
nature of perception, with pieces ranging
from Massoud Hassani’s Mine Kaffon,
a huge wind-powered ball shaped as
a giant clump of dandelion seeds that
decommissoins landmines by blowing
them up, to Lenneke Langenhuijsen and
Lotte de Raadt’s elegant glass carafes
that stimulate awareness that drinking
water should come from the tap. Clearly,
this year’s bumper crop of homegrown
innovations add another colourful layer to
the lush landscape of Dutch design.
www.ddw.nl
November
highlights
Light Design
Transforming the face of
Eindhoven’s urban landscape
with a vibrant array of
progressive light installations,
GLOW Forum of Light in Art and
Architecture (5-12 November,
www.gloweindhoven.nl)
emphasises light as an essential
building block between science
and art. ‘Illusion and Reality’
is the theme of this year’s
sixth edition, which sees a host
of dusk-to-dawn light art
installations (see above).
E-Design
Across the industrial-turned-
innovative Strijp-S terrain,
interactive art, music and
technology melts together during
the fifth annual STRP Festival
(18-27 Nov, www.strp.nl).
This year offers up a 50-year
retrospective of Dutch media
and technological art, including
the iconic Legible City by Jeffrey
Shaaw, Suicide Machine from Erik
Hobijn, and Tibb the AR Rabbit
from Sander Veenhof.
Holiday Gifts from Holland
Where to find some fun,
functional and inspirational gifts
for Dutch design lovers? Head
to the Temporary Art Centre’s
(www.tac.nu) annual Art &
Design Sale on 26-27 November,
where local creatives display
designs for holiday shoppers.
clauslanger.DDW:YvonneLeautaud,BoudewijnBollmann
DesignAcademyEindhoven:LennekeLangenhuijsen,JetskeVisser