Vincent Van Duysen, the minimalist interior designer who conquered Kim Kardashian
Interview
The influential Belgian multidisciplinary creator signs his first furniture collection for the Catalan publisher Kettal
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Andres Rubin de Celis
The term 'minimalism' has been used so much and so badly in architecture and design since the late 1980s, for describing not a coherent and unequivocal aesthetic, but rather a whole catalog of proposals that hardly have in common a certain commitment to that "less is more” by the architect Mies Van der Rohe.
Unfortunately, the Belgian architect and designer Vincent Van Duysen (Lokeren, 1962), declared rationalist and one of the gurus of our time, has persecuted him throughout his career. Another thing is that his architecture, his interior design and his design, with pure and organic lines, essential to the monastic, his sensual use of light, soft forms and natural materials, and the spirituality with which he approaches the performance of his trade, can be imprisoned by the shackles of the topic.
On the other hand, Van Duysen belongs to the long and lofty tradition of humanist architects who refuse to focus only on the box and develop in their projects an authentic lifestyle that does not understand the separation between content and container, or inside and outside. And so, he conceives the construction of a winery in the Puurs countryside, in his country, the interior design of the Kardashian-West residence in Hidden Hills (California), the restyling of the company's network of showrooms of Italian furniture Molteni&C - of which he is creative director - throughout the planet or a leather bag for the Milanese firm Up To You Anthology from a holistic perspective that he himself calls art de vivre (art of living).
Among Van Duysen's projects, the interior design of the house of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West in Los Angeles stands out
The launch of Giro, a collection made up of two armchairs and two side tables for the Catalan family publisher Kettal, without a doubt one of the collaborations of the year in our design, gives us the opportunity to delve into its very personal –and no less influential– conception of life and its forms.
His parents educated him in close contact with different arts, planting the seed of what would become not only his concept of aesthetics but of creativity itself...
My mother comes from a family of lawyers and my father worked in the carpet industry in Flanders. Both brought me closer to various arts from a very young age: architecture, painting, photography, performing arts... My father also had incredible artistic skills: he was a good painter and photographer, and I have inherited his interest in these disciplines. I was educated to develop that early interest, which obviously contributed to the fact that, from a very young age, I had a very natural relationship with the conception of beauty and worked on creativity intuitively through expressions such as dance, fashion, photography...
And so you developed skills such as spatial vision or the art of composition, from very different perspectives.
Indeed. My approach to creating spaces is absolutely centered on the human being. In my architecture and interiors there is always, for example, a balance between vibrant spaces bathed in natural light and darker, calmer ones… And I guess I work with similar principles when I take photos. The timeless spaces that I pursue are defined by what is essential: in them only light, shapes and materials play, along with composition, just like in the visual arts or theater. I am a convinced modernist, so I always try to avoid clutter and artificiality, and express harmony and its relation to familiarity and simplicity. Through this simplicity, I try to achieve a feeling of well-being that is directly related to the inhabitant and their experience within the space.
Before studying architecture, he collaborated for a few years with interior designers to understand, in his own words, “the way people live at home”. What conclusions did you come to then?
In 1985, after finishing my studies, I started working, first with decorators in my country, Belgium, and later with interior architects and designers in Milan. At the age of 24 I collaborated with Jean-Jacques Hervy, in Brussels, and then with Jean De Meulder in Antwerp, and later, already in Milan, I worked in the studio of Aldo Cibic and Ettore Sottsass. It is terrible to think that there are young architects who, at the age of 23, start building houses when they still do not know what life is… For me it was essential to understand how people inhabit their houses, to somehow discover the essential elements of art de vivre ( art of living) to be able, later, to incorporate them into my projects.
For me it was essential to somehow discover the essential elements of the art of living in order to later incorporate them into my projects.
Vincent Van DuysenAnd what did you learn when you went through the San Lucas Higher Institute of Art?
Apart from the solid foundations of architecture and its planning, they taught me that it encompasses many elements and aspects of other arts, to which I had already been exposed, that I had to apply in my practice. And, of course, I got to know the history of architecture and its masters.
Throughout his career he has developed an ultra-personal vision on the pillars of simplicity, purity and authenticity, ethics and aesthetics reconciled…
Yes. Based on these values, I am capable of exploiting organic shapes and the textures of materials to create timeless spaces and designs. I am always looking for organic forms and materials that are capable of harmoniously integrating into the lives of my clients, their users and people in general, and that can improve them. I am constantly trying to create designs that transcend time and geography. And, another thing: I have never conceived of design –of interiors or products– separately from architecture. Interiors and exteriors are intimately related, and in the case of the product, what varies is the scale.
Collaboration with Kettal
Concrete, rope and teak wood
Van Duysen always opts for natural materials with a strong character and a sustainable nature. In the case of Giro, his recent collection for the Catalan publisher Kettal, he opted for concrete, rope and wood –teak–, some of which he had never used before."The initial idea for this collection was to use rope , and all the research prior to the development of the project focused on doing it in a different way: sewing them together to shape the product with it," he says. The interior designer was inspired by the classic Scottish Orkney chair, "to take advantage of the past, of tradition, with an eye on the possibilities that current technology opens up". And so, while Orkney was about handcrafted intertwined natural ropes, Giro was born from the flexibility that recycled polypropylene rope provides, and is produced industrially. "There is, deep down, a respect for tradition and craftsmanship, but bringing it up to date by taking advantage of both Kettal's technology and know-how," he says. The first collaboration with Kettal, he says, "has been quite intense and fruitful" . The process of developing these new materials was challenging for Van Duysen, he says, "but we seem to have understood each other well, and the result is a very beautiful collection that expresses both Kettal's vision and my own."
What is the key to truly understanding the art of living?
All my work, whether it be residential, commercial, hospitality projects, or product design, is based on the concept of the art of living. I seek to create beautiful and sophisticated things, characterized by a balance of materials and textures that give rise to an organic combination of contrasts, from color to tactility. My architecture, interiors, furniture and objects are closely related to this art of living. I don't create just for the sake of redesigning something; my goals are to achieve ergonomics and usability, to get the most out of durable, sustainable and temporary materials, to achieve a harmonious balance... And, no, I'm not an architect or mathematical designer: my work is very instinctive. The experience of working for and with different people, all with their own views and experiences, gives each project a unique context. These times we live in are a question mark, so looking to the future, I would like to enhance my contribution to improving people's lives.
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