Boonzaaijer & Mazairac

Karel Boonzaaijer and Pierre Mazairac formed one of the most influential Dutch design duos from the 1970s onwards. Their collaboration, characterized by a shared vision of innovation and an uncompromising search for beauty in the minimal, resulted in iconic designs that shaped Dutch design history.

Both graduates of Dutch academies, Boonzaaijer and Mazairac began their careers at renowned furniture manufacturers before establishing their own design studio in 1980. Their philosophy was clear: technology must follow form, not the other way around. "Form follows people" and "form follows imagination" became their guiding principles.

In 1985 they created Vision for Pastoe. A design that revolutionized the furniture industry. It became the world's first handleless cabinet system, born from their desire to break away from all existing prejudices and technical ballast. Vision was not a cabinet in the traditional sense, but rather a play of surprising, architectural compositions. Their vision of floating elements, minimally designed frames and the poetry of surfaces and volumes transformed how we look at storage.

The essence of their collaboration lay in their ability to sense and complement each other's ideas, combined with mutual respect and enthusiasm. Vision remains an icon of design and functionality forty years later.