Jongeriuslab

Rotterdam Chair

2008-04-15T09:00:00+01:00

{projectclient} 2008
Vitra asked Hella Jongerius to design a ‘standard’ chair that is stackable. Jongerius decided to use wood, a historical and archetypical material for a chair, which offers both a simple basis ánd character through it’s detailing. The design-process was most of all an interesting exercise in producing an affordable chair which would carry the typical Jongerius’ handwriting. The result testifies of a clever marriage between a hands-on approach to design and industrial production-methods. Skillful refinement and high tech solutions. Because of the limits of price and production means, only the details that were essential for the character of the chair could stay. For instance the legs are left straight, bare, in order to give the object a sturdy and modern appearance. As a consequence of this choice there were some production challenges, like how to connect the legs to the seating, which curves above the construction. The seat itself is complimented with a plastic insert, a striking colorful detail that recurs underneath the legs. The chair has a timeless elegance and a modern sturdyness that suits its title: Rotterdam.

Flower pyramid

2008-04-15T08:52:00+01:00

{projectclient} 2008
Hella Jongerius believes that the archival records of a museum or company achieve their fullest impact when placed in a new context. In order to accomplish that, her creations frequently combine the best of two worlds that may at first seem incompatible: handicraft and industry, the old and the new. Through unorthodox production methods, she presents a fresh, contemporary interpretation of treasures from the past, a new way of looking at traditional patterns, motifs and forms. Her projects that take archives as their subject matter include Prince and Princess (1996) for the Princessehof Museum in Leeuwarden, 7 pots/3 centuries/2 materials (1997), in which she used shards from the collection of Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Rotterdam, Delfts Blue B-set (1999) for Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Repeat (2002) for the textile manufacturer Maharam in New York, Animal Bowls and Nymphenburger Sketches for the porcelain manufacturer Nymphenburg in Munich, Paravent (2005) for Cooper-Hewitt, the National Design Museum in New York, and Non Temporary (2005) for Tichelaar in Makkum. The tulip vase that she designed for Tichelaar in 2008 alludes to traditional tulip vases in both form and decoration. The precisely painted motifs of the past now give way to a pattern of blue stripes while the entire form has been perforated with the number of holes, increasing from bottom to top. Despite the heaviness of the material, the piece that emerges seems ephemeral, almost rarefied. The handle and the straps allow the vase to function as a mobile object, challenging the nature of a static showpiece. Therefore the vase is not displayed upright, but hung on the wall. Through a blend of traditional motifs, perforations of the form and contemporary additions, Jongerius conducted a tactile investigation into the difference between a historical showpiece and a contemporary design object.

