More Is More
Tord Boontje’s latest collection marries decoration,
function, and affordability.
By Paul Makovsky
Photography by Sara Barrett for Metropolis
March 2004
For the past few years Dutch designer
Tord Boontje has been the darling of the London scene. He’s
collaborated with Alexander McQueen and Paul Smith. And in addition to
being nominated last year’s “Designer of the Year” at the
Design Museum, his work is currently being featured in the exhibition
Brilliant, at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Boontje’s
crystal chandelier for Swarovski, which sells for $23,000, reflects a
move away from the stark minimalism of the 1990s and a return to the
celebration of ornament in design. His latest collection, available in
the United States from
Artecnica, is unabashedly decorative and
surprisingly affordable.
Boontje’s Garland lamp shade is a long brass or stainless-steel
ribbon with tiny etched flowers and leaves that you simply wrap around a
lightbulb. The base is a floral mass in which structure and decoration
are inseparable. The ornament is the design. Introduced in the United
Kingdom last year by home furnishings company Habitat, the lamp has been
a great hit: the first 12,000 units sold out in two weeks. Boontje’s
Midsummer light is made of durable Tyvek (the same material used for
FedEx envelopes) and ships flat to minimize costs. “The lamp, with
its intricately cut paper, becomes like lace and is reminiscent of a
field or drapery,” he explains. “It hangs with a sort of
structured chaos within.”
The designer has also produced an inexpensive paper greeting card that
comes as a flat disk and opens up into a long garland of flowers. He is
currently finishing details on a lacelike Tyvek curtain that will be
released by Artecnica later this spring. “The great thing about it
is that if it’s too big for your window you just get a pair of
scissors and cut it,” he says. Working with companies like Habitat
and Artecnica has allowed Boontje to produce his designs in large
quantities and keep the prices down. “Now we make 30,000 instead of
just 50 in one go,” he says. “Still, it’s really nice to
make one lamp for 23,000 dollars and another for 23 pounds.” |
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Tord Boontje’s objects for Los Angeles–based design studio
Artecnica include a greeting card that opens into a long garland of
flowers. |
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The Garland lamp, available in polished brass and stainless steel. |
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The Midsummer lamp, made of tyvek (above), and Until Dawn, a lace-like
Tyvek curtain that will be released later this spring
(below). |
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Photography by Sara Barrett |
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