Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries about architects and graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands, commissioned by DutchDFA. The shorts are meant to spread freely over the web, but also to be shown as part of lectures, exhibitions and business presentations. “Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers, telling the story behind some of those well-known images,” says commissioner Christine de Baan, programme director of Dutch Design Fashion Architecture. Dutch Profiles includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, 2012 Architects, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Gerard Unger, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.

Project-Mentality-Personality

Dutch Profiles is produced by Submarine, an Amsterdam based cross-media production company that takes a critical, dynamic and often playful look at present-day society. “Each profile shows the designers in the context of their work. Then we dig down into the design mentality and their ideas on what good design is in this fast forward world,” says Geert van de Wetering of Submarine, “The fun part is that while watching the profiles, links between the stories pop up. You discover connections between designers who at first sight do not have much in common, such as fashion designer Alexander van Slobbe and Miffy-creator Dick Bruna.”

 Dutch Profiles premiere

On the opening day of the Designyatra conference in Mumbai, where the Netherlands was chosen as partnercountry, the first edition of Dutch Profiles premiered on the white screen. Dutch Profiles has been commissioned as part of the Dutch Design Fashion Architecture program, which has been initiated by Dutch Government to strengthen the international position of these sectors.

Travelling cinema

The documentaries are available all over the world via www.dutchprofiles.com. On YouTube the files are shared so the profiles of the Dutchmen can be forwarded by interested parties. The tour schedule started in Mumbai and New York. DutchDFA is developing a travelling cinema to show the profiles in a custommade creative environment. Requests from Brasil and Japan have already been received.

100 Portraits

More profiles will be added during the coming years, reaching an ultimate count of 100. Submarine: “The form holds the larger challenge for the director: how do I portray the philosophy of the designer in both words and images in only a few minutes? It’s a series of beautiful and captivating portaits and we look forward to producing the next batch in this series of 100.”

Anything more would be unnecessary, anything less impossible. This is the maxim by which product designer Bruno Ninaber has worked since he started in the early seventies. Together with his small, but very dedicated team, he devises smart solutions to create functional objects while preserving a poetic quality and a pure pertinence in the end result. For instance in the promotional gifts he designed for employment agency Randstad.

Or in his watches, that all share this common feature of a subtle balance between form, function, technique and material. A feature that is also apparent in his design for the Dutch side of the Euro.

Among many other projects Ninaber has been working on a color fan for for Akzo Nobel’s paint manufacturer Sikkens.

Many a prototype was made as part of the design process. A process that involved profound user research to optimize it’s usability.

One of Studio Ninaber’s long-term assignments is the architecture plaque. This plaque acts as a signature for projects of high architectural value.

CREDITS: Director: Nadine Kuipers, Camera: Greg Telussa, Sound: Tim van Peppen, Editing: Tim van der Maden, Kleurcorrectie: Maurik de Ridder, Music Sound Design: Big Orange, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering
Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Research assist: Liselot Francken, Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

In the beginning of the nineties, a group of young dutch designers was presented in Milaan under the name of DROOG. Their designs were immediately recognized as something new. Anti-glamour, sober yet funny, and all telling a story or commenting on society. For a while, DROOG design even became synonymous with dutch design. Founders of this collective are Gijs Bakker and Renny Ramakers.

Many of the early DROOG designs found their way to galleries and museums all over the world. They became icons, sometimes crossing the line between art and design. One of the very first to acquire them was the museum of modern art in New York.

Since the beginning, Droog has evolved. It has become more of a thinktank under the name of drooglab, which aims to detect global trends in design, and then reflect on those trends from a new perspective.

CREDITS: Director: Noud Holtman, Camera: Pierre Rezus, Sound: Bram Meindersma, Carla van der Meijs, Editing: Dominique Kools, Kleurcorrectie: Maurik de Ridder, Music Sound Design: Big Orange, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering, Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Research assist: Liselot Francken, Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Wim Crouwel is the grand seigneur of the Dutch design world. Now, at the age of 83, he can look back on a extremely productive career…

…As a highly influential designer…

…As one of the founders of Total Design, Holland’s first real multi-disciplinary design studio… a studio in which complex issues were analysed from different angles offering a totally integrated and systematic design solution

…As a professor, educating generations of students at the Technical University of Delft…

And as a director of the renowned Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam…

Crouwel is especially admired for his systematic approach in which the use of grids plays a very important role in his lay-outs.

Here Wim Crouwel and the prominent design critic Max Bruinsma visit an exhibition on 100 years of poster design at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

Since the beginning of his career, Wim Crouwel has been strongly influenced by the modernist notion of Functionalism. The principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building.

Wim Crouwel designed posters, brochures and catalogues for 2 major art museums, first for the Van Abbe Museum in Eindhoven – and from 1964 to 1985 for the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

When he started to work for the Stedelijk Museum he took a totally different path than his predecessor, director and designer Willem Sandberg.

In 1956 Crouwel saw the results of the first digital typesetter. They looked so bad that he designed a type face, called New Alphabet, that better suited the capacities of this machine.

In 1973 visionary Wim Crouwel – influenced by the early digital developments at the time – introduced the term Form Preparation.

