Maarten Baas

Maarten Baas (1978-) is one of the most important contemporary Dutch designers. His work lies on the border between design and the art world, between “collectibles”, limited series and highly conceptual installations. Immediately after completing his studies under Jurgen Bey at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, Maarten Baas presented two ingenious projects that earned him the reputation of the “golden boy” of Dutch design. The first was the Smoke furniture series, his graduation project, in which some great design classics were covered in a special resin and then burned: their partially damaged remains emerge from the ashes like a phoenix, still partially intact thanks to the protection of the resin and enriched with a new charm. Soon adapted for mass production by the Moooi brand, the Smoke series immediately became his greatest commercial success. His second event-project, the Clay seating series (2006), is instead based on a concept of the unfinished, giving life to clay furnishings that give the impression of being in the middle of a liquefaction process and is available only in unique pieces and limited series that are highly sought after by collectors. The Real Clock installation (presented for the first time in 2019) instead approaches an act of performative theatre, in which he creates clocks whose hands are manually moved by humans positioned behind a screen. A rebellious designer who loves to follow only his inspiration, Maarten Baas does not like to work on commission. Among his rare creations intended for series production, today almost all of them are no longer available, we remember those with brands such as Established&Sons, Lasvit, Valerie Objects, Pols Potten and the Objects Nomades collection by Louis Vuitton.