Dirk van der Kooij
Dirk Vander Kooij (b. 1983) is a Dutch designer best known for his playful extrusions of reclaimed synthetics. Holding the attitude of a craftsman and an inventor, Dirk marries machine and hand in the fostering of honest material expression. His time spent at the Design Academy Eindhoven fruited an ambitious endeavor: to apply low-resolution 3D printing in furniture production. The texture of this self-developed process has since become synonymous with his work.
Core tenets of longevity, functionality, and joy guide the Kooij collection. Of each object we ask: is this a permanent, worthy application of the resources used?
In 2009, Dirk van der Kooij founded this studio in the basement of the Design Academy, Eindhoven. His guiding question was seemingly simple: could plastic be an honest, durable material? Six pizza ovens welded together proved that yes, it could. The resulting Elephant Skin series saw recycled plastic wrinkle and contract as it cooled outside of a mould, conjuring a rich, living tactility. The ultimate imitator had finally found an identity of its own.