User:Woutschilp/Lady Penelope

Lady Penelope
Lady Penelope is a Dutch design studio that specialises in the fields of furniture design, interior accessory design, interior design and temporary design projects. Lady Penelope is based in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The studio was established in 2005. In 2007 and 2008, Lady Penelope partook in the Salone Internationale del Mobile in Milan to showcase their design collections Modi and Secret Society to an international audience. Many of their designs hide their true identity until users interact with them. They contain an element of surprise. A good example of this is KLABENKKKK, a small, seemingly unassuming bench that can be extended to offer seating to as many as nine people.

Designers
Lady Penelope was established by Eva Broekhuijse (Dommelen, March 5th 1980 and Iris Hiddink (Wijchen, August 8th 1981). Both are alumni of the acclaimed Design Academy Eindhoven, at which they graduated in 2004.

Criticism and style
Lady Penelope’s style is often described as being a mix of style, ingenuity and a good sense of humour. Their designs show a tendency to provide new answers to questions that are seldom posed. Why does a table have four legs? Why do flowerpots sit on the windowsill?

User interaction is another important theme. The designs Lady Penelope are not truly complete until users have adapted them to their surroundings, made them their own.

Through these themes of rephrasing unasked questions and asking users to interact, Lady Penelope’s design offer a fresh perspective on everyday life.

While many media emphasise the feminine playfulness of Lady Penelope, the validity of their design concepts is universal. Lady Penelope’s work does not specifically target a female audience and indeed reverberates well in masculine surroundings.