Ruud-Jan Kokke

Ruud-Jan Kokke studied at ArtEZ. The recorded working language is Dutch. The field of work recorded is product design, industrial design and studio glass. Places of work recorded in the authority are Oosterbeek. Employment is recorded with Arco. Works named in the authority record are TC Stool. Work by Ruud-Jan Kokke is recorded in the collections of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Museum of Modern Art, Museum Arnhem and Stichting Kunst in de Publieke Ruimte in Arnhem. Distinctions recorded are Dutch Design Award 'Product' and Gelderse Vormgevingsprijs.

Ruud-Jan Kokke studied at the Sociale Academie (College for Social Studies) and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Arnhem. He is considered a designer in the tradition of Gerrit Rietveld developing his first chairs in his workshop. In 1986 he started his own label, Ruud-Jan Kokke Product & Design. Since then his furniture has been produced by companies such as Metaform, Leolux, Spectrum Design Eindhoven, Kembo, Auping and Ahrend. His first interior designs date from the early nineties. In close cooperation with his partner, Petra Hartman, he has also designed various school interiors.

The Kokke chair designed in 1984, was first produced in series by Metaform in 1988 and can now be found in the permanent collection of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. It is made of flexible slats and has a transparent and strong structure. The notorious TC museum stool from 1990 was made for Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam and is named after Trees Coenders, who was looking for a lightweight stool that was easy to carry and also easy to stack. It is now serving in several other museums and is collected by the MoMa New York under the title “Wander” Stacking Stool. Four years later, in 1992, Kokke designed the Kokkestok, a walking stick which is easy to use because of the long curl, the stiff end and the rubber strip on the side. Several other furniture designs followed, often in commission, such as the chairs for the restaurant of the Province House in Groningen in 1991, the Next bed for Auping (1996) and the Ahrend Run sofa (2009). In 2013 he developed Zami, an ergonomically designed stool, in close cooperation with the orthopaedic surgeon Piet van Loon.

In the mid-1990s, interior and public space became increasingly important. Often this concerned the upgrading of squares and parks or the renovation of existing buildings, such as the City Hall Arnhem (2007/2008) and several local Rabobank buildings. With the new millennium Kokke started a series of interior designs for schools, such as Mozaïek College Arnhem (2001/2002), Het Stedelijk Zutphen (2010) and Canisius College Nijmegen (2016), and sports facilities, such as Olympiaplein Amsterdam (2008).

• Kruk TC [TC Stool]: MoMA, New York, Cooper Hewitt New York; Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; Kunstgewerbe Museum Berlin; Design Museum Denmark • Kokke seats: Museum für Angewandte Kunst Cologne; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam • Tray: Museum Arnhem • Moment [bench]:Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; Museum Arnhem • Kokkestok [stick]: Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Rotterdam; MoMA New York; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam • Chair OT: Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

• 1994: Museum Für Angewandte Kunst Cologne: Made in Holland, Design aus den Niederlanden • 1996: MoMA New York: Thresholds, Contemporary Design from the Netherlands • 2010: Lingam: Utrecht, Stockholm, Mons, New York • 2012: Alliantie, Duo's Ellecom

• 1990: TC Stool, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam • 1994: Furniture, Design Institute Amsterdam • 1991: Furniture, Restaurant Province House, Groningen • 1997: Home Furnishing, (1160 student rooms) Wageningen • 1998: Street Soccer Field, Amsterdam • 1999: Home Furnishing (student and professor rooms), Leiden • 2001: Mozaïek College, Arnhem • 2003: Beekdal Lyceum, Arnhem • 2004: Fence Olympia Square Amsterdam; Halve Maan Sports facility • 2004: Brede School, Oosterbeek • 2004: Parking facility, Pompekliniek, Nijmegen • 2005/2014: Local Rabobank buildings (5 different buildings) • 2007/2008: Renovation and restoration, City Hall and Square Arnhem • 2011: T-huis Presikhaaf, Arnhem • 2012: Design Pas dwellings, Het Dorp, Arnhem • 2015: Bridges, balconies, balustrades incl. Coolhaven Rotterdam • 2016: Summer Residence [pavilion], Stadsblokken Arnhem • 2016: Folly Koningsberg, Rozendaal (Province of Gelderland)