Dezeen and Dutch Design Week present live discussion about our relationship with products
Seetal Solanki, Christien Meindertsma and Aniela Fidler Wieruszewska joined Dezeen for the second talk in our collaboration with Dutch Design Week 2020.
Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs spoke to curator Lisa Hardon of the Dutch Design Foundation and the three designers exploringDutch Design Week's (DDW) sub-theme – Stories of a Product – by discussing how good design can improve people's relationship with products.
Solanki is the founder of Ma-tt-er, a London-based design practice founded in 2015. She is also the author of Why Materials Matter: Responsible Design for a Better World, a book exploring natural and manmade materials that could be used to reduce human impact on the planet.
For DDW 2020, she looked at the impact current social challenges have on our homes and workplaces as we explore more collaborative and eco-friendly lifestyles.
Fidler Wieruszewska's work can be explored as part of the Dezeen-curated DDW tour
Designer Fidler Wieruszewska, who also took part in today's discussion, is interested in how we communicate our values and ideas about the world through what we wear.
Her work investigates relationships that we have with products, as well as the relationships that those products enable or disable us from having.
Her project Diamond Makers Lab investigates the possibility of making lab-grown diamonds from meaningful objects, such as a mother's cake or ash from the Notre Dame fire.
"I would argue that a diamond itself is less significant than the meaning that can emerge from its creation process," Fidler Wieruszewska said.
"In fact, adjustment of the carbon source and the narrative associated with it can impact or even change a diamond's value entirely."
Meindertsma will discuss her Flax fields rug
Solanki and Fidler Wieruszewska was joined by Dutch designer Meindertsma, who will talk about her Flax fields rug, which is shown at Dutch Design Week.
She has previously created the Flax chair, a biodegradable chair made from flax and bioplastic.
Her recent work includes the Bulb Bullée lamps, which are constructed as a glass bulb on a blowpipe.
As well as hearing from the creatives in our daily live talks, some of the designers' work can be visited in our Dezeen-curated virtual tour of Dutch Design Week 2020.
The full programme for the Dezeen x Dutch Design Week 2020 collaboration can be found here.