Studio-X New York hosted the Open house symposium on Saturday, April 23rd, which was fully booked.

Co-founder and director of Droog, Renny Ramakers presented the goals of Droog Lab’s series of projects, each inspired by a different location.

Charles Renfro of Diller Scofidio + Renfro presented an overview of the design process and potential outcomes for Open house.

Mark Wasiuta presented an overview of suburban developments.

Economist Heleen Mees talked about the benefits of a service economy, comparing the situation in New York to that of Amsterdam.

Author Roo Rogers discussed the rising trend in collaborative consumption.

Artist Mary Ellen Carroll discussed her experience in working in suburban areas, including her project prototype 180.

Many are surprised to hear Droog is opening in Las Vegas.
Why Las Vegas?

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas approached us. Initially it’s hard to see the common ground between Droog and Las Vegas, but for both, experience is important. For us it is interesting to reach a new audience, and Las Vegas is truly a unique place in the world. Sometimes reality can be wilder than fiction.

What do you think of the kind of design you see there?

One sees a totally different type of design. I believe the audience is ready for a new approach, one that establishes new borders between the design and the non-design world.

What about the themed approaches in Las Vegas?

The themed experiences are old-fashioned. You can see Las Vegas is looking for new experiences, and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is breaking some new ground. But it was already happening in 2002, for example with the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum by Rem Koolhaas. Perhaps then it was too early, and now might be a better time for new developments.

What are your impressions of Las Vegas?

Whether you are eating, watching a performance at a theatre, shopping or gambling, everything in Las Vegas is about entertainment. Such a concentration of entertainment is an interesting model for me.

Any thoughts on gambling?

If one can restrict oneself, gambling can be very playful.

Can you tell us about the store design?

With each store location we take a different approach. For Droog Las Vegas, our brief to the designer, Marcel Schmalgemeijer, was that it should be a strong gesture but at the same time, be very functional. Seems obvious, but it is important that the store looks and functions like a store. We want the design to allow the products to speak for themselves and to create an experience.

Are there any future plans for the store?

There will be a program of events and new collaborations with the local context. We have some ideas so far, but are also looking forward to what Las Vegas will inspire.

Droog Las Vegas opened yesterday. See store details here.

Watch a recent interview with Renny Ramakers by KLM’s iFly magazine.

“I am not an idealist by any means. It is not my goal to create social design, but I do like it when social renewal results in innovative design.” – Renny Ramakers

Watch here.

Text by Vidafine.

“Reality isn’t static anymore. It’s not a set of ideas you either have to fight or resign yourself to. It’s made up, in part, of ideas that are expected to grow as you grow, and as we all grow, century after century.” – Robert M. Pirsig, Zen: The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,1974 , as referenced by Renny Ramakers, Co-founder and Director of Droog.

Recently, we introduced you to Droog, a conceptual design company located in Amsterdam. We mentioned the various facets of the company and how the Droog Lab is quickly becoming a globally known research hub that brings relevant solutions to its clients, and people of the world. Many of us live life hoping to one day start something that we can call our own. Few, actually go ahead and do it. After learning about Droog, I was particularly interested in the projects that this company is currently involved in, and was estatic when Co-founder and Director of Droog, Renny Ramakers, agreed to chat with us about her beginnings and her vision for the future of Droog.

idafine: After some research, we discovered that you have a history background. How did you transition into global design from what you studied in school? What drew you to this particular industry?

Renny: After studying art history I reached a point in which I wanted to impact it. Art history gave me broad perspective and critical rigour that I combined with my ability to sense what is going on at the present. Together with the Co-founder of Droog, Gijs Bakker, we noticed a movement that some designers in the Netherlands were pioneering. We gave it a title and a presence that took off, and eventually became global.

Vidafine: Knowing about the past and how things ‘used to be’ definitely can drive someone to initiate change for the future. What is your ultimate goal for Droog?

Renny: I am quite ambitious and we have many plans… I started Droog because I found it necessary to present a new spirit in design. At that time this new spirit was based on a conceptual approach. Now, one can see this approach everywhere and as I feel it, it is time for new impulses. That’s why I started the Lab. But we are also trying other directions, and are working on other models. For instance, our presentation this past April in Milan, Saved by Droog, has opened up a new way of working (by treating unwanted products as raw material for product development) and we want to continue on this path. Ultimately, I want to express that Droog is not a design collective but a company. Our company is content driven but it also wants to make profit.

