Every other week, together with Sjiek / Het Belang Van Limburg, we propose a Limburg design icon, or one that is well on its way to becoming one. This week it is Bram Boo’s Overdose.

WHAT: A dynamic desk with four storage bins

YEAR: 2009

Bram Boo’s (49) Overdose looks simple: a white table with four wooden boxes that are (nicely) glued together. This is called a dynamic workplace with a high fun content. The reality is slightly more complex. Just look at the placement of the table legs, or the way in which the boxes are attached to each other and to the table. The legs are made of white lacquered steel. The top consists of mdf and the four boxes made of plywood, finished in oiled European oak. A piece of art.

SCULPTOR

Overdose is iconic and has great symbolic value. It completely typifies Bram Boo. How he works as a sculptor rather than as a product designer, and how he makes his own creations the way he sees it and wants it, averse to conventions and commerce: casual and chaotic.

For him, a chair is never just a chair, a table is never just a table. He adds features that at first seem to be superfluous, but very quickly provide practical and aesthetic added value. Bram Boo’s designs make you think about why a table or chair should actually be boring.

INTERACTION

“I try to make furniture that ensures interaction. There must be an interplay of emotion, function and comfort. Otherwise you have a meaningless piece of furniture that people just walk around, ”Bram Boo once put it. Interaction sets the tone throughout his entire oeuvre. Many of his designs appeal to the imagination in a similar way. Even before Overdose in 2009, for example, Bram Boo made the Paparazzi chair and the Sleepless bed. They all seem to be animation objects with their own facial expression.

Bram Boo is an autodidact and has never followed a classical design course. He worked his way through design on his own. In 1989 he started working as his father’s assistant, well-known painter Bram Bogaert. But that did not prevent him from making his own name and fame internationally. In 2010 he received the title “Designer of the Year”. After the death of his father in 2012, Bram Boo was completely taken over by the artistic legacy. There seems to be less time for designing. But just like with Overdose, you can assume that creativity is never deeply hidden away.

Overdose has a target price of 8,500 euros and is available via www.bulo.be. More info via www.bramboo.be