The Designer
Marmoleum stories
Christien Meindertsma
Since graduating from Design Academy Eindhoven in 2003 Christien Meindertsma has developed a unique design approach. In her work she thoroughly explores the life of objects and raw materials. In some instances, the result of her projects may be the record of a process itself. In others, her investigations lead to commercial products. Careful investigation and documentation, themes of local production and underexplored resources characterise her work. Meindertsma seeks to reveal processes that have become distant in industrialisation and encourage a deeper understanding of the materials and products that surround us.
Below are some earlier collaborations between Forbo Flooring Systems and Christien Meindertsma.
A locally produced linoleum
In 2012 Christien approached Forbo Flooring Systems for her Flax project. Using a purchased flax harvest as starting point she asked Forbo to support her research into the possibility of making a locally produced linoleum with locally grown natural raw materials. The samples she made were presented during the Dutch Design Week 2012. A beautiful series that revealed and emphasized the naturalness of Marmoleum.
An old linoleum school floor
In 2018 design student Jaromir van Vliet developed a way of using heat to turn scraps of used linoleum into endlessly recyclable linoleum, Renoleum. From that moment onwards, Renoleum projects have been initiated by Forbo Flooring in close co-operation with external partners.
In 2019 Christien Meindertsma further researched the possibilities of recycling used linoleum. For her project Meindertsma shredded an old linoleum school floor in big chips and in small granulates. Together with the Forbo Flooring pilot factory she systematically explored the potential of this material.
A Renoleum sample card
In order to get insight in to what a possible colour palette of Renoleum would look like, Christien calendared each of the 150 different samples of ‘Rhapsody in Colour’, a Marmoleum sample book dating back to 1996. The multi coloured Marmoleum samples each blended into a new plain colour together forming a beautiful contemporary range of hues.
christienmeindertsma.com
A tangible product
One of her experiments was to test whether the material can be used as a thin layer pressed on linen canvas instead of on top of the standard flexible jute backing. The outcome of this exploration was made tangible in a prototype for a lightweight collapsible seat shaped like a linen painters’ canvas.
In August 2020 Rosa Bertoli published an article in Wallpaper Magazine about Meindertsma’s research under the title; ‘can lino live forever ‘
Go to Wallpaper magazine
For this Marmoleum Stories we want to thank the following people:
Christien Meindertsma
Gal Keshet | directing, filming and editing
Simone de Vries | consultancy scenario
Mathijs Labadie | photography Renoleum project
Roel van Tour| additional video footage pilot factory
Kuperus & Gardenier | maker of the lightweight collapsible seat