HIMACS: Designer dishware at Librije restaurant

Gastronomy has never been so close to design. Dutch designer Henk Bosschers, director of Binnenwerk Vormgevers, has combined his talent with that of Jonnie and Therese Boer, owners of the restaurant Librije - a Michelin three-star restaurant located in Zwolle (Netherlands) - to create modern dishware. This is a new concept in the way of presenting plates, achieved thanks to this extraordinary dishware executed in HIMACS. Designing a plate may seem simple, but this is not the case if you are looking to produce grand creations. With its remarkable properties as guarantee, HIMACS was the material chosen to give shape to this unique project.

Bringing design to the simplest elements and turning them into something more than everyday objects – this is what Henk Bosschers has achieved thanks to his contributions to the restaurant Librije, going beyond the simple utilitarian concept of dishware.

The similarity between the designer and Jonnie Boer, one of the restaurant’s owners, played a very important role when it came to designing this project. The inspiration needed to create the different designs comes from the exchange of ideas between the two and from the freedom given to the designer by the restaurant owner.

It was also essential to be able to take full advantage of the material. As the designer notes: “We chose HIMACS because it’s easy to work with and the material has matchless potential for being able to be shaped into different forms, creating openings, adjusting it, or creating undulating lines.” All of these options are possible thanks to the thermoformability of the acrylic stone.

The result is a set of rectangular pieces where the immaculate white is the only color that dominates. Besides its unusual shape, the differentiating factor in this dishware is the small finished undulating openings that provide a decorative touch and that are very useful for arranging sauces on the plate.

Henk Bosschers’ relationship with HIMACS can be considered love at first sight. After the distributor Baars & Bloemhof offered him a training day to explore everything this material has to offer, the Dutch designer was overwhelmed with inspiration. Since then, he has created a series of test models that won over the restaurant owner and eventually resulted in this incredible unique dishware. According to Bosschers, one of the factors that led him to choose the acrylic stone was the fact that “the material is ideal for contact with food, very easy to clean, scratch resistant, dishwasher safe and practically unbreakable.” Moreover, he adds that all these characteristics are suitable not only for kitchen items such as plates, but they also offer matchless opportunities for creating things such as countertops or cupboard doors, an aspect that is very important for an interior designer like him.