Highlights of the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven

We have selected some of the work seen at the Dutch Design Week that just happened in Eindhoven.

Iskander Van Wagtendonk
‘Re-Charge’

Feeling locked up and sealed off in an office where the windows don’t open? Re-Charge reconnects you to the world outside and prevents your energy from fading away after motionless hours behind a computer. A sensor on top of the roof measures the wind and light intensity and sends a signal to an elegant weather station on your desk.
Soft feathers will start to swirl when there’s a breeze, and the light comes and goes with the sun outside. Re-Charge brings natural dynamics indoors to revive your spirit.

Arnout Meijer
‘Thanks for the Sun Series’

The increased use of screens, emitting their constant bright white light, is blurring the distinction between work and leisure, between day and night. But for us human beings it is best to experience light of varying warmth and intensity within the 24-hour cycle: bright white during the day to help us stay alert and concentrate; warmer, soothing light during the evening to help us wind down and prepare for sleep. Arnout Meijer has designed the Thanks for the Sun Series to allow users to adapt the temperature and character of the light in their rooms.

Jolijn Pasmans
‘Soft concrete’

Could concrete, a heavy, technical and robust material, have a delicate and soft appearance?

My graduation work is aming to make concrete more refined and tactile by combining concrete with textile techniques and materials.
The concrete gets a grid like a knitted or a woven fabric, a soft touch like textile by pressing material in the not yet hardened concrete or it gets a hairy layer,
made up of textile fibres.
These different patterns and layers on concrete represent my collection of samples.

My designs can be produced like tiles or panels, they can be made on site in the shuttering or placed on the not yet hardened concrete, to create an all over
pattern. The materials are an inspiration for concrete surfaces including floors, walls or furniture.

‘Soft Concrete’ is a material research with an experimental anti-industrial approach. The aim is to inspire architects and the (prefab) concrete industry.

Benjamin Vermeulen
‘MAG Furniture’

Shipping furniture unassembled is more economical and more environmentally friendly. But flat-packed furniture is often made from low-grade material and its assembly is far from straightforward. Assembling Benjamin Vermeulen’s ‘MAG’ (Magnetic Assisted Geometry) furniture is easy, takes minutes, and requires no tools. The furniture, made from high-quality steel and wood, snaps together with the help of powerful magnets. It can be assembled and disassembled without losing its initial structural integrity. This means you can take it apart if you are moving or selling it on. And replacing parts is easy since they come right off and reattach with the same ease.