Gijs Bakker

Jewelry and industrial designer Gijs Bakker is considered to be one of the main pioneers of what later became known as 'dutch design'. In the sixties, together with his wife Emmy van Leersum, Bakker started a revolution. They refuted the traditional ways of transforming precious materials into decorative jewelry whilst embracing abstract forms that radically investigate the relation between body and object.

Bakker has always believed in a strictly personal, autonomous approach to design, where the esthetics are far less important than the idea.

In the nineties, Bakker founded a collective of young Dutch designers together with Renny Ramakers. They called it DROOG. With highly praised presentations in Milan, Droog acted as the aggregator for a highly successful new wave of Dutch Design, with followers around the world. Since the early seventies Bakker has been teaching at various academies and universities, like here for example at the famous Design Academy in Eindhoven.

After he ended his activities for DROOG, Bakker started new a project called Yii, where he encourages a group of Taiwanese designers to translate their unique ideas into designs that communicate to the entire world.

CREDITS: Commissioning editor: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Femke Wolting & Bruno Felix, Research: Liselotte Francken, Director: Noud Holten, Alexander Oey, Camera: Stef Tijdink, Pierre Rezus, Sound: Carla van der Meijs, Steven van Dijk, Benny Jansens, Editor: Noud Holtman, Colorcorrection: Maurik de Ridder, Music Sound Design: Jesse Koolhaas
Commissioned by DutchDFA