Vidafine: Founding your own company is definitely a lifetime milestone. What’s your most memorable moment as Co-founder and Director of Droog? Continue reading “Vidafine interviews Renny Ramakers” »

Interview and text by Apostolos Mitsios for Yatzer.

What can we say about Droog design, a company that since 1993 opens new paths to creativity and has produced some of the most iconic design pieces of the last decades? Some weeks ago Workshop-Dionisis Sotovikis and Mariolopoulos-Kanaginis Foundation for the Environmental Sciences presented at the Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece, a retrospective Droog exhibition called “Greek green greet” (June 4th – July 25th 2010), being the largest Droog exhibition in the world since 2007. Athens came closer to the design world and Renny Ramakers, the heart and soul of Droog, of course could not miss the event. Yatzer was there, eager to know all those little stories hidden behind a successful company that make the difference. Renny Ramakers talked to us in the most sincere way, offering one of the most interesting encounters we have ever had. Get ready to get inside the headquarters of one of the most significant design companies of all times!

First of all, Mrs. Ramakers, did you like the exhibition at the Benaki Museum?
It is fantastic the fact that you have made everything by yourselves, I only delivered some items, it is awesome! The organizers wanted more and more products, initially they had the fear that there would not be enough products to fill the space, but finally everything went perfect. It is always very interesting to see the way other people interpret your work. Sometimes I take a look at a certain piece and I say to myself “look, I hadn’t realized it looked so nice!”. It was also so pleasant to see prototypes that I hadn’t seen for a lot of time, for years, like the Cosy chair by SMAG that we had showed at Milan many years ago and I didn’t have the chance to see it again since then.

If Droog was a child, back in 93, which would be the references that would define you? Who would be your parents, who would be your brothers and who would be your heroes?
The father and mother of my company are me and my partner Gijs Bakker, who left us recently, so I would say we are divorced (laughs)! I do not think we have many brothers and sisters because we are quite unique. The source of inspiration is the designers themselves, the children of the company. As soon as we like something, we ask directly the designer to collaborate with us. The way the designers react to an original idea of ours often makes the project much bigger. We are inspired by the designers, but the designers are also inspired by us. It is all about collaboration! There is a retro alimentation open to surprises. If you have good designers, they bring the whole project to another level.

Who was the first designer that you have collaborated with?
Jurgen Bey is very inspiring for us, he has been with us since the beginning, before we even started. He and his partner Rianne Makkink in 1992, when I was organizing small exhibitions at that time, were designing our exhibitions, but the first product was of Marcel Wanders. In 1988, after Wanders graduation from the School of the Arts Arnhem, I bought a prototype of him and this became the first product of the company. His breakthrough to fame was a chair he made for us, the Knotted Chair (1996).

Could you say you are Marcel Wanders’ design mama?
Yes (laughs), but do not tell him!

Having in mind that we often define ourselves against something, against what did you define yourself at that time? Continue reading “Interview with Renny Ramakers by Yatzer” »

We’re coming to Athens. The exhibition opening is tomorrow and a lecture by Renny Ramakers follows on Saturday.

De directeur en mede-oprichter van designbureau Droog kondigde vorige week de komst van een concepthotel en restaurant in Amsterdam aan. Eten speelt een belangrijke rol in haar leven. Renny Ramakers groeide op met de Hollandse pot en af en toe uitstapjes naar de Chinese en Italiaanse keuken. “Bij ons thuis mocht je op je verjaardag altijd kiezen wat er werd gegeten. Ik koos altijd voor de voor kinderen niet zo gebruikelijke combinatie lever en spinazie. Waarom? Geen idee. Ik zal het wel heel lekker hebben gevonden.”

Go Slow Cafe

Kunsthistorica Ramakers (@rennydroog op twitter) stond in 1993 aan de wieg van Droog. Een inmiddels wereldwijd bekend bureau vanwege de conceptuele benadering van design. Droog ontwikkelt concepten en tentoonstelingen. Met designers, onder wie Hella Jongerius, worden producten ontwikkeld, van deurknoppen tot de knotted chair van Marcel Wanders. Headquarters en de flagshipstore zijn in Amsterdam en er zijn ook winkels in New York en Tokio. Alles draait om no-nonsense down to earth design.

Droog doet ook eetprojecten, zoals het Go Slow Cafe waarbij alles langzaam gaat en senioren bedienen. Dit project is in verschillende delen van de wereld met veel succes gepresenteerd.

