It is unlikely that I would stay away from DA volontary, so...I have to stay away unvolontary, at least for the time being. During the night of saturday to sunday we were evacuated from the house and the adjacent office and Atelier Orange building. We had been able to contain a sudden raise of the water level in the river that flows along our house with sand bags and pumps, but just before 2.00 AM one of th walls of basement of the house collapsed and that was the end of seven hours of digging and pumping. Local security services do not allow us to get into the house because it could collapse any time. For some time we will not have any access to the net (this is one of the few exceptions) and I will be missing the pleasure of reading you all and commenting myself from time to time....be well, I will be back.
As you must imagine, we are...
As you must imagine, we are devastated by this news.
We received an email from Koen and it appears that what he describes, with his usual reserve, in the message above, is only the partial reflection of a much crueler reality. His house seems irrecoverable and all his installations are destroyed (moulding workshop, oven etc). As the insurances do not cover this kind of natural disaster, he will therefore be constrained to convert what remains of his workshop as a place to live in. The activities of the Atelier Orange seem thus very strongly compromised because the investment that is necessary to rebuild the installation is too important.
As you know, for us, designers are more than names on products. It's a profound admiration for their work that motivated the creation of this site. This admiration extends to hundreds of designers, past or contemporary. But if there is one in particular who has succeeded in gaining all our admiration, our respect and our friendship, it is Koen! We can all testify here the fact that he is much more than a good designer, he is an extraordinary purveyor of knowledge. Whether it is at the university of Montreal, during conferences all over the world or through hundreds of posts in this forum, he always shares his immense knowledge with a modesty, a competence and a generosity without equal.
We cannot resolved to accept that his project, which is the result of a long and rich career is destroyed by fate under a thick layer of mud. Our friend needs us, it is our turn to be generous! We know that all the members of this forum don't all have too much money, but we are all creative and we can certainly find ways to help, at least partially, to rebuild his dream of intelligent synthesis between the creative rigour of the designer and the know-how of the craftman.
We already have one or two ideas. We are waiting for your ideas or proposals. Thanks in advance for your help.
If you are reading these lines without knowing Koen De Winter, follow the link below to discover some examples of his work.
http://www.designaddict.com/design_index/index.cfm/fuseaction/designer_s...
This is terrible
P+A, if you set up a PayPal account, I'd be happy to contribute. I don't have much right now, but I can give a little to help.
My spare money normally goes to my ridiculous pre-work McDonald's breakfasts anyways, a small sacrifice which is probably a good thing for my health anyways.
I will miss you hashbrowns....
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