Designer, former student and teacher, Aaf van Essen passed away

Aaf van Essen

1940 - 2018

Aaf van Essen sadly passed away on Monday 17 December at an age of 78. She was a designer, co-head Design Sandberg Instituut (2002 - 2009), former student and teacher at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and the Xiamen University China.

Trained at the Rietveld as a designer at a later stage in life, Aaf van Essen dedicated her design practice to a constant negotiation between artistic, idealistic and outspokenly practical and political domains. Her involvement with the educational practice of the Rietveld was a productive mixture of generosity and curiosity.