Martijn Rigters’ Foam Party

JournalDesign

Martijn Rigters’ Foam Party

Daring young designer using his customers as moulds...

As our feature on the Out of Print project hinted at yesterday, getting your hands dirty was a theme that ran through a lot of what we saw at this year’s London Design Festival. Handicraft, as you’ll know, has been enjoying somewhat of a resurgence for many years now – hell, just look at the success of Etsy for proof of that – but the use of hand-driven craft as a means of commenting on modern culture is something that unites both Out of Print and this; Martijn RigtersFoam Party.

Occupying a prime spot at this year’s Tent, young Dutch designer Rigters chose a hand-crafted take on mass production to express his unhappiness with the latter; in particular its lack of identity and charm. Developing a flexible molding technique to create made-to-measure (quite literally) foam seats, the designer turns your backside into a custom-moulded chair in just 15 minutes; fashioning chairs that most definitely don’t lack identity and charm.

Dissecting and reinterpreting techniques, crafts and traditions – Martijn Rigters is just one of the many talented young designers who are not afraid to, erm, break the mould.

Martijn Rigters' Foam Party Martijn Rigters' Foam Party Martijn Rigters' Foam Party Martijn Rigters' Foam Party Martijn Rigters' Foam Party Martijn Rigters' Foam Party Martijn Rigters' Foam Party Martijn Rigters' Foam Party Martijn Rigters' Foam Party Martijn Rigters' Foam Party Martijn Rigters' Foam Party

Installation images © We Heart

Chair images © Martijn Rigters