29 October - 14 February 2010
The partners in Studio Makkink & Bey are architect Rianne Makkink (b. 1964) and designer Jurgen Bey (b. 1965). Both of them live and work in Rotterdam. It was Studio Makkink & Bey that designed the interior of Kunsthal KAdE. This exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue produced by graphic design bureau Koehorst in ’t Veld. Kunsthal KAdE’s regular graphic designers, Toon Koehorst and Jannetje In’t Veld, were selected by Studio Makkink & Bey.
The 'Happy Families' exhibition tells the whole story of Studio Makkink & Bey. It is more than simply a display of finished work, but shows how the Studio’s design practice has developed over time. The story began with Jurgen Bey and his narrative design method. He and Rianne Makkink then got together to form Studio Makkink & Bey. Studio members and kindred spirits in the design world now function as a family, together planning the future, sharing knowledge and working on the development of the cultural heritage. The evolution of this design family tree is revealed at Amersfoort’s Kunsthal KAdE, itself part of the ‘family’ ever since Studio Makkink & Bey designed its interior. The accompanying catalogue shows the family epic from the initial seed right through to the outermost branches of the tree.
Studio Makkink & Bey ‘House of Furniture Parts’, 2009, photograph courtesy of Droog
The design network is divided into sections on the basis of four different areas of work:
Workspace
* The studio is a nursery for young designers and a base for Jurgen’s teaching activities in London. New designers can make their debut and be helped with workspace, contacts and publicity. Travel supplies impressions from other parts of the world to be integrated into the studio’s design process. The place is at once a library and a knowledge centre.
Production space
* Handmade products, small series of objects for galleries and work produced in the studio itself are displayed in the production space. These are the final results of the design process which begins with the collection of impressions and concepts.
Garden shed
* The studio disseminates ideas and uses them to create new ways of looking at current issues. Product lines are the result of alliances with experts and result in new storylines within the ‘family network’.
Model home
* Production is done in-house on the basis of model-building and maquettes. Models are sometimes designs in themselves, like the blue polyurethane foam interior of the Droog Store in New York. A model is a rough design that can be taken in any direction. It shows the way the designer is thinking but can still be tailored to exact wishes and desired dimensions. Tactics, concepts and experiences are mutually reinforcing because they are connected with people in the Studio Makkink & Bey family tree. Visitors to the exhibition will find themselves surrounded by model scenarios in which solutions can be found and from which latent opportunities may yet emerge. Finished products and projects reveal their origins through distinctive characteristics and linked firms or individuals. The catalogue narrates the history of the family on the basis of a family tree of the people and the work the network produces. The book’s designers, Toon Koehorst and Jannetje In ’t Veld, are themselves a clear-cut example of how the ‘family’ philosophy works in Studio Makkink & Bey’s design practice. Studio Makkink & Bey’s new website – likewise designed by Koehorst in’t Veld – is to be launched at the exhibition opening.
Studio Makkink & Bey ‘Strohuis’, 2008, photographer: Aly van der Mark.
The exhibition ‘Happy Families’ offers an insight into Studio Makkink & Bey’s design philosophy, which is largely based on personal relationships, connections with like-minded people and collaborative arrangements. It was Studio Makkink & Bey that designed the interior of Kunsthal KAdE. The exhibition and accompanying catalogue will both be designed by Koehorst In ’t Veld, the bureau commissioned on Studio Makkink & Bey’s recommendation to design Kunsthal KAdE’s house style.
'Happy Families' | Studio Makkink & Bey
The partners in Studio Makkink & Bey are architect Rianne Makkink (b. 1964) and designer Jurgen Bey (b. 1965). Both of them live and work in Rotterdam. It was Studio Makkink & Bey that designed the interior of Kunsthal KAdE. This exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue produced by graphic design bureau Koehorst in ’t Veld. Kunsthal KAdE’s regular graphic designers, Toon Koehorst and Jannetje In’t Veld, were selected by Studio Makkink & Bey.
The 'Happy Families' exhibition tells the whole story of Studio Makkink & Bey. It is more than simply a display of finished work, but shows how the Studio’s design practice has developed over time. The story began with Jurgen Bey and his narrative design method. He and Rianne Makkink then got together to form Studio Makkink & Bey. Studio members and kindred spirits in the design world now function as a family, together planning the future, sharing knowledge and working on the development of the cultural heritage. The evolution of this design family tree is revealed at Amersfoort’s Kunsthal KAdE, itself part of the ‘family’ ever since Studio Makkink & Bey designed its interior. The accompanying catalogue shows the family epic from the initial seed right through to the outermost branches of the tree.
Studio Makkink & Bey ‘House of Furniture Parts’, 2009, photograph courtesy of Droog
The design network is divided into sections on the basis of four different areas of work:
Workspace
* The studio is a nursery for young designers and a base for Jurgen’s teaching activities in London. New designers can make their debut and be helped with workspace, contacts and publicity. Travel supplies impressions from other parts of the world to be integrated into the studio’s design process. The place is at once a library and a knowledge centre.
Production space
* Handmade products, small series of objects for galleries and work produced in the studio itself are displayed in the production space. These are the final results of the design process which begins with the collection of impressions and concepts.
Garden shed
* The studio disseminates ideas and uses them to create new ways of looking at current issues. Product lines are the result of alliances with experts and result in new storylines within the ‘family network’.
Model home
* Production is done in-house on the basis of model-building and maquettes. Models are sometimes designs in themselves, like the blue polyurethane foam interior of the Droog Store in New York. A model is a rough design that can be taken in any direction. It shows the way the designer is thinking but can still be tailored to exact wishes and desired dimensions. Tactics, concepts and experiences are mutually reinforcing because they are connected with people in the Studio Makkink & Bey family tree. Visitors to the exhibition will find themselves surrounded by model scenarios in which solutions can be found and from which latent opportunities may yet emerge. Finished products and projects reveal their origins through distinctive characteristics and linked firms or individuals. The catalogue narrates the history of the family on the basis of a family tree of the people and the work the network produces. The book’s designers, Toon Koehorst and Jannetje In ’t Veld, are themselves a clear-cut example of how the ‘family’ philosophy works in Studio Makkink & Bey’s design practice. Studio Makkink & Bey’s new website – likewise designed by Koehorst in’t Veld – is to be launched at the exhibition opening.
Studio Makkink & Bey ‘Strohuis’, 2008, photographer: Aly van der Mark.
The exhibition ‘Happy Families’ offers an insight into Studio Makkink & Bey’s design philosophy, which is largely based on personal relationships, connections with like-minded people and collaborative arrangements. It was Studio Makkink & Bey that designed the interior of Kunsthal KAdE. The exhibition and accompanying catalogue will both be designed by Koehorst In ’t Veld, the bureau commissioned on Studio Makkink & Bey’s recommendation to design Kunsthal KAdE’s house style.
www.studiomakkinkbey.nl
www.koehorstintveld.nl