Meet our Founding Partners

GLUE amsterdam connected by design is made possible by the support of our Founding Partners. Their businesses are strongly tied with the culture and economy of Amsterdam. Who are they?

Media partners

Ingeborg de Roode - Curator Industrial Design at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

‘We participate in events in order to be able to focus more attention on design, as was previously the case with Inside Design or the Experimenta design biennial, but for some time there has been nothing specific in that area in the city. It so happens that GLUE coincides exactly with the 125th anniversary of Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in September,’ says Ingeborg de Roode, curator of industrial design at the museum. To celebrate, she is preparing a major exhibition entitled: ‘From Thonet to Dutch design – 125 years of living at the Stedelijk.’ Here, GLUE will open with a debate on why designers are important to the city and how they can contribute to it.

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Helmich Jousma - Teamleader Concept Design at Interface the Netherlands

‘‘There was a triple gap,’ says Helmich Jousma, Concept Design team leader at Interface Netherlands, cryptically. He knows that the fact that the Dutch office of the international company specialising in sustainable floor coverings is located in Scherpenzeel seems far off to many people. ‘By participating in this design event, we’ll meet in Amsterdam and close that gap.’
Another gap that he refers to is that Eindhoven, with its Dutch Design Week and link to the Design Academy, has filled a hole, and that many other events are concentrated around Rotterdam. ‘Now it’s time for GLUE to put the creative capital back on the map,’ he says decidedly.

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Erwin Schuster - Director & Alex Schaub - Head of the Makerspace and Community Contact Amsterdam

On the somewhat uninspiring Contactweg, just above the Westerpark, there is a gem that not all creative Amsterdammers are familiar with. It’s a shame, because this unique breeding ground and makerspace functions as a multidisciplinary beehive full of activity, knowledge, and talent. A mini-city, where you’ll find established studios of well-known and lesser-known creatives including OnTour Fashion designers, Lance Legel from 3co with his special 3D scanner for plants, architect Maarten van Kesteren, designer of recycled material Magnus Norup, high-end Swiss furniture label Girsberger, and DeliSouth, importer of organic products such as oil, tea and wine.

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Coen Verhoef - partner of Concept Gallery and Countrymanager Thonet in the Netherlands and Belgium

A Design strip, with a nod to The Vegas Strip, the neon-lit strip of chic hotel-casinos and shops in Las Vegas, that’s what they had in mind. ‘The script was ready,’ says Coen Verhoef, responsible for Thonet in the Netherlands and Belgium, sitting in the café area of the Concept Gallery. Together with the adjacent Kasstoor shop and the Architects Showroom, Concept Gallery saw the importance of organising a design event on the ‘Amsterdam design strip’ along the Pedro de Medinalaan on Steigereiland Zuid. Because of corona, they postponed an event, and important fairs like the Salone del Mobile and Orgatec were also cancelled, so they were unable to show any novelties.

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Ruud van Oosterhout - designer at rvodesign

Not only because it is the most beautiful location you can imagine in Amsterdam, but also because Ruud van Oosterhout has settled there with his studio and showroom: rvodesign. The designer is displaying stylish collections in the listed building right next to the Rijksmuseum.

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Ton Minkels & Rob Cornelissen - brand representatives of Eikelenboom and Arper at Design Post Amsterdam

In a beautiful area of Amsterdam, at the north end of Cruquiuseiland, the office of Design Post Amsterdam offers a view of the glistening water with its houseboats and the light shining through the many windows of the two floors of this interior collective. In the showroom, Design Post Amsterdam presents renowned brands such as Arco, Arper, Danskina, Montis, Palau, Kvadrat, and Eikelenboom, which have an area of 1500 square meters to show their collections together. ‘Most people know us, but not our location.’ Time to change that..

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Robert Bronwasser

Robert Bronwasser offers a three-day look behind the scenes. His large studio on the Johan van Hasseltkanaal in Amsterdam North offers an almost unobstructed view of the IJ, despite the fact that there has been a lot of construction of late. Inside, during GLUE, you can see how the designer sketches and designs, and how that leads to products of which there are many examples in the studio: from a coat rack, table and sofa to crockery and the watering can. Not only can you see live how Robert Bronwasser works, but you can also see it in images and text: his book Enjoy Everyday Design will be presented during this event.

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Marcel Vermeulen - Managing Director Kvadrat Benelux

Marcel Vermeulen was one of the founders of GLUE. During a dinner at De Plantage, a plan was forged, which led, among other things, to Kvadrat opening its doors during the event, showing the latest collection of textiles from design agency RAW COLOR.

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Michel Troost - owner Kasstoor

Guess who’s back? GLUE is a good momentum to show that Kasstoor has resurfaced. With a new logo, a new website, and a new collection that is indebted to the surprising high-end profile of yesteryear. For a year now, Kasstoor – formerly De Kasstoor & Wonen 2000 – has had a new owner: Michel Troost. We know him as the managing director of Vitra Netherlands, where he worked for ten years, and in recent years as the managing director of Montis.

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