Maarten Baas (born 19 February 1978, Arnsberg, Germany) is a Dutch designer.
From 1979, Baas grew up in Burgh-Haamstede and Hemmen in the southwest and centre part of the Netherlands. Graduated from high school, he started to study at Design Academy Eindhoven in 1996. Still in school, his first design, candleholder “Knuckle”, was taken in production bij Pol’s Potten. He also sold the first unique piece of the now well known “Hey, chair, Be A Bookshelf”-furniture to Stef Bakker (co-founder of Orange Babies). In 2000, he studied for several months at the Politecnico Milano.
His pieces are all unique and handmade, though produced in series, mostly signed and numbered by Maarten Baas. Maarten is searching for the boundaries of design, without leaning on the regular "dos and don'ts". This way of working became even more clear at the Salone del Mobile in Milan 2005, where he showed his new pieces. "Treasure", "Hey, chair, be a bookshelf!" and "Flatpack Furniture" became a great success.
In 2005, he also started his collaboration with Bas den Herder, who became responsible for the production of all pieces. The foundation of studio Baas & den Herder made it possible to produce Maartens unique pieces on a larger scale, but yet all handmade in Holland. Assignments came from hotels, restaurants, galleries and museums all over the world.
Since 2012 most of the products designed by Maarten are made by Den Herder Production House (DHPH), which is derived from Baas&den Herder. DHPH also makes products designed by other renowned designers.
