Glim – innovation through renovation
One Week about Dutch Design Week by curator Katja Lucas (DDW)
During Dutch Design Week, we will be introducing you to the festival’s Hidden Gems. Ten special designers who we feel are the stand-outs of this edition.
Today Gijs Kuijpers & Jordie Rovers
What Glim – innovation through renovation
Where Plan B
This year, Gijs Kuijpers and Jordie Rovers will be at the Dutch Design Week for the third time with their own exhibition: GLIM. Earlier this year, Kuijpers and his design agency Studio Eigengijs were present at the Salone del Mobile, Milan’s design week.
Kuijpers was 14 when he learned the craft of carpentry from a furniture maker in Milheeze in North Brabant, in the Netherlands. He knew from an early age that he wanted to do something with interior design. When he was 19, he started an interior design course in Belgium. He had the opportunity to do a postgraduate year at that time which he used to build up his portfolio. With that, he laid the foundation for his dream: his own furniture design company.
During the Dutch Design Week, he and artist Jordie Rovers will hold an exhibition together at the Plan B industrial estate in Eindhoven. This year’s exhibition is centered around ‘ breathing in new life.’ He has renovated parts of furniture he got from second-hand stores and landfill sites. Sections of the furniture have been replaced by shiny replacements, made from aluminium, for example. “People don’t see how much work was put into these when they were first made,” the designer says. By giving the furniture new textures and by replacing parts, they want to do away with the image of ‘old, brown furniture’ and show the true value of craftsmanship. Once in a while he is told that people wouldn’t want to buy his work. But he doesn’t mind. In his view, his work is not for everyone.
Apart from the furniture, Jordie Rovers’ creations will also be on display. He applies the same GLIM theme in his own discipline as a graphic artist. He has researched archaeological artifacts and wants to breathe new life into them. Rovers treats zinc plates by sandblasting them and then creates a print from them. These complement the pieces that his colleague is exhibiting. This is how both disciplines are brought together in the exhibition. “I looked at how I could utilize that innovative aspect, and that fitted in nicely with the way in which Gijs works.”
The collaboration between Kuijpers and Rovers came about after they had both worked on the design of a cabinet. In the wake of that project, Kuijpers had the idea of organizing an exhibition focusing on ‘breathing life into old objects’. Rovers and Kuijpers also both work with shiny components. And both are exploring what appeals to the human brain and how you can give older objects renewed value.
Hidden Gems Bicycle Tours
Hidden Gems Bicycle Tours is an introduction to a number of strong designers at special locations in Eindhoven. The bike tour is provided during the Dutch Design Week (DDW) and is a unique way to experience the festival under the guidance of an enthusiastic city guide. During a meet and greet on location, the designers share the background stories of their work and you can see and hear how that work has been accomplished. In between, the guide will tell you all about the design world of Eindhoven and will take you to other special places. More information and tickets > www.ddw.nl/tours
Text: Thijn Beijer, Innovation Origins
Video: Hanna van Rixtel
Hidden Gems is an initiative of Dutch Design Daily, EHV247, Innovation Origins and Dutch Design Foundation. Curator Katja Lucas.