Droog Design — Spirit of the Nineties
The Kalon Library Vol. 05
From our studio shelves — volumes that trace the ideas, influences, and cultural undercurrents behind our work.
One of our favorite books from our library celebrates a lesser known experimental movement in Dutch design: Droog. This year, Droog turned thirty, a milestone that represents works like Tejo Remy’s chest of drawers from 1993—an assemblage of salvaged drawers buckled together with a ratchet strap. (More on that later.)
The work that followed shined a critical lens on design objects. The group took found objects and rearranged them, ultimately flipping ideas of form and function on their head, prioritizing concepts over utility. Born in opposition to the strict codes of Bauhaus’ New Design and the over-the-top materiality of the Memphis Group, Droog Design captures a critique on design that is quintessentially Droog. Humorous. Clumsy. Irreverent. Sublime.
“Among the first objects that Droog’s initiators Renny Ramakers and Gijs Bakker presented were a series of what appeared to be design accidents, like Tejo Remi’s accumulation of drawers with a cabinet and his ‘Rag Chair’ – both held together by belts. Not your typical user-friendly designs.”
“This new generation absorbs the everyday culture very literally. Ideas are still at the center, but no longer introverted or narrative. They refer instead to contemporary product and design culture, and reject the polished style of established design.”
“Young Dutch designers seemed no longer interested in originality. They arranged, they assembled. Or, as Umberto Eco would say: ‘Innovation is to be found in the way the material is ordered. Creativity is less a question of inventing than of reorganizing what is already there.”
We hope you’ll consider supporting local, independent bookstores and publishing houses. For architecture and design-related books, we love Stout Books in San Francisco. Explore their complete catalog, including Droog Design, Spirit of the Nineties and other books on Droog.
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