Dr. A.M. (André) Koch

Position:
  • Lecturer
Expertise:
  • Art history
  • History of industrial design, decorative arts and the interior in the 20th century Netherlands


Telephone number: +31 (0)71 527 1667
E-Mail: a.m.koch@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Faculty / Department: Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Institute for Cultural Disciplines, KG Kunstnijverheid
Office Address: Johan Huizingagebouw
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden
Room number 2.25b


Fields of interest

(Dutch) Industrial design in the era of modernism. The domestic interior in the thirties, forties, fifties, sixties and seventies. Lighting design and its effects on interior space. Advertising as a source for the history of decorative arts and industrial design.

Research

At present, he is conducting research on the Dutch contribution to Expo ’58 in Brussels. Artless utensils as a source of inspiration for early twentieth century modernist design is a longer term research project.

Curriculum Vitae

Born in 1948. Studied Art History at Utrecht University. Obtained his PhD in 1988 at Leiden University on a dissertation about industrial designer W.H. Gispen (1890-1981). Published on electrical lighting design for the domestic interior, (interior) design in the Netherlands in the sixties and early seventies, on household plastics and the way in which they were advertised, on the symbolic meanings of the interiors of the Van Nelle Factory. He initiated exhibitions in the Stedelijk Museum at Amsterdam, Gemeentemuseum The Hague and the Kunsthal at Rotterdam. He occasionally advises and cooperates with the staff of the Stadsmuseum (municipal museum) at Zoetermeer on exhibitions, and is member of the Board of the Gispen Collectie Foundation, which started a Gispen museum at Culemborg. He has participated in and advised on documentaries on the Sonneveld House (RTV Rijnmond) and on Willem Gispen (NPS).

Teaching activities

Bachelor's and master's courses on the Decorative Arts.

Publications

- Koch, A.M., W.H. Gispen, a Pioneer of Dutch Design, Rotterdam 1998.
- Koch, A.M. (Ed.), Ludiek, sensueel en dynamisch. Nederlandse jeugdcultuur en vormgeving in de jaren zestig, Schiedam 2002. 
- Koch, A.M.(Ed.), Plastic aangeprezen. Het imago van kunststof in de wooncultuur van de laatste vijftig jaar, Zoetermeer 2003
- Koch, A.M., W.H. Gispen, serieproducten 1923-1960, Rotterdam 2005.
- Koch, A.M. ‘Functionalism as a Quest for the spiritual. Van Nelle’s Interior Decoration and its Symbolism’, In: Backer, A.M., Camp, D. and Dicke, M. (Eds.), Van Nelle. Monument in Progress, Rotterdam 2005, 170-193.
- Koch, A.M., ‘Un destacado diseñador neerlandés moderno’, Experimenta, (2006)55, 105-110.
- Koch, A.M., ‘Een lichtend voorbeeld: interieurverlichting in het interbellum’. In: A. Ouwerkerk e.a. (Ed.), Het Nederlands binnenhuis gaat zich te buiten. Internationale invloeden op de Nederlandse wooncultuur, Leids Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 14, Leiden 2007, 322-341.

Last Modified: 20-10-2009