Our Crush of the Day: Contemporary Dutch Designers
Jay Johnson Friday, May 31, 2013 at 10:23AM 
Atelier NL: Fundamentals of Makkum clay dishes, bowls, cups
My design head is still humming over the contemporary wave of Dutch designers we discovered in a recent trip to Amsterdam. I wanted to showcase the works of several standouts, to give our interior design students inspiration and to also make consumers aware of the high level of creative quality working in the industry right now. My first props are to Atelier NL (Nadine Sterk and Lonny von Ryswyck); their products are savvy and cerebral - like a lamp that knits its own lampshade when turned on! Their clay ceramic work (above) plays with clays dug up at different locations and times of day in order to fire at different colors.
Maarten Baas is brilliant designer. We saw many of his works on display at the Stedelijk Museum, including his Real Time clock (below) - the face is a video that shows Baas from behind the clock face wiping off the hands that show the old time and using marker pen to draw new hands at the updated time. His work is groundbreaking and rule-breaking.
Maarten Baas: clockface of his Real Time Clock
Maarten Baas: Plain Clay Floorlight
Piet Hein Eek combines a respectful use of waste and recycled materials with clean contemporary lines. His furniture is always sleek and well fabricated, like his Waste Cabinet (below), made of scrapwood that has been highly lacquered.
Piet Hein Eek: close-up of drawer details on his Waste Cabinet
Other Dutch designers you should know about include:
If you're interested in learning more about interior design, we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.
Amsterdam, Dutch, ceramics in Interior Design/Decorate
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