Makers: Piet Hein Eek

Everything about Piet Hein Eek

The no nonsense designer 

From Brabant, Piet Hein Eek (1967) has been making quirky furniture and design accessories for over two decades. Originally trained as an industrial designer, after his graduation in 1992 from the Design Academy in Eindhoven with his cabinet designed of scrap wood, he has been constantly at work. Eek is a no-nonsense designer when it comes to materials, design and affordability. Testifying to the good balance of price and quality of his designs, since 2011, Wehkamp features a basic furniture collection from his range. Customers receive them as a complete kit, with instructions in a small package.

A world of their own

In the former Philips ceramics factory on the industrial estate Strijp R in Eindhoven, Piet Hein Eek, along with partner Ruijgrok, have created a world of their own, complete with a restaurant, shop, studio and event space. Although this neglected area seemed much too large and expensive, Eek was immediately sold. As with his scrap-wooden furniture, he saw beauty where others did not. Besides serving as a workplace, Strijp R offers a meeting ground for culinary specialists, artists, music lovers and filmmakers.

Versitile work

The work of Piet Hein Eek is not confined to the scrap-wooden furniture that stores and individuals from all over the world have in their homes. Besides the design and production of furniture, lighting and home accessories, Eek and his team are engaged in the interior design of buildings. There are even entire exhibitions dedicated to his work, as in the Groninger Museum and Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. In addition, Eek traveled to Zambia for the WWF and to Vietnam for Fair Trade Original to collaborate with local potters. The result is the Piet Hein Eek vase FairForward with traditional Vietnamese prints and colors with a new Western twist. He also designed a set of porcelain tableware for Douwe Egberts, with a big nod to the famous Delftware. Of course, the sober design of recycled wood remains in production to this day. At hollanddesignandgifts.com, you can even order this Dutch design as woven wallpaper NLXL Piet Hein Eek .