The adjective which to Dirk Vander Kooij's mind best defines his way of designing is honest. This is because it is based on experimenting with a material that states its origin, shaped by a robot that creates things "in transparency". Honesty is certainly not the first concept that springs to mind on observing the industrial robot programmed by him to "print" furniture and which, in his Eindhoven workshop, extrudes recycled plastic to forge tables and chairs by making its arm carry out a potentially infinite movement. But it surely relates to the Dutch designer and the development of his design path.
A passionate constructor since adolescence, at the age of 13 he designed a collection of tools and later started making small items of furniture for school friends and family. He went on to attend the Wood and Furniture College before enrolling at the Design Academy in Eindhoven. There he progressed from woodwork to the recycled plastic of his Elephant Skin Stool, a project developed while still at the academy.
His method of oven "firing" followed by a cooling phase, resulting in a plastic with a corrugated appearance similar to an elephant's skin, caught the eye of Ingo Maurer, who offered him a period of apprenticeship at his Munich office. Dirk's career was thus launched.
