SMOKE Chaise Lounge: Pieces of furniture are literally burned, after which they are preserved in a clear epoxy coating. Except for three baroque products, which are reproduced by the Dutch label Moooi, all Smoke products come from the Baas & den Herder studio in The Netherlands.

Dutch designer Maarten Baas was born in Arnsberg, Germany and moved to The Netherlands in 1979 where he grew up. Upon graduating from high school in 1995 he began his studies at the prestigious Design Academy Eindhoven. Baas designed the candleholder Knuckle, which was taken into production by Pols’ Potten, while he was still studying. In 2000 he studied for several months at the Politecnico di Milano, in Milan.

In June 2002 he graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven with two concepts. One of them being the now famous and generally known Smoke series, for which Baas charred furniture and treated the torched skeletons with a coating, turning them into useable pieces of furniture again.

Three of these Smoke pieces became part of the collection of Marcel Wanders’ international design label Moooi, who launched them during the Salone del Mobile in 2003, where they were welcomed with applause. This sensation was followed by a solo-show at Moss gallery in New York, one year later, where the Smoke series were expanded by design classics from the 20th century, including pieces by Rietveld, Eames, Gaudi and Sottsass. Soon the Smoke collection was considered by museums, critics, collectors and the design public as an iconic collection of modern design and Smoke has been taken into several permanent collections of influential museums around the world (a.o Victoria & Albert Museum, Groninger Museum, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts).

In 2005 Baas began collaborating with Bas den Herder, who is now responsible for the production and development of almost all of Maarten Baas’s designs. The founding of Studio Baas & den Herder made it possible to further work out Maarten’s unique, handmade pieces and to produce them on a larger scale. This new collaboration also allows Baas to take on even more ambitious projects for hotels, restaurants, galleries, museums and private commissioners from all over the world.

Maarten approaches design without knowledge of, or care for, predisposed boundaries and finds his cause in undertaking new experiments. This method of approach was further strengthened for his exhibition at the Salone del Mobile 2005, where he unveiled his Treasure Furniture and Hey, chair, be a Bookshelf! which meanwhile have been taken into several collections (a.o. Los Angeles Museum for Modern Art, FNAC, Indianapolis Museum of Art).

Baas obtained a unique position in the design world in a very short period of time. With private commissions for a.o. Adam Lindemann, Brad Pitt, Fabio Novembre, Ian Schrager, Li Edelkoort, Michael Ovitz and John McEnroe, collaborations with companies such as Morgan Hotel Group and Dom Ruinart, galleries such as Mitterrand + Cramer (Geneve), Cibone (Tokyo), Moss (NY) and many important museums.

At the end of 2009, Baas was, as by far the youngest designer ever, awarded as Designer of the Year during Design Miami.

Maarten Baas lives and works on a farm in the countryside near ‘s Hertogenbosch. Additional information can be found at: www.maartenbaas.com.

SMOKE Grandfather Clock: Since 2004 gallery Moss and Maarten Baas collaborate on the “Where There’s Smoke…” series: a Smoke collection of well known design classics of a.o Rietveld, Eames and Gaudi. Besides this series, Baas has done commissions for collectors and museums around the world.

SMOKE Ziigzag Chair: Original design by Gerrit T. Rietveld (1934). Created for: Moss, New York “Where There´s Smoke”: 15-05-2004

Clay Furniture: Clay furniture is made of synthetic Clay, with a metal “skeleton” inside to reinforce the structure. All pieces are modelled by hand. No moulds are used in the production, making each piece unique.

Clay Furniture Desklight

Clay Furniture Chair

Haphazard Harmony Porcelain Set

For the campaign “The Empty Chair”, Maarten Baas made the symbolic empty chair, to support Amnesty in their fight for freedom of expression. Dr. Liu Xiaobo was convicted for his role in drafting “Charter 08”, a proposal for legal and political reform in China. Liu Xiaobo was the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, but during the cermony his chair remained empty, as he was sentenced to a 11 years imprisonment. “The empty chair” is a symbol for Liu and many others who’re in jail for expressing their opinion. Photo by Frank Tielemans

Sculpt Cupboard: Pieces of furniture, based on quick sketches, which are enlarged to a monumental size. Made of metal, finished with walnut veneer, sandblasted finish, or powdercoating.

Waste Furniture: Built using waste from a furniture factory.