WantedDesign: Steven Haulenbeek

Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat, co-founders of WantedDesign are very proud to announce Steven Haulenbeek as the 2016 award winner of their program American Design Honors, presented with Bernhardt Design. The Chicago-based designer has an interdisciplinary studio concentrating in furniture, lighting, and objects for the home. He is known for an innovative ice casting technique that utilizes hand carved ice molds to create unique objects in Cast Bronze.

American Design Honors

Launched in 2015 at WantedDesign, American Design Honors recognizes talented young American designers who demonstrate outstanding creative and entrepreneurial skills, who already have a solid body of work, an original design language and are pioneering a new design business model. As an ambassador of American design, this initiative will support and give International exposure to the honoree. These young professionals have also demonstrated an ability to create innovative processes and products. American Design Honors has been established as a platform for the recipient to develop their practice. Through this program, Bernhardt Design and WantedDesign aim to promote American Design internationally and support the designers who are on the verge of getting to the next step in their professional path.

Steven Haulenbeek has been selected by WantedDesign co-founders Claire Pijoulat and Odile Hainaut, and Jerry Helling, President of Bernhardt Design. As part of the American Design Honors program, Haulenbeek has been invited to create an installation at the entrance of WantedDesign at the Terminal Stores building to showcase his work.

“I can't express how excited I am to receive this honor from WantedDesign. I visited WantedDesign for the first time in 2011, and I have been lucky enough to participate in some capacity every year since. WantedDesign has been instrumental in the advancement of my career and continues to do so. I have no doubt that this opportunity will lead to the further development of my business and my career as a designer. This honor will undoubtedly serve as a springboard with regard to press opportunities and the marketing of my brand, as well as opening communication lines with manufacturers and collaborations with industry partners that at one time seemed out of reach. I am extremely proud to be the recipient of this year's 2016 American Design Honors! “ said Haulenbeek.

Visitors to WantedDesign will be able to discover the designer’s diverse body of work thanks to his special installation at the show. Fascinated by the exploration of the materials, there will be a focus on what he calls Ice Cast Bronze, a very singular process that enables him to carve bronze with ice molds, alongside a selection of his most recent designs. At the same time, the designer will unveil the results of his residency at Centre International D'Art Verrier (CIAV) in Miesenthal, France, a traditional glass manufacturer where he developed a workshop and experimented with techniques with glass blowers. This second aspect of his research work will be part of “Creative Transatlantic Exchange”, an unprecedented exhibition gathering duos of American designers and French manufacturers, as part of the program called Oui Design, launched by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in partnership with WantedDesign.

“Steven Haulenbeek perfectly embodies the kind of person we want to support through American Design Honors program. He’s a forerunner in his own industry. And he has created new techniques with his ice cast bronze pieces. We’ve followed his evolution ever since 2011, and it’s a great satisfaction to see where he stands today in the American Design scene For us it’s been very important to show our audience that great design can be found throughout the U.S, not only within the boundaries of New York City. Steven has played an active role in supporting other Chicago-based designers as well.” said Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat. “I am thrilled to honor someone like Steven, a designer whose work shows real originality, a mastery of materials and a spirit of experimentation. Using his background as a sculptor, he brings a very hands-on, process-based approach to his work which I think is unique in the American design landscape today.” said Jerry Helling, President of Bernhardt Design.

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