False Flat
Why Dutch Design is so Good
Published on 27. August 2004
Book
Hardback
400 pages
978-0-7148-4069-7 (ISBN)
Description
An extensive and timely survey of innovative contemporary design in the Netherlands: always verging on the experimental and recognized universally as a melting-pot of cutting-edge twenty-first century creativity. This overview features work by Rem Koolhaas, MVRDV, Ben van Berkel & Caroline Bos, Marcel Wanders, Petra Blaisse, and Jop van Bennekom, among others. 1,000 images offer a visual sourcebook of Dutch design in all forms including architecture, urban planning, industrial design and graphic design.
Reviews / Votes
'Provides a long-awaited map for why Dutch design is once again so good.' (Blueprint)'Saturated with eloquent enthusiasm...reflects the author's intimate knowledge of Dutch society and culture.' (Christophe Grafe, Building Design)
'Sets out to explain our love affair with all things Dutch and design-related...with a great deal of panache...There's plenty to get your teeth into...thorough, well-researched and it looks good.' (Grafik (formerly Graphics International)) 'Cleverly put together by Irma Boom...dominated by outlandish ideas and witty creations.' (Creative Review)
'The main text , by Aaron Betsky...is one of the most perceptive and enjoyable pieces of longer writing about design I have read for some time.' (Rick Poyner, Icon)
'Artfully wrought...Dynamic and vital it all undoubtedly is, served up on modish pages designed by Irma Boom...stunning examples of top-drawer contextual architecture.' (Architect's Journal)
'An excellent guide to one of the design world's hottest countries.' (V&A magazine)
More details
Persons
Aaron Betsky is Director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) in Rotterdam. From 1995 to 2001 he was Curator of Architecture, Design and Digital Projects at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where he curated, among other exhibitions, 'Do Normal: Recent Dutch Design' in 1998.
Adam Eeuwens is a Dutch writer living in South California. He is partner in the design strategy firm The Culture Industry, and co-curated 'Do Normal' with Betsky.
Content
Introduction: Surfing the False Flat; Chapter 1: Vroom-Vroom in the Boom-Boom Years; Chapter 2: Seeing is Knowing is Making; Chapter 3: The Fields of Babel; Chapter 4: The Solace of Subsidies; Chapter 5: The Not One Sided Middle Road to Truth; Conclusion; Index