Hella Jongerius has handed over her archive to the Vitra Design Museums. This also marks the start of preparations for a retrospective of Jongerius’ work, which the museum will be showing in 2026. We spoke to the Dutch designer about how she has worked with her archive and what she is doing with the space she has now gained in her studios.

How do you feel about entrusting the results and relics of many years’ hard work and research to others?

I am really pleased. It’s good for my work to have a public platform and be visible to so many. But it also makes it more vulnerable in a way, because now other people can witness the design processes and visualise the doubts and dilemmas that are involved. But it’s not just a personal archive, the objects also tell us something about how the design profession has changed over the past 30 years. It’s like a time capsule or time machine.

What has changed?

A lot has happened, for example with materials. The climate crisis alone has made materials a more political topic. When I started working as a designer, it wasn’t such an important issue. I was one of the few people who had an opinion on the subject. I was already exploring the idea of imperfection and individuality in industrial manufacturing at the time. It is generally only in the last ten years that designers have come to recognise their own responsibility.

Why are you giving your archive to the Vitra Design Museum?

At first, I only asked if the museum would be interested in taking part of it. But when the offer came for the entire archive, I thought it was a perfect idea. I have been working with Vitra for many years now, so we already have a close relationship. It’s an organic step, especially as the museum already holds a number of designers’ estates. My work also closes a gap in time to the big names from the 1950s and 1960s such as Nelson, Girard and the Eameses.

What kind of objects can be found in your archive?

Many studies on the topic of colour. Samples, test pieces used to find the right colour for a design. They are often made of ceramic. And then a lot of objects from my work for KLM (editor’s note: Jongerius designed aircraft interiors for the airline KLM). A great deal of textile research in general, fabric samples, 3D woven items. And then the early work with models and mock-ups of furniture pieces that never actually came into being. A lot of things that no one has ever seen before. Ideas, dreams – it’s interesting to see how you can let go and get lost in the creative process. Sometimes I would put ideas aside for a while and return to them later. For me, an archive is fluid by essence, it’s always a working archive. I never start a project with a blank sheet of paper, I pick up what’s already there. I look in my own archive or that of a company or museum.

But won’t you miss your archive now?

No, because it’s all in my head! I can even dream my archive. And I can always go to the museum to look at the objects again. They are not locked away out of sight.

And what will you do with all the free space in your studios in Arnhem and Berlin?

I’m starting a new chapter. I’m very grateful for the empty space, it feels a little like a rebirth, a sort of relief. Not that I ever considered the archive to be a burden. I never thought of it like that. But now that everything is gone, I do feel as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I feel lighter and refreshed. I’m now working on new, big projects for which I need plenty of space.