Jurgen Bey is a Dutch product, furniture, interior, and public space designer.
Born in Soest, The Netherlands, Jurgen studied at the design Academy in Eindhoven. In 1990, he founded the studio Konings and Bey, which focused on public spaces, interiors, and applied art. One of the studio’s major projects was the exhibition design for the Droog collection at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam.
In 2002, Jurgen partnered with the architect Rianne Makkink to establish a new design practice — Studio Makkink & Bey works in various domains, including public space projects, product design, architecture, exhibition design, and applied arts. The studio’s design strategy is to reappropriate what is already present in the context of an assignment, with a strong emphasis on the process. As the studio’s website elaborates:
“One single product can progress into a project of a larger scale, motivating its own setting. In reverse, a project on the scale of architecture or urban planning can equally produce a series of products related to their original context. This movement of zooming in and zooming out marks the interaction between the domain of architecture and urban design and the domain of products. Urban planning, architecture, landscape architecture are indissolubly bound to product design. The light bulb has had an influence on architecture, the way a house is built will inevitably influence its interior. Did the invention of elevators give rise to the skyscraper, or did high-risers necessitate elevators?”
In 2004, Jurgen designed the backdrop of Jean-Paul Gaultier’s 2004 women’s summer collection show. He has produced designs for Swarovski, the interior for an HSL high-speed train, and a nine-metre long city bench for Tokyo. Over the years, he has received several design awards, including the Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds Award and the Harrie Tillie Award from Stedelijk Museum, Roermond.