26 march - 28 june
the board of the designhuis in eindhoven proudly presents an exposition on the great life styles that determine our existence. “archeology of the future” maps and analyses the most influential tendencies of the last 20 years – seen through the eyes of li edelkoort, who has taken the lead of the designhuis as its director since the beginning of this year. this is the first exhibition in its kind to outline and define trend forecasting as a profession and it is entirely dedicated to li’s oeuvre. the exposition was assembled in collaboration with the institut néerlandais in paris with curators marieke wiegel of this institute and philip fimmano of studio edelkoort in paris. the exhibition in paris set a new record for visitors: the institut néerlandais considered it one of its top events in recent years. “archeology of the future” proves that trends are no volatile phenomena, but are firmly rooted in the daily course of our existence. presented in texts, photographs, clothes, design, video and audio more than 200 international master pieces from various disciplines make our recent past come to life. li edelkoort is one of the most renowned trend forecasters of the world. in 2003 time magazine called her one of the 25 most influential people in fashion industry and in 2004 she was listed among the most important people in design in icon magazine. in february 2008 the french minister of culture granted her the title of chevalier des arts et des lettres in recognition of her artistic and literary creative contribution to culture in france and internationally. in november 2008 -when she took leave as chairwoman of the design academy eindhoven- li edelkoort was appointed knight in the royal dutch order of oranje nassau. also in 2008 li edelkoort received an honorary degree of doctor of art from the united kingdom’s nottingham trent university as well as france’s prestigious designers days jury prize for her work in the field of design. during the exposition period – from march 26 untill june 28, 2009 – several trend seminars and workshops will take place.

22 - 27 April, Milan
SHORT HISTORY
initiated and directed by li edelkoort, the designhuis in eindhoven seeks to become a local yet international platform for design, enabling young designers to emerge and their creative talents to be recognised and encouraged. recent design exhibitions have featured surveys of contemporary glass, the dutch bike, design for the volume market and the work of studio job. in 2008 this young cultural space assembled and curated TALENT, featuring the year’s best european graduates with 175 student works from 48 academies, and offering precise insight into design education’s status quo in europe. this wonderful show was full of new names, fresh ideas and future perspectives, and supported by pierre bergé & associés with a generous prize of €10.000 awarded ex aequo to two talents; camille scherrer from ecal, switzerland and guus van leeuwen from the design academy in the netherlands.

NEW PERSPECTIVE
this initiative for the TALENT show will be continued and institutionalised during the dutch design week in eindhoven from october 17–25, 2009, and once more pierre bergé & associés will participate with an even more generous prize of €20.000. the aim is for the exhibition-event to become a place where talent hunters and journalists can scout the future.

YOUNG TALENT
invited by rossana orlandi, a selection from TALENT will be shown during milan’s furniture fair from april 22–26, giving international audiences a taste of the quality of european design education and the level of inspiration and vision encountered in the youngest emerging generations.

ARCHAIC FORM
21 selected designers from 11 different countries present an archaic view of design with an interest in radical primitive materials as earth, cow-dung, wood, cardboard, textiles, bone and hide. they try to escape from a world of over-consumption with unplugged proposals taken from the roots of humanity with humble yet forceful form. this movement will grow in the future and enable craft to merge with technology.

Location
spazio rossana orlandi
via matteo bandello, 14-16
0123 milano

the alchemy of our day-to-day lives. glass has the appearance of being fragile and sparkling, instead of glamorous and equipment-like and on account of this fits unexpectedly exactly within these times. a time where we have no regrets of our recent past and our wild dance around the golden calf, but where we are forced out of sheer necessity to think about reform as a consequence of the collapse of the world’s existing financial systems. due to this, an unusual new year’s awaits, where traditionally people still want to have a great deal of pleasure but within a new mentality that requires authenticity and creativity. this is glass, the saving angel. glass is a noble and essential material, created from the four elementary ingredients; air, earth, fire and water. invented by man as an alchemist. man, who desires to change materials and even create them; who can blow glass or form glass, through his innovation and craftsmanship for industrial usage. glass is essential and is still used as a container of everyday items, such as drinks and perfume, a glass for beer and wine, and as a wine decanter for alcohol. however, glass is also avant-garde and precocious as it takes on the fragile rounded wave forms like that of a weak virus; it possesses a piece of furniture, like mushrooms which profit from bark on the side of a tree, as it occupies space in antiquated forms or writes on walls in abstract idioms. glass is mischievous as it portrays an erotic alphabet, as if letters designed from semen or like frivolous sex toys, wearily looking down toward us from high glass supercilious feet. glass is back as a material to be studied, and expressed. in the hands of a generation of young designers and artists it appears to become alive. gothic glass, biological forms, curiosa and religious objects cross the design sabers or foils with tight and voluminous styling in the tradition of copier. however, glass can also be applied as an optical alienation or as an illusion of the icon. the awe-inspiring versatility of this curious material gives this exposition its enchanting atmosphere and transports the spectator ‘through the looking glass’ into a world where imagination and creativity shine through and our hope for a better future is guaranteed. in short, the exhibition explores the creative record of the material glass in all its appearances, from purely industrial and serial design to autonomous design and art, with work from among others maria roosen, pieke bergmans, anna carlgren, tanja saeter, giorgio vigna, bernard heesen, jens pfeifer, dick van ’t hof, various designers from design academy eindhoven and companies as baccarat and royal leerdam crystal.