CREDITS: Director: Geert van de Wetering, Interviewer: Max Bruinsma, Camera: Jacko van ‘t Hof, Sound: Bram Meindersma, Editing: Geert van de Wetering
Kleurcorrectie: Maurik de Ridder, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering, Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Research assist: Liselot Francken, Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Piet Paris started out as a fashion illustrator after his graduation from the Arnhem Fashion Academy in 1988. Illustration has been his core business since then, but he also presented his ideas about fashion in other ways, like for instance as creative director of the Arnhem fashion biennale.

Here, at a presentation for the Dutch fashion designer Jan Taminiau, Paris is doing what he has done for years while attending the big fashion shows in Paris: summarizing the show in a single drawing for Holland’s major newspapers and magazines. Interpreting the central idea of the entire collection rather than merely depicting one of its designs.

Recently Piet Paris published a beautiful book about his work. It’s an overview of the last 20 years.

The drawing for fashion designer Alexander van Slobbe is akin to the work of the famous Dutch graphic artist Hendrik Werkman, one of Paris’s heroes. Just like Werkman, Paris likes to work with stencils. And just like Miffy creator Dick Bruna, he likes clear contours.

Besides his fashion illustrations, Piet Paris is known for his numerous advertisement drawings – for example for Saks Fifth Avenue with its 54 luxury specialty stores worldwide… or the French Tourist Office. Nowadays he’s expanding to other fields, small as well as large-scale projects.

Viktor&Rolf asked Piet Paris to design gigantic decors for their “Show Face” show. The result made a big impression on the illustrator.

CREDITS: Director: Katelijne Schrama, Camera: Wiro Felix, Sound: Steven van Dijk
Editing: Tim van der Maden, Kleurcorrectie: Maurik de Ridder, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering , Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Research assist: Liselot Francken, Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Articulating the strength of existing features and removing all the clutter, to create a clear, serene and spacious landscape. This is the way Michael van Gessel has been working for over 30 years, designing and renovating parks, historic sites and urban master plans.

With his strong sense for historic qualities, Van Gessel transforms the landscape in a way that makes it seem like nothing has changed.

Among numerous other projects, Van Gessel has spent the past ten years working on Twickel, a centuries old park in the east of The Netherlands.

Almost exactly every one hundred years, the layout of the park is altered. From Renaissance to Baroque, followed by Rococo and Romantic landscape styles.

Notwithstanding the fact that he is, and has long been, a major influence on the development of landscape architecture, Van Gessel remains a curious and modest man, with a very down-to-earth approach to his practice.

CREDITS Director: Geert van de Wetering, Camera: Menno Mans en Niels de Roos, Sound: Bram Meindersma, Editing: Maurik de Ridder, Kleurcorrectie: Maurik de Ridder, Music Sound Design: Big Orange, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering, Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Merkxs and Girod has, over the past 10 years, developed to become one of Holland’s most recognised interior design studios. With the utmost respect for the quality of the often monumental buildings they work on, they know how to adapt interiors to the demands of contemporary users.

Like the Concertgebouw, the department shop Hema, the Ministers Hall, the Amsterdam Hermitage Museum, and the Textile Museum… Projects in which their smart solutions with great sense for detail, fabric and colour, stand out.

And for the 800-year-old Dominicaner Church in Maastricht, which was to be transformed into a large bookshop, they devised an elegant proposal.

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries produced by Submarine commissioned by DutchDFA about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands. Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, Irma Boom, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Hella Jongerius, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.

Director: Jorien van Nes
Camera: Hans Bouma
Sound: Hens van Rooy
Editing: Sander Cijsouw
Kleurcorrectie: Maurik de Ridder
Music Sound Design: Big Orange
Research: Kirsten Hannema
Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering
Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen
Produced by Submarine,
Commissioned by DutchDFA

Meet Francisco van Benthum. With his remarkable talent for designing men’s fashion, he became a darling of the international avant-garde soon after graduating from The Arnhem Academy of Art and Design in 1995. In 2002 Francisco van Benthum launched his first menswear collection under his own name.

Nowadays he shows his couture on the international runway, for instance here in Paris, during Men’s Fashion Week.

Francisco van Benthum takes the traditional men’s wardrobe as his starting point. Within the outline of the classic menswear silhouette, Van Benthum shifts proportions and adds altered elements based on male stereotypes.

For this show Van Benthum was partly inspired by pre-revolutionary Russian vogue. He chose a daring 19th century colour palette, with references to the decorative dresses of the Tsar and the varied costumes of the Slavic people, adding sophistication in the details.

Modest as he may be, Van Benthum is steadily becoming a household name in the fashion world. Well aware of the constant scrutiny of the international press, he works extremely hard to keep surprising his audience, as well as himself.

CREDITS Director: Michael Schaap, Camera: Pierre Rezus, Sound: Bert van den Dungen, Editing: Jasper Verhorevoort, Music Sound Design: Pastelle, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering, Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

VenhoevenCS is an ambitious and innovative design studio that focuses on sustainable architecture, urban development, and infrastructure. For VenhoevenCS,  a competent design is an inspiring environment in which different groups of people can co-exist in a limited space.

Like the Sportplaza Mercator, built in the middle a multicultural neighbourhood in Amsterdam, that is home to people from 129 different countries. The building was designed as a city – a miniature society – inside a cave, covered with plants.

