Thornton Wilder:



"Seek the lofty by reading, hearing and seeing great work at some moment every day."






Welcome at the digital playground of Patrick Kruithof.
Enjoy your moments here and now.

You can visit this website in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese and Japanese


SHORTCUTS
Go to my latest idea, my tweets, my main mission, the Wishing Balloon experience, the Human Light Circles, The Lecture Tour, the Typical Planet project or the Frozen fruitbowl.

NEWS SEPTEMBER 2009/ CO2 EVENT
The Erasmus University in Rotterdam asked me to develop new elements for a master course on sustainability. Together with associate professor Gail Whiteman and her students I organized an event to visualize the abstract matter of CO2 as a major agent of climate change.
With the use of an especially designed CO2 extraction tool one hundred small balloons and one big balloon were filled with car exhaust. Facts on climate change were connected to the small balloons and given to passers-by.
The large balloon containing half a kilo of CO2 was presented to the mayor of the city. Although impressed he could not accept the offer. The problem he held in his hands obviously was too big for one man.
For The Hub Rotterdam, a community of social entrepreneurs I have been working as an external advisor for a new shop concept. The Hub also bought my latest version of the washing machine drum BBQ for its garden. This time I combined the drum with the discarded aluminium lower part of an office chair.
This summer I went to the retreat centre of Zen master and author of The Miracle of Mindfulness Thich Nhat Hanh. I observed my mind in silence and learned more about the art of living in the now through sitting, working and walking meditation.
In Southern France I visited UNESCO World heritage Site St Emilion to document Typical details and learn more about grapes and winemaking. Old keys are still in use to open the doors of this wondrous town. Although St Emilion is obviously a neat place, signs of graffiti can still be found there.
This year I have been planting different seeds from my seed collection in a selfmade greenhouse to observe the proces of natural growth. The Alcea plant in my experimental garden has reached a surprising height of 370 centimeters. These plants are functioning like thermometers of climate change in cities where more sunshine leads to higher temperatures than normal.
I expanded my visibility on the web by opening a LinkedIn page and a Picture gallery. On show are categories like drawings, products, prototypes and human behaviour. I also joined the Twitter community using it to open up my daily world of thought, idea, vision, song, doubt, feel, advice and discovery.

JANUARY 2009/ DELIVERING WARMTH
The Amsterdam Fashion Institute invited me to give a workshop during their Sustainability week. Two groups of students worked on the creation of awareness of the CO2 problem in big cities. I asked them not to work with materials fashion designers tend to use normally but with the social mesh cities already provide.
For the 20th Pecha Kucha evening in Rotterdam I was asked to present my work on a small market. Visitors could take a look at eighteen numbered prototypes. My products were not for sale. Instead people could buy the story behind an object for one euro.
This winter I have focused my attention mainly on the delivery of warmth. I have developed a modular storage system for wood refuse from do-it-yourself shops. All leftovers are sawn to a length of thirty centimeters. In this way pieces can easily be stored in stackable crates.
The first time I used this system was during the inauguration event of the Santa Claus statue, a work by artist Paul McCarthy. I chipped the wood and burned it simultaneously in three different washing machine drum barbecues to keep the audience warm.
The second time was during what felt like an epic journey with friends. At minus five degrees we had a - sunrise watch - breakfast on the middle of a frozen lake. To keep warm we used the mobile version of my drum barbecue. Just before the sun rose we launched a ricepaper balloon carrying a string of fifty different plant and tree seeds including Nepeta Grandiflora.
I had been to the middle of the lake before to make a circle in the snow that buried the ice underneath. With my skates I pushed the snow to the outer line of the circle thus creating a clear center mark.
I closed turbulent 2008 with a retreat in a Benedictine monastery to learn how to be absorbed in whatever you are doing, wherever you are, however you feel, whatever the circumstances.

