Culture
Belgian collaborative
Zaventem Ateliers is located in Zaventem, Belgium… a short twenty minute drive from Brussels.
Image courtesy of: Le Soir, photographed by: Lydie Nesvadba
When craft guilds were first conceived during the Middle Ages, artisans often formed a “working community” in order to control quality and production, benefit from the local environment, and support one another. As rents throughout Europe rise, the idea of a “collective” has become more and more attractive. Often times, the common thread is the centuries-old building within which these artisan communities reside. Certainly, there is a lot to be said for shared resources and labor!
The central hall at Zaventem Ateliers. Twice a year, each exhibitor will have the opportunity to showcase his wares at a locally-curated show orchestrated by an exterior administrator.
Image courtesy of: Design September
During the 19th-century, the building was a paper factory; and at first glance, the huge space looks like it could be a scene set in the Middle Ages.
Last year, the Belgian interior designer Lionel Jadot opened this 65,000 square-feet complex. The 49-year-old Jadot’s hope was to create an “autonomous hive” where craftspeople can exhibit together. Thirty independent studios are connected around the Grand Hall and this stately area can be used as an exhibition or events space for large-scale productions.
The organic-feeling lounge!
Image courtesy of: dKLIKK, photographed by: Stan Guldemont
Inside the building, Jadot carved out 28 workshops and additional communal spaces. There is also a shared kitchen and a plant-filled lounge where the tenants can share both ideas and materials. For those with large-scale works, there exists a technical facility which includes a forklift truck and a large elevator that can hold up to 4,400 pounds.
Image courtesy of: The New York Times Magazine, photographed by: Jooney Woodward
One of the artisans who has taken up shop at Zaventem Ateliers is Maison Armand Jonckers. The father, son, and daughter team creates one-of-a-kind pieces that cannot be replicated or reproduced due to the specific nature through which they blend and refine precious metals and minerals (with the technical sophistication of colored resins). This is alchemy; actually, it is the search for a point of balance between the raw material and the human touch which makes the pieces both primitive and refined at the same time.
Set in the rustic workspace, this table was designed and handmade out of solid pieces of Iroko wood. The wood has been treated by Japanese techniques of burning, brushing, and waxing. The burned, black steel table comes in two lengths.
Image courtesy of: Vosges Paris
Another artist who jumped aboard is Arno Declercq. Declercq builds West African-inspired furniture using Iroko wood from Benin and Belgian oak. After the furniture is built, he blackens it using the Japanese technique of “shou sugi ban”.
Evidence that the collective is bringing together artisans is clear. Recently, Declercq teamed up with Vladimir Slavov to design a beautiful product. Slavov creates unique, limited-edition brass lighting fixtures. Together, Declercq and Slavov produced a lamp made of black wood and sand-cast bronze for Declercq’s spring collection.
