Furniture design with contrasts and exciting shapes, with an element of surprise, confusion or humor. Besides designing his own collection Leen works in assignment; from idea to result.
Thanx to Leen!
| Furniture design with contrasts and exciting shapes, with an element of surprise, confusion or humor. Besides designing his own collection Leen works in assignment; from idea to result. Thanx to Leen! |
1. What event in your life influenced your choice to become a designer? During my childhood I was constantly making things, and thinking things up. Moreover, I grew up in a family that always had room for culture. I started my secondary education at the LTS (lower technical school). And even there I already dreamt of a workshop of my own, where I would be able to build anything I wanted. Eventually I ended up in chemistry. I was lured in by the beautiful, colourful glass distilling columns, and the images of impressive molecules. That fascination held me in its grasp during my biochemistry studies at the RUG. But I didn’t find much reason for that passion in my work at DSM-Biologics Groningen, however, apart from all the beautiful RVS and the building of testing arrangements. A aspect of working with DSM was the pioneering, and the continuously having to come up with solutions to problems that we came up against. But I started to miss the presence of beautiful, three-dimensional shapes quite a bit. This made me decide to start designing. 2. When did you know what you wanted to do? My dismissal from DSM following a reorganisation, came as a present to me. It provided me with the chance to discover how I wanted to proceed from there, while still receiving a salary for a few months. I reached the conclusion that I wanted to give my career a different direction. I took the chance (and the risk) to start designing and making furniture. A short internship with Op Maat, and a few courses, made me realize that I really knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to design and make things myself.
3. Is it hard for recently graduated designers to find a fitting job? When you stay close to yourself, there always be work that fits you. What drives you, where lies your passion, and what makes you happy? Unfortunately making money and status (success and power), often are the most important motives. Up to a point, I was also sensitive to that. I do believe that it is hard for designers to find fitting work. Please stick to what you like to DO, and do not be led by what you want to chase. At a certain point, there will always be something on your path, that suits you. 4. Are people becoming more and more interested in modern design? How do you notice? I think that design can be fun again. Just like art, design was put on a pedestal and called complicated and expensive. At the moment, there is also a lighter view on design. By making more people interested in art and design in this fashion, I am convinced that people will be more open to less accessible art and design. New techniques, such as 3D printers, laser cutters, etc., make it possible for people to influence a design product. A global network of FabLabs (in Groningen there is also a FabLab in Het Paleis, www.fablabgroningen.nl) offers designers the opportunity to participate in this development. In the future there will be a great deal more interaction between the customer and the client, because it will be possible to make products more client specific. 5. What is a good design in your opinion? I think that a design has to be thought through with regards to the idea, and that serious considerations have been made regarding all the possibilities the product contains in form, choice of material and execution. Have all options and possibilities really been considered and researched? Additionally, I think that a design may serve a demand from the market, but it is the designer’s responsibility to maintain a critical view of his product. 6. How do your ideas arise? My ideas usually arise during a “manufacturing process” (by doing), or by looking around me; by seeing and feeling. I think that inspiration mainly is a process of doing, researching and let myself be surprised or amazed.
7. What inspires you? I enjoy watching art, design, theatre, film, etc. This provides me with a lot of new ideas. I also have a great interest in materials, new techniques, and science. For this reason I became involved with the FabLab. I wanted to learn the techniques, and to start working with them; laser cutting, CNC-fretting, and of course the 3D-printer. The FabLab, however, is much more than that. The work atmosphere and the environment is very inspirational. It is a production hotspot for entrepreneurs who want to be open to new techniques, ideas, and products. The lines to collaboration partners are very short in the FabLab and the means of production are very powerful. An idea very quickly results in an actual project. 8. What is the most fascinating in your work? I am fascinated the most by the process in which I go from an idea to a product. When working in commission, I start with nothing. I don’t know where it will lead. In the end, there will be an end result that pleases me. Apart from that, I think it’s wonderful just to be able to create something new over and over again. 9. What are you currently working on? At the moment I devote much of my time to the FabLab. I am very committed to keep the FabLab running, together with all co-workers, and to look for collaboration with schools and businesses. We have quite a few contacts in the country and abroad as well. There are a great deal of possibilities and ideas for projects. We try to describe these and start them up, and to find partnerships for these projects. 10. Who is your favourite designer? Why? Maarten Baas is my favourite designer. His designs are light, surprising, and full of humour. Maarten is able to present, year after year, products in which the material, form and concept appear to be simple, and very surprising. His designs are an example of design for a wider audience, without being tempted to “populist design”. 11. What design would you liked to have designed yourself? Why? What I would have loved to come up with and to produce, is the series of clocks by (naturally) Maarten Baas, presented by him in Milan, in 2009. The simplicity of the idea and its execution I find very refreshing, and a welcome nod towards modern technology and existing concepts. For me it also contains all the elements of new techniques and the craft of furniture making. |
|||||||||||
