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Droog is taking over the infamous Merci store in Paris for 14 days. Three lucky couples will be offered the chance to stay the night in the Merci Store on the 5th, 6th or 7th of June, where they can sleep amongst iconic Droog products and live the Hôtel Droog experience. Guests can check in after hours and check-out the next morning at 9.00, just before the ‘hotel’ opens its doors to the public.

One of these lucky guests could be you. How? The only thing you have to do is tell us in 1 sentence ‘why you should be the lucky one or two…’  to spend the night with us at ‘The One and Only Bedroom’ rsvp: [email protected] before the 22^nd of May, 2013.

The rooms are now fully booked!

During D’DAYS (designer’s days) editions 2013 Parisians can get an enticing glimpse of its Fairy tale garden, mini Fish restaurant and the One and Only bedroom, together with a magnificent view on the city of Amsterdam. The event will also feature a tattoo parlor and the chance to sleep right in the middle of the Merci store. Hôtel Droog is based in Amsterdam, but the concept can pop up anywhere and will never appear the same.

Where: Merci @ 111 Boulevard Beaumarchais, 73003 Paris, France

When: June 4th – June 15th 2013

During the Free Zone series a selected number of fearless speakers stand up and share their most annoying irritation to those willing to listen and react. An informal evening fuelled by a mix of inspiration and frustration, laughter and tears on how just the smallest thing can make life so irritating and how irritation can lead to inspiration. Join artist, technologist and philosopher Koert van Mensvoort in a discussion on our naive view of nature.

Nature is perhaps the most successful product of our times. Despite the many initiatives to ‘save’ nature or to ‘restore’ our balance with it, the basic question, “what is nature?” is rarely asked. Stroll in nature on a Sunday or watch it in HD on your flat screen 3D TV. We need to indulge in illusions, but is this the role of nature? If we continue to treat nature as a spectacle, certainly we will fail to properly deal with urgent issues such as global warming, massive deforestation or the loss of biodiversity. Unspoilt nature is almost impossible, especially in the Netherlands where every meter of land is artificially decorated, and where our chickens eat genetically modified soy that’s a little more like the original. At the same time, our technological environment is so complex, pervasive and autonomous, that it’s becoming a new kind of ‘natural’ hazard.

Volume #35 Everything Under Control launch
The evening will coincide with the launch of Volume #35 Everything under Control. The issue features an interview with Koert van Mensvoort along with contributions from designers and scientists speculating on the confluence of biology and design.

When: April 3rd
Debate: 19.30 – 21.00
Free entrance
RSVP CLICK HERE

Our restaurant (café&tearoom Roomservice) will be open between: 18.00 – 19.30
Bar open all evening

Droog releases For everything there is a season – a set of 12 tea towels by graphic designer Annelys de Vet. For everything there is a season is a series of traditional Dutch chequered tea towels, one for each month, like a calendar. The months of the year are marked with words illustrating cultural, historical or botanical characteristics of the twelve months in the Netherlands. Dutch narratives are woven between past and future…

(The design graphics are based on the ‘Kalender Puttershoek’ by Annelys de Vet, 2011. Courtesy SKOR and Gemeente Binnenmaas.)

Q&A with Annelys de Vet

Q: What is the idea behind this design?
Each month reflects upon cultural, historical or botanical characteristics in the Netherlands, marking the seasons of our collective narratives. On the towel of February for instance, a month in which many floods have taken place, several architectural water management devices are described. April displays its weather circumstances in a rich and poetic vocabulary. The countries in July are surprisingly the current top 20 immigration states, and the increasing amount of summer festivals taking place at sultry summer nights can be enjoyed in August. October reads the process of sugar making, which has become a slowly disappearing industry; and December memorises the international mixture of ‘speculaas’ spices. In this way the set as a whole reflects upon shifting identities in the Netherlands, highlighting their brightly coloured roots and avoiding stubborn cliché’s. In that way this set of towels can be seen as a tool for the household to rewrite our histories.

Q: How does this design relates to your other work?
At the design-department of the Sandberg Instituut – of which I am the head – we question how design can be a ‘radar’ for social change. We see designers as critical agents of processes,  who govern communication, reflection, understanding, debate, collaboration and cross-fertilization. As responsible professionals and dedicated enthusiasts, they can visualize new vistas and communicate through designed languages to engage with social issues. It is in this perspective that I also see my own practice. The set of towels, as well as the ‘My cup of thoughts – coffee cups’ for Droog and the growing series of Subjective Atlasses all reflect upon how cultural identities are constructed and deconstructed, and what it implies for our collective morals.

For everything there is a season is now available at our Droog store in Amsterdam and online at www.droog.com (worldwide shipping). There are 12 different designs available for a price of 16,50 Euro each.  Coming soon to retailers worldwide.

January
Caring to help
February
Water management devices
March
Biodiversity
April
Turbulent weather conditions
May
Breeding birds
June
Reed culture
July
Top immigration countries
August
Summer festivals
September
Apple and potato harvest
October
Sugar beet campaign
November
Returning markets
December
Multicultural speculaas spices

At a time when the world is striving for new medicines, alternative fules and facing a shortage of food, the vast field of genetic research cannot be ignored. Synthetic biology promises to, quite literally, change the world. But people get their back up when it comes to science messing with nature, especially if the bit of nature ends up in their bodies or on their dinner table.

During a debate on the 20th of November issues will be questioned such as: Where do people’s perceptions of genetic engineering come from and by what means does the public derive consensus? Are different areas of genetics perceived differently and why are they perceived this way? What is the role of the press, the scientists, and do artists and designers have any role at all?

The discussion will be moderated by Farid Tabarki with guests Charlotte Jarvis (UK artist Blighted by Kenning), Bert Lotz (Head of Applied Ecology, at Wageningen University), Reinout Raijmakers (Managing Director of the Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research at the Chemistry Department of Utrecht University), Prof. dr. Gert-Jan B. van Ommen (head of the Department of Human Genetics of Leiden University Medical Center) and journalist Jop de Vrieze

Hôtel Droog
RSVP [email protected]
FREE ENTRANCE (Limited capacity of 50 people)

The debate is connected with the exhibition, Blighted by Kenning: apples infected with knowledge by Charlotte Jarvis and the Netherlands Proteomics Centre presented at Hôtel Droog from November 15th – December 6th.

For a documentary on the project please click here