Haulenbeek received his bachelor’s degree in drawing and sculpture from Hope College in Holland, Michigan in 2002 and his master’s degree in Designed Objects from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 2006. After working professionally as a furniture designer, in 2010 he founded his independent design practice with an interest in experimental, material and process–based objects for the home.
Haulenbeek’s work seeks to invent unique production methods by which objects emerge organically. By interjecting uncontrollable variants within his techniques, Haulenbeek experiments with the balance between design and serendipity. Ice–Cast Bronze is one piece that utilises the ephemeral to create permanence. The process unites the freezing climate of the Chicago winter with the lost–wax casting process to create uniquely textured objects and furniture in cast bronze. The RBS Series (Resin–Bonded Sand), a piece which adopts another process of his own invention, utilises common casting sand, a disposable byproduct of the metal casting industry to create sculpture, furniture and lighting inspired by the natural and built environment.
He attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan and received a degree in drawing and sculpture. Living and working in the Holland/Grand Rapids area, a hotbed of American design and furniture, manufacturing became a very powerful influence.
Haulenbeek fell in love with the work of Ray Eames, George Nelson, Eero Saarinen and Harry Bertoia, etc., while simultaneously discovering his own path as a sculptor. The large–scale steel sculpture work quickly transformed to functional objects, and he executed his first one-man show at the Holland Area Arts Council with twenty sculptural lighting pieces in 2002. In 2011 Haulenbeek created the first Ice–Cast Bronze objects utilising the frigid Chicago winter environment to create objects in cast bronze. In 2016 he launched the first objects in the Resin–Bonded Sand series, another unique experimental fabrication process. His work runs the gamut in scale, material and process, yet they all exhibit a similar understanding of materials and an aesthetic simplicity through a hands–on, experimental prototyping style.
He began a graduate programme in Designed Objects at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2004 and graduated first in his class in 2006. After graduating he has worked as an industrial designer for Atlanta–based Formation Design Group, as a furniture designer at Chicago–based Holly Hunt Enterprises and has taught at Ale–ma Mater, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2010 he began his independent practice, Steven Haulenbeek Design Inc. with emphasis on unique material/process–based objects for the home.
Steven Haulenbeek has been the recipient of several honourable mentions and awards. In 2015, he was named by the New York Times as one of the most exciting emerging American designers. In 2016 he was named the American Design Honoree at Wanted Design Fair during New York Design Week. Haulenbeek has exhibited extensively internationally and is represented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery.
