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Biennale Interieur 2014

In the charming Belgian town of Kortrijk, set in the countryside of western Flanders, the 24th edition of the Biennale Interieur has recently opened (16–26 October 2014).

An event with a biennial format, the current edition of Interieur – the second led by Lowie Vermeersch – has succeeded in achieving a sophisticated balance between the stands by selected top producers of designer objects and furniture and the promotion of research and awards – Interieur Awards – along with specially-created spaces and bistrot.

This was aided by the decision to commission Joseph Grima – editor of Domus from 2011 to 2013 – to curate the cultural programme and there is no shortage of ideas to reflect on. Under the general theme “SQM: the home does not exist” Grima and his team debate the notion of domesticity through two exhibitions and a series of meetings, workshops and events. “The home, as we once knew it, no longer exists, not because we are no longer in need of a shield from the elements and the inquisitive, as Le Corbusier once described it, but because its function as a stage for social rituals has been deeply transformed”.

The main venue for the Biennale Interieur is the Kortrijk Xpo: six curated exhibition pavilions – some featuring beautiful ribbed wooden pillars – housing over 270 selected design brands. The Interiour Biennale however has also been developed in the city centre, with easy connection to the exhibition provided by a fleet of cars supplied by Audi. Buda is a historic district of the town of Kortrijk, an island between the two branches of the Lys river, where visitors can walk around the exhibitions set up along the route that connects the Buda Factory and the Broel School, young talents chosen by Ventura Interieur or stop for lunch at the Interieur Bistrot designed by a team made up of winners of Belgian Designer of the Year between 2006 and 2013.

The first Biennale Interieur opened its doors in 1968 with the aim of presenting a careful selection of products at a moment when industrial design was beginning to show signs of crisis. Forty years later, a new crisis has hit design and the Western economies, with furniture sales dropping as a result of changes in lifestyle, the Biennale has gone back to its roots as a research-driven event.

Left: the acoshape+ collection, sound-absorbent objects with integrated light source, presented by Belgian manufacturer Acoshape+. Right: following the preview presentation at the Spazio Rossana Orlandi in April, the Aurore table-lamp designed by Ferréol Babin is on show at the Biennale Interieur 2014, at the stand of the French brand Moustache

Located at the central Rambla in Kortrijk Xpo, SQM: Theatre of everyday life will explore themes in historical and contemporary domesticity. The exhibition has been built as a large architectural installation of Prokoss structural elements, allowing visitors to navigate a dense landscape of artefacts, images, stories, music, and film. Photo © Delfino Sisto Legnani

“Dried Chat Room” was set up in the centre of hall4. The project is one of the five bar Spaces at Biennale Interieur 2014 and winner of the international competition Interieur Awards. Result of the partnership between DWA studio (Alberto Artesani and Frederik De Wachter) and SPECTACULARCH! (Francesca Perani and Sandra Marchesi), the space is designed using the minimum resources for the best result: a golden ceiling made by shimmering sheets, a spontaneous arrangement of embracing furniture, grey styrofoam tables, plastic garden chairs embellished with recycled felt fabrics. Photo © Francesca Perani

Every year the Biennale Interieur Foundation presents the Belgian Designer of the Year award to a young creative in the field of furniture and product design. The 2014 winner was Marina Bautier, a promising furniture designer based in Brussels who set up her own studio in 2003 and after working with a number of manufacturers including Ligne Roset, Stattmann Neue Moebel, Case Furniture and Swedese, has now launched her own brand, MA

Abet Laminati is transforming school desks, symbols of traditional, solid and functional Belgian furniture design into interactive pieces of furniture to demonstrate the infinite creative combination possibilities for the updated Print HPL collection 2015>2018 at the 24th Interieur Biennale 2014 in Kortrijk

Gone Fishing – realised by the Swedish team Charlotte Ryberg, Fritz Håkon Halvorsen and Marcia Harvey Isaksson – and Behind the Curtain – designed by Belgians Jasper Stevens and Karel Verstraeten – are both among the five winners of the Interieur Awards (Spaces category). The first, on the left, appealed with a subtle graphic language and a sustainable fish and seafood concept; while in the second, right, visitors will be able escape through soft fabric waves into intimate spaces with luxurious marble tables

Young company TOG presented at Biennale Interieur 2014 a selection of products customised by Matteo Orlandi and Carlotta Modica Amore

View of one of the pavilions inside the Kortrijk Xpo with its high-beamed wooden pillars

Alias presented at the Biennale Interieur 2014 an anthological exhibition of 35 years of production

The Flos stand, displaying new products from the latest Milan Furniture Fair

Zanotta celebrate their 60th birthday at Biennale Interieur 2014 with a new exhibition of their collection featuring specially-selected icons Made In Italy

Installation view of the exhibition SQM: The Quantified Home in the Broel School. Conceived by curator Joseph Grima and his Genoa-based collective Space Caviar, the exhibit combines excerpts of books, song quotes, and tweets along with original “flash fictions” from leading contemporary authors commissioned for Biennale Interieur 2014. Photo © Delfino Sisto Legnani

Installation view of the exhibition SQM: The Quantified Home in the Broel School, curated by Joseph Grima and Space Caviar, Biennale Interieur, Kortrijk, October 16–26 2014. Photo © Delfino Sisto Legnani

The Belgian Designers of the Year from 2006 to 2013 worked together on the design for the Interieur Bistro. Realised at the former canteen of the Broel School, the design of the Bistro's interior underlines the character of the canteen and also plays on the theme of 'Belgian absurdity': expect a fantastical canteen.

Left: The Fusions bar by one of five winners of the Interieur Awards (Spaces category). Design by Lucas Wegwerth in partnership with Wendelin Kammermeier from Berlin. Photo © Bart Kiggen. Right: Ventura Interieur 2014. Photo © Bart Kiggen

On show at Ventura Interieur 2014 and realised by the Belgian design collective Fragmenture House Sparrows is a collection of colourful light object inspired by a small bird. The spot can be turned off and on by clicking on the tail of the sparrow

Part of the Ventura Interieur exhibition, this chair is conceived by Ryan Yoon and Harc Lee who designed a new joint system named ‘’rabbit joint’’. The chair includes six rabbit joints made out of bio resin

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Biennale Interieur 2014

In the charming Belgian town of Kortrijk, set in the countryside of western Flanders, the 24th edition of the Biennale Interieur has recently opened (16–26 October 2014).

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