Marck Haans
Marck Haans' interest in design arose at a young age. At home, he always liked to unscrew and put things together, marveling at how complex the design was. He regularly did holiday work with his father in the metal factory. There he discovered how moulds for plastic products were made and he developed a fascination for production techniques. Something he took with him for the rest of his career.
Insight, aptitude and career
Marck Haans inherited the insight and talent for product design from home. For example, his father's factory was a wonderful learning experience during his summer holidays. And his love of unscrewing things – including an old engine imported from Africa – laid a solid foundation on which he still builds today.
Can it be simpler?
'How is something put together and how can it be simpler?' is still the starting point for all his designs. His studies in Monumental Design at the Royal Academy of Art and Design in Den Bosch and the Design Academy Eindhoven brought him to Brabantia. There he designed various products for the consumer market. In the meantime, he started his own design studio DingMeubel in the evenings. In 1994, he started working as a designer of contract furniture at Gispen. In 2003 he switched to Aspa. He then joined Ahrend where he designed various circular and award-winning furniture.
Circular design
For Marck Haans, circularity is nothing new. He has always been amazed by the fact that so many products are hardly dismountable and repairable. And at his first employer, Brabantia, they were already working on circularity in the 90s. At Gispen, he and Eelco Rietveld designed a trolley with a bumper made from crushed recycled car tyres. He thinks it is important not to deplete the earth and not to extract raw materials from it unnecessarily.
Characteristic: pure geometry
Characteristic of Marck's designs is the pure geometry. As you saw in the proportions in the work of Da Vinci and later in the glassware of Copier: a simple and sleek design in which the golden ratio was applied. For example, the Ahrend Qabin Collection that Marck designed has vertical lines within which everything fits – accessories, wall panels, ceiling parts. This makes every part applicable in all models. This creates peace in a room and creates a low-stimulus environment. And it contributes to circularity through its modular construction, because you can detach, repair and reuse the parts. For the Ahrend Modea table collection, Marck started from a pure circular arc. For example, the table tops have a rounded, organic shape. This offers the possibility to create a dynamic working environment in a triangular arrangement, for example, without disturbing the peace and rhythm in the room.
‘Furniture should not be imposed, or trend-sensitive. With pure geometry, I bring peace to the working environment.’
Immortal products
Marck enjoys working for Ahrend. He is happy to design products that are successful. Not for the short term, but for life. He is proud when he walks through the city and sees 'his' creations. Or watch a talk show where the table guests sit on 'his' chairs. He thinks the best thing is that furniture that was designed a long time ago is now given a new life in the Circular Hub. He believes that creating an immortal product is the crowning glory of his work.
‘You do well as a designer if your products are less mortal than you are.’
Making AI work for us
Marck continues to delve into production techniques. Always with the circular thought in his head: how do I easily take something apart when it is broken? This can be done through design and construction. Think of Japanese connections that do not involve a nut, screw or bolt. And now he lets AI work for him. This saves time – for example, because you need fewer sessions with prototyping – so you can speed up. And acceleration is necessary to become more sustainable. Because it provides time that you can put back into sustainable innovations.
Focused on comfort
In addition to the pure geometry and the circular idea, comfort plays an important role in Marck Haans' designs. Ahrend is testing this in abundance. And the bar is always higher than the mandatory standard. For example, Marck takes all body types into account in his chair designs. And he takes trends and developments into account. With the aim of ensuring that the chairs last as long as possible, they are designed in such a way that everyone – with the right settings – can work comfortably on them for a lifetime.
