Installation view: Daniel Turner: Compresseur the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Museum of Contemporary Arts (MACS) If ever there were a near-perfect union between an artist’s practice and the soul of an exhibition venue it would be Daniel Turner’s current installation at the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Museum of Contemporary Arts (MACS) at Grand-Hornu in Belgium Its pristine galleries are housed within an architectural complex that once served as a colliery This history interlocks well with the archeological tenor of Turner’s work—anchored in “sourcing materials the artist fastened upon a different structure: the Forest Prison Long emblematic of the overcrowded prisons in Belgium unlike the mechanization of labor at the colliery—a site that had long since gone cold—Turner sensed that the reduction of human beings to mere numbers at the Forest Prison was still raw and palpable is a powerful emotional experience that resonates beyond its immediate subject It also speaks to the increasing dehumanization of man in the contemporary world From the minute one enters this exhibition it is evident how much thought Turner has given to the relationship between the space and the elements he placed within it Consider the four large vitrines awaiting contemplation in the first gallery The initial one presents two plans of “cell-based” Forest Prison from 1907 and 1908 a newspaper clipping featuring an aerial shot of the building (1919) we see women operating knitting or sewing machines; the other features male detainees standing at attention The remaining vitrines present a few objects sourced from the prison: links of pipe that once channeled heat to radiators The dialectic between functionality and senselessness is the operative force here More than a dozen well-tooled door handles clanking countless times—to no avail—by prisoners locked in tiny cells Their isolation finds an equivalent in the conspicuous distance between these heaped latches and three encrusted squeegees a large glass beaker filled with a viscous liquid sits far apart from a stack of deeply incised wooden tabletops Visualize the sweating elbows and chests that once bent over those tables Turner had one sent to his studio in New York he drained every last drop of fluid from the material for weeks one must navigate a series of cascading stone steps Its entire back wall is occupied by 110/220 (2024) a projected image of an endlessly running sewing machine there is nothing to focus on but its jabbing needle—threadless Turner has zoomed in so tightly that the rest of the machine disappears A while into the thirty-six-minute loop of this video its rhythmic plunging begins to evoke an unsettling needling away of individual identity The reverberating sound of the machine is as unnerving as its tightly cropped image Many will feel caught between trance-like fixation and the urge to turn away One must either retrace the descending steps or mount an identical set The space is unreal; one seems to have stepped into the shadow of Franz Kafka’s In the Penal Colony Once this claustrophobic space is left behind a large installation that features several mattresses and four now-dark sodium lamps mounted low on opposite gallery walls If these components call to mind a work by Joseph Beuys But there is nothing utopian about Turner’s aesthetic nor does it address the need to come to terms with a fraught collective past Turner is preoccupied with exposing the cruel and often purposeless nature of humans transacting with one another including those embedded in our present world materials bear witness to what otherwise escapes description As he recently put it: “I’ve always worked with discarded materials—playing their minor keys Two sculptures in the next gallery embody this approach: (de Forest) Radiator Bar 1 and 2 (both 2024) Together they consist of fifty melted down radiators that once heated the prison Turner carefully calculated how many would be needed to form two iron bars Each was to measure 7 by 144 by 4 inches—dimensions dictated by the way the artist wanted them framed within a 150 by 24 by 15-foot gallery separated from one another by a large expanse some may hear the bars intoning the unrelenting presence of a void that weighty phenomenon had reigned supreme at Forest Prison eventually breaking even the most resilient inmates Turner took one last strike at distilling the essence of that vacuum the viewer is bombarded with a rapid succession of 1,200 photographs taken by the artist during his prospecting of Forest Prison They flash at the relentless pace of four per second It is not so much these images that linger in memory it’s the black intervals between them—the void ticking away to the tune of a clock every element in this extraordinary exhibition is not merely in harmony but conspires to deliver a decisive Pamela Kort Ph.D. is a curator and scholar who has written numerous books and catalogue essays. Home al(l) – projects in aluminum by michael younggrand hornu british born michael young has become well-known for his design approach that expresses a pared down aesthetic without compromising the particular materials which he employs the sophisticated minimalist has built a name for himself most notably for his interest in industrial manufacturing and use of pioneering technology to create furniture and products that highlight both what they are made from young became enamored by the momentum of production and innovation in asia thirteen years after establishing his studio in the UK he made the decision to move to hong kong — quickly becoming one of the most exciting and innovative design studios operating on the continent soon after his arrival young’s work captures ties between the local industry and design scene exemplifying the skills of asia’s industrial innovation his practice transcends design by employing some of the highest and most innovative manufacturing skills available one of his preferred mediums which he has used extensively — combining it with his talent to create both mass produced and limited editions — is aluminium ‘moke’ car for moke international, 2013image courtesy of david marchalsee more about this project on designboom here the comprehensive exhibition ‘al(l) – projects in aluminum by michael young’ at grand hornu in belgium, puts michael young’s extensive portfolio of aluminum works in the spotlight. curated by maria cristina didero the show focuses on young’s relationship with the special material illustrated through a diverse range of objects — from lighting to furniture to transportation with experimenting being a crucial aspect in his practice ‘al(l)’ explores how young harnesses the potential of aluminium — its flexibility solidity and particular aesthetic — to realize unique projects a 1.1 scale model of the ‘moke’ car is on show as part of the ‘al(l)’ exhibitionimage © designboom expressing an aesthetic fragility with material strength; the very different limited edition ‘hex’ collection for hedge gallery comprised of tables shelves and a bathroom sink made from blocks of the highest grad aluminum that is then CNCed over a series of months each hand-polished to achieve fine line divisions; and a 1.1 black version of a ‘moke’ car shown in its entirety ‘oxygen’ chair for veerle verbakel gallery, 2015image courtesy of david marchalsee more about this project on designboom here ‘al(l)’ also presents a special installation that highlights michael young’s ‘lessthanfive’ chair for coalesse composed entirely of carbon fibre — one of the strongest and lightest materials available in today’s world of engineering and design — the ‘lessthanfive’ chair weighs less than 5 lbs [2.3 kg] and has the capability to support an unprecedented weight the robust material allows for a range of colors and bespoke surface applications making it a design that combines materiality with technology that expresses its structural form and 21st century craft ‘the pendulum’ is a scenographic device that demonstrates the hidden qualities of carbon fiber which has replaced the attributes of aluminum in modern day factories this installation specifically highlights the ‘lessthanfive’ chair’s quality of having little weight the ‘oxygen’ chair is made from molten aluminium injected with high-temperature gas to create rock-like formsimage © designboom a graphic legend of aluminum shaping processes — from die casting to extrusion CNC machining to sandblasting — accompany the exhibition each of the carefully picked projects from michael young’s portfolio indicate which methods and techniques he utilized in the realization of that particular object these details allow visitors to gain further knowledge into the types of aluminum manufacturing and finishing the british creative has engaged in painting a more complete picture of what has actually gone into bringing each design to life ‘metal rock’ oxygen chair for veerle verbakel galleryimage © michael young ltd.‘hex’ collection for hedge gallery michael young and maria cristina didero have deliberately opted for a number of unusual furniture pieces and objects that collectively trace a parallel history of aluminium the decision to do so looks at the fact that each designer takes a different approach to materials thus presenting the exhibition as an occasion to offer many diverse interpretations of one material ‘hex’ washbasinimage © designboom ‘chair 4a’ for EOQ 2012  image courtesy of david marchal‘lessthanfive’ chair for coalesseimage © steelcase ‘lessthanfive’ chair for coalesse ‘the pendulum’ displays just how light the ‘lessthanfive’ chair weightsimage © designboom the seating object weighs in at less than 5 lbs ‘homune table’ for lasvit / light design experience ‘homune’ table for lasvit is made from a hand-blown glass leg in iridescent glassimage © designboom installation view of ‘al(l)’ exhibition at grand hornuimage courtesy of david marchal ‘clover’ lamp collection for lasvit detail of ‘clover’ floor lamp for lasvitimage © designboom used as part of the word (and title of the show) ‘ALL’ the exhibition represents a particular research and experimentation that has come to define the hong kong-based designer’s practice displaying his use of aluminium in conjunction with important voices from the international historical and contemporary design scene ‘al(l)’ is evidence of michael young’s vibrant imagination and his continued ability to innovate and take a fresh approach to materials and process ‘it is design as industrial art that interests me but on a scale of mass production.’ – michael young AXOR presents three bathroom concepts that are not merely places of function but destinations in themselves — sanctuaries of style Pause’ allows the viewer to spend a little more time with Bakker’s everyday pieces – the jugs containers and vessels – but in a more artistic context.  Courtesy CID ‘There are so many pieces that have to tolerate each other and complement each other,’ he explains of the layout The show’s lighting gives his spaciously laid out The shadow of the swooping arms of Bakker’s teapot makes it look as if it is about to run away. Courtesy CID ’You can make the relationships yourself you have to look for it.’ Pictured left: ’Tonus’ ’Aldo Bakker: Pause’ is on view until 14 August. For more information, visit the CID Grand-Hornu website VIEW GOOGLE MAPS escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox Sujata Burman is a writer and editor based in London She was Digital Design Editor at Wallpaper* before moving to her current role of Head of Content at London Design Festival and London Design Biennale where she is expanding the content offering of the showcases Sujata has written for global design and culture publications moderator and judge for institutions and brands including RIBA, D&AD she co-authored her first book, An Opinionated Guide to London Architecture which was driven by her aim to make the fields of design and architecture accessible to wider audiences.  