Designers. Architects. Researchers. Nomads. Rianne Makkink and Jurgen Bey have many faces, and they are constantly on the move, consequently giving the concept home a unique definition. Home is where you live, work, reflect and experiment. Studio Makkink & Bey is no ordinary design studio. It’s a whimsical lab active in the fields of applied art, including landscape architecture, product design, architecture and scenography. Nowadays, Rianne and Jurgen are wandering as the industrial building they used to live and work in, is about to be torn down.
Designers. Architects. Researchers. Nomads. Rianne Makkink and Jurgen Bey have many faces, and they are constantly on the move, consequently giving the concept home a unique definition. Home is where you live, work, reflect and experiment. Studio Makkink & Bey is no ordinary design studio. It’s a whimsical lab active in the fields of applied art, including landscape architecture, product design, architecture and scenography. Nowadays, Rianne and Jurgen are wandering as the industrial building they used to live and work in, is about to be torn down.
“It’s uncertain where we will be heading next. The housing market has drastically changed. With the rent we’re paying now, we would only be able to afford the front room of this space. It’s terrible. I really do not want to leave this place”, Rianne says.
Does your way of thinking connect to the whole hype, or rather, the importance of the manufacturing industry?
JURGEN: We say we all want more makers, but we do nothing to support them. Everybody intends to go to college and operate from the brain, but the manufacturing industry has almost disappeared. On the one hand we say we all love them, but on the contrary, we suggest products should be simple and cheap, not look too expensive or too well-designed. And we definitely don’t want to maintain the products, for that has financial implications. If you want good gardeners, you have to create jobs for them. And I’m not talking about private gardens. I’m talking about communal gardens, because that’s where the future lies. As a designer I want to be able to create good things and make the world a prettier place. But if efficiency, technocracy, and economics will continue to reign this world and there’s no more room left for culture, then there’s no place for a culture lover and designer like myself.
What’s the story behind this building?
RIANNE: This paint factory was built as one of the first industrial plots in Rotterdam. Unfortunately, it was only in use for thirty years. Shortly after that, it served as a weed plantation. It was a chaos when we moved in. At the front side, all walls had become mouldy, and we spent quite some time in patching up the place, making it presentable and livable. Concerning anti-squatting, we inhabited the building and guarded it as good caretakers. Later on, we were offered a rental agreement and paid very little money. We thought we were safe when we signed it, but nevertheless, we are now being evicted.
What made you choose an industrial environment, such an original location to inhabit?
RIANNE: An industrial zone is a crazy biotope. After 5 P.M. everybody goes home leaving the place deserted. The calmness, the indeterminacy of space, but also the proximity of nature and water transforms this building into the perfect home base. It’s beautiful out here, and it’s very enjoyable working and living here illegally. [laughing] In Rotterdam, you are not allowed to live and work in an industrial zone, but we did it anyway. Jurgen and I do not have any children, which makes us very flexible when it comes to living and working conditions. A child calls for a different environment. We know friends who are in a comparable situation, but ultimately a child longs to be normal and live in a regular house.
Living and working together. Is it a fine line between your private and professional lives?
RIANNE: Ever since we met in India in 2011 we’ve been living and working together. My parents both ran a cattle farm. ‘To go for it together’ is an ideal I’ve always strived towards. I don’t know any different. Furthermore, we think the concept of leisure is overrated. In the Netherlands, it equals consuming, lying back, and waiting for someone else to work for you. Without a doubt, besides working one’s got to eat and sleep. When you go past the library, you’ll find our private quarters. The kitchen and the dining room, however, are shared with our co-workers. Luxury is not about what’s inside a building. It’s what you do with it. Space, tranquility and height are what we consider as the ultimate type of luxury. The greatest thing about this factory building is that you can move things around. We can experiment with the positioning of furniture pieces and objects and explore all possibilities.
This kind of industrial space lends itself perfectly to reflect on working and living conditions, two important themes you like addressing in your work.
RIANNE: Jurgen calls himself the Prada nomad. [laughing] He doesn’t mind living in basic conditions, as long as these conditions are good. We’re nomads in the sense that we adapt quickly to different kind of situations. To sustain the cold in winter, we created plastic shelters in the workspace and for those who would like to work in private, we made small wooden working cabins. All objects that surround us are either prototypes or remains of a project.
Have you been able to produce all of your prototypes?
RIANNE: That’s an interesting question. We’re both not that good in commercializing our work. Once a project is finished, we’re onto the next. We could behave more aggressively because now we just act accordingly to whatever comes our way. It’s a comfortable position, but the economy is forcing us to operate differently. We have labels producing our work, such as the PROOFF collection, which taps into our way of designing and thinking. We’re context-sensitive and often contemplation results into concrete products. Each year we try to develop one product, but it can take up to two years to put it into final production.
We say we all want more makers, but we do nothing to support them.
How do you work together in the studio? Do you have assigned roles?
RIANNE: We don’t work as a duo. We work together, but we also operate separately. We’re a studio that collaborates with other designers, who all have various influences and backgrounds. Jurgen likes to be surrounded by books; he ’s very visual, and he often works in an eclectic way, combining multiple layers and elements. I, on the other hand, have the tendency to purify things. I’m more into Modernism. My work is based on experience and research. During a project, I talk to users, and I live and work in situ. From architecture, I went to product development. With Jurgen, it’s the other way around.
Where does your love for designing and creating comes from?
RIANNE: I grew up on a farm and once a year the front-and-back house were subjected to a thorough clean-up. Everything had to be taken outside: the cows were forced to leave the stables, paintings were removed from the walls, and all clothing and textiles had to be washed. After the total cleansing, everything had to be put back in. That’s where my fascination for interior architecture comes from. I was brought up surrounded by light furniture. All pieces had legs, and everything was mobile. In our projects you will only find movable pieces, always leaving a 10 cm distance between the piece and the wall. Moreover, mobile furniture make it easier to tidy the space. [laughing]
In addition to designing, you are connected to education. Rianne, you are linked to the master course at the Design Academy in Eindhoven and Jurgen operates at the Director at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. In which ways does this influence you as a designer?
RIANNE: I love teaching, because of the students who feed me and force me to keep up with the world. Instead of pushing myself forward, I help out others.
JURGEN: My job at the Sandberg doesn’t influence me as a designer. At the moment, I’m more involved in creating systems and convincing people to join the Institute. My intentions incline politics because I am forced to negotiate with different parties. On top of that, the Sandberg operates from the field of the arts, which implies you have to observe the relationship between the arts and design, and how culture is positioned into our society. It’s meta-reflection. And it’s interesting because now I can interfere with important issues on a different scale. Now is the time for culture, to reflect on culture as a starting point, and the possibilities it can evoke.
www.studiomakkinkbey.nl | |
Text: Magali Elali Photography: Bart Kiggen |