the future of the Living Room, October 2011

Club of Amsterdam

pdf version

Experience interior design

In collaboration with Museum Geelvinck

Supporters

Our living room may be one of our most important surroundings. It is where we relax and feel at home. Yet many of us let chance, coincidence and gifts from others decide how it looks. Others follow strict rules or theories.
How important is your living room? How do you shape it? How is this going to change in the near future?

Kees Spanjers, Former President, European Council of Interior Architects
‘Venustas, Solacia, Durabilitas’, a house is not a home

Some 2000 years ago Roman architect Vitruvius captured the core values of architecture in three words; ‘Utilitas, Venustas, Firmitas’ (Utility, Beauty, Stability). While still relevant, the playing field for architecture appears to be changing today. With a shrinking and aging population the western world asks for a different approach to dwelling. This is the age of comfort; we want our environment to be safe, healthy and sustainable. Interiors are the new architecture, be it in the domain of our homes and offices or in public spaces like shopping malls, transportation hubs, schools or hospitals. Is it time to reassess Vitruvius’ legacy?

Desiree Kerklaan, BDes spatial designer
Furniture based on biomimicry ideas

I’ll show a few products designed according to the honeycomb principle. I believe biomimicry will almost every time result in the most sustainable solution for production, transport and recycling… Is that true?

E.g. Sandcomb wall pieces want to be a refugee building material based on the honeycomb principle. The building blocks use local material to function and can be reused in other places. In the long run the Sandcomb blocks can be fully locally produced.

Rogier van der Heide, Vice President and Chief Design Officer, Philips Lighting
Feel what Light can Do

Staying In is the new Going Out. Increasingly, we have a desire to perform many different activities at home: relax, play, work, meet with friends, get inspired and reflect. Our environment could be adaptable to those activities without changing physically. Join Rogier van der Heide, who introduces light and colour as the stylists of our home. An inspiring talk about the beauty of light, and the power of it as it shapes our environment and touches our mood.

19:00 – 20:00
Introduction by our Moderator
Job Romijn, bedenker, brainstormer, problem solver, artist.

Part I:

Kees Spanjers, Former President, European Council of Interior Architects
‘Venustas, Solacia, Durabilitas’, a house is not a home

Desiree Kerklaan, BDes spatial designer
Furniture based on biomimicry ideas

Rogier van der Heide, Vice President and Chief Design Officer, Philips Lighting
Feel what Light can Do

20:00 – 20:30
Coffee break with drinks and snacks.

20:30 – 21:15
Part II:
Open discussion

Kees Spanjers
Former President, European Council of Interior Architects

Kees Spanjers is a registered interior architect and architect and lives and works in Amsterdam and New York. He is the director of Zaanen Spanjers Architects in Amsterdam, specializing in cultural buildings and public interiors. He is the recipient of numerous awards in particular the Architectural Record Interiors Award, European Parking Award.

Kees was the President of the European Council of Interior Architects from 2004-2008. He also served as co-opted board member of the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers IFI from 2004-2009. During many years Kees has contributed to the design community with service on several boards, such as the Dutch Historic Interiors Society SHNI, Dutch Interiors Platform and the Dutch Board of Arbitrage for Architects. He is a past President and honorable member of BNI, the National Organization of Interior Architects in the Netherlands, and a honorable member of the Society of British Interior Designers and the Consejo General De Los Colegios Oficiales De Decoradores Diseñadores De Interior in Spain. Kees has written many professional articles in numerous publications, and has been active on many international panels and jury’s.

He currently divides his time between his practices in Amsterdam and New York, and as the curator of the inamsterdam World Interiors Event 2013.

Desiree Kerklaan
BDes spatial designer
research architect, SteenhuisMeurs
board member and guest curator, Blaak10

Desiree Kerklaan is a creative thinker and spatial designer. She has her own studio DKSD, designing spatial objects and art exhibition concepts in the field of interior architecture and graphic design.

She also works for SteenhuisMeurs as a reseach architect in Schiedam and is board member of gallery and store Blaak 10 at the WittedeWithstraat in Rotterdam. She is visiting lecturer in ‘Concept thinking’ and ‘Presentation is everything’ for students.

She studied BDes interior architecture at Willem de Kooning Academy and at the China Academy of Art. She was involved in collobarated projects on that subject with the Tongji University in Shanghai. During her studies she won the Satelliet Design Challenge and her graduation assignment was nominated for the Drempelprijs for design.

It’s on the outcomes of that last assignment she will share an innovative approach towards sustainable furniture at the night of “the future of the Living Room”.
www.wraf.nl

Rogier van der Heide
Vice President and Chief Design Officer, Philips Lighting

Rogier van der Heide is VP of Philips Design and Chief Design Officer of Philips Lighting. Rogier focuses on innovation-led design as an enabler of bridging technology and the creation of meaningful, life-enhancing solutions. He has 20 years of experience in engaging, inspiring, three-dimensional design that fuses light, image projection, architecture and product design to create a memorable, authentic experience.

Until 2009, Rogier van der Heide was Director with Arup and the Global Leader of Arup Lighting. In that role, Rogier has been responsible for innovative, creative and well-executed projects all over the world.

Being a recipient of the prestigious IALD Radiance Award, the Lighting Designer of the Year Award, an Edison Award of Excellence, two Edison Awards of Merit, three International Illumination Design Awards, a Royal Institute of British Architecture Award (together with Zaha Hadid) as well as a British Lighting Design Award, Rogier’s work is widely recognised as leading in the field of creative and independent lighting design.

Many architects work together with Rogier, who has worked in collaboration with Renzo Piano, Ben van Berkel, Zaha Hadid, Michael Graves, Cesar Pelli, Rob Krier and many others.

Besides his work for Philips, Rogier delivers many lectures, presentations and seminars about design, light, business, and strategic design at many international conferences. Rogier was also Professor at the Technical University of Graz, Austria.
www.lighting.philips.nl

Job Romijn
bedenker, brainstormer, problem solver, artist

Job Romijn is an innovative mind with an eye for improvement. Not caring too much about a career or money he leads an interestingly unconventional life. He helps others with ideas and observations.
Job Romijn is an unconventional innovator with a steep learning curve. This leads him to interesting observations and results in loads of ideas. He uses his abilities in brainstorming, testing and improving, with a current focus on websites.
Job Romijn is Job Romijn.
Job Romijn is quite a nice guy, albeit with some issues. Instead of solving his issues, he tries to use them and adapts his life accordingly.
His current business is testing the user experience and usability of websites.
He is a generalist with a broad education: a masters degree in high voltage engineering, conceptual art and applied creativity.
After brain activity he finds relaxation underwater in freediving.
www.bedenker.com