forms part of that vast geography of coalmining the extends from the German basins of the Emscher and the Ruhr to Lille and Tourcoing in France Its origin dates back to 1783 and it maintained its activity up to the middle of the 20th century the settlement – whose most significant area was designed by Pierre Cardona and Bruno Renard with the neoclassical grammar of Ledoux – is arranged around a large oval courtyard encircled by brick buildings and because of its size it may be considered as an example of industrial urbanism Doomed to be demolished after production stopped the Grand Hornu survived thanks (in part) to the fact that it was purchased at the beginning of the 1970s by an architect who kept the complex – that for two decades housed from offices to varied cultural activities and a mining museum that was very popular in the eighties – open to neighbors and visitors Of public property from the beginning of the nineties the first phase of its transformation into the Contemporary Art Museum of French-speaking Belgium has now been completed The institution has been designed to be at once a space for the collection and exhibition of art The architectural project has approached the original buildings as an essential part of this landscape striving not to generate a museum-object but rather a social and cultural attraction that may have the same relevance at a territorial scale that it once had as a production center light and scale are the three basic elements that the project relies on to start a dialogue between the original construction and the new architecture galleries for exhibitions and audiovisual presentations Thereby the tectonic expressiveness of the old brick is confronted with the monochrome serenity of the new walls and the stone or wood paving so favoring a continuous dialectical relationship between the contemporary uses the memory of the buildings and their organization in precincts which manages to establish a model of occupation devoted to guarantee the survival of the original mining site other architects will be given the opportunity to undertake further additions in the coming years to create more spaces in keeping with an artistic program in constant evolution VanWetter (estructura structure); Cédia (acústica acoustics) there arent any match using your search terms The World Heritage Centre is at the forefront of the international community’s efforts to protect and preserve World Heritage partnerships for conservation Ensuring that World Heritage sites sustain their outstanding universal value is an increasingly challenging mission in today’s complex world where sites are vulnerable to the effects of uncontrolled urban development Our Partners Donate Take advantage of the search to browse through the World Heritage Centre information The four sites of the property form a strip 170 km long by 3–15 km wide consisting of the best-preserved 19th- and 20th-century coal-mining sites of the country It features examples of the utopian architecture from the early periods of the industrial era in Europe within a highly integrated notably the Grand-Hornu colliery and workers’ city designed by Bruno Renard in the first half of the 19th century Bois-du-Luc includes numerous buildings erected from 1838 to 1909 and one of Europe’s oldest collieries dating back to the late 17th century while the four components of the listed site retain a high measure of integrity Les quatre sites de ce bien s’étendent sur une bande de 170 km de long et de 3 à 15 km de large qui traverse la Belgique d’ouest en est Il s’agit des sites les mieux conservés de l’exploitation charbonnière qui s’est étalée du début du XIXe siècle à la seconde moitié du XXe siècle Le bien fournit des exemples de l’architecture utopique des débuts de l’ère industrielle européenne dans le cadre d’un ensemble industriel et urbain architectural hautement intégré notamment le charbonnage et la cité ouvrière du Grand-Hornu dessinée par l’architecte Bruno Renard dans la première moitié du XIXe siècle Bois-du-Luc comporte de nombreux bâtiments érigés de 1838 à 1909 et un charbonnage qui est l’un des plus anciens d’Europe car il remonte à la fin du XVIIe siècle Bien que la Wallonie compte des centaines de charbonnages la plupart ont perdu leurs infrastructures alors que l’intégrité des quatre composantes de ce site est restée élevée Las cuatro minas que integran este sitio cultural se extienden desde el este hasta el oeste de Bélgica a lo largo de una franja de terreno de 170 kilómetros de largo y de 3 a 15 kilómetros de ancho El sitio lo forman las zonas de minería del carbón mejor conservadas de todo el país que se explotaron principalmente desde principios del siglo XIX hasta la segunda mitad del siglo XX En este sitio se hallan muestras tempranas de la arquitectura utópica de los inicios de la primera Revolución Industrial europea que forman conjuntos urbano-industriales sumamente integrados El ejemplo más notable lo proporcionan la mina y la ciudad obrera del Grand-Hornu planeadas en la primera mitad del siglo XIX por el arquitecto Bruno Renard En Bois-du-Luc se hallan numerosos edificios construidos en el periodo 1838-1909 así como una de las minas de carbón más antiguas de todo el continente europeo cuya explotación se inició a finales del siglo XVII A pesar de que Valonia contó con centenares de minas de carbón en el pasado la mayoría de sus infraestructuras han desaparecido hoy en día las cuatro minas que componen este sitio del Patrimonio Mundial han conservado su integridad en muy gran medida Bois du Cazier and Blegny-Mine sites represent the best preserved places of coal mining in Belgium from the early 19th to the second half of the 20th centuries The Walloon Coal Basin is one of the oldest and most emblematic of the industrial revolution The four sites include numerous technical and industrial remains relating to both the surface and the underground coal mining industry the industrial architecture associated with the mines mining town urban planning and the social and human values associated with their history in particular the memory of the Bois du Cazier disaster (1956) Criterion (ii): Among the earliest and largest in Europe the four Walloon coalmines are testimony to the early dissemination of the technical social and urban innovations