Ton Venhoeven, in his role as advisor to the Dutch government, deals with complex issues of infrastructure. Two key elements in his design philosophy are the stimulation of social interaction and the promotion of sustainable living, which he addresses by limiting automobile traffic, and building more densely. His research focuses in particular on designing self-supporting cities, and on the development of micro networks that enable recycling and synergy.

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries produced by Submarine commissioned by DutchDFA about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands. Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, Irma Boom, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Hella Jongerius, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.

Director: Jorien van Nes
Camera: Pierre Rezus
Sound: Hens van Rooy
Editing: Sander Cijsouw
Kleurcorrectie: Maurik de Ridder
Music Sound Design: Pastelle
Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering
Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen
Production assist: Liselot Francken
Produced by Submarine,
Commissioned by DutchDFA

Gilian Schrofer is responsible for some of Holland’s most remarkable interiors – ranging from the ultra modern and globally renowned Supperclub, to more timeless, classic designs like café Morlang.

Although very distinct and diverse, they all share a sense of contemporary sophistication. But for Schrofer, merely looking hip is not good enough.

Prior to his interior design career, Gilian Schrofer was a successful chef, a patissier and the owner of a catering company.

In 2004 Schrofer left Concrete, the interior design company that he co-founded – and started a new company: Concern. Among numerous other assignments, Concern designed the impeccable interiors for the advertising agency Roorda, in Amsterdam.

Alongside his design work, Gillian Schrofer continually strives to up the ante of the design discipline across the board – teaching at several academies and as a board-member on various committees.

Although he recognizes the conceptual strength of Dutch design, Schrofer believes that a good concept is only the beginning.

CREDITS Director: Sarah Domogala, Camera: Aage Hollander, Sound: Wouter Veldhuis, Editing: Maurik de Ridder, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering, Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Production assist: Liselot Francken, Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Fashion designers Niels Klavers and Astrid van Engelen graduated from the prestigious Gerrit Rietveld academy in Amsterdam. The work of Klavers van Engelen ranges from purely conceptual to highly wearable. With their work, Klavers and van Engelen search for new perspectives and try to mislead the eye.

Here in a showroom in Amsterdam they explain their new collection to fashion critic Milou van Rossum.

Klavers and van Engelen like to cross borders by working with theater and musicians. Here, for example, with the pianist Tomoko Mukaiyama, in the performance ‘Show me your second face’.

Since their first collaboration in the late nineties, and their reunion in 2007, both designers have shifted to more wearable designs. A general development which took place across Dutch fashion during the course of the past decade. A development which gained designers like KlaversVanEngelen an international podium.

CREDITS Director: Mattijs Mollee, Camera: Aage Hollander en Marijn Zurburg, Sound: Eric Leek, Editing: Tim van der Maden, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering , Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Production assist: Liselot Francken, Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Jan Jansen was born in 1941 as the son of a shoe salesman. In the sixties he started his career as haute chaussurier at a small workshop in Amsterdam.

Together with his wife and muse Tonny, who supports the design process by testing new models and choosing colours, Jan Jansen gained worldwide attention with his remarkable shapes and fits. His designs have been proven to stay fashionable, even if they were designed decades ago.

His shoes appear in every international reference book on shoe design. Models like the Rattan from 1973, Indian Hands from 1979 and Kissing the Pope’s Toe from 1990 were way ahead of their time.

Jansen’s shoes are produced in small factories in Italy and Portugal, and are sold via his own shops in The Netherlands and The United Kingdom.

Extravagant. Original. Joyous. These are the qualities that describe the shoes, and count for the designer too. After 50 years, Jan Jansen still doesn’t concede to current trends or consumer demands.

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries produced by Submarine commissioned by DutchDFA about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands. Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, Irma Boom, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Hella Jongerius, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.

Director: Hiba Vink
Camera: Jelle Ode
Sound: Eric Leek
Editing: Maurik de Ridder
Kleurcorrectie: Maurik de Ridder
Music Sound Design: Pastelle
Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering
Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen
Production assist: Liselot Francken
Produced by Submarine,
Commissioned by DutchDFA

Sjoerd Soeters, from Soeters Van Eldonk Architects, is an architect and urban planner. Under his supervision, large-scale urban projects have been developed. Projects like the Java Island in Amsterdam and Haverleij, a complex of nine castles in Den Bosch.

Critics describe Soeters’ designs as populist, a notion that Soeters doesn’t contradict. He prefers to build for the general public rather than for his peers. This design mentality, and his continuous revolt against modernism, have earned him a reputation as the enfant terrible of the Dutch architecture world.

Soeters was asked to design a new city centre for Zaanstad, a town near Amsterdam. For this assignment he sought inspiration in the local Zaanstad architectural vernacular.

CREDITS Director: Lieza Röben, Camera: Hans Bouma, Sound: Bram Meindersma, Editing: Niels de Roos, Music Sound Design: Pastelle, Research: Kirsten Hannema, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering, Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Production assist: Liselot Francken, Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

In her short career as a fashion designer, Iris van Herpen has already won numerous awards, and her collections have been enthusiastically received by the international fashion press.

What makes her work pop when she presents her creations during fashion weeks in New York, Paris and London, is the sculptural allure of her designs. Van Herpen achieves these strong silhouettes by rejuvenating traditional crafts and applying innovative and unusual materials.

In this way, Van Herpen produces designs that reinvent form. The process of making, of doing research, of expanding the professional know-how of the fashion discipline is one of the major goals of this talented designer.

