By Katie Dominy / 27-09-2012

Slow Design is the title of the festival’s key exhibition and for Rita Maria Halasi, curator of Budapest Design Week, Ineke Hans was a natural choice. 

“Ineke Hans' design practice is environment-conscious in every detail, she works with recycled and new generation materials and uses contemporary technologies, while her objects are often archetypical and relate to visual and cultural traditions in complex ways.

“If we talk about Slow Design her name is among the very first ones that come up, so it was in a way a logical decision. So we are certainly very happy that she agreed on playing such an active part in Budapest Design Week this year.”

Hans will be speaking next Thursday October 04 at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, alongside fellow design guest Fabio Novembre from Milan. In addition, examples of her work will be shown in the Slow Design exhibition, such as the Extra Ordinarily Seats series of outdoor furniture from 2007 made from recycled plastic and the Ahrend 380 chair and table from 2010 for Royal Ahrend. The latter series shows Hans dedication to slow design, as the chair is made of only two injection-moulded components in recyclable plastic; it can be easily assembled and disassembled and the two components fit neatly together for lower-cost transportation.

We asked Ineke Hans about the visit. “Budapest Design Week got in touch with the studio. This year they have a special theme around eco, slow design and durability. I guess that they came to us, as thinking about how you use materials and which materials to use is important to me. I make quite conscious choices - to be efficient, appropriate and - I don't like waste.”

What are your opinions of the Hungarian Design scene? “Hungary has brought to design some great names in the past like Marcel Breuer and Moholy Nagy. I have been in Budapest a few times in recent years. My impression is that designers are very eager to get in touch with new ideas and move forward in design. I have the feeling the emphasis is on industrial more than on experimental design, but I believe that new forces in design always come from unexpected quarters and am very curious to see how Hungarian design will develop in the next few years.”

Do you think there are ideas/experiences that the Hungarians can learn from the Dutch and vice versa?

“I think it is good to experiment in design. These experiments can take us further. The Netherlands has developed a lot in that area in the past and that could be interesting for Hungary. On the other hand, the Hungarians still have a lot of craft methods for making things that have disappeared in Holland. I think that offers a lot of opportunities for making things that we don't have anymore in the Netherlands.”

While at the festival, look out also for the Dutch Bicycle Design exhibition that alongside a historical aspect brings bicycle-related objects from young Dutch designers curated by the Eindhoven-based Yksi Design.

Budapest Design Week runs September 28 to October 07 and Slow Design can be seen from September 29 to October 28 at Design Terminal 1051 Budapest, Erzsébet Square 13.

List images: 1. Ineke Hans, photo by Gerard van Bree 2.-3. Extra Ordinarily Furniture 4.-5. Ahrend Chair 6. Budapest Design Week

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