of the industrial revolution They then played a major exemplary role on the technical and social levels through to recent times they are one of the most important sites of interculturalism arising out of mass industry through the participation of workers from other regions of Belgium Criterion (iv): The ensemble of the four Walloon mining sites provides an eminent and complete example of the world of industrial mining in continental Europe at various stages of the industrial revolution It bears significant testimony to its industrial and technological components especially following the Bois-du-Cazier disaster (1956) The series’ components have been selected for the quality diversity and wealth of the testimonies they provide Each expresses an original and complementary dimension of the serial property’s overall value and each has the necessary components demonstrating sufficient integrity for an intelligible expression of this overall value The authenticity of the individual components of the serial property varies somewhat depending on the component considered and depending on all the property’s sites but it achieves a satisfactory level overall The programmes announced for the renovation of certain components should favourably restore the conditions of authenticity for this property an overarching conservation plan would be welcomed to ensure the authenticity of this serial property is lastingly maintained the protection measures for the sites are adequate Guarantees have been provided for the sound management of the urban and rural buffer zones through local town planning or sector plans implementing the general provisions of the Development Code for the environment of the listed monuments and sites Starting from the addition of sites with separate management and conservation systems the serial property has recently acquired a permanent overarching body that is operating effectively: the overarching Coordination Group The scientific capacities of this group must be strengthened and the programmes and actions coordinated to achieve a level of management and conservation compliant with that of a property with recognised Outstanding Universal Value By conceived by Morrison in collaboration with the Swiss designer Michel Charlot is composed of a timber framework with various-sized shelves it supports graphic panels with sketches and work notes photographs of prototypes and installation views that depict the creative process of industrial design Précisions sur un état présent de l’architecture et de l’urbanisme above: Made for an exhibition at the DAAD Galerie (Berlin) The exhibition is co-produced by CID and MONS 2015 copyright Inexhibit 2025 - ISSN: 2283-5474 and sink realized with the help of the ceramist f ottink; ‘woven kimono & embroidered towel’ made in collaboration with verilin; pyrite and brass ‘hook’ picture by jean godecharle tranches de vie by sofie lachaert and luc d’hanisgrand hornu, belgium27 april – 17 august 2014 ‘a terrace of workers’ houses referring to the hornu mine complex is reconstructed inside the ‘magasin aux foins’ exhibition hall ‘duo bergère’ armchair and ‘vanitias’ candle holders picture by jean godecharle mundane objects are enhanced with a new experience and a layer of meanings each work can be interpreted at various depths and can be viewed and scrutinised with different gazes meanings and functions are displaced; the senses are stimulated; unexpected beauty is exposed ‘slld’ brought captivating moments of wonder reflection and poetic experience into everyday life this is also true in ‘tranches de vie’ the cement tiles are made in collaboration with de tegel BV picture by jean godecharle the visitor wanders around the street at dusk here and there light shines in the terrace ‘trestle table’ made from 6,850 parts of oak in collaboration with casimir ‘carbonium’ writing object made in graphite drawing book and hand-drawn wallpaper set on picture by jean godecharle each viewing room displays an object or a series thereof with its relative intimacy and its own particular environment these are subtle presentations whereby each work is placed in a specific context and the visitor is automatically compelled to look at things more attentively more profound layers of meaning of the work are revealed ‘painters palette’ hand-tufted rug shown with ‘precious step stool’ painted and incrusted with precious stones paint and 18 carat gold picture by jean godecharle ‘shards collection’ porcelain service and recycled glass sits above ‘aphrodisiac’ ceramic floor tiles made in collaboration with lea ceramichepicture by jean godecharle ‘water for two’ bohemian crystal objects and ‘marcell’ silver cages picture by jean godecharle ‘money’s worth’ bed linen in woven fabric made in collaboration with verilin ‘changed values’ candelabra made with precious and non-precious coins picture by jean godecharle ‘almost red’ silk rug made in collaboration with NODUS one for two’ and ‘pas de deux’picture by jean godecharle ‘ephemeral wardrobe’ and ‘ephemeral chair’ made in wood and hanging porcelain ‘ephemeral vase’ made in collaboration with frans ottink picture by jean godecharle portrait of the arists photo by karlijn nijs ‘tranches de vie’ by sofie lachaert & luc d’hanis picture by jean godecharle designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here Doshi Levien systematically grouped the objects by their function in the home arranging them neatly atop colourful bazaar-inspired plinths The show's entrance is loosely modelled after a government building with a selection of bureaucratic and paper paraphernalia on display in the first section of the exhibition The next section is an abstraction of a shrine for sacred offerings Nipa Doshi explains: 'I find it very interesting that in India sacred life and spirituality are intertwined with everyday culture and that to me is very unique to the country There is no conflict between spirituality and commerce.' Courtesy GHI Traditional religious tokens found in an Indian home or shop include: an idol of a chosen deity incense and sandalwood crushed into