He began by scorching the historical icons of design, authentic pieces by Eames, Rietveld, Gaudí. Smoke series is in fact the starting point which clarifies his vision, 2002, just graduated. A few years later he arrived at Superstudio, 2006, with Clay, a series of imperfect, irregular chairs and cabinets, as if modeled by hand. And indeed they are. Plasticine-coated skeletons. With his naïf, funny, conceptual, theatrical, rebellious work that shakes the world of beauty and perfection - already called Contemporary Kitsch - Maarten Baas immediately stands as one of the most influential young Dutch designers of the new century, where roads branch off and show new horizons...

He began by scorching the historical icons of design, authentic pieces by Eames, Rietveld, Gaudí. Smoke series is in fact the starting point which clarifies his vision, 2002, just graduated. A few years later he arrived at Superstudio, 2006, with Clay, a series of imperfect, irregular chairs and cabinets, as if modeled by hand. And indeed they are. Plasticine-coated skeletons. With his naïf, funny, conceptual, theatrical, rebellious work that shakes the world of beauty and perfection - already called Contemporary Kitsch - Maarten Baas immediately stands as one of the most influential young Dutch designers of the new century, where roads branch off and show new horizons.

Unlimited freedom and breaking rules: is this your starting point?
I don't break rules, I question them and to bend them. Freedom is never unlimited, but indeed I create my space where I can move freely.

The beauty of imperfection: is this what you are looking for?
That's one of the themes I've been working on. Yet, I don't use the word 'imperfection', because I genuinely feel it's another way of perfection. If a tree grows in a irregular, slightly crooked way, would you call it 'imperfect' because it's not straight? Or is that actually part of its beauty?

Design as art, playfulness, performance, poetry, surprise: is this your philosophy?
Yes, design is a very open-minded art-form, where a lot of disciplines can come together. I feel comfortable to use that as my stage to play around with the things I like.

Maarten Baas at Superstudio… would you like to tell us a memory of that time, many years ago?
I still consider that my most important personal exhibition. I felt so vulnerable after the success of Smoke. I knew many eyes were pointed on me to see if I could do more than only burn some design classics. Clay furniture wasn't an obvious choice. The chairs were not slick or smart, but rather clumsy and naive. Nowadays it's a kind of common design-language to make those kind of shapes, but at that time -especially in the more industrial presentations at superstudio- most designs were very 'macho'. So, I was very proud to show that presentation in a very small room in the main stage of Milan: Superstudio.