Industrial designer Ton Haas is a world citizen. His domicile is in Havana, Cuba, but Haas travels all across the world in order to bring about projects and products with different clients. For this reason, the range of Haas’ designs is large: from office chairs for the business market to vases and drinking glasses for the consumer market. His love for other cultures is reflected in his collaboration with Fair Trade, with which he developed a series of accessories with the help of African craftsmen. A trip to South America yielded surprising ceramic products after getting inspired by the culture and way of living there. Cultural influences are always reflected in Haas’ designs.
Haas has been working together closely with large international producers since the 1980s. High tech and modern products usually evolve from these collaborations. Products from Haas always focus on the functionality for the end user. The forms and materials he uses are clear and diverse. He also gives guest lectures about industrial design at different universities. Furthermore, Haas is a member of several (Dutch) design groups and jury panels. His contemporary work has received many awards, such as the “ID Award”, “iF product design award” and “best of the best”. The latter is the highest possible award at the Red Dot Design Awards. In 2011, Haas also received the Design Plus Material Vision award.