OCTOBER 2008/ THE ORIGINS OF EARTH
I have spent a lonely night on top of the active Stromboli volcano. Stromboli is one of the beautiful Aeolian Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After a steep three hours climb I arrived at the top. I glimpsed into the crater and saw the origins of earth. Out of the deafening silence explosions came throwing magma high into the air. Seven times by the hour. Standing there my emotions shifted between childlike fascination and intense fear.
Earlier that day I had seen an interesting sign alongside the track. The message seemed contradictory. It urged the visitor to respect nature. That same nature in the appearance of a volcano can be extremely destructive for us. Just like mankind, volcanoes emit CO2, an aggressive agent causing climate change.
On my flight to Sicily I enjoyed the view out of the window. Somewhere above France we crossed the path of another aeroplane. It left behind a clear vapour trail unintentionally visualizing the impact on the environment. The trail looked aesthetic at the same time. I wondered how the world would look like if all the birds had vapour trails behind their tails.
The Dutch branch of the Kaos Pilots, - best school for the world - invited me to give a workshop for their first year students. The students made a constellation of fourteen circles on the Dutch beach of Oostkapelle. Later that evening they used it as a template for three different performances.
I have joined the Rotterdam Pioneers, a group of people that aims to make the city where I live more sustainable.
The Sunday Adventure Club in Amsterdam ordered thirty packages of Mini Campfires for an exhibit on urban pioneering. The firewood inside the newspaper package is made from leftovers of a do-it-yourself shop. Refuse that otherwise would be dumped or burned in incinerators has been transformed into a valuable personal experience.
The academy of art and design in Rotterdam has asked me to write a vision on sustainability. Part of this vision is my statement that sustainable development is not a hype but actually a cultural phenomenon that increasingly needs to be addressed in the coming decades.

JULY 2008/ 15.000 OBJECTS
A compilation of my desert pictures combined with striking environmental facts on Qatar has been published in TAGMAG, a magazine from The Hague.
My lecture in the King Kong galery in the same city ended in a vehement discussion over this slide. The image shows the amount of 25.000 objects western consumers possess on average. Considering the current rise of world population and the limited availability of raw materials we should learn to live with less.
I have been invited by the European capital of culture RUHR 2010 and the Dutch ministry of Education, Culture and Science to join Kreativ Quartiere. This project aims to promote the attractiveness of the Ruhr metropolis for creative individuals and enterprises. I went to the Ruhr area for my research and spent some time in a temporary house in the Ruhrstrasse of Unna Massen.
For an educational institute I have developed a playful tool which helps tutors to integrate sustainable development in their curriculum. Another tool I am using currently for education is this shortened folding rule. It visualizes the most extreme sealevel rise in the year 2100 as predicted by scientists and stresses the urge for action.
In Rotterdam I have tested a prototype for a mobile barbecue. Walking with this washing machine drum on wheels feels like taking your dog out for a walk. The abundance of twigs and other organic materials on the streets makes it easy to keep the fire going.

FEBRUARY 2008/ DUNE BASHING
I have been to a country which probably has the highest CO2 emission per capita in the world. Hospitable Qatar is a place with very little sustainability awareness. Big cars are common, gasoline is cheap and dune bashing is a favorite pastime. The desert with its magnificent sanddunes has a severe waste problem due to the worldwide habit of throwing things out of the window.
I went to Qatar to give a Lecture Tour workshop. Building the Light Circles created a nice contrast between the white paper bags and the black djellabas of the female students.
My definition of the sustainable experience has been quoted in a research paper by Guntram Geser on cultural tourism. It shows that the combination of sustainable development and experience design is an important one.
This image about development has been published in a Great Place to Live publication.
I have met chemist Michael Braungart to ask his opinion on the Frozen fruitbowl. His advice made me rethink my reuse concept.
Asphodeline Liburnica, the first seed from my personal collection has now become a plant. It is growing fast, probably helped by the CO2 compensator medal that I developed together with Marjolein van der Velden.

NOVEMBER 2007/ PING PONG
Typical Planet wants to celebrate the cultural diversity of our planet and stimulate communication between people of different cultural backgrounds. This is precisely what happened when I met two nice people in a bar in Japan. Unable to speak Japanese I showed them pictures from my Typical Holland collection. Thanks to this image I learned the sound of a Japanese doorbell is Ping Pong. Which is different from the Dutch Ding Dong.
I had left Holland to visit both Japan and South Korea. Ecodesign colleagues from Tokyo and Busan invited me for a Lecture Tour workshop at their institutions.
Japan has surprised me with its wonderful Zen gardens, Shinkanzen speed trains and Jacques Tati like situations.
The Light Circles at the Gwangalli beach in Busan attracted many passers by. Lovers photographed each other standing amidst the twenty four lighted paper bags.
Climbing the summit of the Samsinbong mountain I wondered what the meaning of travelling actually is. The answer? To understand oneself.

SEPTEMBER 2007/ AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE
My fascination for seeds as potential CO2 compensators has brought me to Jardin des Plantes in Paris and botanical garden De Dreijen in Wageningen. With seeds from these places and plants I am creating a botanical garden in front of my house and on my balcony. I am especially interested in the Alcea plant which makes climate change visible growing higher then previous years.
Students in Tallinn have been working on my student assignment on climate change and CO2. They were asked to create the interior and exterior of a place were visitors can become conscious of the subjects of CO2 emission and CO2 compensation. The capital of Estonia also revealed several Typical Planet details to me like these mysterious dark holes.
The Dutch branch of the Danish Kaos Pilots school asked me to make seventeen Light Circles with their first team of students. Experimental performances turned the evening into an unforgettable sustainable experience.

