Studio Tord Boontje

Tord Boontje was born in Enschede, Netherlands in 1968. He first studied industrial design at the Design Academy in Eindhoven (1986 - 1991), and followed this with a Masters from the Royal College of Art in London (1992 - 1994).
Studio Tord Boontje was founded in 1996.
Tord Boontje lived and worked in London from 1995 to 2005, when he moved his home and studio to Bourg-Argental, France. In 2009 he took up his appointment as Professor and Head of Design Products at the Royal College of Art, and continues work at his London-based design studio.

The challenge and opportunity the Studio has long sought is a delicate marriage of design with emotion that is as broadly accessible as it is enticing. The Studio’s work draws from a belief that modernism does not mean minimalism, that contemporary does not forsake tradition, and that technology does not abandon people and senses. The Studio’s designs often temper edges with softness, take inspiration from nature, and employ a décor of forms and layers to engage and entice an observer’s imagination and emotions. But these references to nature and emotion reflect only an outcome, not the process of design itself. Although the use of technologies and material properties is never celebrated (and is always subsumed within the final product), there is nonetheless a conscious insistence that the Studio’s work employ the latest production and material technologies in pursuit of its vision.

Work in Public Collections

MoMA, New York
Cooper Hewitt, New York
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
British Council, London
Crafts Council, London
Manchester City Gallery
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Groninger Museum, Groningen
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Helsinki Design Museum

Awards

2011                  Wallpaper* Design Awards
2008                  Elle Décor Design Award
2007                  Red Dot Design Award
2006                  IF Product Design Award
2005                  Dutch Designer of the Year
2005                  Innovation Prize for Textile Collection, Cologne Fair
2004                  Best Product, New York Gift Fair
2003                  Designer of the Year, Elle Decoration
2003                  Short-listed, Designer of the Year, Design Museum London