
by Aldo van den Nieuwelaar
for Pastoe
Dutch furniture masters Pastoe spent the 20th Century proving that good design should not only be accessible, but adaptable. Its roots as a carpentry shop in the 1910s provided a solid base for craftsmanship, and by mid-century Pastoe had devised ingenious cabinet systems like 1948’s Oak and 1950’s Birch, which asserted a geometric aesthetic which clients could mix and match to their liking. Pastoe went a step further in 1955 with their “Made-to-Measure” series, which consumers could assemble and customize themselves.
While Pastoe’s 1950s Wire chairs by Braakman and Adriaan Dekker would rival Bertoia in its deft, airy structure, the company’s true genius remained evident in its storage systems. A pinnacle of the High Tech movement of the 1970s, the A’dammer series by Aldo van den Nieuwelaar transformed parking bollards into cool columns with domed tops and tambour doors, coated in ever-updating palettes of lacquer. And Karel Boonzaaijer + Pierre Mazairac’s Vision, like that of the company itself, looks timeless, with seam-free boxes and open shelving ready to be arranged in any form imaginable. Context Gallery has been a trusted partner with Pastoe for over a decade.
Credit: Pastoe