Summer Salon Cocoon House - Dutch Design Daily

The iconic former post office in Hilversum is the new home of Cocoon House. The Amsterdam showroom has been swapped for the imposing 400-square-metre hall of the 1940s post office.

Like entering an eclectic film set; this is where the love of founders Freerk Mandema and Sander van Eyck gets a place: they showcase a motley crew of distinctive pre-loved design pieces, unique collectors’ items and contemporary designs from the Cocoon Collectables collection and designs by Sander van Eyck (Cocoon Living studio), complemented by works selected by designer, scout and curator Wisse Trooster for the Summer Salon. He shows a diverse collection of often expressive, colourful designs by both renowned designers and young talents.

It is a journey of discovery through space: the huge 1940 mural designed by Leo Gestel forms the backdrop for the robust eye-catcher: a chandelier with electric heating system LLeHs by interior architect and designer Karel Bodegom, which would not look out of place in a castle or church. Studio mo man tai drops a huge mobile made of acrylic cut from a single sheet (with no residual material) down from the six-metre-high ceiling. On the walls hang (multi-)functional steel sculptures by artist-designer Dirk Duif and surprising ‘dripping’ textile 3D works created by Fransje Gimbrère at the Textiellab in Tilburg, with which the artist-designer plays with patterns, weaving techniques and the light falling on the transparent warp threads. Inge Simonis’ unique architectural ceramic vases and lamps also form surprising aesthetic “sets” with the 20th-century antiques and vintage art and designs by Cocoon Collectables.

Participating designers at the Summer Salon: Inge Simonis, Karel Bodegom, Kiki van Eijk, Fransje Gimbrère, Marcio Pontes, Mariekke Jansen, Nienke Sikkema, Sandra Keja Planken, studio mo man tai, Studio Range, Sven Jansse, The Novel Grey.