Rotterdam is a hub of design. We owe that to the Willem de Kooning Academy, where product design is one of the majors. Graduates do often linger in Rotterdam and develop their new ideas here. One of them is Isaac Monté, a Belgian designer graduating in 2013 and setting up his own studio Atelier Monté. Since then he won several prizes for his work. We’ll take you along the reasons why…
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Best student
A good start is half of the work towards a successful career. Isaac Monté started out as the best of his year, winning the Drempelprijs (Treshold Prize) in 2013.
Atelier Monté
Isaac Monté started his own studio in Rotterdam. This is home base for the productive designer. This is the city where he won the prize for Young Creative Entrepreneur and where new ideas see the light of day.
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen
The absolute summit of design success in Rotterdam must be having a place in museum Boijmans van Beuningen. Some designers wait their whole careers for it, but Monté will see it happen as soon as the summer of 2016. He will feature items from the Meat Project. These are lamps made of processed meat in the shape of the E. Coli bacterium that lives in meat. This project raises the topic of food waste in supermarkets. A topic well worth raising!
Matter of time
In the meantime, Monté created Matter of Time, a series of 12 arty stalagmites under glass covers. Each symbolizes one month in a year, together they tell the story of time. As the stalagmites change color due to a chemical process, this shows the passing of time. On the other hand they are kept under glass covers as if time is controlled and showcased. That’s the story Monté wants to touch: our biased relationship with time. Slipping away like water in our busy lives on the one hand, unstoppable and never really changing its pace on the other. Really a piece of design to stop and think about for a minute, however encompassing that minute might be in your own life.
Curious? You can find more info and photos of the design piece at the website of Atelier Monté.
All photos from Atelier Monté
