Droog Design

Netherlands

Corporation

Produzent

Product designer Gijs Bakker and design historian Renny Ramakers founded Droog Design in 1993 in Amsterdam. At the 1993 Milan Furniture Fair that same year, they presented designs by students and graduates of the Design Academy Eindhoven. These projects cast a critical, humorous eye over the world of objects, with the goal of promoting new uses and insights about design. Exhibitions, installations, publications, and shops set up amidst the exhibition turned Droog Design into a highly publicized experiment. The approach attracted international interest and the two founders decided in 1994 to establish the Droog Design Foundation. They combined theoretical and practical experience with the desire to question preconceptions about design. Among the designers who participated in the Droog projects were Piet Hein Eek, Hella Jongerius, Tejo Remy, Arnout Visser, and Marcel Wanders. Many of them became internationally renowned, like Wanders with his Knotted Chair (1995/96), which was later produced by Cappellini; or Jongerius with her material experiments, which resulted in such designs as Soft Vase (1993/94) or the smooth, luminous Soft Washtub (1997). While some creations never left the scope of the project, many furniture pieces, lamps, and small objects were produced in limited editions. The manufacturing and distribution partner is the Voorburg-based company DMD. From 1994 to 1999 the Centraal Museum Utrecht showcased the growing Droog Design collection in its permanent exhibition. In collaboration with schools and manufacturers, the range has been expanded over the years; the Droog Design collection currently includes some 200 products. Gijs Bakker withdrew from the project in 2009. Ramakers, Renny, and Gijs Bakker, Droog Design – Spirit of the Nineties (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 1998). Ramakers, Renny, Less + more. Droog Design in context (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2002). Zijl, Ida van, ed., Droog Design 1991–1996, exhibition catalogue, Centraal Museum Utrecht (Utrecht, 1997).