By Editor Design.nl / 04-05-2007

This year’s Design Week in Milan was a great success for Dutch design. Never before had so much Dutch design been on show in Milan.

A press conference was held on the theme of 'FreeDesigndom' on the opening day of the Design Week. The gathering was opened with a debate led by Marcus Fairs, with special guests Joep van Lieshout, Li Edelkoort and Pieke Bergmans.
The guests offered a number of different views of the future of Dutch design. The Netherlands can be seen as a liberal and open society characterised by diversity, curiosity and cultural dynamism. It is a country where designers are free to use and develop their talents, and where they experience that freedom as a creative challenge.

The Dutch design sector will have to develop a much more international profile as a discipline. Design will increasingly be crossing boundaries and mixing cultures, but designers will not lose contact with tradition or their own backgrounds and skills. Individuality will become more important.

While the room for personal initiative will decrease, people will probably be more individualistic and strive for a less visible identity, thereby defining their relationships with society and their direct environment in different ways. This burgeoning new individualism will also influence design processes and practices.

Another possible scenario projected much more interest in tailor-made solutions. For instance, in the future consumers could select a specific tree in a forest, and then commission a designer to use it to make furniture with a unique personal touch. As the example indicates, designers and consumers will probably develop a closer, more special relationship.

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