Dutch Colours

Spatial design / Events

The second guesthouse curated by Gilian Schrofer (Concern) as part of the RUHR.2010 GastGastgeber project pays tribute to a century of Dutch design.

By Jeanne Tan / 22-07-2010

As part of the RUHR.2010 program which sees the Ruhr region in Germany as the European Capital of Culture, GastGastgeber (which means guest host in German) forms one of the Dutch contributions - which includes theatre, music, architecture, design and fine arts - to the year's events.

The GastGastgeber initiative takes over abandoned or disused buildings to convert into temporary guest accommodation for RUHR.2010 visitors.

The intention for GastGastgeber is for Dutch design to consciously be presented not only in a museum or gallery but in an everyday context. The search therefore started to find empty spaces that has lost their original function with the aim of converting them into something new, and with a little help from guest curators from the Dutch design world.

Earlier this May, Jurgen Bey redesigned the interiors of former water tower at Oberhausen train station and for this second guesthouse, interior designer Gilian Schrofer from Concern renovated disused worker's flats in Dortmund.

From July until October 2010, seven apartments will be available for guests in this building. Entitled 'Dutch Colours' Schrofer's concept pays tribute to a century of Dutch design. Specific colours have been chosen to represent a particular period of Dutch design in each room with furnishings provided by leading Dutch furniture manufacturers. We see pieces from the 30s by Gispen, the fresh, crisp style of Ahrend from the 50s and colorful furniture of Artifort from the 60s - which is currently enjoying a revival. For the 70s, we see a white room representing a break as led by Jan des Bouvrie from the brown and orange trend of that time, and the beginning of this century is represented by imaginative pieces from Moooi. The multicolored facade - which livens up a rather grey neighborhood - is created from a checkerboard collage of the 'Dutch colours' like Rietveld Red and Gispen Orange.

For more details about staying in one of the guesthouses, please visit the GastGastgeber website.