From February 10-12, we presented part of the Vij5 collection during the leading design event OBJECT Rotterdam. During the expo, we showed a number of previews of New products. In the coming period, we will officially launch these New products, so they are not all yet available on our Website. Would you like a sneak peek of what to expect? Then read on...
Photography: Vij5
About OBJECT Rotterdam
OBJECT is a special pop-up platform that focuses on Design labels, well-known Designers, and emerging talents. It combines Design, craft, fashion, architecture, and art and is a must-see event for people looking for inspiration for their interior, Design enthusiasts, and collectors. For us, it is an ideal opportunity to present the Vij5 collection to true enthusiasts, in a beautiful environment.
The aesthetics of the HAKA building
OBJECT takes place annually in an iconic building in Rotterdam or the surrounding area. This year, it was once again the beautiful HAKA building, where our presentation could be found on the first floor. The HAKA building is a completely stripped architectural monument from the 1930s and always serves as a brilliant backdrop for our collection.
Our approach during exhibitions
During every exhibition we participate in, we find it important to be personally present and provide visitors with information. As publishers, we work from content: the product and the story behind it are central to us. We don't believe in smooth sales pitches, but we like to SHARE our honest enthusiasm about our products with you!
Color explosion
In our presentation, you couldn't miss the color installation with special editions of the Alf wall hook. Especially for OBJECT Rotterdam, we CREATEd the Alf in 11 bright colors which could be seen in a grid of 99 wall hooks, presented as a kind of rainbow!
These special editions are a variation on the standard colors of the Alf, designed by Gustav Rosén, which is normally only available in oak, brown & black. Later in the year, we will decide which colors we will include in the permanent collection. The remaining items from the installation are now available in our webshop, but be quick because once they're gone, they're gone!
The colored linseed oil that we use to color the Alfs is the beautiful Satin Wood Oil from Linolie & Pigment from Denmark. We are a distributor in the Netherlands for this beautiful brand. The oil can be ordered via www.linolie.nl.
Previews
Especially for OBJECT, we also showed previews of three New products:
The 'OER tableware Eindhoven' by Lotte de Raadt and Kirstie van Noort is a tableware collection made of porcelain clay mixed with iron sludge (OER) that we source directly from the water production company in Eindhoven.
Iron sludge is a natural residual material from the production process of our tap water. By mixing it with porcelain, this tableware gets a light gray tint with small specks of a darker color.
Lotte and Kirstie are investigating various Applications of local and natural (residual) materials for, among other things, ceramic products. The material and the products refer to one of the most important resources of this planet; water.
The OER tableware will be officially launched later this year, but you can already place a pre-order in our webshop.
The foarme series by Idwert Petter consists of espresso and coffee/tea cups plus a matching plateau. This series is made in a special way from colored porcelain, in a gradient of colors composed by Idwert himself.
A lot can go wrong during the making of porcelain. The shape can crack or come out of the oven deformed. A large part of the production often fails to be sold. With the foarme series, Idwert wants to prevent this unnecessary waste by no longer thinking from a shape, but from the material.
What does this material need to no longer be forced? Based on form studies, she came up with a double-walled series of porcelain, using lines of tension in the form. A strong form that always comes out of the oven as intended. In this way, the tolerance of the porcelain is never pushed too far, while the lines emphasize the beauty.
With the Stainless Steel Mirror, Theodóra Alfredsdottir transforms a stainless steel sheet into something with a bit more character, while adding or subtracting as little as possible from the original form. The design makes use of how easily these sheets can be bent and manipulated, and how different surface treatments change their appearance and function.
The functional sculptures were born from simple three-dimensional paper sketches, which were then translated into high gloss stainless steel mirrors. The mirror is laser cut and folded twice, after which the brushed section is finished by hand.
New variations
In addition to the previews, there were also a number of new variations of existing products from the Vij5 collection.
The Tap Water Carafe by Lotte de Raadt is a water carafe intended to promote the use of tap water. Dutch tap water is top quality drinking water and it is 2000 times cheaper than bottled water. More importantly, it does not require environmentally polluting plastic bottles or transport.
Lotte's designs emphasize the beauty of water, thereby encouraging a more conscious use of this precious natural resource. The Tap Water Carafe is perhaps her most self-explanatory design, arising from this theme. Lotte originally designed the carafe as her graduation project in 2010, but the theme is still relevant today. During OBJECT, we presented the carafe for the first time in a glass version. This is now also available in our webshop!
Finally, we presented a new, ginger-yellow color for Alissa + Nienke's Pigments & Porcelain cups. Pigments & Porcelain is an investigation into the intermingling of colors in liquid porcelain, capturing the moment of creation in the final product. The pattern might be colorful or subtle, very smooth or strongly present; it always reveals the blending of the colored porcelain and the movements that have been made during the process.
Pigments & Porcelain is handmade in limited series. Because the color of the pigments is inside the clay itself (not in the glazing), the ceramics will maintain their color even after frequent use. For each series, we choose a new color combination together with Alissa + Nienke. All products are dishwasher safe.
The new ginger-yellow color is now available in our webshop!
Coming up
Would you like to meet us and/or see the Vij5 collection in real life ? Then drop by our showroom in Eindhoven (open by appointment) or during the next exhibition we participate in: Dutch Design Week! This is scheduled for October 21-29, 2023.