paste with a mortar and pestle The third display is a basic interpretation of a woman's dressing table 'In India we have the concept of \"shringar\" Traditionally there were sixteen steps for a woman to get dressed there is a ritual of dressing up in the morning - not just dressing up to go somewhere but to really adorn the body and to present yourself to the world.' Courtesy GHI Among the myriad of grooming products on show: skin whitening products Johnson's baby powder (Doshi quips that she thought this was an Indian product jewellery boxes and mass-produced plastic combs an exhibit dedicated to India's utility makers who work on the streets 'We don’t necessarily have big factories - the streets are factories,' says Doshi 'Virtually every middle class family has a gardener working in their garden,' continues Doshi 'They also have someone to iron their clothes The vendors who sell vegetables have a weighing scale that seems like its from 200 years ago' including a custom-made switchboard crafted from wood Doshi has thrown in a pair of candlesticks too a tongue-in-cheek nod to the country's frequent power outages The softer hammer is used to beat stainless steel utensils and cooking vessels back into shape 'I love the fluorescent pink,' muses Doshi 'To me it says something about the maker's idea of what is an aesthetic product I can't imagine an engineer in England ever making a hammer pink.' A selection of bespoke handmade scissors found in the markets.  'Eating and cooking is the biggest area of the exhibition,' says Doshi 'Cuisine is something that keeps people rooted to culture and here you can see an Indian kitchen is still very much an Indian kitchen.' Courtesy GHI which usually come stacked and stored inside each other The section includes a variety of utensils unique to the Indian kitchen such as a dedicated grater for scooping out the inside of a coconut.. The final volume of the show is dedicated to cleaning perhaps the most important ritual in Indian culture Doshi concludes: 'Most people don’t start their day without having a bath because you cannot make a sacred offering unless you are clean or enter the kitchen before you are washed There are a lot of ideas about how these rituals are rooted in spirituality and sacredness.' A working sketch by Doshi Levien for the design of the exhibition 'In India we have the concept of "shringar" View Google Maps aalto’s work in the architectural field — enriched by the use of natural forms and materials and increasing freedom in the handling of space — is perhaps most widely known; yet his projects in furniture and lighting also combine practicality while encouraging his idea of a more beautiful everyday life within the home generally designed as part of a broader architectural scheme aalto’s luminaires stand the test of time and comprise the creative thoughts of a man who was constantly striving towards a more human built environment the solutions that he developed aspired to a general sense of well being by promoting the social and even therapeutic benefits of light opening its doors on february 9th, 2014, the ‘lightings’ exhibition at the grand-hornu in belgium showcases a expansive collection from the finnish designer’s oeuvre comprising 100 lamps. the catalog of work highlights aalto’s command of the sculptural form his attention to aesthetic detailing and the artistic value inherent in these combined elements.  the exterior of the exhibition space at the grand-hornu belgium image © designboom | first photo © grand-hornu images / michel de cubber dealing with a period from the late 1920s to the 50s the exhibition is divided into two sections a walk across a wooden bridge hovering  just above water in which aalto’s creations reflect their light below. the chiarascuro contrasts the reflections in an experience to remind viewers of the importance of nature he developed into his design photos and drawings describe the genesis of aalto’s lights their mechanics and their intrinsic links with architecture.  A809 beside A805 | image © designboom in 1935, aalto and his wife aino, with maire gullichsen and nils-gustav hahl, founded artek a company which promoted the growing sales and production of aalto’s furniture and lighting designs the business idea of the company was ‘to sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of habitation by exhibitions and other educational means.’ advocating a new kind of environment for everyday life  the items’ combination of aesthetics and functionality was at the core of artek’s main idea encouraging the home to be a beautiful place for everyone.  ‘enkelinsiipi’ or ‘angel wing’ lamp | image © designboom the A805 ‘enkelinsiipi’ or ‘angel wing’ lamp was origanlly made for the national pensions institute in helsinki in 1955 this model was then commonly used in the corridors of administrative and financial buildings the light that filters through the hand-rivited steel shade slats and the resulting shadows it casts on the walls that surround it was a source of reference for its namesake A809 with three shades | image  © designboom the A809 designed in 1950 has three shades and was created for the living room of the maison louis carre in france the different permutations of the shades are the result of work on the reflection using fanned out slats developed by aalto in his architectural practice (left) AA003 — alvar aalto in maison louis carré (1958-59 1959 photo  © alvar aalto museum (right) working drawing of the ‘angel wing’ ‘A331/A332’ nicknamed the ‘beehive’ | image  © designboom inspired by the research into perfect lighting carried out by the danish architect and designer poul henningsen the ‘beehive’ features either five of six reflecting metal slats reduced to a purely aesthetic function this sculptural luminaire was created  in 1953 for the interior of the university in jyvaskyla is home to more buildings designed by him than any other in the world the two variations are producted in either black or white.  