When I first met Stijn he was driving a rickety red van, stuff in the back.

Dragging bags of cement across the floor, rebuilding his house. 'How do you know how this works',  I asked. Well, he said, ' I just try and do. And it usually works out fine'.  Apparently, this is how self-taught people go about their business. Sparkled with a bit of talent. Or a fair share of it.

He does have a diploma, yes he does.  Achieved with a minimum of looking into books and well, isn't it all common knowledge what they are trying to teach you in school.

From the age of fifteen he started playing the drums.

He became a musician and  was a drummer in a broad variety of bands of which one made it to New York .

I asked him whether he was into song texts or titles but he was of course more into the balance of the song in terms of chorus and chord schemes.  

His work today is filled with finding balance and the right proportions.

He still is a drummer and nowadays also an inventor and designer.

As an inventor he has made an absolutely innovative fastening system and obtained a patent for it.

It is a device that is 'primarily intended for hanging art with the capability of changing the hanging point without needing to drill new holes'.

It is not on the market yet.

You just do it and stick to the plan. Stijn doesn't give up. He, for instance, totally rebuilt the JA-chair because the ideal height was 15 mm lower than his prototype.  

About designing furniture he says 'The biggest challenge for me is to design furniture that doesn't exist yet - at least not in terms of design - without loosing sight of its function.'

'A chair must sit properly.'

'I'm always eager to find something new or to find a solution to a certain problem.'

'I try to stay genuine and true to myself.'

To me it's obvious that Stijn works from his own ideas. No concessions made...

By the way he was born in Munich in 1966.  

text: Roeline Ruules © 2019