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Experiments by Jonael van der Sloot aka ‘Spruitje’.

 

DesignKwartier is a small annual slow design, food & lifestyle festival in an area of The Hague (the Netherlands) called Zeeheldenkwartier. This second edition took place on 29 – 31 May.

In this two-part article I’ll be taking you on a tour of the festival. First up: we’ll be looking at the urban green influence!

 

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Work by Nienke Sybrandy: Flowers preserved in spirits. Their colors have faded into pale figures behind the glass.

 

The tiny Wauw shop was jam-packed with all sorts of plant-related handmade and vintage goodies.

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Take your time at ‘Wauw’ shop, there’s so much to see.

 

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Air plants and botanical glass frames? Yes, please.

 

So glad we visited Jonael van der Sloot, aka Spruitje (‘little sprout’). Jonael grew up on a biodynamic farm in Argentina. He now lives in the Netherlands with his wife and daughters and makes, among other things, stunning closed terrariums called ‘Sustainable worlds’. No green thumbs required, the little greenhouses take care of themselves. Brilliant.

 

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More experiments by Jonael van der Sloot aka ‘Spruitje’.

 

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This carnivorous plant looks so mysterious in its own little closed world.

 

The building where the terrariums were housed will soon become the new store for Haagse Groene Helden / DGJ Architects & Landscapes.

 

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Wearable plant necklace by ‘Spruitje’.

 

At Goedman frame-makers, a collaboration between Goedman and furniture maker Wilfred Kalf: new picture frames are made from local trees.

 

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Artist Katarina Couvalova demonstrated on how she makes monoprints of local tree stumps.

 

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The end result.

 

Project Plant Power, a collaboration between food stylist / designer Roos Rutjes and interior stylist Iris Roozendaal, was inspired by Roos’ love for the plant based kitchen and her styling for the book Plant Power by Lisette Kreischer. Roos and Lisette are also the people behind ecofabulous lifestyle agency Veggie in Pumps.

Concept store Plant Power beautifully showcased the power of plants and the different ways in which plants are processed.

 

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Refreshments by ‘The Urban Gorilla’, in front of ‘Plant Power’.

 

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Roos Rutjes arranging fresh flowers on the Plant Power counter.

 

‘No touching’ wasn’t part of the deal at Plant Power:

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Tasting ‘Zilte groente’ (salty sea plants) by Marc Foods, such as Samphire.

 

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Plants (Ogreen) and ceramics (Jennifer de Jonge). Always a good idea.

 

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Plants on fabric.

 

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‘Allium Cepa’ on paper by Iris Rozendaal.

 

Designers collective I wait here found themselves in a beautiful historic building called ‘The temple’, which houses the City of The Hague departement of Archeology.

 

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The collective consists of designers Jetske Visser, Kirstie van Noort, Nienke Hoogvliet, Nikkie Wester, Roosmarijn Pallandt and Aliki van der Kruijs.

 

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Designer Nienke Hoogvliet.

 

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Ceramic work by Kirstie van Noort.

 

Special thanks to Mario Aspeslagh, who came with me and took care of the beautiful photography! Mario Aspeslagh is a Dutch photographer, art director and keen birder. Read about his story: here.

 

Next week: in the second and final part of DesignKwartier we visit artist studios, take to the streets, look at some more ceramics and marvel at 3D-printed design.