The Genius Loci
The Netherlands is one of the countries where independent, self-produced design is most widespread. At the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven we find a vast number of young designers who invent production processes, initiate co-working synergies and develop service platforms for promotion and research in design. In the former Philips plant, communities of creatives open their doors to the general public. “The show is spread over 80 locations throughout the city and in the designers’ workshops, to involve the visitors in working processes”, explains Martijn Paulen, the new curator of DDW. “The figure of the designer-maker is ingrained in our approach to design and already stressed at the educational stage, where we focus on experimentation and research (see the teaching methods of the Eindhoven Design Academy). For this reason, DDW is, and must increasingly be, a platform for ‘match making’ between designers and the major players in ‘design oriented’ industry, but not necessarily the design industry as such. We aim to increasingly involve a targeted audience as buyers, digital suppliers and small contractors to invent new forms of business. Our motto is in fact ‘Now Future’”.