Fashion & the Future: Interview with Christian Lacroix Creative Director Sacha Walckhoff

"I believe you can still say a lot through fashion. I think there is the possibility to express something really interesting," says Sacha Walckhoff, photographed in Paris by Elodie Dupuis. Cover picture, backstage at Issey Miyake Paris, by Elli Ioannou.

Christian Lacroix's Creative Director Sacha Walckhoff talks to Jeanne-Marie Cilento from his Paris atelier about fashion, creativity and the future. Photographs by CG Watkins 

TALL and handsome with an infectious laugh, Christian Lacroix's creative director Sacha Walckhoff brings his ebullient artistic energy to the house's menswear and lifestyle collections. After the eponymous couturier left the house five years ago, Mr Walckhoff has brought a fresh vision to the French brand. He worked closely with Christian Lacroix for 17 years so has a profound understanding of the house's artistic origins.

Sacha Walckhoff & Christian Lacroix
during the glory years with the couturier

Speaking from his Parisian studio, he says: “Today's collections are also very close to Christian Lacroix the man, even if we are not working together anymore. I'm still faithful to the spirit, the origin of the house. People associate Lacroix with very colourful prints. But I think there is another level of the brand which is about an artistic vision.” As a designer, Sacha Walckhoff works on many different projects for both fashion and interior design and brings a very passionate approach to his own creations. “I think everything in life is about what you feel, so feelings for me are very potent,” he says. “They are the foundation of the Lacroix brand too ~ it is all about creating emotions first. Then of course there are colours and prints. But the reason why the house is still alive is because it is built on feelings. I think that is why so many people are attached to Christian Lacroix.”

"Feelings are the foundation of the Lacroix brand ~ it is all about creating emotions first."


Sacha Walckhoff with actor Julie Delpy
 at Lacroix in the early 1990s

He says the ideas behind the men's SS16 collections and Nouveaux Mondes home ware are contemporary yet still connected to the history of Lacroix. “I want to express tolerance and being open minded, this is what society should be. But it is very important for me to have an eye on the past and know where you are coming from. You have to know your past to go into the future. This is the theme of the collections this year. We still use the symbols of Lacroix, like flowers which could be quite traditional such as roses and peonies. But we put stripes on them and create a graphic statement and suddenly the flowers seem very modern.

"At Lacroix we have a story and yet we find a way to make it relevant. In the beginning, when I was appointed artistic director five years ago we went through the archives but I didn't want to change the designs otherwise people wouldn't recognise them. But we also realised very quickly that the things we took from the archives were not successful ~ because they were made at a special moment and now the times have changed."


Urban hubris SS16. Photo: CG Watkins

Looking at fashion on the streets, Sacha Walckhoff sees it as increasingly casual. "The problem with casual is that it is not very elegant ~ a very French statement! But you know in Paris in the 14th and 15th arrondissments, I see guys with beautiful suits and girls wearing beautiful dresses, jackets and hats. So the street style can look very good. But today people are lot fatter now than in the past and this is related to why they choose more casual wear."
As far as current trends in fashion, he still sees a slender aesthetic."People are wearing very slim lines, slim outfits and slim trousers, the young generation are still very body conscious."

The men who buy from the Christian Lacroix boutique in Paris are a heterogeneous group of artists, architects and lawyers from 25 years old upwards. "They are looking for something amusing with a good cut and good print with exquisite designs and fabrics. We are close to our clients. I am always trying to make the perfect shirts and suits. Pieces that you are happy to wear every day and then find them again in the next collection.When men find what they love, the right cut of pants or shirt ~ they don't want us to stop!"

"I believe you can still say a lot through fashion, you have the possibility to express something interesting."

