Dezeen Wire: Dutch designer Tord Boontje is to open a shop in London on 1 March.
The store at 23 Charlotte Road in Shoreditch will stock products Boontje has designed for brands including Moroso, Kvadrat, Swarovski and Artecnica, plus one-offs and new pieces that will be exclusive to the shop. Boontje’s studio and workshop will be housed in the same building.
There will also be an online store, launching later in March.
Boontje is currently professor and head of design products at the Royal College of Art, having taken over the role from Ron Arad in 2009. See all our stories about Tord Boontje here and watch our interview with him on Dezeen Screen.
Here are some more details from Boontje:
Opening: Tord Boontje Shop In London
I am pleased to announce the opening of my shop in London on 1st March 2012. The shop is located at 23 Charlotte Road, Shoreditch, London. It will be a unique place where many of my designs are presented together.
In the shop, we will have all the products I have designed for clients such as Swarovski, Moroso, Kvadrat, Artecnica, Authentics. These range from crystal chandeliers to mass-produced tableware, textiles and lighting; from the extravagant and experimental to everyday affordable products.
The design studio will be located in the same space and it is also where we will be making one-off pieces of furniture and lighting. We will be creating special items that will be exclusive to the Tord Boontje shop. I hope the presence of myself and my team will create a friendly atmosphere, where people are welcome, can browse, ask questions, share thoughts and get an insight of the workings behind the scenes and into the making of products.
I see the shop as a new way of working for myself, a place where independent experimentation can take place; where we can create special products, either as one- off or production pieces. To me, forming this method of working reflects the time we live in, a time in which it is good to think about making by hand and by machines, the local and the global, creativity and freedom, presentation and independence.
The shopʼs unique interior will be an installation of furniture, lights, textiles, objects, jewellery, and projection, creating a rich environment and a complete experience; a fulfilling place to come and visit.
In the Tord Boontje shop, you will be able to find:
Furniture from Moroso, including the Shadowy Chair, which is made by artisans in Dakar, Senegal; the Bon Bon tables with delicate printed floral patterns on Corian; the Witch Chair in black leather; the perforated metal Rain chairs and table for the garden.
Crystal chandeliers from Swarovski, including the Blossom and Ice Branch.
Artecnicaʼs Midsummer Lights, made in paper, which hang like a floral bouquet from the ceiling.
Patterned porcelain tableware with illustrations of horses, birds, butterflies, bears, deer, and flowers, produced by Authentics.
Habitatʼs Garland Light entwining the light bulbs.
The Rough-and-Ready chair in three different formats: a free diagram with make-it- yourself instructions, a basic priced kit of parts for self-assembly and ready-made chairs.
The complete Transglass range of recycled tableware made from used wine, beer and champagne bottles.
Scented candles in Transglass containers, available in the fragrances Fresh Cut Grass and Ripe Currant.
Curtain textiles from Kvadrat, such as the delicate laser cut Eternal Summer and 100 Years. Upholstery fabrics with patterns of twisting roses, screen-printed on wool felt.
Hand made rugs from India, such as Little Field of Flowers.
One-off pieces from past exhibitions, such as the Princess Chair, the Petit Jardin Chair and lights made of grass.
Jewellery such as Charming, Cut Here and studio pieces made in crystal and cherry pips.
Tord Boontje was born in Enschede, Netherlands in 1968. He first studied industrial design at the Design Academy in Eindhoven (1986 – 1991), and followed this with a Masters from the Royal College of Art (1992 – 1994). Studio Tord Boontje was founded in 1996 in London.
In 2002, Tord Boontje became known in the UK with his Garland Light for Habitat, followed in 2003 by the Blossom Chandelier which he designed for Swarovski. In 2004 he established his international reputation with the solo exhibition in Milan, titled ʻHappy Ever Afterʼ in the Moroso furniture showroom.
Since 2005, Tord Boontje has worked with a range of international companies such as Shiseido, Yamaha, Hewlett Packard, Bisazza, Target, Philips, Kvadrat, Alexander McQueen, Nanimarquina, Artecnica, Authentics, Meta and has continued his work with Swarovski, Moroso and Habitat.
He has exhibited in galleries and museums, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, MoMA and Copper-Hewitt museum in New York, the Design Museum and Tate Modern in London.
In 2009 he took up his appointment as Professor and Head of Design Products at the Royal College of Art.
The challenge and opportunity the Studio has long sought is a delicate marriage of design with emotion that is as broadly accessible as it is enticing. The Studioʼs work draws from a belief that modernism does not mean minimalism, that contemporary does not forsake tradition, and that technology does not abandon people and senses. The Studioʼs designs often temper edges with softness, take inspiration from nature, and employ a décor of forms and layers to engage and entice an observerʼs imagination and emotions. But these references to nature and emotion reflect only an outcome, not the process of design itself. Although the use of technologies and material properties is never celebrated (and is always subsumed within the final product), there is nonetheless a conscious insistence that the Studioʼs work employ the latest production and material technologies in pursuit of its vision.
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