Richard Hutten

Biography Richard Hutten

“Traditionally design is about solving a problem. I don’t solve problems; I create possibilities”

Rotterdam based Richard Hutten is one of the most influential and successful Dutch designers. He is well known for his conceptual and playful designs. A true innovator, he has established himself as one of the leading international figures in his field, continuously pushing the boundaries of design.

Born in The Netherlands in 1967, Richard Hutten graduated of the Design Academy in Eindhoven in 1991, the same year he started his own design studio. With a team of experts he is working across furniture design and interior design. Many of his products have become successful design icons and are represented in renowned museums all over the world.

Playfulness is an important aspect of Richard Hutten work. Referring to ‘Homo Ludens or “Playing Man” by the Dutch historian and cultural theorist Professor Johan Huizinga, Richard Hutten’s designs are aiming to contribute to the importance of play as culture. Therefor his designs are not only beautiful but also optimistic and fun.

He is a key exponent of “Droog Design” in which he has been involved since it’s start in 1993, making him one of the main founders of the famous Dutch Design movement. Since 2008 is Richard Hutten the art director of Gispen, Hollands second largest and most famous furniture brand with an almost 100 years history.

His impressive list of clients are all leaders in their field and include Moooi, Muij, Offecct, Christofle, Artifort, Kvadrat, Moroso, Rabobank, Lloyd hotel, I+I Milano, DSM, Skultuna as well as Gemeentemuseum The Hague, OMA/Rem Koolhaas, MVRDV, Centraal Museum Utrecht, Karl Lagerveld and HRH Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands.

His work is held in the permanent collections of over 40 museums around the world making him one of the most collected living designers. The list includes MoMA New York, Victoria & Albert Museum London, Centraal Museum Utrecht, Vitra Museum Weil am Rhein, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Design Museum London, Design Museum Gent, Stedelijk Museum ’s Hertogenbosch, Chicago Art Institute and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.

Winner of numerous international awards, such as the Red Dot Award, LAI interior award, Frame magazine / The great Indoors award and the German Design Award, his work has been extensively exhibited internationally including the MoMA New York, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Rotterdam, Centraal Museum Utrecht, Zuiderzee museum, Enkhuizen, Museum of Modern Art San Francisco, Design Museum Holon, Moti Museum Breda, Triennale Milan, Louisiana Museum Copenhagen, Übersee Museum Bremen, Alvar Aalto Museum Finland, Kunsthal Rotterdam.

His work has been extensively published around the globe including world leading magazines such as Domus, Abitare, Interni, New York Times, Washington Post, Wallpaper, Icon, Frame, Mark, The International Herald Tribune, Axis, Elle decoration and many others.

