SUPERMODELS is an initiative of Concern and has a message: ‘Dutch Design to scale’. The main motive is the overall demand for an all-inclusive, representative show about Dutch Design. SUPERMODELS combines different design aspects; architecture, interior- and product design. The show has three sub-exhibitions: Dutch Design Chairs, Dutch Architect Design Houses and the presentation of the Dutch Design House. For the realisation of the exhibition we Concern has worked closely with the Dutch Art & Culture Authorities, Designers & Design studios and market leaders with a strong Dutch heritage. Dutch Chairs and Iconic Architecture: a century Supermodels provides an overview of a century of iconic Dutch chairs and architecture at an accessible scale. Designs by Gerrit Rietveld, Martin Visser, Bruno Ninaber van Eyben, Marcel Wanders, Joep van Lieshout, Ineke Hans and Maarten Baas amongst others have been 3D printed. 3D printing is currently being used for the making of many products – for example jewelery – and even for a life size building (the 3D printed canal house in Amsterdam by DUS Architects).
However, within this project 3D printing is used for its original purpose: creating scale models. Each of the chairs is produced in the same white polyamide and at the same scale 1:6, enabling a perfect comparison of variations in form. In addition, Supermodels presents scale models of a selection of houses designed by Gerrit Rietveld, Van Doesburg/van Eesteren, Jan Benthem, Hans van Heeswijk and other architects. Apart from the scale models of chairs and architecture, Supermodels presents a variation on a very appealing historic theme: the dollshouse. A diverse selection of designers, artists and companies have been asked to design an interior at scale 1:12. Amongst them designers / architects Makkink & Bey, textile designer Claudy Jongstra, wayfinding specialist Mijksenaar, exhibition designers Kossmann.dejong, artist Krijn de Koning and furniture manufacturer DUM. Together, these designs to scale, ranging from hotel rooms, to offices and exhibition galleries, form the Dutch Design (Doll) House, which can continuously be extened with more Dutch design ideas.
With this, Supermodels creates a broad overview of the creativity of Dutch designers, artists and architects and shows that the fame of the current generation originates from a rich history of design. Ingeborg de Roode - Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam Photo thanks to Christie’s Italian manufacurer Cassina claims: Advertising announcement appeared in the “Corriere della Sera” published on 16th March 1972: The text quotes: “Cassina S.p.A. announces that it has purchased the exclusive reproduction rights for all furniture and objects by Rietveld and by his heirs, resident in Amsterdam. Gerrit T. Rietveld is one of the most significant members of the ”DE STIJL”, the artistic movement born in Holland around 1920 which has given this century ‘s greatest Dutch contribution to figurative art, architecture and design. His work has deeply influenced the european artistic language by setting an original syntax of forms, materials and space”. This advertising announcement was the crowning point of the complex but pleasant negotiations between Cassina – or more precisely, the Cassina family – and the Rietveld family who were represented at the time by the oldest daughter, Elisabeth, who was assisted by her husband, Dr. Eskes.
The agreement for the purchase of the reproduction rights was consequently signed by the two parties at the Eskes-Rietveld home in Amsterdam, in September 1971, and it is still in force. The necessary consultancy for the initial reconstruction work of the two pieces of furniture under production, the Zig-Zag chair and Red and Blue armchair, in addition to the graphic design of communication instruments, was supplied by Daniele Baroni. The first prototypes were realized at Cassina’s Centro Ricerche e Sviluppo together with G.A. van de Groenekan, Rietveld’s close collaborator. This permitted an interesting comparison between the original construction techniques and the technological know-how of Cassina’s wood craftsmen. The construction method was later enriched, with Filippo Alison’s help, from the comparison between two different cultures, both of which are involved in the realization of the same objective: the realization, using present day materials and technologies, of design ideas dating back to 1927 through 1935.
The production of the Utrecht model, armchair and sofa designed in 1935, has been started in 1988, to celebrate the centenary of Rietveld’s birth. Two of these chairs were in auction at Christie’s Amsterdam today. I am a bit confused as these chair seems very much the same design as th Metz & Co desing of my prior post. Luckily the firm Design Matcher which has its seat in The Hague (where I live) sheds some light here: The Utrecht chair was Rietveld’s first upholstered furniture design. Probably he made the chair because the customers of Metz & Co and his own private principals had a need for easy chairs. The chair was presented by Metz & Co for the first time in the flyer of 1937 with the number R.31 and was lined up in the show house ‘the new home’ in 1937 in The Hague (nr. 267). A 3-seater could be supplied based on this model. After the war the chair was again taken in production by Metz. In a flyer of Metz from 1963 an arm chair, 2-seater and a 3-seater are offered with woolen upholster.
The round version, which now is made by Cassina has never been produced by Metz (design date 1936, produced from 1986). They also point out Rietveld’s clever design idea of the 90 degree angle between the seat and the back and the 90 degree angle between the arm rests and the front legs. Last edited by gje on October 17, 2010 at 12:18 AMDe Future Award van de Dutch Design Awards gaat naar FLAX Chair van Christien Meindertsma. Als winnaar in de categorie Product overtuigde zij de internationale jury zodanig dat ze ook de Future Award in de wacht sleepte: de grote prijs voor het meest belovende ontwerp van de toekomst. Er werden vandaag Dutch Design Awards (DDA) toegekend in zes categorieën. Daarnaast waren er speciale prijzen voor jong talent (Young Designer Award) en opdrachtgevers (Best Client Award) en een publieksprijs (Public Award). De jury: “Christien Meindertsma overdondert met dit project opnieuw door haar gedegen aanpak. Haar onderzoek naar de mogelijkheden van het materiaal vlas loopt al jaren;
Meindertsma schafte zelfs een vlasboerderij aan om zich de groei en de verwerking van het materiaal helemaal eigen te maken. Dit project behelst duidelijk meer dan just another chair: het is het resultaat van jarenlang materiaalonderzoek, een zoektocht naar het herwaarderen van een minderwaardige vezel (de korte vlasvezel) en aansluiting zoeken met Nederlandse bedrijven om een nieuw product op de markt te brengen. Dit alles heeft in samenwerking met Label Breed en Enkev geleid tot een verbluffend verfijnd resultaat. Voor de jury is de FLAX Chair het optimale voorbeeld van wat eigentijds ambacht vermag.” Andere Dutch Design Awards winnaars zijn dit jaar: Dikke van Dale van Studio Joost Grootens (Communication), Sistaaz of the Castle van Duran Lantink en Jan Hoek (Fashion), Biesbosch MuseumEiland van Studio Marco Vermeulen (Habitat), Designs for Flies van Frank Kolkman (Service & Systems), Uruzgan’s Legacy van Specialist Operations (Design Research), Tom van Soest (Young Designer Award) en Brabantia (Best Client Award).