By: Studio Makkink & Bey
This line drawing of a Polderscape maps out a typical Dutch polder: a gridded topography that closely resembles its real-life rendition. Our studio’s projects, products, small pavilions, furniture and public space projects are fit inside this diagram. Each piece has its own plot of virtual land and together they form a library. The virtual database provides a basis for new concepts for social design, new strategies and well-tailored products. In each design, Studio Makkink & Bey tries to connect elements of different scales and from different origin to create new utopias. The Polderscape was made for Sotheby’s New York, to benefit the Farnsworth House and the Glass House.

The social sculpture was designed for a project commissioned by Vitra and investigates the notion of a landscape within the professional environment. Relating to natural environments, its’ tree-like shape allows various postures of sitting and leaning. The trunk performs as seat with a branch to lean against or rest your laptop on. The tree seat helps to turn an entrance hall into a public landscape to provide weary visitors or people waiting for friends with comfort. Upright, the waiting bench mimics a tree, but when it is pulled down, it becomes a high bench. Even tall adults can feel like a child while they sit high up on the trunk and swing their legs.