detail of the ‘beehive’ | image  © designboom  working drawings of the ‘beehive’ lighting  A110 (1952)  | photo © maija holma variations of the ‘hand grenade’ light — A110 and A111 — are named due to its aesthetic similarities to the german weapon designed during world war I conceived in 1952 for the finnish association of engineers building as well as the council chamber of saynatsalo town hall — both of which are aalto’s constructions — the lacquered metal dual cylindrical form is appealing in terms of texture and technicality features an organic opening from which light boundlessly flows at the base of the cylinder detail of ‘hand grenade’ | image © designboom ‘hand grenade’ variation | image © designboom ‘hand grenade’ variation detail | image © designboom deep boxes provide a window into aalto’s renowned architectural and industrial works like the functional and unfussy savoy restaurant designed by him and his wife aino in 1936 and the imposing yet humanistic paimio sanatorium of 1933 projecting a glimpse into the genesis of his ideas and the spectacular attention to detail built into each composition.  viewers at the ‘lightings’ exhibition peer into the volumes | image © designboom national pensions institute (1948 meeting room 1979 pendant lamps A335 (1950s) above the table photo © martti kapanen inside the viewing box are archives collected from aalto | image © designboom 1961) library in 1965 | photo © alvar aalto museum the savoy restaurant highlighted within a viewing box | image © designboom fabrica: objet préféré grand-hornu images the design team of fabrica, benetton’s communication research center in treviso, italy, and its art director sam baron, have created the 15-piece furniture collection, ‘objet préféré’. conceived in collaboration with grand-hornu images the works interpret the favorite objects of the belgian art and design center’s employees ranging from the practical (computer) to the sentimental (pair of baby shoes) the resulting works reflect the personal attachment of each who mentioned their item but also expand to include a greater audience with their simple and universal functionality designboom recently sat down with sam baron at the scuola politecnica di design in milan and discussed the ‘objet préféré’ exhibition: ‘the main challenge of this project was to illustrate by means of a unique and special exhibition the beauty of the favorite objects of grand-hornu personnel,’ says baron ‘design therefore becomes a way of uniting communities of people of different background stated her first pair of shoes were her favorite object not only a gift from her 91-year-old mother the baby shoes represent her first steps and the growth that followed this memory is transposed into ‘scarpette teschio,’ a set of shelves which can be nested or expanded based on the available space ‘scarpette teschio,’ side view ‘scarpette teschio,’ compressed configuration the concierge maryvonne dislikes darkness and thus names modern chandeliers as her favorite objects ‘lampadario,’ features a single light bulb as chandelier hanging suspended over four gathered chairs ‘forchetta’ takes its concept from the educational department’s marie-jeanne vanaise who said her favorite object was an 18th-century silver fork displayed in seneffe castle.  sharp and yet recalling the curves of a female figure the object is made further enticing by its untouchable display ‘forchetta’ takes on a similar sense of duality and showmanship with its upright arrangement of plates ‘viaggi in treno’ (train journeys) named after the italian word for ‘aviary,’ this object is created for david vilain based on the one in his garden where he breeds hundreds of birds ‘voliera’ is designed to reflect vilain’s joy fromtaking care of the birds ‘bicchiere birra’ (beer glass) grand-hornu workers respond to the question ‘what is your favorite object?’ (apologies but this video is only available in french) baron also talked to designboom about his role at fabrica his own freelance work and his design approach: Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Curator Maria Cristina Didero explores the evolution of the element in an exhibition that spreads across 12 stands Both Didero and Young took the Grand-Hornu’s architectural silhouette as a starting point for the show The works are cleverly set out in an L-shape relating to the symbol of the element itself (AL) Pictured from left: ’Kaleidoscope’ stool 2011; hand knotted ’Tekke Rug’ for Christopher Farr 2014; special edition ’Newspaper Clock’ The special aluminium links of the 'Bayer' shelf for EOQ The versatile quality of the material is also shown hanging from the ceiling – scaled up against a 2.2kg weight is the 'Lessthanfive' chair for Coalesse emulating the extremely light-weight quality of the element The ’Hex’ collection for Hedge Gallery there is a section dedicated to other designer-made aluminium works Right: Ross Lovegrove’s ’Diatom Chair’ for Moroso ’AL(L) Projects in Aluminium by Michael Young’ is on view until 29 May. For more information, please visit CID at Grand-Hornu’s website View Google Maps VIEW GOOGLE MAPS Ellen Himelfarb travels widely for her reports on architecture and design and The Globe and Mail in her native Canada This year’s must-see shows range from a Nordic Pavilion exploring transgender spaces to a compelling Lebanese project confronting the realities of ecocide Frieze returns to The Shed in May with more than 65 of the world’s leading contemporary art galleries and the acclaimed Focus section led by Lumi Tan a 19th-century utopian project to classify all human knowledge Belgian lawyers Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine commenced a project to classify all human knowledge and make it universally accessible Many decades before big business dubbed data ‘the new oil’ and the emergence of the information economy Otlet and La Fontaine imagined their index-card system as a powerful tool for world peace: with understanding would come an end to antagonism and destruction Otlet and La Fontaine’s utopian Mundaneum was never finished – how could such a Borgesian project ever reach conclusion Until the German occupation of Brussels in 1940 their growing archive was housed