Daan Roosengarde

Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde (1979) is a creative thinker and maker of social designs which explore the relation between people, technology and space.

He founded Studio Roosegaarde in 2007, where he works with his team of designers and engineers towards a better future. Together they develop ‘Landscapes of the Future’ building smart sustainable prototypes for the cities of tomorrow.

Roosegaarde: “I don’t believe in a utopia, I believe in a protopia: a prototype world that we are improving step by step. We do not know what the future looks like and what challenges that entails. What we do know is that there is no way back. If we do not invest in new ideas, we will die. We are all part of the prototype. Let us not be afraid, but be curious and work together.”

Roosegaarde has been driven by nature’s gifts such as light emitting fireflies and jellyfish since an early age. His fascination for nature and technology is reflected in his iconic designs such as Waterlicht (a virtual flood) and Smog Free Project (the largest outdoor air purifier in the world which makes jewellery from smog) and Space Waste Lab (the mission to upcycle junk that floats in space).

Roosegaarde graduated from The Berlage Institute with a master in architecture.

He is a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum, a visiting professor at several universities, was selected by Forbes and Good 100 as a creative change maker and named Artist of the Year 2016 in The Netherlands.

Roosegaarde has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the Shenzhen Global Design Award, Ethics Ethical Award, World OMOSIROI Award Japan, Dezeen Award, London Design Innovation Medal, DFA Gold and Grand Award Hong Kong, LIT 2017 Lighting Designer of the Year Award, D&AD Awards 2017, the World Technology Award, two Dutch Design Awards, the Charlotte Köhler Award, and China’s Most Successful Design Award.

He has exhibited at the Design Museum London, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Tate Modern, Tokyo National Museum, Le Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris, Victoria & Albert Museum, and various public spaces across the globe.

Daan Roosegaarde frequently shares his visionary ideas at conferences across the world such as TED, World Economic Forum and NASA.

Recently a new monograph of Daan Roosegaarde was published by Phaidon.

Photo credits: Fortune-Yunnan