Gert Staal (1956) is a Dutch researcher, publicist and critic in the fields of

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

and

urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, cities, and regional spaces, urban de ...

. Educated as linguist and art historian over the years he was active as journalist, editor, author, manager and teacher particularly in the those fields of Dutch design.

Biography

Staal was born in 1956, and received his MA in

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-Europea ...

and

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. In 1981 Staal began working as a design journalist for ''

de Volkskrant ''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized c ...

,'' where he wrote about design events on a nearly weekly basis. In late 1983, he moved to the ''

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on 1 ...

,'' where he continued to write about design-related topics for a period of more than five years. In the 1990s he continued to write occasionally for the ''NRC Handelsblad'', for ''de Volkskrant'', and for ''

Trouw ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). ''Tr ...

''. In the 1980s Staal had started writing and editing books on designers and design, and continued to do so over the years. In the next 40 years he wrote more than 50 publications. In the 1990s, he was chief editor at the Dutch design magazine Items for a while. When in 1993 the

Netherlands Design Institute The Netherlands Design Institute ( nl, Nederlands Vormgevingsinstituut) is a former institute for the promotion of design in the Netherlands. It was located in the premises of the former Museum Fodor at Keizersgracht in Amsterdam. Its mission was t ...

started, Staal was appointed deputy director under

John Thackara John Thackara (born 6 August 1951, Newcastle upon Tyne) is a British-born writer, advisor and public speaker. He is known as curator of the celebrated Doors of Perception conference for 20 years, which started in Amsterdam. He is a senior fellow ...

. Later on he became a staff member of the Counsel for Culture, which advised the Dutch government on cultural matters. Beside all these activities Staal taught the

AKV St. Joost St. Joost School of Art and Design (formerly Academy of Art and Design St. Joost, Dutch ''Akademie voor Kunst en Vormgeving St. Joost, Breda'') is a Dutch academy of art and design based in Breda and 's-Hertogenbosch. The school is part of Avans ...

and the Design Academy Eindhoven and participated in numerous design research and development projects.

Selected publications

* Gert Staal and Hester Wolters (eds.),'' Holland in Vorm: Dutch Design, 1945-1987'', The Hague: Stichting Holland in Vorm, 1987. * Thomas Widdershoven and Gert Staal, ''Boris en de paraplu.'' Centraal Museum, 1998. . * Gert Staal. ''Asking Questions: 10 Years of Architectural Design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy.'' Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2004. . * Louise Schouwenberg, Gert Staal, Martijn Goedegebuure, eds. ''House of Concepts: Design Academy Eindhoven'', Amsterdam: Frame Publishers, 2008. * Gert Staal and curator Anne van der Zwaag (ed.) ''Pastoe: 100 jaar vernieuwing in vormgeving, geschreven door designcriticus,'' 2013.Marije Willems. "Correct wonen met Pastoe," ''NRC Handelsblad.'' 16 februari 2013.

References

External links

Gert Staal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Staal, Gert 1956 births Living people Dutch art historians University of Amsterdam alumni 20th-century Dutch journalists Male journalists Dutch magazine editors 20th-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch historians 21st-century Dutch historians