JULY 2007/ SEEDS COLLECTION
My design for the Bamboo Labs has been on show in the city of Eindhoven. The search for new applications with this relatively sustainable material has resulted in a small cube, a new type of blockboard and a text explaining the innovation itself.
The current interest for climate change has inspired me to come up with an interesting assignment on the matter of CO2 compensation for my students and a modification of my Minicopter design. Instead of a plastic cap I am now using seeds as weight. Seeds will become more important in the future as viable CO2 compensators so I am currently setting up my own collection.
The last couple of months I have had talks with different people about possible collaborations in the field of education and sustainable business concepts.

FEBRUARY 2007/ THE SUSTAINABLE EXPERIENCE
Kuala Lumpur has been the latest destination of The Lecture Tour. About two hundred students attended the succesful workshop at the end of last year. As usual we started the day with a presentation of Typical Planet pictures of the local culture.
After Malaysia I worked on an assignment for seven washing machine drum barbecues. These barbecues are a variation on a previous design that hangs from a tree branch. In this model the old drums are connected to a second hand stool with a piece of multiplex.
Recently I have written a column for the Design & Emotion Society about the promising connection between sustainability and experience design. It is the first time I have written down a possible definition of the sustainable experience.
My work for the Bamboo Labs has resulted in a conceptual model for a lampshade made of bamboo vineer. I have intensified the visibility of the individual bamboo strips by adding darker vertical stripes to the back of the vineer layer.

NOVEMBER 2006/ MOUNT LINJHIHSAN
After my visit to the Tam Kang university in Taipei on behalf of The Lecture Tour I travelled to the highest mountain of Taiwan. I didn't make it to the top of Mt Jade but spent two days at nearby Mt Linjhihsan. From there the view was marvellous but disturbed by the litter around me.
Taiwan is facing strong side effects of its production activities and consumerist society. Many rivers are polluted and refuse is still burned in open air. The lack of sustainability awareness is not only caused by the industry and consumer behavior but also by religion. Every day thousands of people burn so called Ghost money in front of their houses and shops to secure a prosperous future. This habit is causing smoke that further deteriorates the low air quality in the cities.
Bamboo is a great plant that can be found everywhere in Taiwan. Back in the Netherlands I joined the Bamboo Labs in which 23 designers will look for new applications of this promising material.
In Rotterdam I met a happy consumer from Belgium. This iPod fan had bought himself a Frozen fruitbowl at the exhibition place and shop Studio Hergebruik.

SEPTEMBER 2006/ FOUND TREASURES
Summer contemplation on the Dutch island Vlieland has given me the rest I needed. During a long walk on its immense empty plains I encountered several objects hidden in the sand. Other objects were found in my hometown Rotterdam. In affluent countries like Holland the streets can be filled with little treasures like these: colourful tops, a chair, firewood and high quality carpet.
These are the three autonomous projects I am currently working on: the image based Encyclopedia Erotica, the Typical Planet communication tool and the M collection,
a mindful selection of Moment quotes.
The small town of Olhao in south Portugal is now hosting an exhibition on Ecodesign which includes my design of the Frozen fruitbowl.

JUNE 2006/ THE LECTURE TOUR
It is astounding to see that the surprises of life come to you when you have your eyes pointed in the right direction. This occured to me last month in the Kruger park in South Africa. I went there with friend and colleague Gerrit Schilder to facilitate two workshops in Johannesburg. It was the official start of a new project called The Lecture Tour.
Part of this concept is a presentation of Typical Planet pictures that where taken just after arrival. The best collage of Typical Joburg shows the toys we encountered in Soweto.
Teaching is a great opportunity to spread sustainable knowledge. Back in Holland I continued to do so at the Willem de Kooning Academy and the Piet Zwart Institute. The master students of Piet Zwart presented their sustainable business concepts and we ended the Ecodesign course with a barbecue in the park.

APRIL 2006/ HOMO LUDENS
At the first Dutch edition of a Pecha Kucha Night I presented my design of a new board game. Its name is Amasya, after the Turkish village where the first two prototypes were produced and tested. The audience could read Moment Quotes in the background while I was playing the game with a friend of mine. It was a true tribute to Homo Ludens. This wonderful and valuable term was invented by historian Johan Huizinga and it means man the player.
After my visit to Cuba last year I wrote an article about city farmers in Havana. It has been published along with pictures of the farm in a magazine on sustainability.
Lost and Found is a group exhibition on reuse design. It is now taking place in Haarlem and some of my designs are on show there. Visitors can also purchase a manual which explains how to turn an old washing machine drum into a barbeque.

