Lace in Translation

Tord Boontje was born in The Netherlands.  He studied industrial design at the Design Academy in Eindhoven from 1986 to 1991 and received a Masters degree from the Royal College of Art, London (1994).  In 2005, Boontje moved from London to Bourg-Argental, France, where Studio Tord Boontje is now located.

Boontje’s design philosophy is based on “a belief that modernism does not mean minimalism, that contemporary does not forsake tradition, and that technology does not abandon people and senses…  Although the use of technologies and material properties is never celebrated, and is always subsumed within the final product, there is nonetheless a conscious insistence that the Studio’s work employ the latest production and material technologies in pursuit of its vision”.

As an industrial and furniture designer, Boontje has developed a wide range of products – accessories, lighting, furniture, textile products, tableware, and packaging – for numerous companies, including: Studio Tord Boontje for Target, a Christmas collection of more than 35 products and a design concept for packaging, in-store environment and advertising campaign (2006), Alexander McQueen, Chi Ha Pura, Swarovski, Moroso, Artecnica, Habitat, Kvadrat, Nanimarquina, Authentics, Swatch, Perrier, Jouet, and Salviati. Studio Tord Boontje has created several limited production collections and unique works have also been commissioned by British Airways, London; the Delano Hotel, Miami; and the Covent Garden Building, London.

In interior architecture, exhibitions, and installations, Boontje’s work has included the development of retail concepts; exhibition designs for Hermes at the Design Museum London, a British Council exhibition in China in collaboration with Ilse Crawford; a Christmas Tree at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London in collaboration with Alexander McQueen; a dining room for 1000 people at Swarovski Fashion Rocks, Monte Carlo; and the creation of the Milan Fair Installation for Axor-Hansgrohe. Studio Tord Boontje has produced exhibitions in Europe, Great Britain, Japan, and the United States.

Tord Boontje and Studio Tord Boontje have received numerous awards including a Red Dot Design Award; IF Product Design Award; 2005 Dutch Designer of the Year; Cologne Fair Innovation Prize for textiles; Elle Decoration International Designs Best Lighting Design; Dedalus Design Award; 2004 New York Gift Fair Best Product; Designer of the Year 2003, Elle Decoration; Short-listed, Designer of the Year 2003, Design Museum London; and the Bombay Sapphire Prize for Glass Design.  Boontje’s work is in the permanent collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; British Council, London; Crafts Council, London; MoMA, New York; MoMA San Francisco; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and the Groninger Museum, Groningen. 

Mr. Boontje is the subject of Tord Boontje, a 2007 biography by Martina Margetts published by Rizzoli, New York.