2009
Projects
The first project of the Droog Lab, Droog al Arab was launched. Droog New York opened in SoHo, with an interior by Studio Makkink & Bey. Co-founder Gijs Bakker resigned from Droog to concentrate on his independent work and Renny Ramakers continued as the sole director. Dutch jenever company Ketel One became a new client. Droog presented a series of new work in Milan together with a pop-up store. Droog presented Townhouse and Paper bone chair at Design Miami, amongst other studio works. New fashion items were introduced to Droog’s store. The second Lab project, Luxury of the North was launched. Chris Kabel won the DOEN prize for the Seam chair. Time Out Amsterdam awarded Droog best product design firm of 2009. Renny Ramakers curated a festival of Dutch design, fashion and architecture at Governors Island, New York, attracting over 25,000 visitors.
Milan 2009 Salone del Mobile April 22th – 26th
During Salone del Mobile in Milan, Droog introduced House of furniture parts by Studio Makkink & Bey, a development of Wall of furniture parts from the installation at Droog New York.
Droog also presented Clock inlays and Tool inlays by FormaFantasma (Andrea Trimarchi & Simone Farresin), Seam chair and Seam bench by Chris Kabel, Skin by Studio Nacho Carbonell, Anamorphosis and 7 keyholes by Luc d’Hanis & Sofie Lachaert, Boombench by NL Architects (Michael Schoner), Chroma key by Minale– Maeda, Obsession table by Nadia Pedreschi and Readymade bookshelf by NEXT Architects. The presentation, also featuring a Droog pop-up store, attracted many visitors and members of the press.
Pioneers of Change Governors Island, New York September 11th – 20th
“It is a system that starts from the designer but grows into the culture where it is locally produced. It makes me very curious how it will look in five years,” says Jurgen Bey.
Pioneers of Change was a festival of Dutch design, fashion and architecture celebrating 400 years of a Dutch-American friendship that took place on Governors Island in New York. The event, curated by Renny Ramakers, attracted over 25,000 visitors over the course of two weekends. Visitors were tickled by a robot, they repaired broken tableware and moth-eaten sweaters, ate very slowly, watched real time pass by, and filled their backpacks and purses with Dutch design ware all under $100. All this and more took place in eleven former commanding Officer houses in Nolan Park transformed by Dutch designers, artists and architects in collaboration with elderly New Yorkers, local students and the public.
Pioneers of Change encourages a more responsible and sustainable approach to living. The event celebrates the blurring of low- and high–brow, establishing new collaborations, encouraging involvement and valuing handcraft and the local context. Pioneers of Change applies the luxury tag to qualities now hard to come by, including space, fresh air, silence and time. The festival can take place in other cities around the world, each time bringing in new participants and influences from the local context. Participants included 2012Architecten, Atelier NL, Maarten Baas, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York, Franck Bragigand, Droog with Marije Vogelzang, Herman Verkerk, Rianne Makkink and Hansje van Halem, Experimental Jetset, Pascale Gatzen, Christien Meindertsma, MVRDV and The Why Factory with Work Architecture Company, Painted, Driessens & Verstappen, Arthur Elsenaar & Taconis Stolk, Parsons The New School for Design, Platform21 and Marcel Schmalgemeijer. Pioneers of Change was initiated by Han Bakker under the authority of NY400, the result of an initiative by the Dutch Government in close co-operation with Dutch local and provincial authorities, with New York City and New York State, and with active participation of a great number of organizations from the private, cultural and non-profit sectors. Pioneers of Change was supported by the Dutch Design Fashion Architecture program, which aims to strengthen the international position of these sectors trough a joined-up approach. Production was by Droog Design Foundation, Droog New York and Formavision. We thank our sponsors: The Premsela Foundation, Fine Paints of Europe, Wijzonol, Lensvelt, NgispeN and Ketel One.
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