in the city’s Palais du Cinquantenaire it extended to some 12 million index cards arranged according to their Universal Decimal Classification system What survives is now in the Belgian city of Mons where the artist Fiona Tan immersed herself in Otlet and La Fontaine’s world for two years ahead of her exhibition at nearby Grand-Hornu This is not Tan’s first deep archival dive Included here are her earlier works Depot (2015) and Inventory (2012) the assembled worlds of marine history collections and Sir John Soane’s Museum in London The Mundaneum offers the artist-filmmaker none of those archives’ intriguing visual flair: here are no jars of baby turtles no cracked classical statuary – only the inscrutable facades of wooden cabinets Tan has instead turned to virtual space to realize the architectural structure Otlet dreamed of for his grand bibliography Archive (2019) leads us through a digital labyrinth of filing cabinets multi-layered panopticon beneath a leaded-glass dome Tan’s digital rendering of the Mundaneum is gloomy sinister: a relic of an era when world knowledge still seemed within human grasp Arranged in vitrines in the real space of the gallery are Otlet’s notes and correspondence We see him redrafting near-identical plans and schematics over decades It has become a commonplace to describe the Mundaneum as a precursor to the internet Tan’s selection from Otlet’s paper suggests the project as something closer to a proto European Union: a centralized bureaucratic scheme promoting peace between nations from its Brussels headquarters Politics is never far away in Tan’s elegantly conceived exhibition Each work explores subtly different power dynamics of research and focusing on the cluttered oddness of Soane’s collection Inventory raises questions about why certain objects are prized and what logic should dictate their arrangement As Tan’s camera pans across starfish and cephalopods the voice-over in Depot describes naming as a colonial act: a taking of territory the Mundaneum’s panopticon form immediately suggests Jeremy Bentham’s late-18th-century designs for prison surveillance and Michel Foucault’s discussion of penal regimes impose values and viewpoints on the entities and ideas that fall within them Western Europeans are long used to being the imposers Tan creates a system according to another key Concentric circles of suspended ropes relay the titular 1940 short story by Jorge Luis Borges in Quipu we read the sculpture instead through sense memory The suspended ropes recall changing rooms in old coalmines; their smell of tar smacks of the harbourside; the circular form apes the modern industrial ruins of Grand-Hornu itself All echo the temple and cycle described in Borges’s Circular Ruins: generations without end pouring knowledge into new life only to discover the futility and illusoriness of their existence Fiona Tan, ‘Shadow Archive’ is on view at Musée des Arts Contemporains Courtesy: the artist and Musée des Arts Contemporains Even though eight million births to date are the result of assisted reproduction the procedure is little represented in art Her first solo exhibition in Europe since 1975 at Xavier Hufkens demonstrates that her paintings continue to challenge contemporary perceptions of sexuality and agency  A new play by Gillian Solvo highlights the lives of those who survived the devastating fire The intimate and resolute character of an artist who leaves no trace The artist’s smoky painted world at Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris opens an a-historic space for female pleasure A retrospective at Tate Britain showcases the YBA who defied good taste and mocked sexual norms Discover affordable works by celebrated international artists alongside special commissions presented by Allied Editions reaffirms the Malagasy artist as the star of the show An exhibition of the artist’s films at Eye Filmmuseum examines the relationship between landscapes The writer interrogates the meaning of care as well as communicating beyond the mother echo-chamber This year’s edition focuses on historical relations of resistance and liberation which survive beyond the archive the artist’s readymade sculptures prompt a strange empathy between viewer and object A new book by Ian Penman grapples with the filmmaker’s gargantuan appetites impossible productivity and heartbreaking melancholy is stripped down to its bare bones to reveal the play’s central spirit © FRIEZE 2025 Cookie Settings | Do Not Sell My Personal Information A city at the crossroads of the East and the West Beirut has been experiencing an excitement in all artistic fields since the early 2000s Design is no exception to this dynamic and is even one of its most important indicators Eras of design will attempt to analyze this specific situation which simultaneously combines economic and architectural reconstruction social awareness and international development Design alone symbolizes this desire to take hold of its destiny and its image by proposing objects and forms that are aware of multiple heritages but also deeply rooted in a complex reality In order to grasp the dynamic lines that have allowed design to develop in Lebanon Eras of design is structured in three parts The first one on the beginnings of the discipline in Lebanon between the 1950s and 1970s the second one on the years 2000 to today and finally a third one dedicated to the Minjara project and its philosophy.The exhibition Beirut will be complemented by the first publication which also looks at the different aspects of this emerging trend Download the information related to this event here. This event was submitted by an ArchDaily user. If you'd like to submit an event, please use our "Submit a Event" form The views expressed in announcements submitted by ArchDaily users do not necessarily reflect the views of ArchDaily You'll now receive updates based on what you follow Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors If you have done all of this and still can't find the email Chevalier Masson in collaboration with 51n4e and Julie Vandenbroucke in the