Feast Your Eyes on Designer Dries Otten’s Punchy Kitchens

These spaces’ colorful cabinetry and playful joinery are more than just flashy additions—they're meant to tell a kitchen’s design story, too.

Jun 4, 2020 - 20:51

Feast Your Eyes on Designer Dries Otten’s Punchy Kitchens

These spaces’ colorful cabinetry and playful joinery are more than just flashy additions—they're meant to tell a kitchen’s design story, too.

Known for his dedication to color, texture, and material, it is not surprising to hear that Antwerp-based furniture designer and interior architect Dries Otten had artistic aspirations since childhood. "When I was young I wanted to be an artist, not a designer," Otten shares. "But painting was too radical as a choice of serious study. It’s not an easy medium and I’m not that great at drawing."

So, to appease his parents, Otten studied painting conservation at Antwerp’s esteemed Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He soon realized it was not for him. After completing his degree, he took his entire savings and headed to France. There, he found himself renovating a B&B and embarking upon a path that would include furniture design, studying interior design, and a gig as an exhibition designer for the MAS Museum in Antwerp. All of this culminated in the founding of his eponymous studio in 2012.

Otten's spaces are a multilayered mix of materials and textures that contrast each other, yet somehow all harmoniously work, like this detail from his project titled Manon. — Otten's spaces are a multilayered mix of materials and textures that contrast each other, yet somehow harmoniously work, like this detail from his project titled Manon.

Photo by Dries Otten

A deep sense of craft and artistry runs throughout his work. "I get a lot of inspiration from art and cultural history," he says, citing influences that range from Memphis Movement designer Ettore Sottsass to Dutch architect Huib Hoste, Belgian artist Karel Maes, and fellow Belgian architect and furniture designer Gaston Eysselinck.

Almost all of his designs are made by craftsmen in his workshop and Otten is constantly on the lookout for new materials. "The materials and colors we use are in constant evolution. Our material library is like a dictionary, the more materials and colors we get to know, the more refined our sentences will be," he explains.