Hella Jongerius

Hella Jongerius, born 1963 in de Meern, Netherlands, studied design at the Industrial Design Academy in Eindhoven, where she later taught. She first came to international attention through her work for the Dutch Droog Design collective.

In 2000, she founded the design studio JongeriusLab in Rotterdam, now the origin of many of her designs - in furniture, dishware, vases and textiles. Combining contemporary and traditional influences with techniques of design, craft, art and technology, she tests the distinctions between ‘high tech’ industry and ‘low tech’ craftsmanship. Rather than the slick perfectionism of 21st Century industrial design and 90s minimalism, Jongerius offers tactile, simple forms, intriguing textures, and organic materials that relate the stories of their origin and making. Her designs may appear familiar and simple, but behind the simplicity is a careful consideration of an object's history, heritage, and archetypes.

She has exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, and the Museum of Art and Design in Helsinki. Hella Jongerius has made major contributions to the Vitra Home Collection. This fruitful design collaboration has produced iconic designs such as the Polder Sofa, The Worker Chair and Sofa, and the handcrafted sensibility of the Bovist pouf. Hella has also recently refreshed the Vitra ‘standards’ chairs colour palette, including the Panton Chair, TomVac and Sim, and the range of Eames chairs.