Tord Boontje

Description	Industrial/Product designer
Dates	Born 1968 in Enschede, Netherlands
Lived/Worked	New York, Milan and London

Best known for...

Tord Boontje is best known for his Blossom chandelier for Swarovski - a naturalistic cherry blossom branch rendered in crystal and twinkling lights. He is also well know for his Wednesday Light, which is a 1.5meter floral garland of nickel-plated brass that is attached to a wire above the lamp with a simple clip and wrapped around a light bulb. A bit like a flower arrangement. It was originally designed for Habitat, and can be described as a contemporary version of the intricate, romantic aesthetics Tord admires in 17th and 18th century objects.

Why is he/she important?

Tord Boontje uses industrial technologies to create exquisite glassware, lighting and furniture. Throughout his work he explores the juxtapositions of old and new, naturalism and technology. Working on the cusp of design and craft he combines decorative motifs from nature with precision technology and industrial materials, and more recently he has harnessed these to create contemporary versions of products with a romantic, decorative aesthetic. He strives to push the boundaries of experimentation and to try and create something that does not already exist. His idiosyncratic decorative touch is the most prominent contemporary signifier of a return to ornamental and narrative richness in design after years of retro-modernist purity and minimalism.

Historical context

Boontje constantly looks at contemporary art and craft, as well as historical sources which are important to him too. He always researches whenever he works on something new to try to become aware of that subject. For many years, Tord has worked with fashion designer Alexander McQueen as a product designer. Fashion is a great inspiration for him, as he loves the experimentation and the speed with which ideas are tested. He is always drawn to things that are conceptually and visually exciting, like the work of Martin Margiela, David Lynch, Christian Boltanski and Graphic Thought Facility. Boontje is currently collaborating with Andrew Shoben (digital artist) and Andrew Allenson (computer programmer) on a project called Inflorescence, whereby a computer is programmed to produce randomly generated floral drawings.

How to see their work

National Design Museum (New York), Moss Gallery (New York). His work can also be ordered from Artecnicainc Inc.

Tord Boontje on the web

www.tordboontje.com - Biography, contact details and a wonderful list of his beautiful work.