Design Map · Eindhoven
Safe House
Graduation project by Dirk Duif at Design Academy Eindhoven, 2026. Shown during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven on Design Map, location F5.
As a child, Dirk Duif cut open an old volleyball and wore it as a helmet. It gave him the feeling that he could enter a world of his own making. That memory returns in an installation centred on a wooden house raised on stilts, surrounded by distorted steel chairs and a transparent glass helmet. The house has no door, offering shelter without closing itself off, while the chairs appear to lean and press towards it like bodies or expectations gathering outside. Moulded around knees and built at different heights, they form an uneasy circle around the open structure. The fragile glass helmet preserves the shape of the designer’s childhood refuge without offering real protection. Together, the objects explore how making can create freedom and safety, while also becoming a source of pressure and responsibility. At its heart, the installation reflects on the importance of discovering your passion, on finding something that offers both a place of refuge and purpose.