Van der Lubbe: design plays a central role in building the ‘new Eindhoven’

Absolutely: the value of design is cultural and social, but also economic. The Dutch Design Week represents a call to action for investors, entrepreneurs and companies capable of helping designers scale up their ideas, moving from experimentation to industrial production, because a good designer is not necessarily a good entrepreneur.

You spoke about this during the opening ceremony of Design Week with the Dutch Minister for the Economy and Climate, Heleen Herbert.

Herbert emphasised that the Dutch design sector is not merely a cultural expression, but a genuine driving force behind the Netherlands’ economy and innovation. According to the minister, a design-led approach is essential for tackling the major challenges facing our society, from the climate transition to digitalisation.

L’iconica Light Tower, simbolo del passato industriale di Eindhoven: venne costruita tra il 1929 e il 1931 come fabbrica di lampadine della Philips.

Eindhoven is the Dutch capital of high technology, the birthplace of global giants such as Philips and ASML. To what extent has this historic industrial heritage shaped the city’s creative spirit?

A great deal. Let’s consider, for example, the importance of the industrial concept of prototyping and how central it is to design too: a creative process made up of open ‘prototypes’, constantly tested, modified and adapted to respond in real time to social and technological developments. Just as in industry, design does not begin with perfection but with error: with the impulse to dismantle existing structures, to explore, to ask questions and to reveal new possibilities.

Vista dall’alto dell’attuale campus di Asml, che ospita 24mila dipendenti: il colosso mondiale della stampa di chip ne sta costruendo un altro da 20mila posti vicino all’aeroporto di Eindhoven.

The small city of Eindhoven (population 250,000) is home to Europe’s largest company by market capitalisation: ASML, the world-renowned monopolist in the field of advanced chip manufacturing. How is the city changing under the weight of this giant?

ASML is a giant that, driven by AI, is growing at a breakneck pace, so much so that it has begun construction of a new mega-campus for 20,000 people, which will be added to the existing one accommodating 24,000. The city is set to undergo a complete transformation to accommodate thousands of talented individuals from all over the world. Design will play a central role in reimagining the urban fabric of this part of the Netherlands, even though the major tech firms based in Eindhoven do not seem to have fully grasped this. We’re in for quite a ride over the coming years.