studio makkink & bey at prague designblok 09

bureau europa exhibition jars, 2008-2009 displayed on drawers cratecupboard #2, 2004 image © designboom

this year’s prague designblok features guest dutch designers studio makkink & bey who are exhibiting a collection of cabinets which serve as working craftsmanship cells – an exploration of process and design.

‘we feel like explorers travelling around the world either driven by curiosity, or sent on a mission, constantly investigating, inquiring and associating. to come back with stories, stories that are told through design for design is our language. our goal is to create an installation or ‘environment’ mostly of a speculative character, such as new family and new ecology. for example new cycles of production and reproduction based on shifting relations between living, working and consuming. a trans-disciplinary approach, since contemporary innovation takes place at the sections of the established fields.‘ – SM&B, 2009

image © designboom

‘studio move’ from bureau europa exhibition jars, 2008-2009 image © designboom

small blue foam models and drawings of the studio’s projects are found inside the bureau europa exhibition jars, 2008-2009 image © designboom

small blue foam and paper model displayed inside a glass weck jar image © designboom

‘3034 interpolis’ from bureau europa exhibition jars, 2008-2009 image © designboom

‘3124’ prooff from bureau europa exhibition jars, 2008-2009 image © designboom

‘skydiving’ from bureau europa exhibition jars, 2008-2009 image © designboom

witness construction light – big, 2008 image © designboom

detail of light image © designboom

the unit is constructed from felt which has been sewn to mimic a light image © designboom

felt encasing the electrical units and plugs image © designboom

DMY study crate cabinet, 2009 image © designboom

inside the cabinet are slideshows of designers from the studio and their process work image © designboom

the chair and cabinet made from wood have been covered in brown flocking image © designboom

profile of the DMY study crate cabinet, 2009 image © designboom

detail of the flocking image © designboom

detail of the flocking picking up the wood grain image © designboom

kade chair #2, 2009 image © designboom

more flocking image © designboom

‘crates at nikkelstraat’ from bureau europa exhibition jars, 2008-2009 image © designboom

‘nikkelstraat working crate’ bureau europa exhibition jars, 2008-2009 image © designboom

studio makkink & bey(rianne makkink) with monika schedler and miriam frei image © designboom

the sumperak house was the czech contribution for expo ’58 in brussels. the popularity of the house came from a public desire for individual living: an ideal which was repressed by the political regime at the time. the circumstances surrounding the construction were a paradox;the socialist state withheld financial support and censored building plans, while simultaneously issuing flyers praising the house as an embodiment of the superior lifestyle. the building is recognizable by its compact design, balcony and large windows that are flanked by fivecircular vents on both sides. in spring 2009, rianne makkink conducted a glass workshop inspired by the sumperak house. in collaboration with vitrum praha, laboratory and technical glassware and design students from the academy of art, architecture and design the pieces which resulted from the workshop are exhibited alongside studio makkin & bey’s work.

the hollow glass leg of the table image © designboom

detail of the glass leg and how it is attached to the table image © designboom

de amersfoot chair, 2009 image © designboom

paper wood table, 2009 image © designboom

detail of the paper wood image © designboom

glasswork by daniel gonzalez and tamas varga image © designboom

glasswork by nicolas farinotti and paolo liace image © designboom

general view image © designboom