Recently, Van Herpen collaborated with choreographer Nanine Linning to make the costumes for the opera Madame Butterfly. This German production sees Lanning integrate dance with the storyline, presenting Van Herpen with the challenge of combining movement with form.

CREDITS: Director: Kathelijne Schrama, Camera: Pierre Rezus, Sound: Martijn van Halen, Editing: Tim van der Maden, Kleurcorrectie: Maurik de Ridder, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering, Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Research assist: Liselot Francken
Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

In the hands of designer Wieki Somers and her partner Dylan van den Berg, ordinary objects become stimuli for a more poetic take on our daily lives. They explore the hidden qualities of objects that can evoke memories – and stir the imagination.
Studio Wieki Somers won various prestigious prizes and their works are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

One of Studio Wieki Somers’current projects is Frozen in Time. It’s a series of products inspired by photographs of an ice-storm in the north-eastern Netherlands on March 2, 1987. For one day, the whole landscape was covered in a thick of layer ice. A giant still-life in which everything became connected – and the passing of time seemed to stop altogether.

CREDITS: Director: Mattijs Mollee, Camera: Wiro Felix, Sound: Eric Leek, Editing: Maurik de Ridder, Kleurcorrectie: Maurik de Ridder, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering, Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Research assist: Liselot Francken
Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Since 1983 designers, artists, academics and programmers have been working together at Mediamatic to develop projects that combine art, culture, society and new media.
Projects like open source social networks, exhibitions, and workshops on alternative uses of new technologies. Mediamatic founder Willem Velthoven continues to be one of its leading initiators.

Mediamatic became the talk of the town when they curated an exhibition on modern Arabic type faces. For the presentation of these new type faces they appropriated a typical product of Dutch heritage: department store HEMA, the Dutch equivalent of Marks & Spencer.

One of Mediamatic’s recent projects is the Digital Monument to the Jewish Community in the Netherlands, an online public database in which relatives can search for, and add information about, Dutch victims of the Holocaust.

Although the activities of Mediamatic are extremely diverse, it’s goals always comes down to this Dutch desire to act as mediator.

CREDITS: Director: Michael Schaap, Camera: Pierre Rezus, Sound: Bram Meindersma, Editing: Tim van der Maden, Kleurcorrectie: Maurik de Ridder, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering, Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Research assist: Liselot Francken
Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Placing human behaviour in an ironic perspective – that is what Joost Swarte aims for with his drawings. Swarte was part of the seminal seventies generation that brought comics to an adult audience. In 1976 he coined the term Klare Lijn to describe the style that connected the artists who inspired Tintin creator, Hergé – as well as those who were influenced by the master himself.

Besides his comic oeuvre, Swarte is known for his numerous design works, spanning posters… stamps… stained-glass windows… and covers for magazines like The New Yorker.

In 1996 Swarte became an architect too, when he was asked to design the new building for theatre De Toneelschuur, in his hometown of Haarlem.

In 2004 the Palace of Justice in the city of Arnhem, commissioned Joost Swarte to create an artwork. The result was a large-scale stained-glass window in the main hall.

CREDITS Director: Jasper ten Berge, Camera: Wiro Felix, Sound: Bram Meindersma, Editing: Maurik de Ridder, Music Sound Design: Jesse Koolhaas, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering, Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Production assist: Liselot Francken, Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Architects Neutelings Riedijk design sculptural buildings with a powerful urban presence, often with striking facades as a result of well thought-out designs. Although they frequently cooperate with visual artists Neutelings Riedijk do not consider themselves to be artistic.

One of their most ingenious projects is The Netherlands Institute for Image and Sound. In this gigantic archive almost one million hours of Dutch radio and television footage is preserved. Part of this collection is presented in the accompanying museum. And scenes from famous TV shows are incorporated in its colourful glass façade, designed by artist Jaap Drupsteen.

Neutelings Riedijk hold an ambiguous position regarding their Dutch heritage. Although innovation is not a goal in itself, the results of their design process is often very surprising.

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries about architects and graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands, commissioned by DutchDFA. The shorts are meant to spread freely over the web, but also to be shown as part of lectures, exhibitions and business presentations. Dutch Profiles includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, Irma Boom, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Rem Koolhaas, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.

In 2004 architects Nanne de Ru and Charles Bessard started up Powerhouse Company. Like the modernists of the 20th century, they believe architects should have a broad scope of expertise, from luxury villas to low-cost-housing. From public buildings to interior design, and furniture. For their first assignment, a private villa, they won the AM /NAi Prize for best building by architects under 40.

Powerhouse Company’s field of interest extends way beyond the realm of expensive villas. They also design low-cost-housing, like this apartment building in Almere. With these kinds of projects they often stumble upon investors who are not primarily concerned with the quality of living, but with the profitability of these projects as investment objects.

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries produced by Submarine commissioned by DutchDFA about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands. Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, Irma Boom, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Hella Jongerius, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.

Director: Noud Holtman
Camera: Wiro Felix
Sound: Wouter Veldhuis
Editing: Noud Holtman
Music Sound Design: Big Orange
Research: Kirsten Hannema
Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering
Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen
Produced by Submarine,
Commissioned by DutchDFA

Exhibition designers Kossmann.dejong exploit every inch of space available to them, to create immersive experiences around their subjects. With a background in architecture, they use a mix of media and disciplines to tell associative stories.

