Gijs Bakker/Objects to Use

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Ida van Zijl

nai010 Publishers, Rotterdam, 2000, English

Nonfiction, Product/Industrial Design

ISBN: 9789064504037

From the Publisher. Gijs Bakker belongs to the select group of Dutch designers who have risen to international importance. His work is regarded as exemplary of the waywardness of Dutch design: modernistic and minimal, at times combined with an absurd sense of humor. Although it is his jewelry designs that have made the biggest splash, a major part of Bakker’s design practice is geared to industrially produced objects for everyday use. This opulently illustrated book presents a portrait of industrial designer Gijs Bakker. It analyzes his design method on the basis of exhaustive descriptions of all his designs from the years 1961–2000. It takes an in-depth look at the cutlery for Van Kempen & Begeer, the Strip Chair, the Levi’s Chair and other successful designs for Castelijn, the flashlight, the projects done with Industrial Designers Bussum and his recent designs for the Droog Design collection. His influence as a teacher, his contribution to the often tumultuous debates in the Dutch design world and Bakker’s most recent undertaking—setting up the Droog Design Foundation—have helped define the current quality and popularity of Dutch Design.
In that sense Bakker’s response, his design method and his ideas about the profession and the designer’s social position are just as important as the resulting products. By zooming in on Bakker’s design method and ideas, products as diverse as a dish brush for the Hema department store and a station square for the new town of Almere-Stad are placed against a common background. It also sheds light on Bakker’s crucial role in the development of Dutch design and his significance for the international design world. (Out of print)

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