About Piet Hein Eek

I first encountered Piet Hein Eek’s work in the Frozen Fountain* store in Amsterdam in 2002.  It struck me as being especially rich in character and texture while still remaining simple and modern in form.  I have been studying the work ever since, and have taken numerous trips to visit Piet Hein in his small factory in Geldrop, a modest town in central Holland. Over time, my appreciation for his work has deepened, and Piet Hein and I have become friends. This year we agreed to work together to bring his work to the U.S. market. You can view much of his work on this site and we are also showing his work at Arkitektura In-Situ in San Francisco.

Piet Hein’s work is well known in Holland, and he is represented in the UK, Italy, Spain, France, and Japan.  He has not been represented in the U.S. until now probably because his production is very limited (everything is made in his workshop by hand) and the work falls into a special category of design outside the conventions of a typical design store or gallery. We think it’s a perfect fit at Studio Forbes.  

There are a number of characteristics that gives Eek's work its unique appeal.  First and foremost, it is original.  “Original” may be a tricky word to define, but we all recognize it when we see it.  All designers take their influences from the past, run them through their mill, and come out with their personal vision.  When this vision is not obviously derivative of any one style, the work surprises, engages, and sometimes excites us.  In Eek's work we can draw analogies to Amish furniture, Dutch architects like Oud and Rietveld, Jean Prouvé’s Parisian atelier, and even Donald Judd's furniture. But the references are subtle and spiritual rather than blatant, and Eek's work is undeniably his own personal statement. This originality reaffirms the power of the individual and, by extension, the human capacity to shape the future. This is what makes his work thoroughly optimistic and modern.

Piet Hein Eek’s work is also genuinely thoughtful and provocative. It raises questions at the same time as it delivers answers. It challenges the categories of modern design--blurring the lines between art, design, craft, and industrial production. This is a quality that Eek's work shares with that of all great modern designers. (Look at the work of Castiglione, Eames, or Aalto, and you find profound thought, subtle nuances, or play juxtaposed to a rational resolved form.) This quality has been called “poetic functionalism,” and it is at the heart of Eek's work.  

An obvious example of this poetic functionalism is the handmade processes he employs and the use of recycled wood and metals. A more rational and traditional modern approach would be to use new materials and an automated, efficient process in the pursuit of industrial precision. Precision and perfection were appropriate objectives for the Bauhaus and for the 20th Century modernism. But by turning our attention to questions of conventional beauty and what constitutes waste, Eek's work helps us define what is relevant in modernism for our age.

Eek's work also stands out in today’s design world in its refusal to subordinate substance to style. Though his work is personal, quirky and even rebellious by modern design standards, it is classic rather than trendy. Time is kind to it. This is especially refreshing today when there is such a premium on innovation and such a preponderance of design that becomes dated quickly.

Piet Hein Eek is not your typical designer.  He listens to classical music, hates to travel, doesn’t dress in black, reads books on philosophy and lives and works in a small suburban town.  His staff of fifteen look like a bunch of San Francisco bike messengers. His studio appears a bit cluttered and in need of organization.  His clarity of thought and the precision in his work, on the other hand, is extreme. There is little margin for error when you walk the line between handmade production and a modern aesthetic. This is why his work is uncommon and why it cannot be reproduced in volume or easily imitated.

The best way to appreciate Piet Hein’s work is to see it in person.  Holland is one place to see it; another is Arkitektura In-Situ in San Francisco. Still, we will maintain a gallery online, and we will continually be adding products and information about Piet Hein Eek on our website. Eek's Dutch website also provides a comprehensive overview of his work.  Additionally, we will carry the publication Boek-- a highly visual and informative book covering Piet Hein Eek’s work and thought from 1990 to 2006, 447 pages.

 

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Best,

Rob Forbes

*The Frozen Fountain is a modern design store with a Dutch emphasis. The store is sophisticated but quirky, rich in texture, color, materials and surprises. It is like the work of Piet Hein Eek itself- modern but highly personal and idiosyncratic, unorthodox, colorful, optimistic and unpretentious. We suggest a visit the next time you are in Amsterdam.