For Kossmann.dejong, film, light and sound are essential components in the imaginative presentation of complex content. With a host of projects scattered around the globe, they set a new standard in exhibition design, exemplified in their work for the World Expo in Shanghai. The Dolhuys, an old mental institution in Haarlem which became a museum of psychiatry in 2005, is a good example of how they tell compelling stories.

In an online era, where information is available to everybody all the time, some might argue that museums are a relic of the past. But Kossmann.dejong are adamant that their approach guarantees the survival of museums in the 21st century.

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries produced by Submarine commissioned by DutchDFA about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands. Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, Irma Boom, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Hella Jongerius, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.

CREDITS Director: Sarah Domogala, Camera: Menno Mans, Sound: Eric Leek, Editing: Maurik de Ridder, Music Sound Design: Big Orange, Research: Kirsten Hannema, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering, Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Andre Kempe and Oliver Thill graduated in 1996 from the Technical University in Dresden. They moved to the Netherlands, drawn by it’s vibrant architectural climate in which quality social housing is highly valued. After working for several prominent architects, they opened their own office in 2000. Since then, they’ve realized an array of public buildings, museums and apartment blocks. With Hiphouse they managed to make something extraordinary within a limited budget.

Kempe Thill create structures that are economical as well as innovative. The aim of their work is to achieve “Specific Neutrality”, a quality that expresses the hidden vitality of our time through architecture.

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries produced by Submarine commissioned by DutchDFA about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands. Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, Irma Boom, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Hella Jongerius, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.

CREDITS Director: Mattijs Mollee, Camera: Marijn Zurburg, Sound: Benny Jansen, Editing: Noud Holtman, Music Sound Design: Jesse Koolhaas, Research: Kirsten Hannema, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering, Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Putting architecture back in society. That is the mission of ZUS, a young company, led by Elma van Boxtel and Kristian Koreman. ZUS analyzes the contemporary urban landscape, with productions ranging from political research to specific architectural designs.

For the World Expo in Shanghai, ZUS designed two parks. One in a formal harbour area, and one surrounding the Dutch pavilion. And for the Dutch town of Almere they recently developed an ambitious plan to expand the coastal zone.

In 2007 ZUS won the prestigious Maaskant Prize for their continued campaign against the squandering of public space for commercial purposes.

One of the ways they coarchitecture mmunicate their ideas is via so-called “unsolicited recommendations”. Letters to ministers and city councils in which Van Boxtel and Koreman volunteer advice on current urban issues.

With such political engagement, these young architects strongly distinguish themselves from the generation before them. Architects like Van Boxtel and Koreman appear to be much more idealistic and much less focused on form and spectacle.

This is exactly why ZUS developed a plan to revive an office building in the centre of Rotterdam, that had been empty and unused for almost 2 decades. The Schieblock will be a city laboratory in which different organizations will be working on new ideas for urban transformation in a pragmatic and multidisciplinary way.

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries produced by Submarine commissioned by DutchDFA about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands. Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, Irma Boom, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Hella Jongerius, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.

CREDITS Director: Mattijs Mollee, Camera: Marijn Zurburg, Sound: Bram Meindersma, Editing: Dominique Kools, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Research: Kirsten Hannema, Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering, Producer Submarine: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Architect Pi de Bruijn is famous for expanding and modernising public buildings like the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam or the Dutch parliament in The Hague. He also developed huge urban areas like the ZuidAs in Amsterdam or the Beursplein in Rotterdam. But a much smaller project proved to be a real turning point for Pi de Bruijn. In Roombeek, a tiny residential area in the city of Enschede, he decided to diminish his own role as an architect. He let the future residents create their own neighbourhood.

In May 2000, Roombeek was completely devastated by the explosion of a fireworks factory. 23 people were killed. Pi de Bruijn asked all residents to help determine what their new neighbourhood should look like. 50 % of the residents were able to design their own houses. De Bruijn merely functions as a supervisor, a coordinator of ideas. This new approach earned the city a prestigious prize for excellence in commissioning work in architecture and urban planning.

Pi de Bruijn used to believe in a modernist, idealistic, top-down approach. In the seventies he worked on the Bijlmermeer in Amsterdam. With separated areas for living, working, shopping and leisure. On paper it all seemed to work, but in reality the dream turned into a nightmare.

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries produced by Submarine commissioned by DutchDFA about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands. Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, Irma Boom, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Hella Jongerius, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.
Director: Noud Holtman
Camera: Pierre Rezus
Sound: Wouter Veldhuis
Editing: Dominique Kools
Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering,
Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen,
Produced by Submarine,
Music Sound Design: Jesse Koolhaas 
Commissioned by DutchDFA

Thomas Widdershoven and Nikki Gonnissen are, unequivocally, two of the Netherlands’ leading graphic designers. Together they form THONIK, a distinguished design studio that explores the boundaries of experiential visual communication and graphic design. The work of THONIK is internationally acclaimed, with recent exhibitions in Venice, Shanghai, Tokyo and Paris, in the famous gallery Anatome.
 
Thomas and Nikki employ a number of central models and themes that constantly reappear, turnING each work into a recognisable THONIK oeuvre. What emerges is the design principle central to all THONIK’s work: if the concept is good, the rest will follow.
 