DECEMBER 2005/ THE STOPWATCH
For the first time in my life I exchanged a commercial experience for another commercial experience. Money played no role in this deal. The art piece of pink sugar is named 'Happiness' and has been made by Roos Versteeg.
Graphic designer Mark Mulder has completed his logo design for the Typical Planet project. The logo is part of the corporate identity he is currently developing.
In Brussels I gave a lecture at the Sint Lucas Academy entitled 'Beyond the product level, into the world of sustainable experiences'. I also wrote the true story of the stopwatch, an amazing encounter between two people that cannot be explained by modern science.

NOVEMBER 2005/ THE CUBAN DREAM
Leaving Cuba I felt sorry for the Cubans. 46 years of living the revolutionary dream, a heavy blockade by the Bush administration and dependency on tourism has made most people tired and apathetic.
It is not easy to explore a country like Cuba. There is a constant feel of control. Nevertheless I was able to take pictures of cultural details for the Typical Planet project. This has resulted in subjects like weights and numbers.
Alberto Korda's famous photograph of Che Guevara has been reproduced numerous times. The murals and billboards expose many different interpretations of that original image.
Cakes in Cuba are great. Well decorated despite a lack of proper ingredients. Blue is for gents, pink for ladies. The Comite de la Defensa de la Revolucion also had its anniversary this year.
There are many oldsmobiles still driving around in Cuba. The sculptures that decorate these cars managed to survive in time.

JUNE 2005/ RECOGNITION
My work has been published for the first time in The Design Encyclopedia. This extensive volume by Mel Byars et al. features over 800 pages with design and designers of the past 135 years.
Also new is a website called Onsustain.com. For sustainable products only. The Curva ruler and Frozen fruitbowl are both for sale here alongside products of other designers. If you are interested in the current status of my thoughts you can read this interview.

APRIL 2005/ EROTIC IMAGES
My personal collection of erotic images now exceeds over 700 images. All these images were cut from books, magazines and photographs at a standardized standing format of 9 by 12 centimeters. This format has been introduced by me in 2004 with the design of an Erotic Story Box. The images in this box are collected with a perspex template by cutting the outer lines. With the collection growing I was able to make an innumerable amount of erotic stories on my Erotic Story Board. These stories are far more personal and poetic then the explicit material we know from pornographic magazines. Making my own image-based stories has become a truly sustainable experience to me. And so it has been to others that paid a visit to one of my erotic tables.

MARCH 2005/ CIRCLES IN THE SAND
After one night of snow the park had turned white. Walking through pristine snow reminded me of my youth. This peculiar sound of my footsteps. The reflection of sunlight. Trees standing like characters in a fairy tale. I chose one of them and approached it in a circle. Once I reached the trunk I went back connecting my former footsteps. The shape in the snow reminded me of a mysterious day last summer. We were at the beach and made circles in the sand. Large circles and smaller ones. Each of them distinctive and personal. We used paper bags and candles to light everything. Twenty four for each hour of the day that had passed.

FEBRUARY 2005/ ANOTHER PLANET
The World Wildlife Fund has, with the help of the people behind the 'ecological footprint' published the Living Planet Report. This document shows how much impact humans have had and still have on the biosphere of our planet. The ecological footprint of each human being measures 2.2 hectares. In fact only 1.8 hectares are available. To maintain our lifestyle we would need another planet one fifth the surface of planet earth. This image shows that worrisome situation. Feel free to send it to anyone, the image is copyleft.

DECEMBER 2004/ SRI LANKA
I left Sri Lanka on the 2nd of december. Twenty four days later the tsunami struck. Some of the images you can see here are heartbreaking for me. They contain things that have been destroyed completely. And these things remind me of all the nice people we met along the way. Some of them are dead, others badly injured. And me, I have been lucky. Lucky that my 8 days stay on the beaches of Nilaveli and Mirissa didn't take place during Christmas. The pictures are part of the Typical Planet project. You can take a look at stone walls, roofs, holy faces, prayer flags, demarcations, candles, ceremonial flowers and the paddles of fishermen.

NOVEMBER 2004/ SHORT FILM
You can take a look at a short film based on an idea of mine. It deals with the increasing influence of advertisements in society. The film has been made by Alessio Cuomo & Sander de Nooij.

Last modified Monday, February 01, 2010