As a connector, Christiane Müller defines and delivers materials that make sense. Müller is a creative design director with over 30 years of experience in the world of materials, surfaces and colour – and their impact on a space and its users. In both her role as head of the industrial material design arm of MüllerVanTol and as a strategist and advisor for independent design brands and the industry, she conceptualizes and produces materials for the international contract market.
Müller’s work begins with a need from the outside world – a problem to analyse, a desire to fulfil, a specific case to consider. She takes a wide-angle approach, assessing multiple scales – from the industry, market and brand levels, right down to the material itself – and connecting the dots between them.
Interested in the tactile side of architectural space and with an instinctive sensitivity for colour, Müller believes that materials are designed to be used, not just admired. Aware that there are myriad ways to cover the various facets of interior architecture – floors, walls, ceilings, furniture, windows – she looks to material solutions that improve an environment’s aesthetics, functionality and sustainability.
About
Founded in 2000 and headed by Christiane Müller and Bas van Tol, MüllerVanTol is an Amsterdam-based studio for interior architecture. The diverse, multidisciplinary team draws from different backgrounds and skillsets to take a macro-micro approach to interiors and materials, with each facet strengthening the other.
MüllerVanTol
Keizersgracht 73A
1015 CE Amsterdam
+31 020 423 09 41
info@mullervantol.nl
More information about:
Christiane Müller
Bas van Tol
Team
Christiane Müller
Bas van Tol
For Bas van Tol, creating a space is about creating a moment – and no two moments are the same. Whether it’s an office, restaurant, club, event or exhibition, each environment is a fusion of three key ingredients: its location, its users and the activity taking place. If the combination fits, believes Van Tol, you have a perfect moment. This focus on the ephemeral, performative aspects of space draws from Van Tol’s art- and event-oriented background.
Bas van Tol dives deep into each project, looking for triggers to mould a simple rather than fantastical spatial story – even the smallest detail can provide the framework for a memorable moment. With his strong sensitivity for space, Van Tol designs intuitively. Through a process of reduction, he creates truly custom projects that respond to – and often amplify – the site.
The immersive results might update an interior’s pre-existing attributes for today, revive tradition or make a virtue of apparent limitations. Eschewing slickness for attentive craftsmanship and tactility, they naturally balance colour, form and real materials. In the end, though, it’s the users who make the spaces their own. That’s why Van Tol creates comfortable, flourishing spaces. Spaces for everybody. Spaces that feel special because they’re only there – they can’t be found anywhere else in the world.
Team
MüllerVanTol works with a core team of dedicated international designers. Our complementary specialisms are closely related and reinforce each other, enabling us to zoom in and out, taking in both the detail and total composition at the same time. Our studio output is the culmination of a process of discovery through research and experimentation. Study models and mock-ups shed light on the creative process, allow us to communicate ideas to clients, and explain what a space looks and feels like.
Creative Direction & Founders:
Bas van Tol . Christiane Müller
Office Manager:
Raquel Bosch Kocken
Interior Designers:
Floris Kindt . Hanna Maring . Silver van Sprundel
Interior Architect:
Olgica Stavrova
CMF Strategist & Designer:
Hanna Kohnen
CMF Designer:
Chrissie Coerman
Photographers:
Bart Nieuwenhuijs . Ilco Kemmere . Jordi Huisman . Sjaak Henselmans . Mark Groeneveld . Hans Morren . Rene Mesman . Hennie Raaymakers . Daniel Nicolas . Went&Navarro