11 July 2023 News

These designers will create an iconic entry for Eindhoven

Eindhoven is the design capital of the Netherlands, but this is not (yet) sufficiently visible to everyone. In October, during Dutch Design Week, you see design everywhere in the city. But where in the public space do you see it the rest of the year? Eindhoven Design District (EDD) wants to change that! Daphna Laurens and Jelle Mastenbroek will design an iconic entry that invites visitors to visit EDD and discover what design can do for a liveable and innovative city. Curious about their design practices? Then read on!

Daphna Laurens

Daphna Laurens is a studio that balances on the line between free and applied art. Simplicity and seeking the ‘essence’ are core values in their design process, playing a lot with abstraction and the relationship between form and function. From this, the studio designs both poetic and sleek industrially manufactured products, objects and spaces.

A good example is their lamp series called Kingpin, where flat compositions were translated into a collection of lamps designed for Eindhoven-based lighting brand JAPTH. For their work called Misshapes, 5 ‘sculptures’ were created with subtle suggestions in form, to leave the functional side of design to the imagination. For their exhibition design for The Circle for Dutch Invertuals, care was taken to strike a balance between focusing on the exhibition as a whole, and highlighting the individual objects on display.

“We are both personally and professionally involved in the city of Eindhoven, and share the view that expressions of the ‘design DNA’ deserve a more prominent and permanent visibility in the public space/street scene. It is obviously an honourable assignment to be allowed to realise a work in public space to represent Eindhoven’s designers.” – Daphna Laurens

Jelle Mastenbroek

Jelle Mastenbroek’s work uses humour and positivity to rethink stereotypes and trigger social reflection or change. His interactive installations in public space have been shown at Oerol, Groninger Museum and Eindhoven Museum, among others. He uses (references to) iconic objects, conveying a particular message or story through the strong symbolic meaning or associations they evoke.

An example is Over Rozen Gaan, in which a display case is transformed into a statement about money; after inserting a coin, it rolls over the tableware to produce a musical composition, before falling into the return tray. The coin thus becomes a vehicle for a special experience. In an earlier What if Lab, Jelle Mastenbroek shaped the finish of Marathon Eindhoven by displaying the various motivations for participating in the marathon on city banners and in a sea of flags at the finish line. At The Entrance Section-C, designers’ work at Section-C was displayed and transformed into an interactive installation where visitors could walk through a soundscape after making a donation.

“I find the scale engaging and challenging, and in doing so. I also like to dedicate myself to strengthening the design community in Eindhoven; four years ago I became a director of the Sectie-C Foundation with the aim of putting Sectie-C on the cultural map and perpetuating the place for designers in our city. It, therefore, seems very honourable to show my connection with the city and the design field through an iconic reception” – Jelle Mastenbroek


Eindhoven Design District (EDD) makes the city’s design DNA visible and experienceable. EDD originated from a collaboration between the municipality of Eindhoven, city marketing party Eindhoven365 and Dutch Design Foundation. The focus of EDD is on the social and societal added value of design: how does design contribute to sustainable, smart and pleasant living together?