Basse Stittgen
Furniture maker
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Looping back to natural logic
- Basse crafts furniture objects from innovative wood-based biomaterials
- He allows chance and biological processes to guide his material research
- He teaches his material-based approach at leading design institutions
Basse Stittgen begins every project with a material rather than an object. Since graduating from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2017, he has been investigating the potential of overlooked biological resources, transforming them into new materials that invite us to rethink our relationship with production and consumption. Working from his Amsterdam studio, which functions as both laboratory and workshop, he experiments for years before utilising a material to create objects. "In my experimenting, I allow chance, decay and biological processes to become collaborators," he shares. When the materials are eventually used to make functional everyday objects such as lamps, tables or stools, they retain visible traces of their origins. "I hope this allows people to recognise the tree, fungus or fibre behind the finished piece," says Basse. “To me, innovation means returning to nature’s own logic.” Through material research, storytelling and craft, he offers an alternative to our growing distance from the natural world.
INTERVIEW
Sharing my approach and mentoring others have become an important part of my work. I encourage students to look beyond the surface of materials and resources, exploring their origins, connections, processes and the possibilities they hold.
My studio gives me the freedom to follow a process over time. I can leave experiments ongoing, observe how materials develop and respond to unexpected results. This type of open-ended research requires a space that adapts to the process, rather than the process adapting to the space.
The material’s origin is always an important reference for the form. I like when an object still reminds us of where it comes from, while at the same time creating a sense of surprise. The interesting moment appears when the material is transformed into something it could never have become in nature, through new scales, shapes or possibilities of use.
The project was developed from my Tree-ism research. I reunite lignin and recycled cellulose, two components of wood separated through industrial processing, to create a new type of wood. Inspired by bark textures found in Amsterdam’s city forest, the material is cast into large sheets and reassembled to make furniture pieces.
Basse Stittgen
Furniture maker
Amsterdam, Netherlands
ADDRESS
Address upon request, Amsterdam, Netherlands
AVAILABILITY
By appointment only
LANGUAGES
German, English, Dutch
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