INTERSECTIONS. Belgian Design. Press file

Futuristic & Universal, since 1958

PRESS FILE

EXPO 06.09.10 > 14.11.10 Atomium • Temporary exhibitions sphere • Square de L’Atomium • 1020 Brussels • www.atomium.be

IN TER

BELGIAN DESIGN

NICOLAS DESTINO JEAN-FRANÇOIS D’OR LINDE HERMANS

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1. INFORMATION INTERSECTIONS. Belgian Design is a raalisation of the Atomium in the framework of DESIGN SEPTEMBER©.

ADDRESS Atomium Temporary exhibitions sphere Square de l’Atomium B-1020 BRUSSELS T. 02 475 47 77 M. info@atomium.be

WEBSITE www.atomium.be/intersections

PRESS CONTACTS FR > Arnaud Bozzini • 0494 524 747 • arnaud.bozzini@atomium.be EN > Ilse De Braekeleer • 02 475 47 74 • info@atomium.be

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2. SYNOPSIS 1

Information

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Synopsis

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Foreword of the Atomium, M. Henri Simons

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Presentation of the exhibition

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Presentation of the designers

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DESIGN SEPTEMBERŠ

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Catalogue

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3. FOREWORD OF THE ATOMIUM Midway between sculpture and architecture, vestige of a past with a decidedly futuristic appearance and iconic emblem of Galaxy 58, the Atomium is in itself a place naturally dedicated to design. Following the Van der Meeren retrospective and the exhibition devoted to Ludic Modernism, the Atomium - on the occasion of DESIGN SEPTEMBER© - will honour contemporary design through the work of three young artists.

These young, highly promising talents who have already exhibited their work at some of the leading venues for contemporary design will let you discover their conceptual universe and in doing so they will present us with an opportunity to explore a field of artistic practice about which too little is known.

From September to November, INTERSECTIONS. Belgian Design will be investigating the nature of contemporary design.

The creative worlds of Nicolas Destino, Jean-François D’Or and Linde Hermans are the common threads in this in-depth exploration which goes to the heart of the universe of contemporary design. Where do they draw their inspiration from and where does this interest originate? From the prototype to the sale, what is the process of creation and production behind an object? So many questions, all of which the Intersections exhibition will answer in a manner which is both playful and educational.

Their inspirations, their motivations, as well as their creations are the keys to interpreting an exhibition and a catalogue which will allow some to discover what design is and others to comprehend the work of three brilliant artists from the three regions of Belgium.

Henri SIMONS Director

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4. PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT AND VISITORS ROUTE

4.1. CONCEPT / Ariadne’s Thread The exhibition presents the work of three Belgian designers, each from a different region of the country.

The exhibition will highlight their most recent work, but also their professional development and creative processes. It is a journey back in time along the thread of Ariadne, unique to each designer, where their histories unfold and interweave. All together, individually. > Nicolas Destino • Wallonia > Linde Hermans • Flanders > Jean François D’Or • Brussels Each designer is attributed a colour. This colour will accompany each presentation of objects, images, videos or photos from the artist in question. Starting from the entrance hall.

To each his own timeline; to each his own colour. Ariadne’s thread unfurls, changes shape, becomes a display stand; small, large, high or low. The line becomes a screen, a mannequin or simply a carpet connecting two plinths on which are inscribed the encounters and the important dates.

4.2. DESCRIPTION OF THE VISIT SIGNAL : THE GROUND-FLOOR WALL In order to signal the exhibition from the entrance to the Atomium, a wall 80 cm thick, 3.2 m high and 7.2 m wide will divide the entrance hall. It is made from cardboard modules which correspond to the respective colours of the designers. The wall widens and the modules give way to three emblematic objects: one per designer.

TODAY, HERE AND NOW Each designer has his or her own dedicated space around the stairwell. Here one finds photographs, interviews, biographical details and one or more objects. The interviews show each designer in their work environment. Each of these presentations is displayed on a group of cardboard plinths in the colour of the designer in question.

THE GREAT HALL Upon arrival at the staircase, the visitor finds the beginning of each timeline. He/she can locate the chosen path at a single glance (if choosing just one) and follow the timeline of projects. From the staircase to the end of each timeline, the projects presented in this space are more experimental, ranging from works in progress to the first objects created or conceived at the start of their careers. The press file - INTERSECTIONS. Belgian Design I 4

designers have themselves chosen the start and the end of their careers and therefore also their timeline.

ECOLOGY The materials on display come from recycling processes and their use is intended to guarantee an almost total recycling. It has become clear that, within the framework of non-permanent events, it is of vital importance that the scenography has as little impact on the environment as possible. It is a field which is still not sensitive enough to ecological needs.