THONIK gained international fame with the re-branding of the Dutch Socialist Party. Following the 2006 election, THONIK made a TV commercial for the Socialist Party highlighting the issue of failing homecare policies – in which an eighty-year-old woman undresses in front of the camera. The film caused a media uproar, but was voted by the Dutch public as the best TV commercial of that year. 
THONIK’s designs are both detailed and daring, systematic yet liberal – and always include a healthy dose of humour.

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries produced by Submarine commissioned by DutchDFA about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands. Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, Irma Boom, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Hella Jongerius, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.
Director: Michael Schaap
Camera: Pierre Rezus
Sound: Bert van Dungen
Editing: Jasper Verhorevoort
Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering
Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen
Produced by Submarine
Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music
Color correction: Editpoint
Commissioned by DutchDFA

In 1988 art historian Caroline Bos and architect Ben van BerkeI set up their architectural practice in Amsterdam, then called the Van Berkel & Bos Architectuurbureau.

In 1998 they changed the name of their practice to UN Studio. The initials “UN” stand for United Network, a reference to the collaborative nature of the practice comprising a multi-national team of specialist individuals – with a broad spectrum of skills and technical know-how.

Based in Amsterdam, UNStudio has worked with clients worldwide since its launch and has produced a wide range of projects across numerous disciplines – ranging from public buildings and infrastructure, to offices, furniture and urban master plans.

The remarkable design of the Mercedes-Benz Museum makes visitors forget they are in a museum. Based on a unique cloverleaf concept, it comprises three overlapping circles with the centre removed to form a triangular atrium.

This building reflects the essence of UNStudio’s vision – a company that is currently working on over 30 projects all over the world and just opened a second headoffice in Shanghai. As he travels ceaselessly around the globe, sharing knowledge through lectures and presentations, Van Berkel is constantly re-thinking the role of the architect in contemporary society.

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries produced by Submarine commissioned by DutchDFA about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands. Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, Irma Boom, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Hella Jongerius, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.

Director: Mattijs Mollee
Camera: Marijn Zurburg
Sound: Bram Meindersma
Editing: Dominique Kools
Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering
Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen,
Produced by Submarine
Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music
Color correction: Editpoint
Commissioned by DutchDFA

 In the mid nineties Joep van Lieshout rose to fame for his extraordinary Mobile Homes, and has since become one of the most exhibited and provocative artists in the Netherlands. The work of Joep van Lieshout balances between art and design. Van Lieshout wants his work to be integrated into daily life and not just simply viewed. In fact, he often uses design to express his artistic ideas. Joep van Lieshout is fascinated by the functionality of complex systems. One of the systems that keeps coming back in his work is the body.

Studio van Lieshout has found its home in the Rotterdam harbour. There Van Lieshout and his twenty employees are ably to realise there artistic projects, which include furniture and sculpture, but also weapons, medicine and money. One of the works getting ready to leave the studio is Funky Bones. With themes such as survival and self-sufficiency being important to the work of van Lieshout, its not surprising that his wildest dream would be to redesign the human species. In a way that would better suit the future of our planet.  

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries produced by Submarine commissioned by DutchDFA about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands. Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, Irma Boom, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Hella Jongerius, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.

Director: Jennifer Pattersson
Camera: Wiro Felix
Sound: Martijn van Haalen
Editing: Jos Driessens
Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering,
Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen
Produced by Submarine
Music Sound Design: Jesse Koolhaas 
Commissioned by DutchDF

The iconic buildings of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, OMA, and its core principles as embodied by Rem Koolhaas, have gained worldwide attention since it’s foundation in 1975.

The philosophy and aesthetic developed for competition submissions for and the Centre for Art and Mediatechnology in Karlsruhe, La Villette, the Jussieu campus and the Très Grande Biblioteque in Paris, garnered frenzied international attention and were finally realised in De Kunsthal in Rotterdam.

Rem Koolhaas’ intensive conceptual thinking about architecture and social circumstances ran simultaneously from the very early stages of his career. With a background in journalism and scriptwriting – his curiosity, research and urge to analyse are basics of his and OMA’s working process.

It is this approach that makes him a highly debated thinker and architect – although he staunchly refutes the label “Starchitect”. This image, he feels, blinds the public to a clear view of what his and OMA’s work is really about.

Casa da Musica in Porto provides a valuable steppingstone for one of OMA’s latest commissioned projects, the Taipei Performing Arts Centre. Treatment of form, innovative techniques, and the celebration of context are key elements of the design. Rather than relocating the roaring Shilin night market from the site of the forthcoming Taipei centre, OMA will instead build its 3 theatres above the market.

The vibrant, dynamic culture of the East forms a crucial element in Koolhaas’ pre-occupation with Asia. As a child he lived in Indonesia for several years. This experience is central to his current fascination with the region – and its architecture.

Koolhaas’ seminal 1978 book Delirious New York, a Retroactive Manifesto, explores the Culture of Congestion in the big city. Nowadays, his focus is shifting to the wider consequences of the rapid growth of mega-cities.

