Tineke Beunders and Nathan Wierink open the doors of their creative workshop and invite visitors to immerse themselves in the process of creating luminous installations

Utopia, by definition, is an unattainable place. A fusion of eutopia — the happy place where one wishes to be — and outopia — the nowhere that does not exist. For Dutch designers Tineke Beunders and Nathan Wierink, founders of studio Aptum, this pursuit of the impossible is precisely what drives their creative work.

“Each new project is a step towards utopia, towards the place one can never truly reach,” the designers explain. It is this longing that shapes the studio’s work, which specialises in light installations that blend art, design and architecture.

The designers have transformed their workspace in Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, into a space open to the public. Installed in De Peelcentrale, a monumental building from 1912 that was once the city’s first power station, Beunders and Wierink are gradually restoring the building, transforming it into a studio, workshop, showroom, exhibition space and home.

There, where sketches, models and experiments with light normally take shape, visitors can follow the magic of the creative process closely — something that happens in the studio all year round.

This year, the proposal goes further. Beunders and Wierink have invited other designers to present their visions in the same space. The result is a complete immersion in different perspectives on design and light, with the creators present to share stories, inspirations and even reveal projects still in development.

From fantasy to technique

The partnership between Tineke and Nathan operates in a well-defined dynamic: she — conceptual thinker and weaver of dreams — begins each new project with meticulous sketches and delicate models, often ignoring practical or production limitations. Then Nathan — inventor and analyst — intervenes, working in a workshop that resembles a laboratory. After materials testing and technical experiments, challenging obstacles are overcome.

Throughout the design process, each project moves back and forth between them, with each bringing their own vision and expertise. Poetry and technology flow together, function and aesthetics strengthen each other, and fantasy and precision unite.

The name Aptum means adaptable, and this is at the heart of their lighting projects. Each new space and each client brings unique demands and structures. Tineke and Nathan adjust their designs accordingly, so that their installations continually evolve and take on an expression perfectly adapted to the specific environment: colourful or minimalist, chaotic or geometric, small or large.

From partnership to specialisation

For many years, Tineke and Nathan worked together under the name Ontwerpduo. They created products for various homeware, lighting and furniture brands, whilst designing their own autonomous collections. Ontwerpduo became an established name in Dutch Design.

During this period, they developed a deep passion for lighting and gained vast experience in designing, producing and installing their works around the world. The burning desire to focus entirely on lighting and specialise in this field became reality with the foundation of Aptum in October 2019.

Since then, the studio has established itself on the international light design scene with works that explore the relationship between form, function and sensory experience. Clients include companies such as Schiphol, Heineken, Sony PlayStation, as well as institutions like the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and projects at the Glow Eindhoven festival.

Among their best-known projects are the Light Forest series — lamps that branch like plants — and Contour — a graphic interplay of lines with light, made to measure in diverse and often unique variations.

The workshop functions as a permanent laboratory, where prototypes are tested and ideas continuously transform. “It is a space where ideas take root, grow and transform,” the designers state. For visitors, the promise is to witness not only the final result, but the path that leads to it.

Eindhoven, known as the City of Light and located in the world’s most intelligent region, is home to companies such as ASML, Philips and VDL, as well as the High Tech Campus. Every year in October, the Dutch Design Week takes place there, the largest design event in northern Europe.