Nature rules in the Paris suburbs. Photo: CG Watkins

Today, the fashion world has changed as luxury brands have some of their biggest clientele in Asia not Europe: "They were starving for fashion because of the political situations in their countries. I think what they are going through now is what we went through in the 1960s and 70s. Europeans are not our largest clients anymore. We have other situations that are very difficult here: people are too busy fighting for work, for places to live, really struggling. It is a difficult moment to talk about fashion in Europe because it is very frivolous. But I believe you can still say a lot through fashion. I think you have the possibility to express something interesting and the more that is expressed the better."

But the designer comments that he is surprised that many young designers are not expressing themselves as creatively as in the past with what they wear and design for themselves. "Today, when you look at men's collections that are very trendy, colourful and full of strange shapes ~ it is made for people to talk about and not to be worn. In the 1980s, we were making strange clothing but we were wearing it. We wanted to have originality and if you couldn't find what you wanted we made our own clothing. But now it is different as all of those young guys who are designing crazy outfits don't wear them. They are still wearing jeans and t-shirts as the designer and coming out on to the runway. It is very bizarre to me! It is like they are presenting clothes that they don't want to wear themselves.

"People do not wear what they are designing today. We need people who are a bit crazy and creative not only for the runway but also in real life."


Sacha Walckhoff as a young designer in Paris

"We were designing clothes and wearing them because we wanted to really express ourselves. I think fashion is becoming just an image ~ it is not real any more. Truly it is a feeling I have right now that people do not wear what they are designing. We need people who are a bit crazy and creative not only for the runway but also in real life." Mr Walckhoff  has an encyclopedic knowledge of fashion and can explain the history and provenance of a new jacket going back to influences from the Renaissance to David Bowie. But he thinks that the way new designers often just take ideas from the past directly without creating something new is very dull. "I don't think inspiration should be so literal as it is today ~ you need to transform it. I know the history of every piece of fashion. This is why at Lacroix I am always reworking designs from the past ~ but it never looks like the original. This is what is interesting in our world. I think it is a bit boring when you just take something and you reissue it. It is not something I would like to do."

Talking about the power of the fashion image today the designer believes it is more difficult to make an impact because we have visual overload. "We are bombarded by images today with the Internet and social media. It is difficult because you have to edit them all of the time. I am a bit afraid of being insensible to images in the future because there are just too many to filter through your mind. Even when you wake-up there are so many images to digest ~ even before having your coffee." Mr Walkhoff is also concerned about the increasing mechanisation of everyday life that makes us more distant from hand-crafted designs and
nature.

"We are bombarded by images today with the Internet and social media. I am a bit afraid of being insensible to images in the future."

Colour & embroidery SS16. Photo: CG Watkins

"I was talking to [Dutch designer] Marcel Wanders, we were saying the machines will take over ~ they don't need food or rest ~ and one day there will be robots on the runway and robots making the collections and robots buying the clothes. We will be left at our country houses out of it all!" he says laughing. "With the new menswear collection, maybe it is about the fact that in an increasingly mechanised world nature is still much stronger than anything man can create. Maybe it is something unconscious trying to say that nature will always win ~ that is really the theme of this menswear collection."

Working with designer Jose Gandia, head of Lacroix's Studio Homme, on the collection, Sacha Walckhoff wanted to design classic clothes with a young and modern twist. There are very well cut suits in beautiful fabrics with linings made out of silk as well as prints and embroideries. All of the sweaters are from cotton so they are very breathable with others in Jacquard with embroidery. "The house is known for its mix and match, combining different things like prints, flowers, bright colours such as fuschia that in the end really work," says Mr Gandia. "This season we found the colours of Paris suburbs interesting, you feel like you could almost be in LA. It was very nice to shoot there."


