Vincent Van Duysen’s Zara Home + collection infuses surroundings with Zen-like calmness

Belgian designer and architect Vincent Van Duysen, known for designing spaces and objects that evoke calmness and contemplation, recently collaborated with Zara Home to create a collection of furniture items and accessories that are minimalistic and that offer leeway for personalisation by their owner. Much like the unadorned yet monumental and domineering aura projected by the spaces conceived by Duysen, his furniture pieces manage to command a formidable presence despite their simplicity. Subtle, solid and proportionate, each piece is made up of features and colours that can fit in both classical and modern spaces. Using some of his previously designed pieces as the starting point for the Zara Home + collection, Duysen created furniture items that evoke the poise and placidity that unfettered expansive spaces often do.

The desks, tables, stools, chairs, sofas, armchairs, love seats, foot stools, lamps, rugs, vases and storage accessories conceived out of this collaboration between the Spain based brand and the Flemish designer were launched on June 30, 2022. Echoing the values and ethos of both, Zara Home + is the product of this ongoing collaboration that will breathe life into another collection this year. “It feels like a homecoming – the dimensions, sensorial aspects, the look and feel all reflect my work,” explains Duysen. “My DNA merges with Zara Home,” he adds.

Duysen began this project by distilling key elements from the impressive body of work created by him in the past 30 years. Mixing these tangible elements with Zara Home’s democratic approach and constant pursuit for quality, the designer crafted the recently released living room furniture series. Graceful textures, tactile materials, and premium finishes come together to adorn the simple and timeless forms of Duysen’s furniture. Each piece is created keeping in mind stylistic trends, utilitarian demands and the constraints of space evident nowadays. Hence, Zara Home + items refrain from being bulky or occupying too much space.

Made using leather, Campaspero limestone, solid oak wood, ash wood and fabric, all of which are either washed in earthy, natural or monochromatic tones, the pieces manage to induce Zen-like calmness around them. While the chairs designed by him feature a simple structure disrupted by a curvy backrest and leather seat, the stools are characterised by sinewy lines and curves. Both of these natural wood seatings come in various versions with iterations in material and colour.

The Zara Home + sofas, reminiscent of British seatings, come in an interesting combination of linen, cotton and bouclé, coloured in hues of blues, greens and browns. While the sofas depict an experimentation in colours, the wooden armchair by Duysen is an experimentation in texture. The sturdy oak frame, densely textured leather weave, and the soft cushion come together to form a richly designed piece.

The designer’s tables, of which he has designed three different variations, each of which comes in various different sizes, allow for personal customization. The Blocks side table, Cross side table and Coffee table are made out of natural oakwood and heat-treated thermo ash. Iterating the simple finish of the collection, the desk designed by Duysen is simplistic in form and is inspired by the shape of trestles.

Duysen, as an architect and designer, believes in creating spaces and objects that can usher in an emotional connection in addition to the fulfilment of pragmatic needs. The plastered accessories and rugs designed by him to decorate living spaces in households tend to that end with their eclectic aura.