Renny Ramakers and Gijs Bakker honored after 25 years of dedication to design

Founders of Droog, Renny Ramakers and Gijs Bakker, have been appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau and Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion. They received the awards (of royal honours) by the acting mayor of Amsterdam, Jozias van Aartsen, in a ceremony in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam.

Ramakers and Bakker founded Droog in 1993 and since then, they have put Dutch Design on the map. The presentation was given the title Droog because it concerned work in which the concept was more important than design.

ENTER THE PAST AND SEE THE FUTURE. Q&A.

Enter the Past and See the Future is the title of the 25^th anniversary exhibition celebrating memorable highlights that have shaped the collective program of Droog. This exhibition features 32 projects chosen by co-founder and director, Renny Ramakers.

The projects are based on themes, seeking for more ways to experience the possibilities of design and design thinking. Merging the bottom line of Droog, the exhibition consists of relevant topics represented by the work of different renowned designers, emerging talents, scientists, entrepreneurs and architects. Enter the Past and See the Future challenges the spectator to track down the larger idea behind the visual design. The exhibition will be on show from 26 April until 27 May 2018.

25 years of Droog
Droog’s debut came in the spring of 1993 during the International Furniture Fair in Milan with a modest show of offbeat items by Dutch designers. Now, 25 years on, Droog has gathered a wide range of projects. Through the exhibition it becomes evident that many of the themes addressed by Droog in the past are still relevant, and in some cases even very topical, in the present-day.

The spectrum of identity is shown in experimental projects such as Identity Land, Me, Meself and MY job and Single Town. Alongside the discourse with environmental challenges is set with crafted programmes as Material Matters, Re-Use and Social City. These relevant themes are annually presented in Milan; alongside at the Venice Biennial; UABB in Shenzhen; a San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and other places worldwide. Most icons of Droog are interconnected with all the above stated topics. Together they offer a different perspective on design.

 Q&A
In the exhibition, the exponents visualize a Q&A with Renny Ramakers, addressing simple yet intriguing questions about the underlying idea of the projects. It becomes clear that the apparent straightforward questions include clear concepts. More generally the personal answers of Renny refer to the fact that the outcome of the projects not always have to be a product itself.

Future
Droog’s view on the future is shaped by the past and the past reveals the future. Through the 25 years Droog made exhibitions, gave lectures, produced and distribute products, published books and created a shop and hotel. Up until this day Droog responds to the latest developments in design with original yet relevant ideas. Nowadays Droog is a mentality that is shaping up in all the disciplines. Droog will continue with a broad range of activities all connected and nourished by an ever-evolving dialogue within society. 

Dive into spring. To celebrate the season Hôtel Droog invites Frank Bruggeman to design a centrepiece in the lobby of the monumental building. For the floral installation Frank selected 8 varieties of blossoming and blooming trees and plants, mostly in the colors pink, purple, red and orange. In the Lobby Centrepiece all flowers are uncut. The installation is on show until April the 24^th.

In the piece, the relationship between nature and culture is investigated though an intervention with black and white objects. You are most likely to find garden chairs, plastic pallets and somewhere a blackbird singing the melody of the season. 

For 25 years, Droog has been working with many prominent Dutch designers on projects and products. To celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the platform, Droog is organising a range of activities. In Bergen the exhibition Do It Like Droog marks a special year in Museum Kranenburgh. While in Amsterdam an exhibition, Enter the Past snd See The Future, celebrates the highlights that have shaped the platform’s program since its founding in 1993. Enter the Past and See The Future will be on show from 26 April until 27 May 2018.

Look back at a few of the highlights that have made these decades so memorable.

As part of its 25th anniversary celebrations several museums made some major acquisitions.

Recently MoMa in New York acquired the kokon chair from Jurgen Bey. Likewise, Het Centraal Museum in Utrecht brought in an extensive collection of 56 objects. Alongside this year Droog will generously donate its archive to the RKD in The Hague.

In April 1993 Droog made a debut at the International Salone del Mobile in Milan. Now, in 2018, the number of activities in Droog has grown to more than hundreds of projects and products. In the past decades Droog made exhibitions, gave lectures, produced and distribute products, published books and created a shop and hotel. Up until this day Droog responds to the latest developments in design with original yet relevant ideas.

To mark the 25th jubilee year of both Museum Kranenburgh and Droog, the museum brings together iconic designs from Droog’s collection in an exhibition entitled Do it Like Droog. Museum Kranenburgh’s green surroundings formed the starting point for the spatial design that designers Koehorst in ‘t Veld created for this exhibition. It takes shape in a walk through a graceful botanical garden, in which the Droog objects are positioned alongside aluminium borders and flower beds, in full bloom. The exhibition route encompasses the entire museum premises, including the exhibition rooms, as well as the museum shop, the garden and the Kranenburgh sculpture forest. With this first presentation of the discipline design, Kranenburgh once again broadens its scope of art.

For more information please visit their website

What do we think of when we think about luxury? We think about items that are produced in exclusive and limited editions with expensive materials. About items that are scarce and difficult to obtain. Products that distinguish the owner from others or that confirm a certain social status.

