“My design is characterized by a mixture of mass-market and couture,” explains industrial designer Jan Habraken. Born in Eindhoven, the Netherlands in 1975, Habraken studied architectural engineering before attending the world-renowned Design Academy Eindhoven. Immediately following graduation he co-founded WATdesign. After five years of making and exhibiting products and furniture internationally, the designer moved to New York City, where he established Studio Jan Habraken in 2008.

Habraken's wide-ranging experience in architecture, interior, furniture, retail and product design makes him a generalist in the best sense of the word. Using creativity instead of category as his starting point, he generates fresh ideas precisely by crossing disciplines, applying knowledge gained in each field to the others.

Habraken also caters to the current mixed commercial market, designing unique or limited-edition objects – his glass trestle table, signed vases and clover wire – in addition to more affordable, mass-produced products like the ZER00:00 clock and the sustainably minded AMT Shopper.

Knowing full well that the world is not in need of another chair, bookshelf or light, Habraken insists that new products innovate on, or add value to, their predecessors. With this goal, Studio Jan Habraken puts functionality and manufacturability before style, adding functionality and thought-provoking narratives to his objects while refining each to a pared-down poeticism. The studio also strives to make products available to the largest number of people, designing pieces that will last a lifetime, in order to achieve sustainability in its purest form. The result is a collection of smart, enduring designs with clean lines and a pure geometry that can be found in magazines, newspapers and museums worldwide, but are best viewed in more intimate environments.

how we work

At Studio Jan Habraken, we do not believe in leaving our mark to muffle every project; instead we approach each brief, client or question with an open mind. In our work, functionality prevails over aesthetics and every project is different. Creativity cannot be managed with rigid guidelines. We provide answers to the unique questions raised by each unique situation.

We also strive to add value to our designs by improving techniques, manufacturability, ergonomics, message or material to endow the product with new life. Taking a Darwinist approach to product design, we work with the conviction that products must demonstrate their superiority in order to survive. They will become “extinct” if they are poorly constructed and poorly designed. Our designs are therefore both timeless and aesthetic, objects that possess what we call “sustainable beauty.”