Contemporary Wild

About Us

The collective Contemporary Wild is founded by two young designers, Asnate Bočkis and Willem van Doorn, after their graduation at Design Academy Eindhoven.

Willem grew up in a farm near to Amsterdam and works in the context of DIY culture, nature and constructions. Asnate has her roots in Riga, Latvia; she was educated as a classical artist before attending design studies. Her work concerns social and spatial interventions.

In Contemporary Wild they share their fascination for the duality between Man & Nature. With their provoking projects they challenge public rituals and rethink usage of natural elements in the urban landscape.

Siroop Rotterdam

Syrup Rotterdam was a year long investigation into the wild natural treasures hiding behind the concrete and the bricks of the industrial city of Rotterdam — in particular its neighbourhood Delfshaven. This project was a collaboration between the design collective Contemporary Wild and the social café Stroop Rotterdam.

Each month in 2015, a socially activating workshop was organised to gather plants and create a local, seasonal syrup during one afternoon. All participants of the workshop received a bottle of self-made syrup and the rest of the bottles were sold in the store of Stroop Rotterdam. The outcome was a series of 12 syrups that captured the complete rainbow of tastes in Rotterdam— an abstract portrait of a place, expressed through flavour.