However if ‘luxury’ has become fashionable and anyone can acquire a purse with a waiting list or a pair of Laboutin’s, than – by definition – it is no longer a luxury. Thus the luxury industry is looking for new trends so that their clientele can keep on distinguishing themselves from others. The contours of a new luxury are on the horizon: one in which sustainability plays a major role.

Luxury and sustainability. Are there two terms that are further apart? We associate sustainability with sober, moderate and less. Also we believe that we have to sacrifice something to be sustainable. Surely it is possible to give a sustainable product a seductive and glamorous design that radiates pleasure!

This exhibition presents work by ten Dutch designers that are very able to design sustainable products that seduce. This exhibition presents luxury and abundance as a good investment for the future.

With work by Demakersvan, Golden Joinery, Humade, Heleen Klopper, Dirk van der Kooij, Simone Post, Ariëlle van der Vaart, Richard Vijgen, Karin Vlug & Lisa Konno, and Sander Wassink & Maya Pesach.

Exhibition design: Eric Sebastiaan Roelen

Op 22 september opende in Centraal Museum de tentoonstelling Vroeg Droog: de beginjaren van Droog Design. Het Centraal Museum kocht precies twintig jaar geleden voor het eerst Droog Design aan en bezit inmiddels de grootste museale collectie Droog Design ter wereld. Op zondag 26 november organiseert Artifex samen met het Centraal Museum een lezing over de beginjaren van Droog Design met Droog Design ontwerper Richard Hutten en conservator in opleiding bij het Centraal Museum.

Tijdens de lezing vertelt Richard Hutten, ontwerper, over de beginjaren van het ontwerpcollectief Droog Design. Hoe werd Droog ontvangen? En wat heeft het betekend voor Dutch Design? Vervolgens is Nadine Gouders, conservator in opleiding bij het Centraal Museum, aan het woord. Zij zal ingaan op hoe Droog Design zo snel in de museale collectie van het Centraal Museum terecht is gekomen en wat het belang is van Droog Design binnen de verzameling toegepaste kunst van het museum.

Datum: zondag 26 november 2017
Tijd: 11:00-12:30 uur
Locatie: Centraal Museum, Utrecht
Kaarten voor deze ‘Droog Design Lezing’ reserveren via Artifex op www.artifex.nu

Photo: Centraal Museum, Utrecht/Ernst Moritz

On Saturday November the 4th, Renny Ramakers will present her take on what is needed for the Future at the international immersive festival The Future in Dublin, Ireland. The Future invited Renny to speak as a lead speaker on the Vision Stage and to explain her ideas on the power of rethinking. She will share her view that cities have never been so diverse as they are now. She sees a world full of contradictions and oppositions as an opportunity to change established notions.

Saturday November 4, 2017
6pm
RDS (The Royal Dublin Society)
Merrion Road, Ballsbridge
Dublin 4, D04 AK83

Get your tickets here

In de tentoonstelling ‘Vroeg Droog’ in het Centraal Museum in Utrecht wordt niet alleen een selectie uit de collectie van Droog Design getoond. Ook wordt het begrip ‘Dutch Design’ aan de kaak gesteld. Want wat is Dutch Design precies? En wie bepaalt dat?

Tijdens Droge Donderdag op 2 november organiseert Centraal Museum een Q&A waarin ze proberen antwoorden op deze vragen te geven. Conservator Natalie Dubois treedt in gesprek met Tejo Remy (ontwerper Droog Design), Harm Scheltens (oprichter Pastoe), Merijn Everaarts (oprichter Dopper) en Els Doornhein (advocaat bij De Vos & Partners Advocaten).

De Q&A is gratis toegankelijk, maar aanmelden is verplicht. Dat kan via de website van het Centraal Museum.

Het programma van de avond ziet er als volgt uit:
19.30 uur Inloop in Museumcafé Centraal
19.45 uur Start Q&A
20.30 uur Borrel met droog drankje
21.00 uur Einde programma

Photo: Centraal Museum, Utrecht/Ernst Moritz

Droog partners with Nissan to apply a unique dehydration warning system in the Nissan Juke; the system is created by designer Paulien Routs.

The steering wheel and driver seat in the Nissan Juke compact crossover turn blue or yellow or colours in between, indicating the sweat and dehydration level of the driver.

The car employs a sweat-sensitive textile coating called SOAK, which changes colour when in contact with perspiration. The solution analyses the composition of a person’s sweat and changes colour if the values of the micro-fluids change. The solution reacts to both sweat on skin and sweat on clothing. Paulien Routs worked closely with a chemist in order to achieve the correct solution that would be able to accurately determine hydration levels.

SOAK, originally the brainchild of designer Paulien Routs, was developed in Droog’s program Reality Tanks, initiated in 2013 to push innovative concepts of young designers forward in collaborations with academic researchers and commercial partners. SOAK was developed in 2014 in collaboration with Thewa Innovation, The Dutch Cosmetic Association and cosmetic doctor Annebeth Kroeskop.

Paulien Routs: “I originally created SOAK to be used on workout attire, but when Nissan approached me with plans to implement the technology in a Juke crossover for a one-off media activation, I thought it was fantastic. Within my work I aim to create innovative materials or designs that create new interactions with the user, that offer information about, in this case, the condition of our body. It’s about contextualising design in a new way.”

Apart from the project with Nissan, Droog and Paulien Routs continue to work on the application of SOAK on workout attire.