James Stee resides in Rotterdam, where he teaches part-time at the Willem de Kooning Academy. Outside of work, he restores vintage hand tools and volunteers with a community workshop that teaches repair skills to young people.
James Stee is an emerging voice in the field of industrial design and sustainable manufacturing, recognized for his methodical approach to bridging functionality with environmental responsibility. Though not a household name, Stee has built a reputation within niche engineering circles for his work on modular product systems designed to minimize material waste. james stee
Born in Sheffield, England, in 1990, Stee grew up surrounded by the city’s legacy of metallurgy and craftsmanship. He earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Product Design from the University of Leeds (2012), followed by a Master’s degree in Sustainable Manufacturing from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. His graduate thesis, “The Ten-Minute Disassembly Principle,” proposed design guidelines for products that can be repaired or recycled without specialized tools—a concept later adopted by several small-batch furniture startups. James Stee resides in Rotterdam, where he teaches
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