Cardboard 90% of the scenography is made from cardboard. The cardboard is produced according to sustainable criteria and with respect for the rights of workers. It also contains 70% recycled raw material. It is processed and shaped by a French company. No glue or foreign bodies are involved in the assembly process. At the end of the exhibition, all of the cardboard can be disposed of in the waste container.

The cardboard is shaped by the company ORIKA.

Plexi cubes For reasons of security and presentation, certain pieces are displayed beneath Plexiglass cubes. They are assembled using a solvent (chloroform) which itself enters into the composition of the base material. If they are not recovered, these cubes are completely recyclable. Thanks to the high quality of this polymer and the simplicity of its assembly, it undergoes very little alteration during the recycling processes.

Paintwork There is no paintwork in the scenography. All that remains is the printed information.

Cradle to cradle As a whole, the exhibition is in line with the notion of Cradle to Cradle. The different components of the exhibition are assembled and used taking into account their subsequent life cycle.

Disassembly and sorting is therefore made easy.

SCENOGRAPHERS O2 design, the two-man company of Sébastien Cruyt and Philippe Pinckaers. > Sébastien Cruyt has been a civil architectural engineer since 1996.

He has been head of Synergy International for eight years. The activities of this architecture firm extend throughout Belgium and abroad. In parallel to his profession of architect, design represents a source of permanent freshness and fascination for him. > Philippe Pinckaers founded and has headed a company specialising in the creation and installation of structures for exhibitions and events for 25 years. His profession has always brought him into close contact with design and its implementation.

O2 design represents the coming together of two people who share a passion for design. The ultimate aim is to develop, via a projectbased approach, a cross-reflection on the way in which we occupy and conceive objects.

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5. PRESENTATION OF THE DESIGNERS

5.1. Nicolas DESTINO > > > www.destino.be Aesthetic surgeon for objects, Nicolas Destino aims to create wellbeing through aesthetic quality.

His work is guided from the very start by a scientific rigour and scalpel-like precision.

The world is crazy, stay at home, said Mother Oyster in Alice in Wonderland.

This is the point of departure for the designer captivated by this cartoon, this demand for oyster-style prudence imposed itself in his work as soon as he became interested in human behaviour and its complexity. Often noting the complications of the outside world, he is inspired by a profound desire for asceticism and simplification.

Fascination for the medical world, from furniture to laboratory equipment, his work is characterised by very specific, hospital-related themes.

Nicolas Destino very quickly determined and refined his goal: to take care of the individual by creating well-being through the objects in his/her surroundings. In keeping with this therapeutic concept, a new aesthetic, conceived in the smallest details, permeates all the objects which he creates. On numerous occasions already, Nicolas Destino has demonstrated his unfailing flair for arranging lines and angles, a refined taste for identifying with the feelings and needs of others, incontestable proof of his immense creative talent.

Following his graduation, with distinction, from the design department of the renowned Institut Saint-Luc in Tournai, Belgium, the young artist created his own label – Destino Design. Ever since, all his objects have followed an intrinsically pure and timeless logical form, always based on this concept of well-being and a clear functionality.

He was soon entering design competitions in various countries, including Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Italy. His creativity was rewarded in the form of three prizes. One object was to become the flagship of the label – the ladder.light, a light in the shape of a ladder won the Design for Europe award at the Kortrijk Furniture Fair in 2004. Finally, a monograph devoted entirely to him and his work was also published.

A genuine commercial trademark and a style truly his own has spread to his other creations: luxury packaging for the Best Belgian Chocolate of the World, design of the VIP area for a trendy Belgian nightclub, graphic design of a single cover, lighting design for the private interior of a Belgian minister. A style which has also been recognised during the numerous events held at prestigious or original locations....Entitled Et l’homme créa l’objet (And man created the object), he has also notably held an exhibition in an ancient chapel in Mons.

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In extension of a first collection which was mainly black and white, Destino has recently completed his second furniture collection.

Inspired by the medical world, a table from this new range has also been released by the French company Myfab.

For Destino, beauty is only equalled by simplicity. His sole intention is to enable you to discover both in this new world which he conceives, designs and creates.

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6 bax.light.

7 optomĂŠtrique.table.

8 roll.chair.

9 ladder.light.

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1-2-3 pouf.duo.

4 multi.plat.

5 vari.table.

Copyrights 5-9 Laetitia BICA 1-6 Vincent CORDELETTE 2-3-4-7-8 Destino Design

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5.2. Jean-François D’OR > > > www.loudordesign.be Exploring numerous materials, Jean-François D’Or brings out their beauty without ostentation. His simple, unpretentious, logical objects appeal as much on for their evident, clearly perceptible design as well as their discrete poetry.

