The studio Makkink & Bey, founded in Rotterdam by architect Rianne Makkink and designer Jurgen Bey in 2002, is part of those professionalisms that approach design with the artist’s look while maintaining the industrial aspect that distinguishes the product. It is the result of a team built by stealing from different fields of knowledge, leading to operate from a single product to a large scale of an architecture or urban space. From the Living Spaces exhibition, at TextielMuseum in Tilburg, where iconic furnitures from art nouveau to the Seventies created a silent reflection on design, the studio goes on designing, always at TextielMuseum, how could be the future of interior with Huisraad: objects where the multi-functionality is achieved with the use of textiles and animal fibers, exploiting the intrinsic properties. And yet artistic performances, futuristic architectures, incessant work expressing a very contemporary vision of a creativity that includes every aspect of design.

Figuring out what kind of personality approaches to a work like that, we made some question the founding partner Jurgen Bey.

DS: How did you approached the world of design?

JB: I’m not one of those born with the urge to create or design. As a child I wanted to become a veterinarian, or an astronaut, just as all children. School opened my eyes and my mind. I studied at Eindhoven Design Academy, and once I started to create something beautiful I realized the potential of the tools I had in my hands.

DS: What is, at present, the role of the designer?

JB: I think we can not stick a precise role to a creative … maybe a mission. When I graduated in 1989, I had to explain to anyone what a designer does. Now beauty is within everyone’s reach, the discipline is open to any kind of experimentation, and the designer must embrace this opening and perpetuate it.

DS: Your designs are borderline with artworks. What do you try to achieve with them?

JB: I disagree, I’m not an artist, but a real product designer. The industry is an essential part of my work, I do not point to create something unique in the strict sense of the term. Though it is true that everything has its context, on which I try to reflect and give my interpretation.

DS: How does your home look like? What is your favorite corner?

JB: I’m afraid the apartment where I live in could be disappointing for many. It’s a very small space but convenient for me being out all the time. My real home is in the countryside, where I spend the weekends, in contact with nature. But I like having a space all for me to read or work at night … everything I need is a corner, a chair and a small light.