Okay Studio exhibition at Galerie Vivid, Rotterdam

Wooden furniture manufacturing room with various wooden designs

(Image credit: press)

last updated 14 October 2022

Back in 2005, Dutch furniture manufacturer Arco invited 12 young designers to create a piece of furniture in response to its archives. The Arco 12 project proved a triumph, spawning the multi-award-winning Slim Table by Bertjan Pot among other pieces now in production, so it's no surprise that Arco should bring the format back for the next instalment. And with Okay Studio's Jorre van Ast now at the creative director helm, it seemed only natural that the London-based design collective should take up the challenge.

Situated in a former piano factory in north east London, Okay Studio is something of a creative hotbed. 'Even though the designers work independently, as a group they really bring out the best in each other,' says van Ast. 'They are all former fellow students, so setting up this workshop with them was a logical step for me.'

Thus he transplanted the designers, including the likes of Peter Marigold, Shay Alkalay and Oscar Narud, to Winterswijk in the Netherlands, where they got together to develop ideas and execute them in Arco's furniture factory. This time around, however, he charged the designers (including himself) to create something completely different to Arco's collection - which largely comprises of tables, chairs and cupboards - bearing in mind the capabilities of the brand's production facilities.

Highlights include Raw-Edges' bread box, featuring a knife that acts as a lever. Once open, the box becomes a board and the knife can be pulled out for use. Then there's Peter Marigold's satisfyingly simple foldable table and his magazine rack on wheels that comes equipped with an arm rest for easy reading. The full fruits of the designers' labour are now on show at Galerie Vivid in Rotterdam, alongside a selection of works from their portfolio.

Furniture manufacturing room with white wall — On the plinth (from front): 'Totems' by Oscar Narud, 'Foldable table' by Peter Marigold and 'Mushiki' storage systems by Tomás Alonso

Automated Marquetry' pieces of wooden — Foreground: 'Automated Marquetry' pieces by Shai Akram

A collection of wooden tables — The new pieces are shown alongside some past works from the designers' collections, like these 'Keel' tables by Oscar Narud...

Okay Studio view — ... and this 'Jungle' installation by Eelko Moorer

Red coloured pot with red and black wires — Detail of the 'Jungle' installation

The plinth with low table and white wall — On the plinth (from front): 'Vanity Objects' by Eelko Moorer and stool and low table by Hiroko Shiratori

The okay studio view with wooden chair and white flooring — Left: 'Autoboxes' by Andrew Haythornthwaite

The wooden Connection' by Jorre van Ast — 'The Wood Connection' by Jorre van Ast

Vertical wooden box with white background — 'The Wood Connection' by Jorre van Ast

Wooden desk with white background — 'M11 desk' by Mathias Hahn

Yellow coloured wooden block access for security — Arm rest by Peter Marigold

Wooden foldable table with white background — 'Foldable table' by Peter Marigold

Peter Marigold with folded wooden table and white background — Peter Marigold folds the table

The exhibition sprung from a workshop at Arco's factory in Winterswijk, in the Netherlands. Here, Arco creative director and Okay Studio member Jorre van Ast works on his Wood Connection pieces

Mathias Hahn working on his desk — Mathias Hahn gets to work on his 'M11 desk'

Mathias Hahn gets to working on his &#65279;'M11 desk' — Peter Marigold inspects wood samples for his 'Foldable' table

Two men working in industry — Andrew Haythornthwaite develops his 'Autoboxes', with a little help from Marigold

Interior of industry view — Oak parts for Oscar Narud's 'Totems'

Men working in industry — Tomás Alonso in action

Industrial view with woman — Shai Akram gets to work on her 'Automated Marquetry' collection

ADDRESS

Galerie Vivid
Red Apple building
Scheepmakershaven 17
3011VA Rotterdam

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Malaika Byng is an editor, writer and consultant covering everything from architecture, design and ecology to art and craft. She was online editor for Wallpaper* magazine for three years and more recently editor of Crafts magazine, until she decided to go freelance in 2022. Based in London, she now writes for the Financial Times, Metropolis, Kinfolk and The Plant, among others.