Open since September 2018, thanks to the impulse of Belgian designer Lionel Jadot – who was able to transform a former 6,000 sqm paper mill in the north-eastern outskirts of Brussels into a lively creative centre – the Zaventem Ateliers have grown rapidly. Home to designers, artists and artisans, both emerging and established – including some well-known faces from the Belgian design scene, such as the collective BRUT, Arno Declercq and Ben Storms – the space also houses a large exhibition area called Grand Hall.

Born to produce creative “collisions” and stimulate the dialogue between design, craftsmanship and art, initially, the Grand Hall was conceived to present the work of the residents of the Ateliers; this year, for the first time, it has decided to open its doors to a series of independent exhibitions. The new programme is inaugurated with the monographic show “Design as we Speak” – open until 28 September – on the work of the Swiss Brussels-based artist Stéphane Barbier Bouvet, whose playful conceptual language combines readymade objects, architecture and craftsmanship.

Curated by Dimitri Jeurissen – CEO and founding partner of Base Design, an international branding and communication agency – with the support of Barbara Cuglietta, director of the Gladstone Gallery in Brussels, the exhibition considers the hut as a place to disconnect from society and think. Doors, plastic pipes, gutters and other prefabricated elements are scattered in the bright open space of the Grand Hall to abstractly depict the ingredients available to anyone willing to build/renovate one on his/her own. Part of a broader research project conducted by Stéphane Barbier Bouvet on the subject, which will be materialised further through a series of huts installed in France and Switzerland, “Design as we Speak” fits well into the industrial and eclectic atmosphere of Zaventem Ateliers.