Director: Hiba Vink
Camera: Pierre Rezus & Jasper Wolf
Sound: Benny Jansen
Editing: Paul de Heer
Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering
Production Submarine: Olivia van Leeuwen
Production assistance: Marah Haan
Voice Over: Lotje Sodderland
Music/sound design: Big Orange
Produced by Submarine
Commissioned by DutchDFA

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries produced by Submarine commissioned by DutchDFA about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands. Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, 2012 Architects, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Gerard Unger, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star

Graphic designer Irma Boom has made over 250 books, 50 of which are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her ‘Think book’ for a giant coal company has become an international icon of Dutch design. She sees her books as objects, that communicate ideas and stories, and speak to all human senses.

Director: Noud Holtman
Camera: Stef Tijdink
Sound: Benny Jansen
Editing: Casper Sikken
Commissioning editor Submarine: Geert van de Wetering
Production Submarine: Olivia van Leeuwen
Production assistance: Marah Haan
Voice-Over: Lotje Sodderland
Music/sound design: Big Orange
Produced by Submarine
Commissioned by DutchDFA

For over 30 years, Mels Crouwel has been designing public buildings like railway stations, cultural and educational institutions and museums. He is an expert in restoring historical buildings, while at the same time, expanding them so they will fit the needs of the 21st century.  The transformation of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam is one of his latest projects.
Although some of their buildings are pretty spectacular,  Benthem Crouwel Architects are not primarily after sensation and extravagance. Their main goal is to create environments where people enjoy coming together in an efficient way.

Director: Noud Holtman, Camera: Pierre Rezus, Sound: Wouter Veldhuis, Editing: Niels de Roos, Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioned by DutchDFA

The oldest company in the Netherlands, Royal Tichelaar Makkum, was founded over 430 years ago. But about twelve years ago, it almost had to close its doors forever. There was no more demand for its traditional tiles and pottery. But then Jan Tichelaar found a way to reshape the company for the 21st century. He offered the expertise in craftsmanship to top designers and architects and they jumped right on it. 
Many designers were eager to use the company’s traditional techniques in new ways. Fashion designer Alexander van Slobbe created ceramic pearls for his necklaces. Hella Jongerius created the b-set, where every cup or plate is different, depending on its place in the oven.

Director: Noud Holtman, Camera: Hans Bouma, Sound: Robil Rahantoekman, Editing: Niels de Roos, Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Hella Jongerius received worldwide recognition for her Soft Urn in 1994. A traditional vase made out of rubber. Her work, including this knitted lamp or this embroidered tablecloth is exposed all over the world including MoMa New York. Jongerius is famous for using traditional craftsmanship to create something completely new.
Jongerius has a love/hate relationship with the mass-production industry but nevertheless decided to corporate with companies like Vitra or Ikea. In her philosophy, mass production and craftsmanship can go hand in hand. For over two years, Jongerius has been developing a new range of colors for Swiss furniture giant Vitra.

Director: Noud Holtman, Camera: Jacko van ‘t Hof, Sound: Eric Leek, Editing: Niels de Roos, Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Marlies Dekkers, a true luminary in the world of luxe lingerie, combines provocative femininity with girlish innocence to herald a distinct approach to lingerie design that celebrates the strength, independence, and allure of the modern female.

 Since its birth in 1993, the Marlies Dekkers brand has accrued 1000 points of sale worldwide, as well as stores in Amsterdam, Paris, Bangkok, and New York. Her unyielding quest to find the perfect fit, and dedication to detailed workmanship, has set Marlies Dekkers ahead of her contemporaries.

With a global following of adoring fans, including A-list celebrities like Rihanna, Pink and Britney Spears, and a handful of awards under her belt – such as Elle magazine’s Innovator of the Year, and Veuve Clicquot’s Businesswoman of the Year – the Marlies Dekkers story, is one of sky-high success.

Director: Sarah Domogala, Camera: Daniel Bouquet, Sound: Robil Rahantoekman, Editing: Joost van de Wetering, Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Jewellery designer Ted Noten loves to cast strange objects in acrylic blocks. A bag with a golden gun, a pendant with a little mouse wearing pearls, or a necklace with a grasshopper, a house fly and some cigarette butts.

Nothing is too crazy for Noten. As long as the designs turn the prevailing expectations of what jewellery is, upside down. His acrylic adventures earned him the title Archaeologist of the Future, and much acclaim in both the design, and the art world.

The work of Noten is loaded with social satire. His beautifully crafted pieces parody greed, mock tradition and ridicule our status obsessed, celebrity culture.

Ted Noten talks about his project Haunted by 36 women, a collection of rings, necklaces and brooches inspired by female archetypes like The Girl Next Door, The Femme Fatale, The Fashionista and The Nymphomaniac.

Director: Allard Detiger, Camera: Sal Kroonenberg, Sound: Steven van Dijk, Editing: Niels de Roos, Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioned by DutchDFA

 The visionaries that head up Amsterdam-based firm NL Architects, gained international recognition with their revolutionary use of urban spaces to create hybrid structures that turn convention on its head.

Favouring pragmatism over ideology, they found meaning in the banal aspects of contemporary life. From a recyclable power plant that doubles as an urban sports facility to a supermarket and mini marina under an elevated highway, they seek out the unexplored potential of stagnating urban spaces.

With practicality as a guiding principle throughout their work, NL Architects embrace the tension between the rational and the absurd, finding unexpected humour in their adherence to logic and reason.

