christian heikoop explores fragility of materials at dutch design week 2017

for dutch design week 2017, multidisciplinary designer christian heikoop crafts two minimalist furniture collections that explore material properties. the first, the ‘concave family’, consists of a chair and bench, both made from hammered steel tubing. dominated by the prominent connections of their frameworks, the pieces appear as simple structures, but at closer look, reveals a twisting form. its the manufacturing of the material that leads to this fluent, new language shape, where the tubes have been manipulated to support functions, such as the flat, horizontal armrests. 

the hammered steel ‘concave chair’
all images courtesy of christian heikoop

created in collaboration with baars & bloemhoff – a dutch decorative sheet material company, christian heikoop‘s second furniture collection for dutch design week 2017 is called ‘linear wood’. as its name may suggest, the designs explore the properties of timber with a focus on continuous wood grains, as well as organic curves and seamless surfaces. a strong, sculptural yet ultra-thin structure is formed fully with a thin layer of veneer, disclosing the fragile properties of the finishing material. the family is configured of many differently shaped tables, all made with a composition of flowing supports, straight boards and cantilevered flat working surfaces.

the furniture’s connections unite manipulated tubes of steel into one structure

the ‘linear wood’ collection explores the fragility of wood veneer