Hasta La Ideas

Some words from design’s robot-driven Dutchman as he preps his live demo for Milan

Dutch designer Dirk van der Kooij is obsessed with rapid prototyping. Best known for his Endless Chair, made from a continuous string of recycled plastic using a 3D printer, the design has grown into a range of products all with the goal of making the production process more visible. Speaking at Design Indaba recently, van der Kooij explained, “the best thing about recycled plastic is it has history.”

The tinkerer’s focus is on the evolution of his designs, continuously rebuilding his “robot” as a way of advancing his work. This relentless dedication to perfecting the machine’s output reflects his progressive approach and commitment to adding to the design conversation.

We caught up with van der Kooij as he prepares for his exhibition at Milan’s Salone del Mobile—where he will recreate his workshop with live demonstrations alongside showing his newest project, the Gispen.

What was the initial thought behind your material-based experiments?

I wanted to find a production process that gave me the chance to adapt and change a small series of product without complicated moulds. With this robot, I can build up a chair out of one plastic string and refine it endlessly.

I wanted to use plastic because it has a lot of opportunities as a material and I wanted to show a different approach, and perhaps a sort of unorthodox approach of plastic. By using recycled plastic the history of the material becomes visible. The colors will have shades and thereby every chair is unique.

The Endless chair is made from recycled refrigerators, what happens at the end of its life?

The chairs are indeed made up out of one material. So no screws, demounting of parts, etc. So at the end of its life, the only thing that is left is this material, which can easily be shredded again until the plastic is at the end of its life. In fact, we shred the prototypes we don’t like and use the material to make new ones.

Is sustainability a key factor in your designs?

No, but filling up the machine with recycled plastic gives me a better feeling. It is a challenge to be sustainable and it was even more of a challenge to use recycled plastic. I like these challenges in the design process, because it gives me some boundaries.

What do you consider the end purpose of these experiments?

I like to make honest designs, where the design itself tells people the tale of its own development. For me this is an integral part of designing. People should be able to understand a product. In the Endless chairs you can see that the chairs are built up out of one plastic string, without these complicated moulds. So this was in fact my main goal.

Do you see your furniture being mass produced in the future?

This is in fact one of my dreams to have a small factory and continue with these kind of projects. With this robot-project I want to go on until I find the borders of its production. Perhaps it will become a mass-production robot in the future.

This movie filmed as part of our Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents in Cologne earlier this year features industrial designer Marco Susani.

Click on the symbol in the bottom right of the video player above to view the movie in full-screen HD. Can’t see the movie? Click here.

We’ll be publishing all 13 movies from Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents over the coming days. More details about the talks here.

See also:

Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Harry Thaler
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: AKKA
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Hanna Emelie Ernsting
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Shay Alkalay
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Stefan Diez
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Mathias Hahn
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Mark Braun

See all our stories from Cologne 2011 »

Watch all our movies from Dezeentalks at Cologne 2010 »
Watch all our movies »

See also:

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Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Shay Alkalay	Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Harry Thaler	Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: AKKA

Berlin designer Mark Braun talks about his latest work in this next movie from Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents.

Click on the symbol in the bottom right of the video player above to view the movie in full-screen HD.
Can’t see the movie? Click here.

The Dezeentalks series features Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs interviewing 13 designers and design-world figures and was filmed at imm cologne earlier this year.

Above: Ton by Mark Braun (see our earlier story)

More about Mark Braun on Dezeen »

We’ll be publishing all 13 movies from Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents over the coming days. More details about the talks here.

See also:

Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Harry Thaler
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: AKKA
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Hanna Emelie Ernsting
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Shay Alkalay
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Stefan Diez
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Mathias Hahn

See all our stories from Cologne 2011 »

Watch all our movies from Dezeentalks at Cologne 2010 »
Watch all our movies »

See also:

.

Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Shay Alkalay	Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Harry Thaler	Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: AKKA

The fifth in our series of Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents features designer German designer Stefan Diez talking about factories, working conditions, mittens for motorcycles and sex tourism.

Click on the symbol in the bottom right of the video player above to view the movie in full-screen HD.
Can’t see the movie? Click here.

Diez was interviewed by Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs at imm cologne.

More about Stefan Diez »

We’ll be publishing all 13 movies from Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents over the coming days. More details about the talks here.

See also:

Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Harry Thaler
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: AKKA
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Hanna Emelie Ernsting
Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Shay Alkalay

See all our stories from Cologne 2011 »

Watch all our movies from Dezeentalks at Cologne 2010 »
Watch all our movies »

See also:

.

Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Shay Alkalay	Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: Harry Thaler	Dezeentalks at [D3] Design Talents: AKKA

In this movie recorded at Somerset House in London author Max Fraser talks about his Joy of Living project, where designers including John Pawson, Michael Wolfson and Brodie Neill donated artworks based on graph paper to raise money for a cancer charity. 

Click on the symbol in the bottom right of the video player above to view the movie in full-screen HD.
Can’t see the movie? Click here.

The movie also features Charles Jencks, co-founder of Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, talking about the work the charity does.

120 pieces were on show before being sold to raise money for the charity. More details in our earlier story.

The exhibition has now closed but artworks are available to buy for £250 each from the project website.

More about Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres on Dezeen »

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Maggie’s Centre Cheltenham by MJP Architects	Maggie’s Centre Gartnavel by OMA	Maggie’s Centre London by Rogers Stirk Harbour