Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1137964
70 MOOOI DESIGN DARLINGS JOHANNES GILLE AND JOS KRANEN ARE BELOVED IN THE NETHERLANDS FOR THEIR WITTY AND IRREVERENT CREATIONS. THEIR NEW PLANT CHANDELIER TAKES A MORE SERIOUS TURN — AND MARKS THEIR BOLD LEAP INTO THE AMERICAN MARKET. REBECCA SHERMAN CHATS WITH THE DUTCH DESIGN DUO AT SCOTT + COONER, A STOP ON THEIR RECENT WHIRLWIND TOUR OF THE STATES TO INTRODUCE PLANT. DUTCH J os Kranen first met Johannes Gille when they were studying at Design Academy Eindhoven, The Netherland's renowned hothouse for art, architecture, and design. Their connection was immediate. "I saw a young man lying on a bench that he had designed himself," Kranen recalls. "It turned out to be Johannes, and gradually I noticed that his work resembled mine — not aesthetically, but in terms of thinking, translating a real question or problem into design in a highly communicative way. It was clear that we had to do at least one project together." Their first collaboration, a collection of dining-room furnishings at the 2006 Salone del Mobile in Milan, was inspired by an antique Austrian folk art chair owned by Johannes. An imaginary client — the von Trapp family from The Sound of Music — helped corral what Kranen describes as their "two strong designer spirits." Tables, chairs, plates, and cutlery were created using simple materials and modern techniques, such as wood carved by lasers and ceramics made with 3-D printers. They founded Kranen/Gille studio a year later, TREAT From left, Johannes Gille and Jos Kranen