Jan des Bouvrie

Jan des Bouvrie was born in Naarden, the Netherlands, on 3 August 1942. After secondary school and an education at the  Rietveld Academ y for the applied and industrial arts, he started working in his parents' “Goed-Wonen” business.

In 1969, Meubelindustrie Gelderland was the first to produce one of his designs: the timeless cube sofa – a classic. Jan des Bouvrie has since turned his designing hand to many other collections. Various companies, including Sony, Machalke and Philips, have produced his designs in series. In addition to lecturing, Jan des Bouvrie has also taught at the Academie van Beeldende Kunsten (Academy of Visual Arts) in Rotterdam. He currently gives lessons as part of a lifestyle education programme at the Jan des Bouvrie Academie of the college of advanced education in Deventer.