1 October 2010 - Opening new building • PIET HEIN EEK

1 October 2010 – Opening new building

19-05-2016

More and more people are asking us how things are going. This is because we are working on a project that is virtually impossible, but which we are certain will be a success. The question is only how much will be ready by 23 October, the opening day of Dutch Design Week. Will the showroom and shop be completely furnished? Will we have our offices up and running? Will the phone be working? Will our guys be working in the shop? Will the stove in the kitchen be working (if there even is a kitchen)? And who and what will we be presenting?

More than forty individuals are working extremely hard each and every day to make it happen. Back at our business premises, everyone is doing their utmost – with too few people – to keep sales on track and, amazingly enough, we have succeeded thus far. We are also continuously at work with our new partners at making the right choices for the shop and showroom: bicycles, watches, art, glassware, kitchen items, plants, books, collections, old batches and objects, soap, camera, antiques, photographs, dishes, tools, audio equipment, trash bins… the list goes on and on. We are doing what we enjoy and we are using all of our resources to do it.

Incidentally, new products are also being developed, including attractive scrap wood wallpaper, random parquet floor tiles, kitchens with old countertops, tile cabinets, a new house style – or better yet, no house style – for the entire complex.

Whether or not it will turn out alright and be worth all the effort is something that we have often questioned, but we are immensely enjoying the creation process and watching how ideas can become reality. Either way, we’re opening on 23 October regardless. Not everything will be finished, but that will probably be all the more reason to come have a look.

We may still be in the moving process and wiping the dust from the tables, but the presentation will be on display, not only by us but also by numerous other designers and companies that are our guests. In answer to the question of how things are going: “I’m still alive” but we’re having a grand ol’ time.