Design Academy Eindhoven, founded in 1947 as an academy for industrial design, is the only independent college of higher education in the Netherlands that specializes entirely in design. The academy trains students to be experts in the field of product design, communication design, environmental design, interior design, trend prediction, automotive design, and the design of new media applications. Design Academy Eindhoven leads the way in innovation and change and is both nationally and internationally one of today’s most prestigious institutes in the world of design. Design Academy Eindhoven presents itself annually with a group exhibition at the Salone del Mobile, thus offering the institute’s talented graduates an international platform. Each year in October the academy organises a presentation of the final works of her most recent graduates.

www.designacademy.nl

The City of Eindhoven is dominated by technology but also has a strongly rooted tradition of design of international stature and a broad creative climate. Important players in town are Philips Design, Design Academy Eindhoven, Dutch Design Week and the Dutch Design Awards. The City has made design a political priority in order be able to seize opportunities and chances that occur in many fields and to further develop them. Because the city sees design more and more as a synonym for innovation. In 2006 Eindhoven has proclaimed itself European Design Capital. In 2007 it was commissioned by the European Commission to develop a major European programme around European Design Management. Together with seventeen European partners this has made it a platform for a number of wide-ranging activities that make the business world and society aware of the importance of design.

www.eindhoven.nl

Yksi consists of Leonne Cuppen, Kees Heurkens & Eduard Sweep, graduates of the Design Academy Eindhoven. Their cooperation that spans 16 years by now, has made them a tightly-knit team. The Yksi-team are on the move all the time to develop their skills and search for new inspiration. For instance by participating in or visiting trade fairs and expos at home and abroad, travelling, teaching at art schools, participating in selection committees and organising events, seminars and expositions. And of course there is Yksi Expo and Yksi Winkel, which has become a well-known platform for new developments in applied arts in the Netherlands. More than five hundred designers, unknown or famous, have presented themselves here since 1991.

www.yksi.nl

Brainport - a hot spot in the high technology region of south-eastern Netherlands - is the hub of a network of companies, knowledge centres and government spreading beyond national borders to Germany (Aachen) and Belgium (Louvain). It is a unique area with intensive and innovative co-operation between organisations open to new ideas. This is visible in the invention, manufacture and sale of innovative products, services, machines and systems.

www.brainport.nl

Design Connection Brainport is part of the Brainport programme, developing a wide range of projects that stimulate design culture in the area. Its objective is to put the Brainport region on the international map for first-rate design and technology. It is achieving this by building bridges between design and technology, and focusing on starting new companies and developing new products.

www.designconnectioneindhoven.nl

The Van Abbemuseum is one of the leading museums for modern and contemporary art in Europe. The museum has shown many acclaimed exhibitions and built an extensive,
internationally renowned collection of more than 2700 works of art. The collections reputation is due to the quality of the individual works of art, among which are masterpieces by Picasso, Chagall, El Lissitzky, Beuys, Weiner, Gordon and McCarthy. In the Oudbouw (old building) temporary exhibitions exploring topics of general political and social concern alongside focused presentations of individual artists are held. In the Nieuwbouw (new building), a radical new approach called Plug In has been developed to exhibit the famous collection. This principle allows the museum to activate the contemporary possibilities of modern art in different configurations and relationships to our changing culture. The Nieuwbouw is also the location of ‘Living Archive’, a series of documentary exhibitions based on the museum archive.

www.vanabbemuseum.nl