The leading authority for the Architecture & Design community Recharge in a Restored Spanish Farmhouse in Menorca Marc Corbiau is the king of the white cube in his native Belgium. In affluent Brussels suburbs, a Corbiau home carries a certain cachet, denoting art-collecting residents who value the clean lines and pure forms of his spare, roomy interiors. “My designs are oriented toward art,” Corbiau affirms. The Bureau d’Architecture Marc Corbiau principal has been a collector himself for 50 years and his buildings are similarly minimalist Never, though, had Corbiau created a studio for a working artist, whose inherent messiness might seem at odds with his pristine constructions. Belgian painter and sculptor Sophie Cauvin has enlisted him to do so twice The first project was a workshop adjacent to her previous home But when she found a bucolic plot of land nearby she asked Corbiau to design an entire creative retreat who met Corbiau through the art world 20 years ago had a clear vision for the 10,000-square-foot studio and residence “She wanted to create an ideal place so her work could flourish,” Corbiau recalls “It would encompass a vast space to paint in separate but visible from another for sculpture and a basement-level space for ceramics.” Cauvin’s mixed-media artworks need both ample square footage and a connection to the outdoors She has buckets of materials collected from around the world—sand minerals—which she mixes with water and lathers on canvases with a broom textured pieces reflect on geology and our place in the universe—the kind of heady topics that require an artist to unplug Though close to Brussels, the property feels isolated, ringed with evergreens and no buildings in sight. When landscape architect Piet Blanckaert first saw the site it was largely overgrown and planted with nondescript shrubs but had one standout quality: a magnificent 150-year-old red beech tree “A big one like that is quite rare in Belgium,” says Blanckaert “It’s planted on a little hill which makes it grow twice as fast because the water runs off The roots come to the surface like a sculpture.” who worked closely together throughout the two-year process agreed from the start to orient the structure around the beech Blanckaert cleared out the land around it to make a lawn with the tree and a koi pond at its center Floor-to-ceiling windows in the painting studio and living area face the verdant expanse Other parts of the grounds take the form of Japanese-style gardens with Belgian bluestones and clipped hedges where Cauvin also hosts events and exhibitions opens onto a Zenlike terrace shaded by oak the lawn and Japanese gardens each form a discrete microcosm offering unique perspectives into the natural world Three UV-coated skylights filter northern light into the studio spaces even down through a stairwell to the ceramics area “The entire design is based on light,” Corbiau explains “There’s no point of shadow in the studio—all is uniform—which is crucial for Sophie’s work.” He also considered circulation and sight lines making distinct spaces that flow into one another and frame views of the gardens Visitors enter directly into the studio and turn left for painting or right for sculpture; the open foyer creates a vista across the vast cement-floored rooms A three-sided open gas fireplace separates the painting studio from the living and dining area where interior designer Vincent Bruyninckx deployed a Piero Lissoni sofa and Hans Brattrud chair that sit on a cowhide carpet attuned to materiality given the tactility of her work chose Valser quartzite for the exterior and some interior walls “It’s the stone that Peter Zumthor used for his thermal baths in Vals “Sophie wanted something that felt timeless and soothing.” Cut into horizontal strips the stone shimmers with silver mica and white quartz the structure looks like a Brutalist monolith cladding much of the serene upstairs residence Cauvin took leftover stone strips and made a circular sculpture on the lawn who has visited countless studios over the years “It was a bijou of a project,” says Corbiau “It was a dream for me to design a grand atelier.” Best of all Cauvin is happy there and shares the space with others It’s an open studio in every sense of the word Project Team: Vincent Bruyninckx: Interior Design, Project Design. Piet Blanckaert: Landscape Consultant. Dimension Lumière: Lighting Consultant. Stream Service: Audiovisual. Marlière: Woodwork. Truffer Ag: Stone Supplier Read next: Agence DL-M Conjures a Grand Apartment on Paris’s Magical Île Saint-Louis a well-to-do commuter town in the hills south of Brussels a crowd of 50 or so gathered on September 2nd in a parish hall to drink champagne and promote the dismemberment of Belgium The meeting was organised by Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) a right-wing party that rails against such threats to the Flemish way of life as Islam immigration and—most pernicious of all—the French language The town is in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking half of Belgium) but French-speakers have been moving in for decades and are now the majority a member of the Flemish regional parliament from Vlaams Belang This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Swell of pride” Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents Taiwanese are growing more doubtful that they can fend off their hostile neighbour The Trump administration’s fickleness is adding to the island’s anxieties As other countries age, they will need African youth Their huge endowments are not easy to cash in The Ivy League sees little point in fighting the federal government in court Have a nomination for a jaw-dropping listing that would make a mighty fine House of the Day? Get thee to the tipline and send us your suggestions the five-bedroom pad also includes a home cinema and wine cellar as well as a separate caretaker's cottage on site Arial; font-size:32px !important; line-height: 35px !important; border-top: 4px double #FF0000; border-bottom: 4px double #FF0000; } .post p { font-size: 17px; line-height:27px; margin-bottom:10px } .post h3 { font-family:TradeGothicLTStdBoldCondensed; Helvetica Arial; font-weight:normal; font-size:38px; width: 640px; padding: 18px 0; } .post h4 { font-family:TradeGothicLTStdBoldCondensed; Helvetica Arial; font-weight:normal; font-size:36px; width: 660px; padding-bottom:5px; padding-top:14px; } .site-cna .post .post-title { font-size:36px !important; width: 660px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-top:6px; line-height:40px !important } .post-metadata {margin-top: 650px !important } #column-right { padding-top: 126px } .post .post-body object .post .post-body img { max-width: inherit !important; } .firstcharacter { float: left; color: #FF0000; font-size: 75px; line-height: 60px; padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 8px; padding-left: 3px; · Rhode Saint Genese [official listing via Wowhaus]· All House of the Day posts [Curbed] The Belgian Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès (Francophone liberal) returned to work on Monday Ms Wilmès fell ill with coronavirus in mid-October and spent several days in intensive care Since being discharged from hospital at the end of last month Sophie Wilmès has taken time to convalesce at her home in the Flemish Brabant municipality of Sint-Genesius-Rode In a message posted on the social media platform Twitter Ms Wilmès thanked Belgians for the many get well wishes she has received over the past few weeks The Foreign Minister wrote “The past few weeks have been hard even though I have been able to count on your support and sympathy for which I would like to thank you” Paul Godeau whose bicycle shop and repair service in the Flemish Brabant village of Sint-Genesius-Rode and repair service is known far and wide is to call it a day Among the many hundreds (if not thousands) of the regular customers of “Rijwielen Godeau” on the Steenweg op Halle is non-other than the cycling legend Eddy Merckx Now after more than 30 years Paul Godeau (61) has decided to stop once his closing down sale is over he and his wife Brigitte will retire In an interview with VRT Radio 2 Flemish Brabant Paul Godeau looked back at an interesting and varied career in bicycle sales and repairs Rijwielen Godeau will start its closing down sale next week and Paul Godeau expects to be able to bow out and start enjoying his retirement before the end of the year “We start our closing down sale on 2 September But I will give it my all to assist my customers until the very last” Paul Godeau started what as to become a life in cycling as a racing cyclist he earned his reputation behind the scenes as a mechanic In 1980 he started work at Eddy Merckx’s cycle factory He worked as a mechanic at no fewer than 6 Tour de France races As a member of the national cycling team Paul was at nine Cycling World Championships competitions "I was there when Rudy Dhaenens became World Champion in 1990 and when Johan Museeuw won the rainbow jersey in Lugano in 1996” Rijwielen Godeau’s reputation extends far beyond Sint-Genesuis-Rode and the neighbouring municipalities Paul Godeau has customers in 52 municipalities across the country “At the start everyone wanted an Eddy Merckx racing bike These days we sell a lot of electric bikes” Bicycle repair has also evolved over the years “In addition to traditional tools there is now also a laptop next to the repair bench This means that some of the charm of has gone out of the trade” One thing that hasn’t changed though is the loyalty to Paul Godeau’s business on the part of our greatest cyclist Eddy Merckx “Eddy Merckx has always carried on supporting me All these years he has remained a customer for the maintenance of his own personal bikes From this has developed a long-standing friendship” Once he retires Paul Godeau says the will devote his time to be supporting the cyclist Remco Evenepoel He believes that once Remco has recovered from injury “we are going to get a lot of enjoyment out of that lad”