Industrial Paris SS16. Photo: CG Watkins

For the collection's photo shoot, nature and the city were big inspirations. Mr Walckoff worked with photographer CG Watkins to shoot the pictures in the suburbs of Paris. “Nature is always stronger than man-made cities ~ here in the Parisian suburbs even though the plants grow in small spaces and on balconies ~ there is still a spirit of wildness. So we wanted to have the pictures taken in places which were quite built up but at the same time nature still managed to grow there." The photographer, who grew up in Australia, was very attracted to the idea of going to the outer suburbs in Paris to shoot. "It was really interesting and it was so busy ~ I didn't think the suburbs were so busy," Sacha Walckhoff says. "We went to a squat and saw this whole universe of people who are free and living with a certain wildness. They are constructing a new way of life. In some ways, it is a spirit that for me is quite close to what Lacroix is all about.The collection is based on both human nature and the wilderness which is coming out in the cities ~ despite the concrete."

"I like to have a creative dialogue with my colleagues when I am working ~ I feed them but they also need to feed me."

Mr Walckhoff say the menswear collection expresses his vision of Lacroix. "Collaborating with CG Watkins who is British but raised in Australia we talked a lot about the dessert. You can feel it in all of his images. It is always good to have a link with the young photographers and the young magazines because it is the kind of customer we want to share the collection with. We have a lot of customers who are faithful to the brand. But it is also important to be connected to the young generation ~ it is a great way to do it working with young photographers."


Christian Lacroix's Nouveaux Mondes collection

The first collection of Christian Lacroix lifestyle was created in 2011. Mr Walckhoff is now responsible for overseeing the design of the menswear collections, eye wear, sunglasses lines, scarves and leather goods collections as well as home décor. The lifestyle and home wares collections have been very successful along with the menswear, but the creative director doesn't rule out a return to designing women's fashion again in the future.

Sacha Walckhoff has a special way of working artistically with his team at Lacroix. Designer Jose Gandia says: "It is a real pleasure working with Sacha as each season I discover something fresh as he presents a new book, a new artist for our inspiration. We share ideas then we work out what we want. We talk about the exhibitions we have seen and how that inspires us."

As artistic director, Sacha Walckhoff makes a presentation to his team twice a year and then the other designers have an input for specific collections. "Sometimes they propose things that make the designs richer," he says. "I like to have a creative dialogue with my colleagues when I am working ~ I feed them but they also need to feed me. I need interaction, this is my way of working. If I don't like something I just say it. But I love it when an idea comes from the studio and makes the concept deeper and more interesting. I welcome new ideas while keeping the vision of Christian Lacroix."

Contemporary Art and Design are Thriving in Brussels

 Maarten Van Severen's LCP chaise longue made from a single, folding piece of transparent methcrylate designed in 2002, part of the Plasticarium Collection at the Brussels ADAM design museum. Cover picture of the Atomium and all photographs for DAM by Elli Ioannou

We take a look at the flourishing art and design scene in Brussels which is rapidly expanding with strong investment and government support. Funding from the EU and local government bodies has doubled in the past three years as part of the city’s strategy to become a cultural hub in Europe, write Jeanne-Marie Cilento & Paul James McDonnell

The Tour & Taxi building that houses Art Brussels

CONTEMPORARY art weeks in Brussels resemble the pace of a Paris fashion week. The city swarms with international art buyers, galleries and art media. Next year, Brussels is the official European city of contemporary art reflecting its changing cultural landscape. Economic expansion and investment in art and design has made them thrive. Allocated funding from the EU and local government bodies has doubled in the last three years as part of the city’s strategy to become a cultural hub in Europe. Significant international and local art fairs plus new museums are being hosted in developing areas of Brussels, bridging the socio-economic divide between uptown and downtown.

The 35th Art Brussels fair was held in a formerly industrial district, within the Tour & Taxi hangar. In this redeveloping area of Brussels, there are innovative and ecologically sympathetic architectural developments and the new headquarters of Environment Brussels. Ultimately, the area will offer a mix of diverse housing, work spaces, state-of-the-art conference and seminar venues plus retail, leisure facilities and publicly accessible open space.