Director: Victor Vroegindeweij, Camera: Marijn Zurburg, Sound: Benny Jansen, Editing: Dominique Kools, Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Since its beginning more than 160 years ago, the company Vlisco, based in Helmond in the South of The Netherlands, makes high quality printed fabrics using a technique adapted from the ancient Indonesian batik, a method the Dutch learned during the time Indonesia was still a colony of Holland. This delicate and time-consuming wax printing and color dyeing process defines the brand’s strong, colourful and unique fabric range. Since 1876 Vlisco has been exporting these fabrics across the African continent where they became hugely popular and remain so today.

 After a slew of successful collaborations with high fashion brands such as Comme des Garcons, Adidas, and Printemps, Vlisco re-invented themselves in 2006, as a fashion label in their own right. Customers now flock to Vlisco’s ever-increasing number of flagship stores in major African cities like Benin and Accra, coveting their growing range of products – from ready-to-wear collections, to shoes, bags and accessories.

Director: Mattijs Mollee , Camera: Pierre Rezus, Sound: Wouter Veldhuis, Editing: Joost van de Wetering, Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Motivated by the fact that 90% of all cars use two-and-a-half tons of steel to transport just 1 person at a time, aeronautical engineers Chris van den Brink and Harry Kronen took the challenge of developing a new vehicle which would counter the growing problem of congestion, while being ecologically viable at the same time.

In trying to create a narrow, bullet-like model, they were faced with the challenge of creating an automatic stabilizing system that would allow for the vehicle to corner like a motorcycle, without losing its balance. And thus was born the pioneering Dynamic Vehicle Control system.

With an exceptional field of view from within its rounded frame, and its unique, tandem 2-seater design, the Carver resembles the sumptuous lines of an F16 fighter plane, complete with the sound of hydraulic pumps ensuring the cockpit never exceeds it’s 45 degree angle.

Director: Mattijs Mollee, Camera: Marijn Zurburg, Sound: Wouter Veldhuis, Editing: Paul de Heer, Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Making sure people find their way, quickly and easily. That’s what the designers at Mijksenaar do best. Whether it’s signage for a busy airport or an idyllic park. They make spaces more accessible, easier to comprehend, and safer.

In 1991 Mijksenaar set the new standard for wayfinding when they redesigned the signage for Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, with signs and pictograms that are directly recognisable for passengers from all over the globe.

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries produced by Submarine commissioned by DutchDFA about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands.

Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, 2012 Architects, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Gerard Unger, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star.

In 2002 Mijksenaar completed the wayfinding system for the three major airports in New York. They are constantly improving the orientation and navigation in hospitals, universities, museums and public transport systems.

For founder Paul Mijksenaar all good wayfinding starts with the psychology of the traveller. Mijksenaar adresses the challenges in even the most complex locations. With user-focused solutions, they create navigating systems that are both lucid and beautiful.

For airport facilities Mijksenaar devised different crystal-clear colour schemes that are not directly related to travel, such as blue signs for shops, yellow for arrivals and departures and green for the emergency exits.

Director: Sarah Domogala, Camera: Sal Kroonenberg, Sound: Wouter Veldhuis, Editing: Paul de Heer, Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Legendary type and graphic designer Gerard Unger, regards typography as a language unto itself. From highway signage to the lettering on coins, the work of Unger is all around us.

But the most ubiquitous of all his typefaces, must be The Gulliver. As the lettering used by America’s most widely read newspaper, as well as several national papers on the European continent, it made waves after debuting in 1993, for its remarkable legibility – while remaining ultra space-efficient.

As his career develops, Unger’s work becomes increasingly experimental, pushing the boundaries of typography without jeopardizing it’s functionality.

Director: Mattijs Mollee, Camera: Hans Bouma, Sound: Wouter veldhuis, Editing: Dominique Kools, Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Willem van der Sluis is not an architect. He ‘s a product designer with a Master’s degree from the Amsterdam art academy. That is why Van der Sluis, from design studio Customr, tends to confront assignments from a different angle.

During the design process he spends much of his time considering questions like: Does the world really need yet another new lamp. And, if so, how can these designs add value – something different, a new feature or a new functionality to already existing designs?

Van der Sluis is fascinated by repetition and rhythm, resulting in modular clusters and efficient systems that are easy to use, easy to transport and easy to transform. But above all, they are simply beautiful.
Like the sport domes Van der Sluis created for a prison near Amsterdam.

A project shrouded in ambiguity, this prison is not for criminals, but holds instead illegal immigrants. Embracing this dilemma, Van der Sluis created truly eye-popping structures, to draw increased attention to an issue that requires public concern.

Director: Hiba Vink, Camera: Jasper Wolf, Sound: Bram Meindersma, Editing: Niels de Roos, Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioned by DutchDFA

With the adventures of Miffy, a cute little female rabbit, Dick Bruna won the hearts of children from all over the world. More than 85 million copies have been sold so far and the stories have been translated into 50 different languages.

Dick Bruna started his career designing book covers. He made over 2000 of them. But his greatest passion is making children’s books. Although he’s in his eighties now, Dick Bruna still works 7 days a week. Each picture is created using a paintbrush. He works intensively on every detail.

The pure and simple world that Bruna creates with his minimal use of colours and thick black lines makes his work highly distinct. Not surprisingly Bruna is inspired by famous modernist artists like Mondrian, Rietveld and especially Henri Matisse.

Editing: Allard Detiger en Joost van de Wetering, Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioned by DutchDFA