Editorial
Vision: A Dutch Masterpiece.
Design duo Pierre Mazairac and Karel Boonzaaijer created the Vision storage concept in the 1980s. Its impeccable design, which combines aesthetic simplicity with technical craftsmanship, has an important place in Dutch design history.
Pierre Mazairac and Karel Boonzaaijer did not realizethey were about to rewrite design history when they sat down at the drawing board in the early 1980s. But they did know that they wanted to do something new. It was 1984, and postmodernism was at its height. The strict rules of modernism had been abandoned by many designers in favor of playfulness and irony. It was the time when Memphis flourished, and interiors were full of bright colors, geometric shapes, patterns, curls, and twists. The frivolity of this movement provoked a reaction from Mazairac and Boonzaaijer, designers who had been working closely together for years and had already won several prizes and awards. The duo searched for a design language that would return to the essential, bringing calm to the interior while challenging and stimulating the imagination.
When asked by the Dutch furniture brand Pastoe to design a cabinet, they decided to go back to the question: what is a cabinet? Basically, they concluded, it is a collection of boxes in which you store or hide things away –an object that helps you organize your life. But a cabinet also fills a space, both literally and metaphorically. It can be a statement piece that commands attention. But it can also do something else, say Mazairac and Boonzaaijer. For example, it can bring peace, beauty and harmony. The latter is what they have in mind as designers. They approach the cabinet as a composition that enters into a dialogue with the space and its architecture, providing inspiration for the user.
Floating balance
From the very first sketch, the duo dreamed of floating elements in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. In their quest, they let go of the standard dimensions and proportions that were the norm for cabinets at the time. By introducing 90 mm as the new standard, they broke with prevailing design traditions and techniques. The poetry of surfaces and forms became their guiding principle. Searching for beauty in the minimal, the duo wouldn’t allow any details to distract the eye – not even handles.
And so, in 1985, Vision was born, a composition of surfaces and colors. It was the world’s first handleless storage concept.
The doors are completely recessed in the body, with mitred edges. Visually, they form a whole. Although these elements have a look of pure simplicity, they are highly complex to make. “The technique must follow the form, and not the other way around,” in the words of Boonzaaijer and Mazairac – a powerful statement in the international design world, where many designers were (and still are) guided by technique. It’s different with Boonzaaijer and Mazairac: they challenge the technique, making new demands of it. This way of working ties in with the Dutch design tradition, which revolves around functionality and simplicity, as well as ingenuity, innovation, and pushing technical boundaries. It is these values of Dutch design that have enjoyed global influence. They were in evidence in the 1990s, when Dutch Design made its debut on the world stage with furniture and objects that are not only minimalist and beautifully made, but often humorous, conceptual and iconoclastic in nature. Even after all this, now that the hype around Dutch Design has died down and the focus has shifted to sustainability, Vision continues to prove its worth. In all its simplicity, it is a design that is not aesthetically boring and, therefore, has longevity.
It helps that Vision leaves room for the user’s own creativity. In fact, Boonzaaijer and Mazairac have created the minimalist basic ingredients from which any composition can be made. That can be a stand-alone object, unhindered in space, or a wall composition, almost taking on the function of a sculpture. Its color palette can be cheerful or subdued. In this respect, Vision is not a minimalist, but a maximalist design. The possibilities are endless.
A young design classic
The lack of handles, the dimensions, the joints, the hinges: the designers have made no compromises in their design that would detract from its simplicity and refined beauty. All this requires, now as then, the highest level of craftsmanship from the manufacturer. As of 2025, Vision forms part of the collection of Arco, a Dutch family business with the same conception of craftsmanship as the now older Boonzaaijer and Mazairac. Arco has a deep love of timeless Dutch design and has everything it takes to bring Vision in line with today’s sustainability requirements. Without compromising the original design, Arco has released an update of Vision. Thanks to this update, Vision is ready for the future as a young design classic that will effortlessly thrive in the next 40 years and beyond.