Selected solo exhibitions

2015
Drawing Circles - Offecct, Stockholm, Sweden.
2013
Richard Hutten in huis Sonneveld - Museum house Sonneveld, Rotterdam;
Tokyo (De)coded - Gallery Van Krimpen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2011
Bezeten van stoelen - Zuiderzee museum, Enkhuizen, The Netherlands.
2010
18 years of Playing - Museum Gent, Belgium;
Richard Hutten - Krecky gallery, Prague, Czech.
2009
Useful Art - Plus gallery, Milan, Italy;
The playing man - Galery Roomservice, Barcelona, Spain.
2008
Reflections - Gallery Ormond, Geneva, Switzerland;
Swiss Layers -Gallery Facsimile, Milan, Italy.
2007
Homo Ludens - Museum Kunsthal Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
Limited editions and special products - Galerie Vivid, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
DDE - Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2006
Do touch - Museum Grand Hornu, Hornu, Belgium.
2005
Mastering Form and Function - Fellisimo design House, New York, USA;
Toys for Life - Axis gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
2004
No sign of Design - Museum Sieboldhuis, Leiden, The Netherlands;
Richard Hutten - Inart gallery, Osaka, Japan.
2003
Dressing - Gallery Taxdorf, Berlin, Germany.
2002
eVOLUTION oF oRDINARY oBJECT - Trans Gallery, Tokyo, Japan;
Richard Hutten - Gallerie Binnen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
Richard Hutten - CBK art center, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
2001
Taking form, Making form - Felissimo house, New York, USA;
Capital 4 - Galerie Vivid, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
Richard Hutten - Wise wise - Tokyo, Japan.
1998
No Sign of Design - E&Y gallery, Tokyo, Japan;
No Sign of design - Inart gallery, Osaka, Japan.
1994
Tafels - Galerie Verzameld werk, Gent, Belgium.
1991
No sign of design - Galerie Yksi, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
2016
Design + Friends - Kunstgewerbe Museum, Dresden, Germany;
Ceci n'est pas une copie - Musee Grand Hornu, Boussu, Belgium;
HouseLife - Decorative Arts Museum, Bordeaux, France;
Intersections - Adamuseum, Brussels, Belgium.
2015
Zones des comfort - Galerie Poirel, Nancy, France;
Design Derby - Designmuseum Genth, Gent, Belgium;
Design Derby - Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
Design uit het land van de aardappeleters - Noordbrabants Museum, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands;
Design Oracles - Centre nationale des Arts Plastiques, Paris, France.
2014
Supermodels - Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
Gelinkt - Design Museum Gent, Gent, Belgium;
Rijksstudio - Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
Designart - Kunsthal Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
2013
Hand Made - Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
New Originals - Space Gallery, Guangzhou, China;
The Grand Hotel - Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada;
Connecting Concepts - Museo de Arte Brasiliera, Soa paolo, Brasil;
Spring - Peter and Paul Fortress Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia;
Miniatuur Museum - Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, The Netherlands.
2012
De collectie vormgeving - Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
XXSmall - Gemeente Museum, The Hague, The Netherlands.
2012
100 years of Dutch Graphic Design - Moti Museum, Breda, The Netherlands;
Jongeren als Curator - Museum Waterland, Purmerend, The Netherlands;
New Old - MIT, Pune, India;
Connecting Concepts - Designhuis, Eindhoven, The Netherlands;
Deep Surface: Contemporary Ornament and Pattern - CAM, Raleigh US;
Dutch Design - Huis van Oranje, Paleis Oranienbaum, Germany;
A Citylife - Expo Antwerp, Belgium;
Design=Wzornictwo - Design Centrum Kielce, Poland;
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye - Stedelijk Museum 's Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.
2011
Creative Junctions - National Art Museum of China, Beijing;
Hergebruik - Museum Gorichem, The Netherlands;
Via Milano - 10 years of Dutch Design - Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
Temporary Stedelijk 2 - Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
Rollercoaster - Moti Museum, Breda, The Netherlands;
New Olds - Design Museum Holon, Tel Aviv, Israel;
Standard Deviations - MoMA, New York, USA;
Spring - Designhuis Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
2010
Norm=Vorm - Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, The Netherlands;
Il segno dei designer - Triennale Milano, Italy;
The state of Things - Design Museum Holon, Tel Aviv, Israel;
Design aus de Niederlanden - Neue Sammlung, Munich, Germany;
Shaping the New Century - High Museum of Art, Atlanta, USA;
Pioneren in Poort - Tijdelijk Museum, Almere, The Netherlands;
Play/Forward - Gelerie Verzameld Werk, Gent, Belgium;
Shaping the new century - Milwaukee Art Museum, USA;
Blown to Life - Glasmuseum Leerdam, The Netherlands;
Zitten op Gispen - Gispen Museum, Culemborg, The Netherlands.
2009
European design since 1985: Shaping the new century - Indianapolis museum of Art, USA;
Design with a smile - Design Museum Gent, Belgium;
European design since 1985: Shaping the new century - Denver Art Museum, Denver, USA;
2008
Limited/Unlimited - Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
Uitgelicht - Stedelijk Museum 's Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.
2007
Centerpieces - SM Stedelijk Museum, Den Bosch, The Netherlands;
Nature Design - Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich, Switzerland.
2006
NLA - Acme gallery, Los Angeles, USA;
Simply Droog - Museum of Art and Design, New York, USA.
2005
Nest - Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
Richard Hutten - Seoul design Festival, Seoul, South-Korea;
Last exit to The Netherlands - Silvera, Paris, France;
La Baguette - Mudac, Lausanne, Switzerland.
2004
Reality Machines - Royal Castle, Warsaw, Poland;
Kramer vs Rietvelt - Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
Sentieres Lumineux - Villa Noailles, Hyeres, France;
Simply Droog - Haus de kunst, Munich, Germany.
2003
Reality Machines - NAI architecture Museum, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
Go Dutch - AAA, London, UK;
The milking stool - Design Museum London, UK;
Van Bakeliet tot composite - Design Museum Gent, Belgium;
2002
Designing for kids - Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
Kunststof(f) - Broel Museum, Kortrijk, Belgium;
Kids size interiors - Galerie Binnen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
Kunststof(f) - Museum Martha Herord, Herford, Germany;
Milan in a Van - Victoria & ALbert museum, London, UK.
2001
Me, Myself and you - Kunsthal, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
Smash - Galery Neotu, Paris, France;
Hidden - Gallery Schuppenhauwer, Cologne, Germany;
Re-f-use - Nationaal Museum van Speelklok tot pierement, Utrecht, The Netherlands;
Smash - Design Museum London, UK.
2000
Stand der Dinge - Museum für angewandte kunst, Cologne, Germany;
Droog+Dutch Design - Ozone, Tokyo, Japan;
Aperto Verto - Museo Correr, Venice, Italy.
1999
Identity Crisis - The lighthouse, Glasgow, UK;
Wonder Design - E&Y Gallery, Tokyo, Japan;
Milan in Rotterdam - Gallery Vivid, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
1998
Do Normal - SFMoMA, San Francisco, USA;
No Sign of Design - E&Y Gallery, Tokyo, Japan;
Standpunten - Kunsthal, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
Plastic times - Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel;
Empty space - Alvar Aalto Museum, Jyväkylä, Finland.
1997
Droog Design - Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands;
Not so simple - Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK.
1996
Thresholds - MoMA, New York, USA;
Design I'm Wandel - Ubersee Museum, Bremen, Germany;
Design Now! - Centre de design de l'Uquam, Montreal, Canada;
Refuse - Centre for fine Arts, Miami, USA;
Zelf producerende ontwerpers - Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
1995
Design and Identity, Aspects of European Design - Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen, Denmark;
Droog Design - Kunsthal, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
1994
Design aus de Niederlanden - Museum für angewandte kunst, Cologne, Germany;
A journey to Italy - Abitare il Tempo, Verona, Italy.
1993
Droog Design - Milan, Italy.