Every year is Dutch Design Week the place where innovation, creativity and sustainability come together. For the design team, it's a firm punch in the agenda, not only to inspire event styling and sustainability, but also to discover new techniques and materials as a team. These are the eight things that have stayed with us most.
1. Worms that eat Styrofoam
One of the most striking installations was Factory 5.0, where worms were devouring Styrofoam. These "kingworms" can break down styrofoam and show that waste does not have to be the end of a material. The project is not just about waste reduction, but about a larger idea: working with nature as a partner instead of using it as a raw material. Great example of how circularity can literally come to life!
2. Games for adults
Everywhere we saw the Kidult trend. Jan Trendman predicted it early this year! From colorful objects and crawl passages to mazes in which adults were allowed to be a child again. Adults want to play, to discover and to be amazed. And that's exactly what we can call to events: playful interaction that ensures sincere experience, not only watching but also experienced.
3. Transformed transformer cabin
Designer Rosalie Apituley showed with her Picnic Trafo that even a powerhouse can become a creative hotspot. Visitors could charge their phones in a locker downstairs, and then charge them on top of the raised picnic bench. A place to talk, to connect and to think about the energy transition.
4. Story Station
Permanently temporary worked as a kind of modern viewing cabinet: Loading and boxes full of textures, QR codes with background stories and small surprises made durability tangible. For brands this is an inspiring activation concept: So the story of your brand is not told, but experienced.
5. Wrong connected
The activation of Waag Futurelab with the yellow telephone booth tells: You got the wrong number! No, it's not the connection of your phone, but the platforms that dominate most of the Internet: social media. What once seemed like a place to connect is now a place where the connection is more than loose. For us a powerful reminder: The physical experience, the live encounter at events, is more important than ever.
6. Durable = dazzling
Sustainability may sometimes feel boring or as an obligation, but we continue to be amazed at the endless possibilities and the wonderful, unexpected outcomes. One of the most striking examples was Plasticite, a material fire that reinvents waste as something valuable, expressive and sustainable. Their recycled panels, with a marble-like or resin-like appearance, are handmade and show how waste can turn into high-end design.
7. Joni on the DDW!
We were of course extra proud to see our own workshop artist Joni Veizaj shine at Section C. He presented Folded Fever: a collection of folded furniture and mirrors that play with the boundary between functionality and sculpture. Each piece begins as a flat panel cut by hand, folded and formed into a unique object full of tension and precision. The result is a perfect balance between the playfulness of making and the refinement of design.
8. Music in light and movement
In Step Into Ripples by Parker Hertzberger (Section C) light, water and sound came together in an almost magical installation. A projector dropped light on a glass basin, while music sent vibrations through the water. The music became visible, the water danced along and the light waved. By stirring your finger in the water or placing small objects on the glass, you could influence the play of light and sound.
Our design team was full of new ideas and inspiration at the end of the day! Luckily there was room for a nice evening meal, because as our Lead Designer Daisy always says... Food = life. The meal became extra cozy by the Dragqueen bingo that turned out to be there. What do you mean, cute closing of the day?