Piet Hein Eek’s Work with Wood Scrap: “There Are No Poor Materials”

From scrapwood cabinets to masterworks – featured at Dutch Design Week – the story of a Dutch Designer who built a global creative ecosystem around circular design, teamwork, and manufacturing Integrity

Piet Hein Eek’s rough design approach: it all started with a piece made of reclaimed lumberyard wood that originated when his sister asked him to refurbish a cupboard

Piet Hein Eek’s design practice is built on a respect for materials, both raw and processed. Since his university days, he has experimented with found and scrap resources. He first drew attention with Classic Cupboard in Scrapwood (1989), a piece made of reclaimed lumberyard wood that originated when his sister asked him to refurbish a cupboard. Without a lacquer finish, it retains a raw texture that highlights the grain and natural surface of the wood.

The idea of using scrap wood for an interior-design project was considered avant-garde and caused quite a stir in the design scene at the time. Today, amid an ecological crisis, recycling and re-using are widespread practices in every field of creativity and production. This vision finds strong alignment with platforms like Dutch Design Week, where sustainable material practices are celebrated. Over the years, however, Eek has developed a broader approach to sustainability whose key words are respect, locality and efficiency. He claims, “As a designer, I don’t have any preferences. I like all techniques, all materials, all colors. I simply look at what is available around me and try to make something out of it.” Thanks to this artisanal outlook, Eek’s creations often feature a rough, unfinished aesthetic that emphasises the qualities of the materials and the directness of his creative vision.

Piet Hein Eek’s philosophy: respecting materials to avoid waste and optimise production

Eek’s philosophy rests on a simple assumption. He states, “There are no poor materials. I respect materials, whether they are found or new. In our factory we strive to minimise leftovers, but we also produce new objects from discarded materials. Using 100% of the material in the product is the most economical, sustainable and pragmatic approach.” Aware that economic and environmental issues can no longer be treated separately, Piet Hein Eek has developed a design and production method that relies solely on readily available resources—whether financial, instrumental or human.

Piet Hein Eek explains, “Many designers enjoy greater freedom in the creative process, but once they have defined the design they spend a lot of energy finding skilled people and the right materials to execute it. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I do the opposite. I built my own production facility, which gives me many possibilities yet also forces me to work within certain limits, because the machines I have are the only ones I can use.” This mindset leads to efficient collaborations and bespoke commissioned projects. Before starting the design phase, Eek analyses each company’s production facilities and adapts his ideas to their capabilities, knowledge and resources.

The entire production process takes place in his workshop

After graduating, Eek invested all the proceeds from the sale of Classic Cupboard in Scrapwood to establish his workshop and buy the machinery he had used to create the piece, which continues to resonate at events such as Dutch Design Week. He recalls, “This way, if someone wanted to buy one of my scrap-wood pieces, I knew how to replicate it.”

Life in Eek’s factory is as pragmatic as his design approach: as a designer, he is supported by a collaborator who prepares technical CNC drawings and handles material procurement. He notes, “On the other side of the wall are more than thirty craftsmen who transform my designs into reality: carpenters, steelworkers and artisans working with ceramics, upholstery, printing and many other disciplines—some of whom I have worked with for ten, fifteen, even twenty years.”

Eek has recently realised that his way of working has not changed much since he built the Classic Cupboard in Scrapwood; he is still driven by the same beliefs he held thirty years ago, when he was a university student. His designs continue to rest on knowledge and skill, though over the years he has gained greater mastery and adopted new techniques that expand his possibilities. He explains, “There are different ways to design. Conceptual designers who have good ideas but are not handy must hire the right people to bridge the gap. But if they don’t have a thorough understanding of the production process, as I do, they can’t design what I design.”

Over time, Eek has created an experiential complex that includes a shop, showroom, gallery, restaurant and event space, with his workshop at its heart. Within this creative constellation, around 200 people are employed, providing visitors and buyers with a 360° design experience.

Piet Hein Eek: How to streamline production on a small scale

When he founded his studio and workshop, Eek was committed to creating high-quality, affordable pieces. He soon realised the complexity of this ambition: on the one hand, the rising cost of labour and raw materials—on which he is unwilling to compromise—and on the other, a rapidly changing economy. He notes, “I am realising that the middle class is disappearing. The rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. And as much as I try, my products are not easily accessible to the lower middle class.”

Because Eek produces small quantities—often even single pieces—he devised an efficient production method centred on technical skill and a thorough knowledge of his chosen materials, all aligned with his “best price” philosophy. This approach limits production errors, minimises waste and speeds up processes. He adds, “This also applies to the companies I work with. When I design my collections for IKEA, for instance, I adapt my approach to their production methods, which optimise resources by producing on a large scale.”

Piet Hein Eek’s Masterworks at The Future Perfect—challenging the boundaries of manufacturing

Over more than thirty years, Eek and his team have specialised in handcrafted design pieces that may appear simple at first glance but conceal complex technical solutions distilled from years of expertise. During a dinner with David Alhadeff, founder of the American gallery The Future Perfect, the two compared Eek’s most and least labour-intensive objects. This conversation led to the Masterworks (2024) project, which both pushes the boundaries of manufacturing and distils the core elements of his rough design practice.

In the furnishings of the Masterworks collection—tables, mirrors, chairs, cabinets and more—recycled materials of various sizes are assembled like a three-dimensional puzzle, forcing Eek and his craftsmen to find creative solutions to new production challenges. He stresses, “There’s only one place where we can make my designs, and that’s here, because the person who makes the drawings has been doing so for more than fifteen years, and the people who execute them know exactly what to do—they understand the details and know the process. We manage to create such high-end products and keep pushing the boundaries because it’s real teamwork. None of this would have been possible over all these years without the people around me.”

The political task of designers in society

Eek says, “Designers have a task in society that is also political. When you design something, you have to ask yourself some questions: Who’s going to make it? How? Where? But we are also part of a society with a certain way of thinking and behaving, heavily influenced by consumerism.” This cultural and political stance is also made visible to a global audience during events like Dutch Design Week. While society and the market push us to produce and consume ever more, he argues that focusing on quality is the most sustainable choice. Producing fewer, more resilient and durable objects for which people are willing to pay a little extra is, in his view, the best way to reduce waste without harming the economy.

He adds, “If you use an electric car for senseless reasons, your reasons remain senseless and you are still polluting. People don’t want to change their habits or the reason they sit in the car—which would be the best solution—they prefer to buy an electric car and keep sitting in it for silly purposes.”

Piet Hein Eek

Piet Hein Eek is a Dutch designer renowned for his innovative approach to design and craftsmanship. He studied at the Academy for Industrial Design in Eindhoven—now Design Academy Eindhoven—graduating in 1990. In 1992 he founded his own studio in Geldrop with his friend Nob Ruijgrok; the studio later moved to an old Philips factory in Eindhoven. The site now houses a showroom, shop, two restaurants, a hotel with a rooftop bar, a fry shop, an art gallery and several design studios, creating a vibrant hub for design and creativity.

Agnese Torres