Shippo Plates

2007-10-31T06:46:00+01:00

{projectclient} 2007
Enamel – an ancient technique in a contemporary form. A series of plates designed by Hella Jongerius. For Cibone Hella Jongerius has created a series of plates with an enamel skin, using an age-old, almost forgotten technique. “Traditional enamelling technique opens up possibilities that are in perfect harmony with my working methods and ideas about design. Furthermore, this technique shows strong similarities to the ceramics with which I often work. Like glaze on clay, enamel gives objects a multicoloured, lustrous skin, an effect that is almost impossible to obtain with other techniques. And enamelling technique allows skilled artisans to make very delicate drawings on the surface. That provided opportunities that mesh with the subjects I am working on now.” Enamelling has a rich history. In Europe, it was used mainly in the Middle Ages to produce elegant jewellery. In the 20th century, it remained in use for colourful outdoor advertising boards, but by now, the craft has practically died out in Europe. This happened for various reasons, such as the high cost and great fragility of enamel work, which makes it unsuitable for industrial production. In Japan, however, the technique has been carefully preserved – a fact which inspired Jongerius to visit the country and learn more about it. “The Japanese enamelling experts (Shippo masters from Nagoya) introduced us to the technique, showing the results of years of tradition and refinement. For a designer like me, respect and appreciation are the only possible response to such a display of artistry. Inspired by this body of knowledge, we have aimed to wholeheartedly celebrate the wealth and diversity of enamelling techniques and the differences between Dutch and Japanese culture, in new designs that bring the present and past together.” Why return to this age-old technique? While globalization, technological innovation and high-speed Internet access characterize the 21st century, at the same time there is a growing interest in tradition, ancient techniques and local crafts. It would be simplistic to attribute these tendencies to mere nostalgia for the past, and equally simplistic to link them to the glorification of craftsmanship for its own sake. In Jongerius’ work, traditional methods of production do not represent the glorification of the past, which she always pairs with the present. Nor do they serve to glorify her own master craftsmanship, since she leaves the execution in the hands of others. She does not simply perpetuate the tradition, but adds its range of possibilities to the rich palette available to the 21st-century designer. The enamel plates for Cibone allude to a fantasy world, where animals and silhouettes merge with objects. They are related to the subject matter of two earlier Jongeriuslab projects, which above all fire the imagination. Office Pets (first exhibited as part of Vitra Edition, a collection of limited editions, at the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein in 2007) are peculiar objects that evoke both office furniture and a world beyond everyday reality. Their functionality lies, paradoxically, in their uselessness. In the most recent Jongeriuslab’ project (wooden tables which will be exhibited for the first time at Galerie Kreo in Paris in the fall of 2007) the surface of the tables fuses with forms that are equal parts animal and abstraction. Like the Office Pets, these sculptural tables seem to defy the distinction between art and design. But Jongerius herself clearly describes them as functional objects that draw on a new concept of functionality. Design has historically depended on functionality and industrial reproduction, rather than unique objects or limited series with artistic aspirations that would seem more at home in the world of artisans or artists. But over the past century, the concept of functionality has evolved, from an instrumental concept to one that leaves room for additional values. Design is about image, meaning and narrative power. In the Cibone plates, we can read that narrative power, both in the images that decorate them and in their enamel skin, which attests to an age-old technique that is still vibrantly alive and full of infinite possibility.

Office Pets

2007-08-07T16:15:01+01:00

{projectclient} 2007
For Vitra Edition 2007 Hella Jongerius designed three curious wheeled objects - Office Pets - combining worlds of difference. The underside, the wheels and the material used make each object seem at home in the context of corporate identities. But at the point where you would expect seats and armrests emerge semi-abstract shapes which allude both to Jongerius’ vases and animal figures. These strange office creatures combine rationality and imagination as if they were quantities which always and self-evidently belong together. Office Pets not only provide office staff a light-hearted escape from their tightly organised office life, but also represent a new stage in design. Jongerius as it were pushes a slowly developed phenomenon beyond its ‘natural’ boundaries. In the last half century the word ‘functionality’ has practically lost its original instrumental meaning. Contemporary design is concerned with image, context, meanings and messages rather than immediate utility and use. In 2007 we ask so much more from products than the serviceability that was the central feature of industrial design at the beginning of the 20th century. Appliances also feed our minds and our imagination, we feel a need to cherish them as if they were living beings. This shift in the significance of design has led the profession in many respects to seek support from the visual arts professions. Yet Jongerius explicitly calls herself an industrial designer, not an artist. Her ‘pets’ could be said to disentangle the contemporary meaning of functionality. ‘We express who we are by the furniture, the appliances and the accessories with which we surround ourselves day by day. There is hardly any point in making a fundamental distinction between these different things. All of them, in their own way, are necessary, functional’. While these strange objects apparently herald a new direction in Jongerius’ work, their content actually makes them very easy to place. All her work is characterised by an experimental feeling for the boundaries of the design profession, with a crucial role being played by materials, methods of production and their intrinsic meanings and allusions. Steering a middle course between one-off traditionally made objects and industrially produced series has yielded many famous designs, including the B-service for Tichelaar (in which excessively high kiln temperatures led to the creation of unique examples in an industrial production process) and Repeat, an unusual fabric design for the textile producer Maharam. Office Pets form the daring but logical next stage in Jongerius’ career. They are produced in a limited edition, mostly handcrafted, while at the same time alluding to serially produced office chairs. The animals, which recall Jongerius’ designs for Nymphenburg and Maharam, seem to have just escaped from a pretty parable into the commercial world of the open-plan office to make a powerful appeal to the imagination - a pre-eminent human need.

