The Medina Variation of Rietveld’s Crate Chair by Dutch designer David van der Veldt, or, as Van der Veldt says: “The Medina Rietveld Fauteuil”.
In August, 2010 David van der Veldt was invited to particiate in a project called “ICI Casa ville inventieve†in Casablanca, Morocco.
Through engaging in the daily life of Casablanca the designers would gain insight into Moroccan culture and perception.
Van der Veldt was impressed by decorations engraved on wooden benches and the typical in layed Moroccan boxes. In the Medina he found a small community consisting of furniture makers. Van der Veldt worked with an engraver, Mohssine El Lyounssi, and a carpenter, Abdellah Lebchina, remaking a crate fauteuil designed by Gerrit Rietveld in 1934 while applying the traditional Moroccan geometrical inlaypatterns using copper threat and sheep bone.
At the end of the project the results were exhibited in the Sacre Coeur church
About David van der Veldt
David is a Dutch designer who studied furniture making in Amsterdam, followed by studies at the Gerrit Rietveld academy, where he graduated from in 2009. He started his own design studio DVDV Design.
Pictures by Hicham Zemmar and Jamal Abdenasser
I am usure if such a “purist,” Rietveld, would appreciate the ornamentation on his chair. Thoughts?
Certainly not. I can assure you, as I’ve discussed this with another designer who has volunteered at Rietveld’s studio in the 1950ies and knows him well.