Piet Hein Eek

Perhaps it's not surprising that a designer from a country that has been reclaimed from the sea would be interested in creating his works of offbeat beauty from reclaimed materials. Dutch furniture designer Eek, 39, first gained notoriety in 1990 with his Scrap Wood Cupboards. He works bits of found wood and salvaged materials into intricately patchworked one-of-a kind chests, dining tables, chairs, sofas and even cribs. The thinking behind his work is partly a desire to rescue these discarded pieces of wood but also to escape the soullessness of mass production. He celebrates the textures of recycled materials, turning them into something chic rather than scrappy.