Plenty to see at DDW even if you're not into design.

Building Strijp TQ in Eindhoven © Photo Agency van de Meulenhof bv

EINDHOVEN - Imagine this: you couldn't care less about design. That could be the case. But what should you do with the Dutch Design Week that floods the city between 21 and 29 October? Well, even without looking at the content of the exhibitions, the DDW is more than worth it. For example, you can visit a few beautiful locations that are normally not easily accessible. Examples? Plenty!

Michel Theeuwen 17-10-17

The 16th edition of the DDW features a total of 110 locations. Among them are the usual suspects, such as the Klokgebouw, the Design Academy, Piet Hein Eek, or Sectie C in Tongelre. Although the latter still needs to be discovered by many Eindhoven residents. Well now, here is your chance, seize it! Because during the Dutch Design Week, they open their doors, some for free, others for a few euros, or as part of the total ticket.

Shops
Where to start? For those arriving by train at Eindhoven station, you could begin with a tour of participating 'shops'. For example, the roof of the Bijenkorf is open again, and in the MediaMarkt, the Hubot agency is all about people and robots. And to top it off, in the city center, you can visit the old V&D: in the stripped building, De Modebelofte by Studio Harm Rensink and HeyNiek has settled. Still, it's also a great opportunity to reminisce about nostalgic memories of the department store.

The Clock Building is one of the largest exhibition spaces of DDW, where you can spend hours. But there is also a lot of beauty to see in the surroundings. Skate park Area51 - now renovated, as it will remain - for example, next to the Veem (building) or the NatLab. For the next part, we choose Strijp-T. Here you will find building TQ and the Innovation Powerhouse, known in Philips times as power plant TR with the two chimneys attached.

Philips company canteen
This is perhaps the biggest hit of the DDW, in terms of location of course. In the enormous TQ, the old Philips company canteen on the top floor is open. The exhibition there will be bathed in daylight through the large windows. The view over Eindhoven is also beautiful. TR is the home of, among others, VanBerlo, the well-known design agency. With owner Strijp-T BV, the energy plant with huge concrete pillars and coal funnels has been transformed into a beautiful transparent office building with a raw edge. Boudie Hoogedeure of Strijp-T says when promoting the TQ property, "we would like to ride along with events like the DDW". "It is an ideal way to introduce the public to the historical, industrial old Philips buildings that are being transformed."

Top floor of building Strijp TQ in Eindhoven is being prepared for the DDW © Photo press agency van de Meulenhof bv

Hosts
Then the question arises of how DDW manages to secure all those locations? According to Katja Lucas from the organizing Dutch Design Foundation, there are the 'own' locations, such as Klokgebouw and the Veem, but there are also many hosts who sign up themselves. "This shows how great the willingness is in the city to participate in DDW. This participation also colors the city," says Lucas. Sometimes only locations or exhibitors who do not have a place sign up. "Then we do matchmaking between the parties. For example, we found MediaMarkt for Hubot. We thought it was a nice combination because even non-DDW visitors end up in a completely different world. MediaMarkt reacted very enthusiastically to the idea."

Other highlights
• Old (industrial) buildings: NRE site, Van der Meulen Ansems (VDMA), TAC, Schellens, and part of the Mariënhage monastery complex (where Lab-1 connects to DDW).

• Creative business buildings Microlab at Strijp-S and Plan B at Hurksestraat, Wallstreet, the former municipal building at Stadhuisplein 6.

• New buildings: Creative school SintLucas on Strijp-S and The Student Hotel at the Stationsplein.

• Living: Block 61 by the railway at Strijp-S, Pixelhof 11, CoHousing at Strijp-R, and Juliusstraat 62 in Woensel-West with a designer kitchen and other designers as guests.

DDW The Innovation Powerhouse, the former Philips power plant on Zwaanstraat in Eindhoven, is now home to design and innovation agency VanBerlo. © Michel Theeuen

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