Layers

2007-07-02T03:55:00+01:00

{projectclient} 2007

Backpack Sofa

2007-06-11T17:05:00+01:00

{projectclient} 2007
Backpack sofa and stool. Wallnut wood, polyester, nylon, wool, cotton, linnen, plastic, metal. Resin polyester boxes. courtesy Galerie Kreo

Inside Colours

2007-06-01T19:19:01+01:00

{projectclient} 2007
When you put your clothes on in the morning you know unerringly and immediately whether to choose cotton or a light, smooth silk, or whether to opt for a heavy woollen or tricot sweater. You are used to reading and interpreting textiles. That also goes for the colours. You know the combinations that you like, what suits you, what colour will positively reinforce your personality on that day and what you feel comfortable in. All that intuitive knowledge and those preferences seem to suddenly disappear when it comes to buying furniture. Unerring decision making turns into a cautious and uncertain process. When we choose furniture we tend to prefer wool or cotton, a dark colour like black, brown or grey, and a single brightly coloured accent, such as a red solitaire chair or side table. While we can sometimes be quite daring when choosing colours for the wall, we are usually very cautious when it comes to furniture. There are various reasons for this. We want to keep furniture for a long time, so there is more pressure to make a lasting decision than when we buy clothes. On top of this, selecting the right colour combinations for the interior is difficult as we usually have to rely upon memory, which is not that accurate when it comes to colours. If we cannot recall all of the colour shades in our house, then how can we be sure to select the right colour to create an attractive palette with the other furniture? Another complicated factor is the judgement that we seem to pass on each carefully chosen colour. This is in contrast with what we find in nature. When have we ever suggested that the green of a particular bush clashes with that of grass? But if we choose a shade of green that clashes with another colour then we are often ready to make a critical judgement. Whilst the idea of beauty and ugliness does not play a role in nature, this is an important factor in our wardrobe and interior. Such judgements seldom or never concern a colour on its own, but practically always the combination of colours. What’s more, these judgements sometimes change over the course of time; what was considered wonderful a hundred years ago is not necessarily the same today. It is clear that the spirit of the times plays an important role when it comes to making judgements regarding taste and particularly with regard to deliberate decisions. How does the spirit of the times relate to the subjective character of each judgement on taste? After all, even among professionals there is no absolute truth. That does not mean to say that nothing can be said about colours. The project Inside Colours by Hella Jongerius clearly demonstrates this. Jongerius carried out extensive research into colour intensity, harmony, atmosphere, the functional effect of various colour combinations, the relationship between material and colour and the relationship between the spirit of the times and the colour spectrum associated with that temporal spirit. Inside Colours comprises a large cupboard containing furniture objects from the collection of the Vitra Design Museum. The artefacts are arranged according to colour and demonstrate the changes that have taken place over the course of time—the attractively weathered surfaces of the wooden Rietveld furniture, the brash obtrusive colours of the 1970s and the rich, earthy hues of Charles and Ray Eames’ plastic seat shells. In addition to the furniture, 45 porcelain vases by Jongerius are displayed which show the same colour nuances as the furniture, but with subtle contemporary variations. And then there are one hundred plastic miniature chairs from the Vitra collection, each and every one with its own colour. They represent all the possible colour intensities of a glossy plastic skin. The old chairs, vases and plastic miniatures together show how colours look entirely different depending on the type of material. Three layers of curtains, which move past one another at different speeds, are draped around the cupboard. Their colours are not only inspired by the furniture from the existing collection but are a reinterpretation of the same colours. The movement of the layers of cloth continuously results in different colour combinations, which are documented by a camera. The complementary colours red and green form the basis, since according to Jongerius they constitute the heart of a furniture colour collection. Jongerius also designed an extensive grey-brown colour collection: cold and warm greys, greenish and reddish-brown colours. These earthy colours soften the brighter hues of red and green and provide harmony between the more striking hues. And finally, some smaller sheets of cloth show bright colour accents, whereby yellow and blue serve as the principal colours. Together the colours form a rich palette with differences in luminance, saturation and hue, reflection and nuance. The aim of the colour research is to develop an extensive colour palette for the skin of Vitra furniture, covering a range of materials such as foamed plastics, injected moulded plastics, anodised metal, lacquered metal, woven and knitted textiles, varnished and stained wood as well as leather. The palette will serve as a guide for a colour library for Vitra, and Jongerius will actively use the palette in restyling the existing collection.

