Please install a more recent version of your browser.
16 June 2022
8 minutes read
stand Belgium is Design © Marek Swoboda
Milan Design Week was held from 7 to 12 June. On the Belgium is Design Map, we counted no fewer than 109 presentations. What will we most remember about this edition? In this overview we take a look back and we present 23 new Belgian products.
We counted 262,608 visitors to the Salone. This number is not quite as high as the peak years when there were almost 400,000, but it was more than the 60,000 or so visitors of last September. We didn’t see that much innovation; it was all a touch “respectable”, both at the fair and in the city. In the city, or on its outskirts to be more precise, Alcova was the big crowd puller. Every year, Isola is increasingly becoming the platform for young designers, while Tortona and Brera retain their status. Certosa, the latest initiative of Margriet Vollenberg who once started Ventura, was too far out of town to be a success.
The participants of the Belgium is Design stand had many contacts with galleries and companies, and some made concrete agreements at the fair. Everyone thought the Concept Expo design for the stand was a great success. And moreover, Studio Gilles Werbrouck won the second prize of the Salone Satellite Award. Hurray!
Participants Belgium is Design © Marek Swoboda
Lamp, Studio Gilles Werbrouck © Miko/Miko Studio
System P5 Whiskeybar, Studio Part © Amber Vanbossel
Henge, Fractall (Arne Desmet)
From a combination of material experiments and the need for a multifunctional stool for his own use, Daan De Wit designed the Beetle Stool, a stool with subtle details of a beetle. Three legs and a seat were individually extracted from a stainless steel sheet, then folded, welded and polished. Finally, they were heated to make the stainless steel change colour. These polished colours and beetle-like shapes make him dream back to his childhood. On display previously at Collectible in Brussels.
Guaro by Elias Van Orshaegen consists entirely of recycled material, as indeed do all his other designs. In Milan he showed a version of the side table made of Douglas and Oregon wood. But for the photo shoot he used a version made of old tropical hardwood train carriage floors in dialogue with surplus and scratched aluminium.
Beetle Stool, Daan De Wit
Guaro, Elias Van Orshaegen © Kaatje Verschoren
Studio Tim Somers was also present, with its unique and handmade C¹ chairs. Finally, Wouter Persyn presented some pieces of furniture from his architectural Gordn Steel series. More about their work can be found in our preview article about Milan 2022 (in Dutch).
Almost all Belgian companies returned to the Salone. And yet we see more and more big brands moving into the city. Not only in Milan, by the way; we also noticed this in Paris. Flos, which often used to have one of the most striking stands, was absent from the fair. As was Cappellini, which had rented the IBM space to Garibaldi. It is quite simply a fact that you can sometimes rent a showroom in the city for a whole year for the cost of renting space at large trade fairs.
Landshapes, Studio Pepe for JOV
Roel Vandebeek for Atelier Vierkant
Vincent Van Duysen has designed extensively for Bulo in the past. New is the VVD Bistro collection with accessible, comfortable, modern and lightweight designs. Created for homes, offices and meeting rooms with colours that give it a home-like and welcoming character. After all, working from home has blurred the boundary between the work environment and being at home.
A few years ago, Tribu took over the Monsieur Tricot lighting collection from Ilia Eckardt. At that time, agreements were also made on other possible designs in the longer term. Indeed, Maison Tricot is increasingly presenting itself as a design studio. Now, Tribu is launching the Gobi collection designed by Ilia, a fine example of a contemporary, well-crafted product.
VVD Bistro, Vincent Van Duysen for Bulo
Gobi, Ilia Eckardt for Tribu
Toto, Betrand Lejoly for Zanotta
Baranzate is a bit remote, but with plenty of floor area, which did full justice to the various installations. A shuttle took visitors from Rho Fiera to there. Of course we have known the people of Zaventem Ateliers for a long time, so for us there was nothing too surprising to see.
Baranzate Ateliers © Marek Swoboda
All credit to Lionel Jadot. After all, he is the initiator of Zaventem Ateliers and Baranzate Ateliers. Coming from a family of furniture makers, Lionel Jadot has an innate sense of construction that, combined with an unbridled curiosity to explore the world and all its treasures, has led to a unique art practice. For Jadot, work is synonymous with playing, recycling, assembling while connecting other cultures, the local context and the past.
Lionel Jadot
Atelier Serruys
Superstudio, Opificio 31, Base... they all stayed the same. Big newcomer in the Zona Tortona: IKEA. And two showrooms of Belgian lighting manufacturers.
Stone, Kreon
High Profile, MVRDV for Deltalight
Isola is increasingly the place for young designers to raise their profiles at a very low price. This year there were eleven participants with a Belgian link.
Eye Candy, Amber Dewaele
Form & Textures, Mas Creations
Gio lamp, Studio Duplex
Alcova was the crowd puller of Milan, a bit like Lambrate years ago. In the afternoon, there were more people on the metro to Alcova than on the one to Rho Fiera. The site is an old military hospital and still a military domain. The audience was very varied and if there was something innovative to be found in Milan, here was where to look for it.
Reflectors, Bram Vanderbeke © DSL Studio & Piercarlo Quecchia
In Alcova, Lambert & Fils and DWA Design Studio, the Milanese studio of Frederik De Wachter, presented the second edition of Caffè Populaire, a contemporary aperitif garden. Inside the rooms of the temple, a central table full of wild flowers created a dialogue with the garden outside. A wavy water sculpture sprang from the flowering table and combined the new lighting collection from Lambert & Fils with the floral wall coverings by Superflower.
Caffè Populaire, DWA Design Studio
Nicolas Schuybroek for Obumex
Openup, Nik Aelbrecht for Cappellini
Pigeon Table, Laila Gohar and Muller Van Severen
Quotes, Alain Biltereyst for Kvadrat
Would you like more information on Milan Design Week? You will find some articles on the Belgium is Design website, and on Facebook there are photos. Additional articles and photos will be published shortly.
Cookies saved