wood workplace

Besides the fun of seeing the creation of the winning 101 characters cabinets, it was moreover a feast for me to walk around in the workplace at Piet Hein Eek.

To discover the (fun) details in every corner of the huge workplace and the pleasure to photograph in this wood heaven. It's so light in this former Philips factory and it was really cool to get a guide tour by the master himself. Piet Hein Eek told about the interesting story of his career and the development of his designs. For instance; he doesn't like to waste material and he never throws away anything and reuses wherever possible.

What particularly appealed to me was, how important it is to him, to create a fine workplace and make the conditions as pleasant as possible. As a fan of the first hour, it was an honor to get a chance to take a closer look in his workplace.

Well a fine place it certainly is.

101 karakters - like a blanc canvas

All 101 finalists of the Histor cabinet design competition 1 cabinet - 101 characters were invited at Piet Hein Eek in Eindhoven today.

Piet Hein Eek designed a cabinet especially for Histor. It's a cabinet on legs made of underlayment.
The cabinet is like a blank canvas. It's up to you how you want to paint it.

Everyone could join the Histor campaign '1 cabinet 101 characters' and submit their ideas for a unique character for an unpainted Piet Hein Eek cabinet.
With 2,000 special and inspiring entries within a period of two weeks, the campaign is a huge success! The 101 most extraordinary ideas for the cabinet were brought to life, in the workplace of Piet Hein Eek in Eindhoven today.

I was invited to write an article on my blog and we got guide tour by Piet Hein Eek himself.
In the meantime all the winners started painting their cabinets in the giant and light workplace of the Piet Hein Eek factory. What an inspiring place, for me it was wood heaven...

It was interesting and striking to see how different the 101 cabinet designs have become. Many participants also made the inside of the cabinet a work of art. I must admit I already like the raw version of the cabinet and I've seen lots of lovely painted versions...