Four Seasons

2007-05-12T15:00:00+01:00

{projectclient} 2007

Miroirs Animaux

2007-05-01T21:03:00+01:00

{projectclient} 2007
Piece which can be opened or closed with inside mirrors plates joined to each other with metal drawn hinges and outside plattered with American walnut wood. courtesy Galerie Kreo drawings by Rogier Walrecht

Porcupine Desk

2007-04-18T14:32:00+01:00

{projectclient} 2007
Children’s desk

Props

2007-04-18T13:21:00+01:00

{projectclient} 2007
‘Props’ is a special series of objects that Hella Jongerius created for Vitra’s presentation at the 2006 Salone del Mobile in Milan. Normal props seem to be ordinary objects - they must appear to the audience as the real thing they represent. Hella Jongerius’ Props however, are hybrids between a functional product and a character from the fantasy world of animal fables. With Props, Jongerius pulls a slowly grown phenomenon in design over its borders. During the last half century, the term of functionality has estranged far from its original instrumental meaning. Today design is about image, about meaning beyond use and utility, about context. The necessity of cherishing meaningful objects is exemplified by Jongerius’ Props, of whom she herself claims “it’s not art, it is about function”.

Porcelain Color Research and Colored B-set

2006-11-18T12:21:01+01:00

{projectclient} 2006
Hella Jongerius is a designer with whom Royal Tichelaar works regularly. This cooperation has brought forth a rich assortment of products: the B-set (1999), the Big White Pot and Red White Vase (2000), the Soup Set (2003) and the Majolica Set (2005). In Jongerius’ view, each cooperative project with a company must lead to new insights and, therefore, she was hardly interested in exhibiting just another overview of her work. The challenging idea, however, of extending her oldest design, the B-set, in a wide ranging color research project with Tichelaar, appealed to her as worthy of an exhibition. In the project, Jongerius’ color preferences are highlighted, with red and green in glazing and hand painting, and pigment colored clay for shades of gray and brown. As a result of this project two new colors are added to the B-set range (available through www.tichelaar.nl).

Solo Exhibition

2006-11-01T12:57:00+01:00

{projectclient} 2006
Solo exhibition at hhstyle.com in Tokyo, showing a.o. ceramics designed for Royal Tichelaar Makkum and Nymphenburg, textiles designed for Maharam and the world premiere of the Polder sofa XS and the final version of Worker, both designed by Hella Jongerius for Vitra’s home collection.

Cupboards

2006-09-01T17:04:00+01:00

{projectclient} 2006
The Cupboards were designed for an exhibition at Kreo in 2006 and started as the project Cover Cupboards in 2003. The Cover cupboards were two cupboards made out of one original antique cupboard. By designing Plexiglas sides, which are milled in different decorations and techniques like text, dots and photos and after purifying blue resin walls, the old and the new elements merge into 16 new cubes. The 16 cubes formed two new cupboards called Cover Cupboard and shown at her solo exhibition in the Design Museum in London. Jongerius developed this prototype into 9 solo cupboards. They become objects in there own right by adding white lacquered wooden doors, drawers and legs. The research is a study on thick and thinner sidewalls, a play with cupboard elements like drawers, doors and shelves. Experiments with new sides versus antique original cupboard elements, decorations in photos and text in different techniques. courtesy Galerie Kreo

Layers

2006-05-01T19:31:00+01:00

{projectclient} 2006