High-end furniture made from used materials a sustainable success story for Dutch designer – but it took time for people to buy the idea of sitting on scrap
- Piet Hein Eek has designed everything from tables and stools to a hotel, in a way that champions the use of ‘waste’; he’s even worked on a product line for Ikea
- Featuring at this year’s Knowledge of Design Week in Hong Kong, he reveals what goes into his high-end works, and how acceptance in his field didn’t come easily
It’s perhaps fitting that Piet Hein Eek lives in recycled space. In a corner of an old light factory he moved into in 2010, the Dutch industrial designer and scrap-shifting craftsman has built what he jokes is “Eindhoven’s smallest home”.
He says that, at just 45 square metres (480 sq ft), the three-storey dwelling provides not only a place to sleep but also areas to cook and entertain.
In addition to a kitchen – which doubles as a corridor – the tiny house is equipped with a movable table that seats 12 people.
“It’s like a huge caravan, actually. I love it,” he says, grinning.
Eek’s new abode allows him to reach his desk from home in under five minutes – depending on which door he uses. The set-up makes complete sense considering that his has been a career built on waste, and how not to squander it. Time is also precious.
About 30 years ago Eek began with unique, high-end pieces of furniture he made mostly from salvaged timber.
