During Dutch Design Week, Lonny van Ryswyck and Nadine Sterk of Atelier NL organized the exhibition Monnikenwerk, which revolves around the research process of designing. In their opinion the ‘making of’ and the creative process itself can be as interesting as final results. The exhibition portrays how seven designers and studios work which all share an awareness of how enriching a time-consuming task can be.

Atelier NL themselves started a few years ago with the project Glass Lab which they started in 2010 by making a ‘sand journey’ throughout Europe.  They shoveled sand on more than forty locations in sand quarries and sand dunes and analyzed their findings in their Dutch studio, the designers then fused the sand samples into clogs of glass, the size of a fist and all different in color. With the glass, Atelier NL proved that sand is potentially worth as much as gold, due to the natural minerals that attach to the grains. However, perfection is not the aim. The goal is to expose the wealth of the charming elements that are part of the sand. Like true alchemists, they heat up the elements again until they foam, burst or crystalize. Brought together in a sand cabinet/glass lab, an intruiging color palette, raw materials and semi-finished products offer a palette of possibilities. With this palette, Atelier NL wants to trigger the interest of scientists and industry to further applications.

Also participating in the exhibition is Studio Eric Klarenbeek who presents the current status of his Print and Grow project in which he invested time in researching the possibilities of 3d printing of living organisms. Where normally plastics are used to print digital drawings Klarenbeek replaced these synthetics with a natural material, mycelium, of which the networks of wires of a fungus are made.

“Mycelium is interesting because it grows fast, is sustainable and once dried it is light, fire-resistant and strong. We 3d print structures from where mycelium can grow further. When the structure comes from the printer, the final product is not finished yet. This is only when it is fully grown in the lab.” states the designer. Together with scientists of the research group Mushrooms of Wageningen University, the first chair has been printed. It consists mainly of straw with a thin shell of bio plastic. As it is matured, it will hopefully be strong enough to carry a human being.

Jules van den Langenberg

www.ateliernl.com

www.ericklarenbeek.com

Jules van den Langenberg recently graduated at Design Academy Eindhoven. He initiates-, curates- and exhibits projects in which applied art and design are used as a medium to cultivate culture. Jules approaches the world as a library full of potential, with an inexhaustible resource: humans and their skills. Within this wonderland of opportunities the young -Willy Wonka like- artistic industrialist travels to meet people and research the social- and cultural impact of all that is man made.

Through associative thinking Jules develops narratives and concepts which form fundaments for publications, exhibitions and self initiated projects as well as commissioned works. During Dutch Design Week 2013,  Jules shares with us some of his discoveries and « coup de coeur ».

Jules van den Langenberg