Maarten Baas - Design Miami/ Designer of the Year 2009

Who is this guy who has become an overnight sensation with his graduation collection SMOKE? Born in Germany and raised in the Netherlands, Maarten Baas graduated from the Design Academy in Eindhoven in 2002. He literally set fire to old chairs and tables before coating then in epoxy resin to preserve the charred remains. By stripping away ornament he diminishes the hand-off preciousness of design and brings the objects closer to their true purpose. The SMOKE collection was commissioned by Dutch label MOOOI, bought by museums and collectors such as Philippe Starck and subsequently further developed in collaboration with New York gallerist Murray Moss. Baas focuses on creating one new project a year, each time exploring new ideas and media. Highlights include his Hey, chair, be a bookshelf! collection, in which he combined discarded furniture elements into complex structures with entirely new purposes; his boldly colored Clay Furniture series, in which each piece is modelled by hand from synthetic clay; or his Sculpt collection in which items of furniture are based on quick sketches which are then enlarged and literally translated into finished pieces on a monumental scale.

Baas is a poster child for the the new spirit of design that has emerged at the turn of the millennium. No longer content with producing sleek designs Baas is embracing a raw, surreal and idiosyncratic approach. At only 31 years of age, Maarten Baas is a strikingly young designer who has impacted the world of design in an unprecented short period of time.

Baas is the fifth designer to receive the award, following the Campana Brothers last year, Tokujin Yoshioka in 2007, Marc Newson in 2006 and Zaha Hadid in 2005.