Jean-François D’Or graduated at La Cambre in 1998 since which time he has built up solid and varied experience. Following a project in New York lasting several months, he was taken on by Light brand where he worked closely with established and demanding designers such as Maarten Van Severen and Hans De Pelsmacker. In 2003, he set up his industrial design studio.

His approach takes account of company imperatives as well as user needs and is tempered by the desire to reach a market; his products set out to enrich our environment.

Distributed by Cinna, Domani, Jongform, Ligne Roset, Toss B, The Conran Shop among others, he has found his way to international success. His work has just been awarded a Henry van de Velde quality label.

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5.3. Linde HERMANS > > > www.lindehermans.be During her studies in Product Design at the KH Limburg in Genk, Linde Hermans undertook a work placement with Li Edelkoort (Paris, 1995) and a year later she was one of the winners in the Weekend Knack lighting-design competition with the hanging lamp Libelle, after which she was then offered an apprenticeship under Jorge Pensi (Barcelona, 1997). In the same year, she won the Limburg Provincial Prize for Artistic Practice with her graduation project. Barely two years after graduating, her work already satisfied the stringent quality standards of Design Flanders and in 2000 she scooped the City of Mechelen Design Award for her Chaise Longue, an easy-todisassemble seat which moulds itself to the shape of the user. As a young designer, she has also caught the attention of a number of companies. She is designing furniture for Consino, a steel-processing company, ceramics and glassware for Walco Pottery, street furniture for Wolters NV and a side table for Vlaemsch().

In 2007, Linde launched a collection on her own initiative under the name Rode Schoentjes. Fundamental aspects of the collection include the use of natural materials or existing products, the traditional character, the unity between functionality and aesthetics and individuality as an alternative to mass-produced products. She herself says that she goes in search of shapes which express her world view: beauty, balance, respect, creativity, pleasure....

She often recovers existing industrial products which she processes into another functional product.

The object created in this way is given a sort of eternal life. There is poetry attached to it, a history, a memory ...

Her strength lies in the combination of a remarkable affinity for the traditional aspects of design and production and an industrial way of thinking. Linde Hermans is a jack-of-all-trades. For example, she has also designed various exhibitions and she gave the prison of Tongeren a contemporary refurbishment within a historical context.

She once said that she sees to it that her individuality as woman is respected in all her designs, which puts her on the same wavelength as several other female designers of which Nedda El-Asmar is perhaps currently the most high-profile. The craving for timelessness, beauty and simplicity, the putting of things into perspective, the recording of emotion and respect for the material and the finish is something which they have in common. A great future awaits her.

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1 chaise longue 2 feet on the ground

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6. DESIGNER SEPTEMBER© The Belgian presidency of the European Union offers all cultural actors in Belgium the opportunity to explore the country’s talents. On this occasion, the Atomium is playing host to an exhibition on contemporary Belgian design, a theme which forms part of the DNA of this icon of the Brussels landscape.

For DESIGN SEPTEMBER©, this situation has encouraged some soul-searching. In order to reinforce its identity and not give way to dilution in a globalised sector, the festival is refocusing on a selection of projects chosen for their freshness and individuality. DESIGN SEPTEMBER© is intended to promote more specific projects, things that are not seen elsewhere and, in particular, some of the highly original and promising talents which are currently flourishing in Belgium.

The INTERSECTIONS. Belgian Design exhibition which will take place in the Atomium from 6th September to 14th November represents a key event in the schedule of the Brussels festival. It will highlight the creative approaches of three designers working in the fields of objects, furniture, urban equipment and textiles.

In order to give the public a representative taste of the three regions of the country, the selected artists are Jean-François D’Or for Brussels, Nicolas Destino for Wallonia and Linde Hermans for Flanders. The scenography will illustrate the creative process which accompanied the birth of an object, providing an educational explanation of the path between the emergence of an idea and its concrete realisation. This approach will be brought to light by a set design consisting entirely of cardboard in accordance with the more environmentally respectful cradle-to-cradle principle. In addition, the exhibition will be documented by a catalogue recording the work of the three designers representative of their generation.

An event.

Marie POK Artistic director of DESIGN SEPTEMBER©

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7. CATALOGUE

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Texts: Henri Simons, Arnaud Bozzini, Jean-François D’Or, Nicolas Destino, Linde Hermans Preface: Marie Pok Languages: English, French, Dutch 90 pages 57 color pictures Price: €15 (Atomium shop)

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Staging and production: 2 design.be Coordination : Marceline van Cutsem Graphic design: Codefrisko Interviews: Barbara Coulon Photos and montage: Vincent Pinckaers Cardboard production: Orika Environmental and sustainable design: 2 design.be

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