Ramakers zelf lust eigenlijk alles. “Met uitzondering van karnemelk. Ook ben ik niet zo dol op zacht voedsel, zoals boter en room. Ik hou heel erg van koken, vooral diners voor vrienden. Helaas komt er vanwege de werkdrukte te weinig van. Ook omdat ik veel reis. Als ik moet kiezen tussen een diner met vrienden (of vreemden) of een feest, dan kies ik voor het diner. Contacten op feesten zijn vaak vluchtig, ik word te veel afgeleid, aan een diner kun je rustiger praten.”

Zondag 2 mei

Als ik ’s morgens op sta, drink ik een glas warm water met een stukje limoen. Dat is lekker en gezond. Wanneer ik het ontbijt klaarmaak, drink ik een glas groentesap. Jazeker, ook al zo gezond… Wat een gezondheidsfreak hoor ik jullie al denken. Maar dat valt best wel mee. Snoepen doe ik ook graag.

Ontbijten doe ik ook altijd volgens een vast patroon. Twee bruine boterhammen (ik hou van het spelt zuurdesembrood van Marqt), de een belegd met kaas, de ander met avocado en tuinkers. Glas uitgeperste sinaasappel erbij en wat losse verse vruchten. Vandaag zijn dat aardbeien en stukjes ananas. Die aardbeien smaken nergens naar. Ik weet het, ik had ze niet zo vroeg in het seizoen moeten kopen maar ze lagen er zo verleidelijk bij.

Als we het niet vergeten, nemen we in het weekend nog een zacht gekookt eitje. (En ja hoor, vandaag weer vergeten.) Tot slot drinken we groene thee. Dat drink ik overigens de hele dag. Bij voorkeur geen zakjes maar getrokken van theebladeren.

Mijn geliefde maakt op deze totaal verregende dag de lunch. Hij kan niet koken, zegt hij, maar er is niemand die zo lekker spiegelei met tomaat kan maken als hij. Zoals gezegd, ik hou erg veel van koken maar ik haat boodschappen doen. Ik doe dat een keer per week, op vrijdag of zaterdag. Dit keer is daar niets van gekomen met het gevolg dat ik niet veel in huis heb. In zulke gevallen kijk ik vaak op www.supercook.com. Je vult in wat je in huis hebt en voila, je krijgt honderden recepten voorgeschoteld.

Vandaag wordt het soep van geroosterde paprika en aubergine als voorgerecht and als hoofdgerecht risotto van gemengde paddenstoelen. Als je zorgt dat je altijd tomaten, citroenen, uien, knoflook, kruiden (ik heb verse kruiden op mijn terras), Parmezaanse kaas en goede olijfolie in huis hebt, valt er altijd iets te maken.

We trakteren onszelf op een fles Fixin. Deze heerlijke rode wijn komt uit de Noordelijke Bourgogne. Ik weet dat toevallig omdat we er gefietst hebben. Nagerechten nemen we vrijwel nooit als we thuis eten.

Maandag 3 mei

Om half vier kwam ik er op weg naar een afspraak achter dat ik nog niet geluncht had. Snel een broodje gegeten bij Stanislavsky in de Stadsschouwburg: ik moest daar in de buurt zijn. Het valt me op dat als je tegenwoordig een broodje kaas bestelt, er altijd een grote hoeveelheid liflafjes bij zit. Simpel een lekker broodje met goede kaas kun je in dit soort gelegenheden steeds moeilijker krijgen. Daarvoor moet je naar de Kaaskamer in de Runstraat.

‘s Avonds de soep van zondag gegeten en ik wilde pasta met broccoli maken. Maar toen ik de broccoli uit de koelkast haalde, zaten er bloemetjes in. Dus werd het Penne Arrabbiata. Heel lekker!

Later een paar afleveringen van de Soprano’s gekeken. Op dvd uiteraard. Wat wordt er in die serie veel gegeten…

Dinsdag 4 mei

Vandaag geluncht op het werk. Wij lunchen altijd gezamenlijk met alle medewerkers. De tafel staat dan vol met zaken als hagelslag en pindakaas maar ook komkommer, sla, avocado en kaas.

‘s Avonds heb ik lamskotelet met couscous en geroosterde pompoen gemaakt. Vooraf sla met ei, walnoten, rode uit en roquefort.

Continue reading “As published by Special Bite” »