Hella Jongerius (born 30 May 1963 in De Meern, Utrecht) is a Dutch industrial designer.

Hella Jongerius
Born
Hella Jongerius

30 May 1963 (1963-05-30) (age 61)
NationalityDutch
EducationDesign Academy Eindhoven
Known forCraft, Industry, Design
AwardsRotterdam Design Prize
Websitehttp://www.jongeriuslab.com/

Biography

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Jongerius was born in De Meern, a village to the west of Utrecht in the Netherlands in 1963. From 1988 to 1993, she studied design at the Design Academy Eindhoven. After graduating, she worked for a few projects at Droog Design.[1] She founded her own studio called Jongeriuslab in Rotterdam in 1993. She taught at the Design Academy Eindhoven as head of the department Living/Atelier (1988–1993).

Her clients include Maharam (New York), KLM (Netherlands), Vitra (Switzerland), IKEA (Sweden), Camper (Spain), Nymphenburg (Germany) and, Royal Tichelaar Makkum (Netherlands).[2] Her designs have been exhibited at galleries and museums such as the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum (New York), MoMA (New York), Stedelijk Museum (Netherlands), Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam), the Design Museum (London), Galerie kreo (Paris) and Moss Gallery (New York).[2] In 2008 Jongerius moved her studio to Berlin.

Works

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Through Jongeriuslab, she produces various collections of textiles, crockery and furniture. Her design focuses on combining opposites; for example, new technology and handmade objects, industrial manufacturing and craftsmanship, and the traditional and the contemporary. Her works are often highly textural; for example, rough edged leather is rolled up to create wheels, paint is splashed on earthenware, ceramics are sewn onto cotton tablecloths, sinks are made of rubber.[2] Jongerius prefers working with textiles so that she can practice her creativity without making a new product from scratch.[3] According to New York Times design critic Alice Rawsthorn, Jongerius' "greatest achievement is bringing sensuality and sophistication to the sanitary industrial design".[1]

In 2012, Jongerius designed a new interior and seats for the business class cabin in KLM's Boeing 747. She is currently continuing on the business and economy class cabins for KLM's 777 and Dreamliner planes.[4] In 2013, together with architect Rem Koolhaas, she redesigned the North Delegates' Lounge at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.[5] For Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory, Jongerius designed the Nymphenburg Sketches, Four Seasons and Animal Bowls.[6]

Sustainability

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Jongerius's perspective on sustainability in design is that it should be built to last. She is a proponent of longtermism[7] and is an outspoken critic of ephemeral, low-quality objects — which in her view, should not exist. She has stated, "There's too much shit design"[8] and:

"It's not the design that is the real issue but the amount that is being produced, that is where the evil starts; it just doesn't really add anything to the world."

Jongerius sees longtermism as a solution for the wastefulness of design. She wishes modern designers would follow in the paths of 20th century industrial design greats such as Le Corbusier and Gerrit Rietveld.[citation needed] Jongerius believes that designers are either "merchants" or "pastors". These "merchants" are guilty, in her mind, of producing too much that doesn't last.[8]

"Merchants are the ones who keep the machine spinning for profit without any conscience and pastors are the ones who want to change something in the world and feel responsible."

Theorist Louise Schouwenberg and Jongerius published an opinion piece called Beyond the New: a search for ideals in design about the current state of design and sustainability.[9]

"We are in search for new ideals in design, a holistic approach on all levels."

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Product designs
UN Delegates' Lounge New York

Publications

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  • 2003, Hella Jongerius; text by Louise Schouwenberg, Phaidon Press
  • 2011, Hella Jongerius – Misfit; text by Louise Schouwenberg, Alice Rawsthorn, Paola Antonelli, graphic design by Irma Boom, Phaidon Publisher
  • 2015, Beyond the New: a search for ideals in design, opinion by Hella Jongerius and theorist Louise Schouwenberg
  • 2016, I Don't Have a Favourite Colour: Creating the Vitra Colour and Material Library, Die Gestalten Verlag [de] Berlin, ISBN 978-3-89955-665-0

Exhibitions

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References

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  1. ^ a b Rawsthorn, Alice (18 January 2010). "Daring to Play With a Rich Palette". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Information". Jongeriuslab design studio. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  3. ^ Hobson, Ben (11 September 2013). "'Why create another piece of furniture?' - Hella Jongerius". Dezeen. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  4. ^ Hobson, Ben (7 September 2013). "'I think they're weird; they think I'm weird' - Hella Jongerius". Dezeen. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  5. ^ Frearson, Amy (20 September 2013). "United Nations North Delegates' Lounge by Hella Jongerius and Rem Koolhaas". Dezeen. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  6. ^ "Hella Jongerius | Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg". www.nymphenburg.com.
  7. ^ McLaughlin, Aimée (2018-02-05). "The most influential female designers of the last century". Design Week. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  8. ^ a b Banks, Tom (2015-04-01). "Hella Jongerius: "There's too much shit design"". Design Week. Retrieved 2023-01-22.
  9. ^ "Jongerius and Schouwenberg on "impoverished" design world". Dezeen. 2015-04-10. Retrieved 2016-06-26.
  10. ^ "Polder Sofa and Polder Compact | Jongeriuslab design studio". jongeriuslab.com. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
  11. ^ Smith, Roberta (May 17, 2002). "DESIGN REVIEW; A Wrap That's Almost Human". The New York Times.
  12. ^ "Hella Jongerius Selects: Works from the Permanent Collection | Exhibitions | Smithsonian". www.si.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-04-29.
  13. ^ "Galerie kreo at Design Miami/ Basel 2013 | Galerie kreo | Artsy". www.artsy.net.
  14. ^ "United Nations North Delegates' Lounge by Hella Jongerius and Rem Koolhaas". Dezeen. September 20, 2013.
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