Belgian Design Pavilion exemplifies meaningful designs at Isola

The Belgian Design Pavilion is set to become the centrestage for object and furniture designers at Isola Design District, during Milan Design Week 2023. The stylised exhibition space will unveil the essence of Belgian design with a dedicated curatorial team selecting projects that focus on sustainability, innovation, and handcrafts. Creating a fine balance between products and objects, the design event will showcase handcrafted and sustainable pieces, producing new heirlooms for the future—at the intersection of function and meaning. The pavilion will give visibility to independent designers, connecting them to design professionals, companies, curators, journalists, and potential clients. To that effect, STIR curates the best of Belgian design, on display at the Belgian Design Pavilion.

Atelier Timon Mattelaer

Contemporary interior, object, furniture designer and maker, Timon Mattelaer uses scraps and sheets of plywood, aluminium and metal to build objects and furniture for interior usage. Exploring the lines between fragility and structural integrity, his furniture has a distinct visual language, owing to his experience in graphic and fashion design. “As with any other project, I design everything with sustainability, low-waste or zero-waste, and locally sourced materials in mind,” shares Mattelaer.

An Gillis - Studio NAAN

An Gillis is a product designer with a focus on collectible design and functional art installations in the public domain. She draws her inspiration from her research on the history of local places, transforming local immaterial heritage into objects that trigger emotion and make people connect to their roots. A manifestation against meaningless design, her project is titled ‘Roots 2.0’—a referral to local roots and contemporary design. In her research, she talks with local heritage experts and researches museum collections, old pictures, forgotten customs, local materials etc. She produces the objects and art installations mainly in her own atelier in Tienen (BE) and wherever possible she involves local makers and companies.

Dries Truyers

Art, furniture, and interior designer based in Houthalen, Belgium, Dries Truyers’s designs for furniture and other interior objects are focused on sustainability. Playing, combining, and experimenting creatively with ordinary and unusual materials is one of the most fascinating aspects of her design, bringing to life the statement ‘experimenting with materials is the gateway to innovation.’

Fractall by Arne Desmet

Fractall is a Belgium-based design practice founded by Arne Desmet, inspired by patterns and textures found in nature and fascinated by man-made materials and production processes, giving the objects in the Fractall collection a natural and industrial aesthetic. The studio’s aim is to embrace technological production processes while adding a sense of humanity to them. Despite their sculptural appearance, each object is highly functional and often, the remnants of the production processes are exposed, aiming to celebrate the materials in their pure form and the production processes that led to the creation of each object.

Hanne Cornette

Hanne Cornette is a furniture designer from Antwerp, with a focus on materialisation and crafts. After obtaining a bachelor's degree in Interior Design from KASK (School of Arts, Ghent) with a focus on furniture and design, she followed the Continuing Education Furniture Design (VOMO) at Thomas More Hogeschool in Mechelen. Her designs pay close attention to materiality and craft and almost all of her pieces are handmade, making them one of a kind.

Jord Lindelauf

Jord is a young Belgian architect and designer who questions everyday objects and tries to create space for new objects with a different understanding. With its uncomplicated form language, the designs never scream for attention, but blend into their surroundings. It is precisely this simplicity and honesty that makes his designs distinctive.

Koen Van Guijze

Bespoke lighting designer, Koen Van Guijze has been designing lamps and luminaires since 1986. In 2002, Koen Van Guijze founded Accessori lighting architecture, which focuses on architectural lighting projects. In addition, his own lighting line, Sofisticato, has been in production at the Belgian label Serax since 2018, and he also designs his own collections of unique and limited-edition pieces.

Marijke Jans

Marijke Jans is a Belgian material and object designer who studied interior design at Thomas More, Mechelen. Her practice is diverse but consistent and focuses on circular design with bio-based materials. Passionate about raw and bio-based materials, her focus lies on process, research and experimentation. The objects are balanced between functional and sculptural design, story and experiment, resulting in a biodegradable design with distinctive materiality and aesthetic. Kaffa is an ongoing research project and collection that emphasises that what we consider waste, can be used as new raw material. Coffee grounds are largely available and can be locally collected and with their dark and rich aesthetics, they make a perfect fit to create design objects with all objects remaining biodegradable at the end of their life cycle. Marijke firmly believes in design as a catalyst for a transition from a linear to a circular economy and this collection is further proof of that.

Sam Kerckaert

Living and working in Ghent, Sam Kerckaert is a Belgian design maker of collectible, contemporary objects and furniture. “My work strives for a sense of character and mobility as if the objects are aware of their existence. The designs merge from memory, impressions from my surroundings and a hint of familiarity. Everything is made by my own hand, so to produce quality objects, I look for techniques that will stand the test of time. I want the user to cherish the objects, take them along for a lifetime and later pass them on. That way we can sustain memories and attach an emotional value to the pieces,” shares Kerckaert.

Studio Fuho

Studio Fuho is a concept-driven studio designing and building modular objects with a story. Incarnating abstract existential concepts in objects, their use and relation to space, they create objects—custom-made pieces or collaborations. The studio was born from a passion for architecture, design and philosophy and every modular design is a piece with a story and a use that tells this story, and no object is passive, it requires action as well as reflection.

Studio PART by Julie Van Mulders & Lennart Van Uffelen

A conceptual studio and manufacturing atelier of objects and spaces with a focus on conscious craft and design, the studio works with designers/makers who are acutely aware of how each design, illustration, or even notion is related to and affects its surroundings. To retain the wood from the Brussels Sonian Forest, the studio created designs for and in collaboration with the Sonian Wood Cooperative and will be displaying two of the Sonian Wood collaborations that engage in conscious craft and design at the Belgian Design Pavilion during Milan Design Week 2023.

Thibeau Scarcériaux

Thibeau Scarcériaux is a Belgium-based artist and designer who has a diverse and consistently impressive practice. He graduated from furniture design at Thomas More Hogeschool in Mechelen, where he honed his skills in the field and developed a unique aesthetic. In addition to his studies in furniture design, Scarcériaux also has a background in industrial design, which contributes to his diverse body of work. Scarcériaux’s work is known for its use of unusual materials and its sculptural and monumental qualities. He has a talent for taking mundane or everyday objects and transforming them into something extraordinary, often with a focus on form and function. His attention to detail and innovative designs sets him apart from other artists and designers, and has earned him a reputation for creating truly unique and memorable pieces. The objects he creates often flow between art and functionality, blurring the lines between the two and challenging the viewer’s perception.

Vestrepen Studio

Joris Verstrepen is a Belgian designer, born in West-Flanders. His design ideology is based on a very personal philosophical approach, which is tightly woven into his moral values. This ideology comes down to four pillars—nature, imperfection, craft and the senses. His work explores diverse mediums and contrasts raw natural elements against structural man-made materials. Influenced by a range of textures, Verstrepen designs collectible furniture and objects as a deeper tactile and sensory experience . By exploring different creative practices Verstrepen is developing a more holistic solution to solving our current world challenges.

Wouter Persyn

Wouter Persyn has an academic background in architecture and furniture design but his work balances on the interface of varied disciplines, resulting in a diverse range of objects, paintings and designs. His main goal as a spatial art designer is to surprise and amaze the viewers by playing with the visual aspect of his designs.

Text by Ria Jha.

STIR’s coverage of Milan Design Week 2023 showcases the best exhibitions, studios, designers, installations, brands, and special projects to look out for. Explore Euroluce 2023 and all the design districts—5Vie Art and Design, Brera Design District, Fuorisalone, Isola Design District, Tortona District, and Milano Design District—with us.