In 2018, Brussels is the official European city of contemporary art reflecting its changing cultural landscape

Soaring staircase at Maison Delvaux

Today, design and art can be found everywhere in Brussels. Highlights include, the Maison Delvaux flagship boutique, situated in the heart of the city. It prides itself on being the oldest luxury leather company in the world, operating continuously since 1829 ~ even before Hermes opened. Located in a grand 19th Century former private mansion, the space reflects the brand's philosophy of fusing tradition with innovation and an identity and history connected to Belgium. Walking into Maison Delvaux, you see a majestic curving staircase of wood and marble rising up at the entrance to the top of the mansion. The main room, visible from Boulevard de Waterloo, includes designs displaying luxury bags and accessories with a tribute to Mondrian. A table of glass and iron by Pieter de Bruyne, on the original parquetry wooden floor, is the centre piece, with a minimal display of fine leather handbags. Other original features include a vast bow window spanning two levels and various movable displays. Exhibitions on the first floor include a ‘cabinet de curiosites’ displaying a history of handbags from various creators as seen through the Aumonères collection, some dating back to 17th Century.

Selected design pieces in the permanent collection include a marble, leather and bronze table by Ben Storms, hexagonal brass chandeliers, 'Osaka' by Jules Wabbes, made for the 1970 world fair's Belgian pavilion, a light chandelier by Nathalie Dewez called 'Prism' and an organically shaped desk designed in 1952 by Renaat Braem. Maison Delvaux is neither an art gallery or a typical boutique but offers a unique experience mixing its mid 20th Century design collection of furniture, the handsome 19th Century building and its fine luxury handbags.


The Art and Design Atomium Museum in Brussels

The Art and Design Atomium Museum (ADAM ) pays homage to plastic and its impact on design with its current exhibition titled 'Plasticarium'  from the permanent collection. The ADAM is currently the only museum in Brussels dedicated to art and design from the 20th and 21st Century. The building itself has a classic concrete cube style interior, designed by architects Lhoas & Lhoas. The exterior is a minimalist tube made of mirrored glass, the main architectural signature is the entrance designed by Jean Nouvel, with its bright primary coloured staircase, duplicated in reverse on the ceiling. The colour palette refers to the plastic furniture in the exhibition. The nucleus of the 'Plasticarium' show is mainly from the private collection of Philippe Decelle, including prototypes and everyday objects from the 1960s and '70s. In addition, other works were sourced from a combination of international public collections and galleries. The pieces from the collection show baby boomers’ freedom of expression in the Sixties and designers creating signature pieces that are still iconic today.

The Art and Design Atomium Museum pays homage to plastic and its impact on design with the Plasticarium Collection


Colourful Sixties and Seventies television designs

The vast exhibition includes categories of so-called 'pop-functionalism', for example a long display of various television designs that finishes with the first Mac desktop computer. Other noteworthy pieces are the inflatable and transparent furniture and the anti-design, contemporary pieces. Decelle's collection began in 1987 when he rescued a Joe Colombo chair from a dustbin, eventually prompting him to launch his Plasticarium collection in the heart of Brussels. An ardent collector, Decelle's collection is the only one of its kind in the world. He has collected several thousand plastic items, spanning from 1960, when the first piece of furniture made entirely from plastic was produced, to 1973, the year of the oil crisis.

The collection has been extended to the post-pop era of today. Although various major museums have already exhibited its key pieces, such as Tate London, few Belgians are familiar with the entire collection, including items from every aspect of daily life, including TV sets and Tupperware. There are also original works by many famous designers, including Joe Colombo, Verner Panton, Philippe Starck, Charles Kaisin and others.


The brilliant exhibtion of design from the
Plasticarium Collection

The collection celebrates plastic, a cheap material that has inspired so many designers. Originally it was a product of the economic boom of the Sixties when a generation embraced fun, vividly hued furniture that could be mass produced. For designers this new material symbolised cheerfulness and unpretentiousness. Philippe Decelle's pieces give expression to a new era that felt relaxed and light-hearted. Plastic inspired Pop Art designers and artists alike, in this collection you can see work by Belgium's Evelyne Axell as well as pieces by the New Realists César and Arman. The oil crisis of 1973 heralded the end of the golden period of plastic design. Soon plastic's impact on the environment also became clear. At the ADAM there is a special section devoted to pieces that have been made from resin or recycled plastic.