TALENT shows a colorful collection of new European talent (graduated in 2008)
and gives an overview of the recent developments within design education. Over
150 rising stars have taken over the Designhuis to show their projects across the
borders for the first time. About 75 academies in all have been asked to select
ten of their best students. Li Edelkoort, this exhibition’s curator and art director
of the Designhuis, has made the final selection among 30 academies, giving a
varied view of what goes on in Europe. 

By organizing this second graduation show in Eindhoven during Dutch Design
Week, the town becomes the unrivalled centre when it comes to discovering upand-
coming talents. This will considerably increase the number of visits by press
and professionals from abroad as well. Among other things TALENT shows how
far the Design Academy Eindhoven is ahead compared to its associate institutions
and it charts where creation stands in Europe with strong suits like
illustration, graphic designs and animation and weaker areas like pure industrial
design. The autonomous discipline is gaining ground and finds a breeding ground
in schools like Konstfach in Stockholm and Ecal in Lausanne. 

The European graduates have tackled various themes such as improvising
design, softening and tactilising the industrial form, and using
earthly and primitive means like timber, fur, fabric and earth.
Fabric and embroidery are important, as is the use of sketches and
drawings. Photography is almost invisible and nostalgic, far from the
harsh reality that has characterized this domain in the last decades.
Animation is at its very peak in Europe with a very distinct and emotional
language at right angles with the American cartoon culture. 

The exhibition TALENT has ambitions to become a European institution
where strengths can be measured but also combined and where
there are plans to organize a small-scale and exclusive seminar together
with the Design Academy and the various design institutions in
Europe. 

To support and fan this outburst of young energy, Pierre Bergé, wellknown
as partner of the famous fashion designer Yves St Laurent, has
established a generous prize. That’s why the auction house Pierre Bergé & Associés,
specialized in vintage and modern design, will award a prize of 10,000 euro’s to
Europe’s most talented student during a special ceremony.

100 days two-wheeler event
Exhibition ‘Bicycle’

The Netherlands has 16 over million inhabitants and an estimated 18 million bicycles. This summer the Designhuis in Eindhoven will honour this very Dutch phenomenon with an exhibition titled ‘’.
From 22 June through 5 October 2008 this exhibition will form the heart of a 100 day two-wheeler with a wide range of activities, lectures and trips.

The Dutch are born on a bike, it is sometimes said. They use the bike in large numbers in their daily commute to school or work or as a tool for transporting kids, groceries and mail. As a healthy hobby for young and old or as a (top-class) sport, they ride it by the thousands on the road, on the track, on forest paths or on a cross-country course. Yes, the bicycle is even considered a vehicle for good causes.
Partly as a result of this versatile use, next to the ‘standard’ touring bike a lot of variations and niche markets have come into being: the hybrid, children’s bikes, folding bikes, mother bikes and grandmother bikes, racing bikes, cross hybrids, mountain bikes, ATB’s, reclining bikes, BMX bikes, electrical bikes. Plus all kinds of bicycle carts to transport children or objects. Not to mention clothes and accessories: from bags, baskets and children’s seats to pumps and many lighting systems.

The Designhuis in Eindhoven honours this phenomenon from 22 June through 5 October in the form of the exhibition ‘ Bicycle’. The exhibition will give an overview of the bicycle in its context, as a means of transport, a social phenomenon, as a means of recreation, as a lifestyle, as a means of engaging in (top-class) sport. The Designhuis will show how such an ordinary and everyday object as the bike remains a subject of research, development and design creativity. Motivated by desires and needs of consumers or by their own experiences designers keep finding inspiration for new forms, functions and materials in an ‘ordinary’ tool like the bike. It is exactly the cross-pollination between the creative industries and the manufacturing industries that appear to be a fertile breeding ground for innovation.

With the exhibition BOLD, Studio Job, the DESIGNHUIS is the first to present a Dutch retrospective exhibition of the work of Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel who are widely considered to be among the world’s leading designers today. This exhibition, co-produced with Z33 and compiled by curator Mark Wilson, offers rich visual works that lets industrial design flow smoothly into visual design and introduces the visitor into Studio Job’s way of thinking and working.

The exhibition in the DESIGNHUIS consists of forty works that show a selection of iconic and often symbolic works next to the more down-to-earth designs by Studio Job. Studio Job uses a clever play of measurements, materials and study of the primordial shape to question the common notions on functionality, mass-production and style. The archetypical shapes of a vase, a candlestick or a tea pot are magnified, turning the designs into symbols of their own shapes. The materials are selected for their tactile and plastic qualities. You can see and feel the prints Job and Nynke made in them. Dead objects almost seem to come alive. Bulk and decorative ornaments add to the unreal look of the designs.

The exhibition can be seen 20 October through 16 December 2007.