Gestalt. The brutalist collection by Belgian duo SMENT

“Brutal but elegant, heavy but light, functional but sculptural”, a series of ‘but’ used by Frederik Bogaerts and Jochen Sablon, founders of SMENT design studio, describes the Gestalt project. A collection of simple and essential geometric figures that emulate precious and timeless stones. Circles to be interpreted as low tables and hollow cylinders as excellent bases for lamps. They all feature a white, smooth skin, dirtied only by a series of black, irregular veins, or rather everything needed to scream out that they belong to the natural world. During the last Biennale Interieur many of the visitors may have mistaken them for marble or travertine sculptures, but this collection - open to any interpretation, both functional and sculptural - is actually made of cement and colored pigments. 

After a long research on different pigments and polishing methods, the Belgian studio managed to find the perfect formula to simulate the organic motifs of stones far more valuable than the brutalist aesthetics inherent in the mixture of sand and water.