Het Nieuwe Instituut initiates presentation at first London Design Biennale 2016Het Nieuwe Instituut initiates presentation at first London Design Biennale 2016

Under the auspices of the Agency for Architecture, Design and Digital Culture, Het Nieuwe Instituut is making a contribution to the first edition of the London Design Biennale 2016 at Somerset House, 7 - 27 September 2016.

Het Nieuwe Instituut has invited Studio Makkink & Bey to curate and design the contribution. Studio Makkink & Bey were the ambassadors for Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven in 2015 and this year designed the new interior for the European Council in Brussels. As a figurehead of Dutch design, the studio works with a network of talented designers. In its capacity as an informal platform for talented designers, artists and architects, Studio Makkink & Bey uses its network-based practice to give form to the biennale's theme: Utopia by Design.

The installation Design Diorama: the Archive as a Utopic Environment translates Studio Makkink & Bey's international network into a diorama that is an idealised version of the personal salon of the studio's founders, Rianne Makkink and Jurgen Bey. The installation also functions as a personal archive of the practice's own work, objects by former studio assistants and interns and designers, artists and architects. An archive with endless potential for a possible future, with work by and memorabilia from designer Bertjan Pot; photographer Ari Versluis and stylist Ellie Uyttenbroek; artist Yvonne Dröge Wendel; designer Michou de Bruijn (senior designer at Studio Makkink & Bey) and illustrator Jan Rothuizen.

Studio Makkink & Bey, founded in 2002, is led by architect Rianne Makkink and designer Jurgen Bey. The studio's work embraces public space, product design, architecture and exhibition design. With a strategic approach to design, the studio's team includes professionals from many different fields, forming alliances with other designers, architects and experts.

Het Nieuwe Instituut (Museumpark, Rotterdam) increases public appreciation of and the social significance of architecture, design and digital culture, and promotes exchange between these disciplines. Het Nieuwe Instituut researches, presents and represents architecture, design and digital culture through an extensive programme of exhibitions, lectures, debates, workshops, research projects and educational activities. The institute also organises the Netherlands' contributions to the architecture biennales in Venice, Shenzhen and São Paulo.

In addition to the presentation in London, Het Nieuwe Instituut represents design in the coming months with the New Material Award during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven and Salone del Mobile in Milan, exhibition program and Thursday Night lectures at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam.

The inaugural London Design Biennale will be held at Somerset House from 7 to 27 September 2016, bringing design installations and exhibitions from up to forty of the world's nations to the heart of the capital. The Biennale presents an extraordinary opportunity for countries and representative cities to create design statements that address the 2016 theme, 'Utopia by Design'. It will provide a prestigious, global stage for the world's leading contemporary design and design-led innovation, creativity and research.

London Design Biennale, Somerset House,
7-27 September 2016
#LDB16
@londonbiennale
www.londondesignbiennale.com

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Note for editors

For more information please contact Justin Hahury, International Communications and PR, via j.hahury@hetnieuweinstituut.nl or +31 10 440 1254./ +31 (0)6 120 30128