Festival Design kwartier

I do not know how your experiences are but in these last weeks before the Summer holiday I always feel like the weeks go by extra fast.

As you may have seen on my instagram last week, I visited the Festival Designkwartier event which was organized for the fifth time this year. This great festival ( that takes place in The Hague) is about the story behind current Dutch design, with over 100 designers showing new work in 65 special places in the city. This small-scale festival is one of my favorite events to visit!

Surprising routes run through a mix of pop-ups, shops, museums and even living rooms in people's homes. Visitors can admire presentations and exhibitions, and attend lectures and workshops. On top visitors can also enjoy a lot of design from well-known designers and up-and-coming talent.

In addition to all the great design and the creative installation at the electricity factory, the inspiring WOTH house (an old milk factory) owned by Mary Hessing (chief editor of WOTH magazine) was again my most inspiring spot this year. At her home, which is also a gallery space, I've admired the inspiring work of Dutch designer Sander Wassink (incl these Beach chairs), which is part of the exhibit of Sectie C and curated by Michela Castagnaro. 

Next to the beautiful exhibition space, the great inner garden of the house remains my favorite. By using old building materials and by dividing the space using glass doors, Mary and her husband Toon created enhanced transparency towards the garden. I just love the original black and white tiles on the wall, they remind of the old days and combined with the trees and plants it creates a harmonious atmosphere with the rest of the house.  

This year the garden and outdoor places apparently belonged to my favorites at the festival because after the garden that I just mentioned I also fell for the Berit Collection, a beautiful outdoor collection designed in 2015 by Ineke Hans. This collection is arised from an earlier commision from a private client to design wooden furniture for her very small private Island in The Netherland. This very special furniture line is made of Accoya wood, a non-tropical wood, which is ecologically sustainable.

My tour at the Festival ended at "Vrienden", a new Dutch design label from designers Eric Sloot & Paulien Berendsen from Studio Parade and the internationally successful wall decoration system IXXI where I admired their collection including the amazing table shuffleboard (an old dutch game) "Sjuul" which not only provides a lot of fun but also is a real eyecatching accessory on the wall don't you think so? 

- Elvera -