Contract - November 2016 - 26

PROFILE

Born and raised in Eindhoven, Netherlands,
and educated at Design Academy Eindhoven,
Jan Habraken is a designer with experience in
industrial, interior, furniture, and product design.
He had conceived many high-profile projects,
including NASDAQ's opening desk and Adidas's
store concepts, before starting his own New York-
based firm, FormNation, in 2011. The firm focuses
on commercial, retail, and hospitality interiors, unique
museum pieces, exhibition spaces, products and
furniture, and branding and packaging solutions. One
of FormNation's recent projects is the office interior
for Karma, an internet startup company in New York.
FormNation has a team of five people in New York-
Habraken, as well as a graphic designer, industrial
designer, trend watcher/stylist, and spatial designer-
with several freelance designers located worldwide.

Why the name FormNation?
The name FormNation originated with an online store
through which we sold designs starting in 2008. "Form"
is a wink to formation and comes from giving shape,
which we do daily with all projects. And "Nation" points
to us being a big entity that collaborates with creative
teams across disciplines.
How important is the interdisciplinary aspect
to your practice?
It's very important to us. It allows us to have
knowledge and expertise over all elements that make
a product a success: The right direction to follow,
the design of the product itself, its branding and
packaging, as well as the store or tradeshow booth
that it will be shown in. Every aspect can make or
break a product. This gives us a unique capability to
provide full service to our clients and be a boutique
one-stop shop.
You are from the Netherlands, but have lived in New
York for a number of years. Given that background,
what is your perspective on American design?
American design in the past was, of course, a big
inspiration for the European designers of today with
Eames, Knoll, and others. Unfortunately, for some
reason, American design lost its momentum for a while.
Coming to the States 10 years ago, I have seen an
enormous shift from the U.S. not being taken seriously
in the design world to having started a new style
and direction. Fashion already made this shift, and
now I see interiors and product designs with truly
unique styles.

PHOTOGRAPHY: PORTRAIT COURTESY FORMNATION; GARRETT ROWLAND (TOP LEFT); LISA KLAPPE (TOP RIGHT); FLOOR KNAAPEN (BOTTOM )

Designer
You
Should
Know
Jan
Habraken

Given your interdisciplinary approach, what is
unique about the design of the Karma office
(above left) in New York?
Our multinational staff was able to provide the right
touch for this Dutch-American firm, Karma. We struck
the right balance between the New York space with
its tin ceilings and a clean, European feel for the interior.
The two disciplines we were able to show off here
most were our interior design qualities and branding
expertise. The interior, therefore, has the same clean
look and clear use as the company's product.
What are you working on now?
We are working on several projects. We completed the
branding for the hair care brand Uberliss (above right).
Due to the success of a shell chair for Kwantum
(left)-one of the largest homeware stores in the
Netherlands-we are currently working on three new
chairs for that company: an upholstered dining chair,
a metal wire frame chair, and a monobloc chair. We are
designing interiors in New York, including the office
of the real-estate-management startup Hightower
as well as Revi Media, another startup. We are also
working on a line of mobile phone accessories
for Kikkerland and Bed Bath & Beyond.
What, in your opinion, is important in design today?
Design is quite often unnecessary. We already have a
thousand chairs. We create solutions for problems that
are not really problems just to have a marketing tool to
sell more. As a designer, what is important in design
today is creating products that we can bond and
identify with to create a story so that products
will last a lifetime and beyond. c
contractdesign.com

NOVEMBER 2016

http://www.contractdesign.com

Contract - November 2016

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