context of the exhibition Reasons for Walling a House Belgium | The textile design of Chevalier Masson at CID Exhibition ” Des chose à faire.Chevalier Masson” © CID – Grand-Hornu – Photo David Marchal on view now at the CID – Centre d’Innovation et de design au Grand-Hornu – in Belgium focuses precisely on this theme by presenting the 10-year-long work by textile designers Anne Masson and Eric Chevalier in collaboration with Diane Steverlynck for the Laend designed in collaboration with Diane Steverlynck for the Laend designed in collaboration with Diane Steverlynck Art has no borders... The Centre Pompidou is devoting an exhibition to French visual artist Christian Boltanski from November 13 The artist doesn't want to talk about a retrospective a journey through his works with a particular thread: life "Faire son temps" brings together 40"sensitive and corrosive" works and questions what remains of us after death with its wheat fields and waves that come and go endlessly and sees art as a way of exploring the question of necessary memory It's impossible not to think of the Holocaust in this exhibition Boltanski often raises the question of survival and hard to find a work that makes you smile in this maze We quickly lose ourselves between Terril Grand-Hornu (2015) Fantômes de Varsovie (2001) and Tombeaux (1996) and think they'll haunt us for years to come.. Proof that Christian Boltanski has succeeded in his gamble on memory Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit so the place and experience may have changed Refer your establishment, click herePromote your event, click here jean françois d’or is belgian designer of the year 2013 his rigorous approach is based on a method that focuses on poetry the designer brings together a host of small items all of these elements come together in a sort of “moodboard” edvard is a versatile object screaming for reflection the mirror is a sort of megaphone that makes the wall scream for reflection the man behind the painting ‘the scream’ above the blue black fjordand the city,my friends walked on,and I stood theretrembling with anxiety,I sensed an infinite screampassing through nature extract of edvard munch text on his painting the scream the edvard concept comes in two sizes: large version d70cm and small version d30cm the conical structure is built in reinforced aluminum coated in several colors: from sober black or white to yellow the larger version of this conical mirror stands stably inclined on the floor in the middle of a room; seeming to defy the law of gravity feeling ready to step right into the mirror as being sucked through a funnel into a surrealistic landscape its large proportions and angles have been calculated to offer a functional the larger mirror becomes an occasional low table furniture the small model has both a practical and surprising side functions and applications change altering the 3 mirror’s positions: inclined on its side on a table laying horizontally on a sideboard or fixed on a wall the small conical object fits stably on a room desk as a nomad make-up mirror the mirror becomes a small podium that gives extra interpretation to favorite objects its offers an exhibition support that doubles and magnifies personal items of emotional value a nomad versatile complicit mirror object that jump from function to function ‘edvard’ is part of the mirror collection those conical mirrors allow different positions for different functions this mirror concept integrates interiors in many ways: the object fits on the wall but can also be placed on its side or rest on its base it gives an unusual way of looking at mirrors and at its reflections; versatile perspectives as complementary visions of architecture material: silvered mirror glass | coated reinforced aluminum structure ‘citytrip’ is an eyeglasses collection based on milling process on titanium material contrast and shadow as discreetly framing the eyes referring to the quality details of clothe buttons and travel necessity small objects material: coated pure titanium | satin black acetate.  see more images here basil and macedonia parsley do not germinate or rather germinate so late that their seed can not get mature; lettuce can be planted in small gardener excerpt from  jean-baptiste de la quintinie jean-baptiste for ligne roset is a multi functional piece of outdoor furniture that either works as ad-hoc stool seat as a pedestal for plant pot or as a support for plate tray material: natural burnt larch wooden stool white enamelled sandstone gardener pot and removable tray side table the jean-baptiste outdoor collection starts with a set of wooden stool.a vegetable gardener pot is then designed to fit on those stools garden planter mounted up on pedestal to grow aromatic plants on balcony or terrace a large tray is also designed to fit on those stools building an outdoor side table with a removable top plate gardener pot and removable tray made of white enamelled sandstone dimensionswooden stool d27 x h45 cm pot on stool pedestal d30 x h18 cm plate on stool pedestal d55 x h8 cm was born in 1974 and with a degree in industrial design from ensav la cambre, he began his career with the lighting firm, light, where he was soon appointed as product development manager. in 2003, he opened his own studio ‘loudordesign‘: since then he has worked with prestigious companies in belgium as well as france: cinna the ‘designer of the year’ award is an initiative by the biennale interieur NPO and the magazines weekend knack and le vif weekend the award is also supported by the design museum gent étapes at villa noailles – image courtesy of ronan & erwan bouroullec the bouroullec brothers’ current exhibition ‘étapes’ (steps) features a selection of their designs from recent years along with older pieces following its stint at villa noailles the show will travel to l’elac l’espace lausannois d’art contemporain lausanne switzerland from 2nd october – 22nd november villa noailles: http://www.villanoailles-hyeres.com bouroullec brothers: http://www.bouroullec.com designboom interview with ronan bouroullec (2003)