Misfit: Hella Jongerius in Rotterdam

In the 1990s Dutch designer Hella Jongerius began introducing imperfections and individuality into the industrial manufacturing process. It is a technique that remains at the heart of her designs: she believes that the quality of craftsmanship is not legible in perfect products but only in the 'misfits' that betray the process and the hand of the maker and that 'handicraft offers a powerful response to the restrictions of industry...I'm a passionate advocate of resuming handicraft techniques not because I want to go back in time but precisely because I want to take a new step forward.'

Hella Jongerius - Misfit, the first retrospective exhibition of Jongerius's work in her native country, at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, was curated by Dutch writer, curator and professor of Design Theory Louise Schouwenberg. The show explores Jongerius's working methods and her innovative vision of the design profession. The show features industrial products - such as her IKEA vases - unique experiments and numerous sketch models, all displayed on the walls of the museum, organised by colours: a reference to her research into coloured pigments and a way by which the hierarchy between preliminary studies and finished products is made irrelevant. 

Hella Jongerius: Misfit, Phaidon's new monograph on the designer, will be released this autumn to coincide with the exhibition. Following in the wake of Hella Jongerius, published in 2003, the book features over 300 images of Jongerius's work arranged by colour. The author of the book is Louise Schouwenberg and the design was created by Dutch graphic designer Irma Boom. Misfit also contains contributions from the design critic Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. A specially commissioned collector's edition, which is presented with a unique Jongerius vase, is also available.