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Friday Five with Dirk Vander Kooij

You might recall Dirk Vander Kooij’s name from when we featured his mind-blowing Chubby Chairs last year during our ICFF 2013 coverage and our ICFF video. The Dutch designer became inspired by an old 3D printer while working on his graduation project at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, but the one downside was not having the ability to print large objects, like pieces of furniture. The wheels began to turn and he figured out a way to make it happen and became the first person to succeed in printing larger objects, thanks to a machine he invented. The machine recycles plastic and basically squirts it out like cake icing into whatever shape he chooses. Sticking with his philosophy that “process is just as important as the ultimate product,” Vander Kooij keeps cranking out cool wares. This week, he shares with us his favorite things in this edition of Friday Five.

F5-Dirk-Vander-Kooij-1-the-bike

1. My bicycle
My bike is a pure example of simplicity. As you can see there are no ornaments or even gears or handbrakes. I love products that are effective and what you see is what you get. The frame is made of aluminium, so the bike is very lightweight and still not fragile or unstable. The wheels are solid and quite big. No stickers, no nothing, just the way it is. For me an example of a honest product that is made for its functionality.

F5-Dirk-Vander-Kooij-2-the-lathe

2. Lathe
This lathe is absolutely one of my favorites in my workshop. A brutal machine but beautiful at the same time. Its handles work in a way like a clock mechanism; one turn is exactly one millimeter and every wheel and gear has its own function that’s always aligned to the metrical or English system. A piece that shows the craft of the ones that designed it a long time ago, but not outdated.

F5-Dirk-Vander-Kooij-3-vice

3. Vice
This vice made out of a piece of solid metal, is of course enormously heavy and rough, but super precise and always working like it’s supposed to work.

F5-Dirk-Vander-Kooij-4-the-dog

4. My dog
A dog has a non-verbal communication. Looking at his eyes is communication on a different level. My chocolate (I love chocolate by the way) Labrador has hazel brown eyes with pink around his eyes. When he was a puppy he had some problems with his eyes, but the pink stayed. It gives him an adorable expression and it inspires me how these animals communicate with their eyes and ears and not verbally.

F5-Dirk-Vander-Kooij-5-the-house-and-the-pond

5. Our pond
We have the living room at the first floor so an amazing view at the pond around our house. Always different and changing. The reflections of the sky during the day, the stars during the night. The different birds that use it, the weather that changes the water. Deep, sometimes scary black, and sometimes lovely, serene blue.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.