About Michael
Making space for
the hand to remain.
I look for elegance in geometry and proportion, while letting the clay and the making show.
Rotterdam / Robertson
From public spaces to an object in the hand.
I’m Michael, an architect, urban designer and ceramic maker based in Rotterdam. My work has always been concerned with how we live. Ceramics lets me explore that question at the scale of a cup, a bowl or a jar.
As a child, I spent hours looking through House and Leisure magazines. I was drawn to lights, tableware and vases: the things that give a home its personality. I’m still interested in how objects reflect our choices and the lives we want to live.
Making by hand matters to me. A piece carries the time and attention of the person who made it. I want that to remain visible, alongside a clear sense of proportion, a considered rim and a foot that belongs to the form.
I start with sketches and ideas, then explore them through making. A water jar becomes a vase, then a lidded jar; its curves find their way into cups. Over time, those related shapes become a family.
Learning through making
Tests, time
and attention.
Useful first
Objects begin with a task: holding, pouring, gathering, keeping something close.
A material record
Ridges, pooled glaze and slight variation are evidence of touch, gravity and heat.
An open practice
Small series, one-off works, images and writing build an archive gradually.
A sense of place
Fynbos, sandstone
and the everyday.
The mountains, fynbos and warm pastel reds of the landscape I come from inform my glazes, forms and textures. Two bowls I made in South Africa brought this together: warm red glaze against dark South African clay. Like the different bricks I notice as an architect when travelling, the material itself carries something of its place.
Read the field note →