Re:sourcing clay

450 years

Royal Tichelaar is the oldest ceramic company in the Netherlands and, as one of the few remaining companies in the world, has always continued to invest in its traditional production processes. As a result, an invaluable source of knowledge and skill has been built up over the centuries. The clay used today is still the same clay used 450 years ago.

Design research

The starting point for all three design studios is a cleaner environment. They are investigating the residual flows that arise for the purpose of landscape preservation (sea silt) and clean drinking water (iron water). The aim is to use them to make Royal Tichelaar's processes and products more sustainable. The third material being worked on is fine particles from the air, which is being used as a communicative tool to raise awareness for a cleaner environment.

Making residual materials visible, discussible and usable

Royal Tichelaar has opened its lab and old factory to the three design teams. The studios existing research into the use of these residual materials was used as an impetus to question together with Royal Tichelaar their development and current production process, with the goal to making it more sustainable. All this took place in the form of an Open Studio, in which the public was welcome to experience the heritage and future of ceramics. The public was not only made aware of the residual materials and their origin, but was also introduced to the process. In this way, the process and the residual flows literally become visible, discussable and usable. The research results and the start of the upscaling process will be presented during Dutch Design Week. We welcome you to enter into a dialogue with the participants.