Material Tendencies: Richard Hutten

Architonic met the Dutch designer to find out which material he would chose if asked to work with just one for the next three years.

Richard Hutten: ‘That is a tough question. I like all materials – and I don’t like limitations. I like freedom and I like to do whatever I want. I do everything. It also depends on what I will be designing for the next few years. One of my favourite materials is wood because it is a nice warm material. It can be any kind of wood – as long as it is not killing the rainforest, it’s fine with me.

'Then again,’ continues Hutten, 'I’m thinking what would be the material with the most possibilities, to be less limited. So, ultimately, I would have to say textiles. Although, there is not a specific textile that I would pick. Brand-wise, I would definitely say Kvadrat but I like everything. I prefer natural fibres, not polyester and things like that. In the end everything works for me.'

'We have done several upholstery pieces for various clients and therefore have a lot of experience with textiles. There is for example the Layers Cloud Chair for Kvadrat, and then we just launched the Satellite Chair for Offecct and the X-chair for Moroso. Almost ten years ago we collaborated with Italian carpet company I + I in Milan and developed a reinterpretation of a traditional Persian rug called "Playing With Tradition".'

'The choice of materials depends a lot on the client, too. I worked for Christopher, they only do sofas. I worked for Skultuna, they only do brass. And so the material you pick is very obvious. In other cases, we come up with the concept and then we search for the best materials that suit the project. I like to explore all the possibilities before we make the decision.‘

This spinning easy chair is created for activity-based spaces – for a digital lifestyle with high comfort and round playful features.

‚Architects usually draw circles to indicate where to position chairs on their floor plans. So I came up with the idea to make the top view of the chair a circle. To me the circle is the most elegant form, there are no bulky sides and it can go in all directions which means it’s never out of place‘ says Richard Hutten.

As its name applies, this friendly chair has an iconic X-shaped connector – two interlocking pieces of wood on the back.

‘In general I would say that warm materials are increasingly important; because the world is turning into this crazy place – a lot of uncertainties, terrorists … the home becomes more and more the shelter where you want to be, you feel free, comfortable and happy. I think textiles can really add to this cosiness and warmth. That said, I just came from Dubai; they hate wool, probably because it is too hot. So there are local preferences. Personally, I think wool is also perfect in the heat, but they have other ideas. In Europe, plain textiles may be more common. I like both – patterns and plain fabric. I find the Dutch company Febrik interesting; they make these 3D textiles that stretch a lot – this gives the designer many new possibilities. Another quality of textile that people tend to forget is that it helps to improve the acoustics in the space.'

'A material that I could immediately reject? Anything that is too polluting, I wouldn't use it.’ Hutten

Built up entirely from circles, this precocious, little chair gives your interior a cheerful accent.

‘I believe that in the future we need more recycled textiles and there is still a lot of work to do. I would love to use recycled textiles. It would be interesting if you still can feel that it is recycled, but at the same time it should be sexy and attractive. This of course requires a lot of research. I always find it nice to keep the history, the tradition of textiles and then turn it into something fresh and new. That would be the challenge I would give myself if I designed a new textile.'

‘True to its name’, says Hutten, ‘Dandelion was initially inspired by the plant that creates the famous and poetic “dandelion snow” of fuzzy, cotton-like seeds when a gush of wind blows on it. The lamp transmits an explosive feeling of energy in motion.’

Richard Hutten, together with an ergonomist, has conducted extensive research into the optimal shape of the seat, which has made this ultra-light desk chair comfortably to sit in for hours.

This hand-knotted wool and silk carpet is a reinterpretation of a traditional Persian rug. The idea was to build a bridge between the old and the new - a kind of east meets west approach.

This dildo on the stem of a drinking glass is seen as a sort of appetiser to get into the mood rather than using it, which makes it more an anti-dildo.

Inspired by the work of Andries Dirk Copier, the Hutten Copier Vase is designed for the National Glass Museum and Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

This one-of-a-kind handmade piece became a chair of numbers. With 400 hours of engineering and drawing and one and a half months of manual production, over 800 square metres of woollen textile were applied layer by layer to create the Layers Cloud Chair, which weighs nearly 300 kilos.

‘The Layers Cloud Chair for Kvadrat is a crazy piece! I was asked to use Divina, which is one of the company’s iconic fabrics that is normally used as a skin on the product. But I thought it would be nice to only use this upholstery material to make the whole product. One of the qualities of the Divina wool that I liked best is that it is super-tactile – you really want to touch and feel it. We ended up using over 100 out of the 130 bright colours from the Divina palette.’

The user determines the overall form by adapting the folds of the initial flat steel sheet, which consists of a series of interconnected hexagons.

Hundreds of books are covered in a smooth, shiny layer of resin, which drips down on the rest of the table.

Made of birch and walnut, the shape of this cabinet reflects Hutten’s playful approach to design.

This lounge chair, made of UV resistant plastic, for indoor and outdoor use comes, optionally, with an integrated light source.

....

Look out for more Material Tendencies reports. We’ve captured insights from renowned designers and we’re delighted to be able to share them with you in the forthcoming weeks, as part of our ongoing Architonic Trend Analysis series.

....