The Art & Design Atomium Museum is part of Brussels' International Trade Mart (BITM), almost half of which is to be devoted to the permanent collection of the Plasticarium. Overall, it comprises more then 2,000 pieces ranging from everyday objects to works of art via designer items. As there will not be sufficient space in the ADAM to present the collection in its entirety, the display will be rotated on an annual basis. This will offer visitors a different experience with every new visit to the museum.

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The Art and Design Atomium Museum ADAM with an entrance designed by Jean Nouvel

Cesare Leonardi and Franca Stagi's 'Dondolo' 1969, part of the Plasticarium collection at Brussels ADAM

The enormous Plasticarium collection of iconic and everyday designs at ADAM

Transparent sculptural, fantasies part of Philippe Decelle's original collection that he began in 1987

 Maison Delvaux's Renaat Braem1952 organic desk

Display at the stylish Maison Delvaux housed in a 19th Century mansion

The dramatic stripes and curves of Renaat Braem's 1952 desk and chair at Maison Delvaux

 Jules Wabbes hexagaonal brass chandeliers at Maison Delvaux

Pieter De Bruyne's Mondrian-inspired table at Maison Delvaux

Natalie Dewez's 'Prism' chandelier at Maison Delvaux

The former industrial Docks area of Brussels that is being redeveloped



The sustainable new Environment Brussels building in the Docks area

The Tour & Taxi hangar where Art Brussels is held

 

A sculpture by Tulio Pinto exhibited at Art Brussels

A piece byVeronique Journard atArt Brussels

'Post No Bills' by Ivan Navarro at Art Brussels

Cannes Film Festival: Hollywood Foreign Press Association Benefit

Cover picture of Cindy Bruna on the red carpet wearing a crystalline Georges Hobeika haute couture gown at the premiere of Sofia Coppola's new film The Beguiled

One of the highlights of the packed calendar at this year's Cannes Film Festival was the star studded benefit hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the International Rescue Committee at Nikki Beach. The throng of actors included Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, Emma Thompson and Lily Collins, Jeanne-Marie Cilento & Antonio Della Rovere report

Tilda Swinton looking graceful in a
Schiaparelli dress with Ahn Seo-Hyun

AS the sun set in a sea of pink and lilac clouds over the rippling bay at Cannes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) hosted their annual philanthropic benefit at Nikki Beach across the Croisette from the Carlton Hotel. This year, the event was held for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a nonprofit organisation giving aid to humanitarian crises worldwide and helping people effected by conflict and disaster to rebuild their lives. The press association donated $500,000, with actor Jake Gyllenhaal accepting the donation on behalf of the IRC.

Under the evening's twilight sky, the water lapping the sandy beach, the crowd of lively high profile actors, directors and producers gathered to hear the press association's president Lorenzo Soria talking about the work of the International Rescue Committee. Tilda Swinton, co-starring with Gyllenhal and Lily Collins in the new film Okja, said she believes we need to know people can rely on each other in times of need. "Its so important that people know we can trust each other," she said. "There is a lot spoken these days about how different we all are, the truth is we are much more alike that we are different. And the more we can remind people that we can look after one another and that our innate dignity is dependent on us treating each other with dignity the better."

 The Meyerowitz Stories director Noah Baumbach
with Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman in dapper black tie said he felt quite emotional at the event as his own parents were immigrants from Eastern Europe. The actor had just come from the Grand Theatre where he received an ovation for his work on American director Noah Baumbach’s new movie The Meyerowitz Stories with co-stars Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler and Emma Thompson. The comedy follows a Jewish family and their eccentricities, successes and failures while living in New York City.

Greta Gerwig, Baumbach's partner, said she thinks its important that actors and others in the industry bring attention to humanitarian issues. “Its amazing how the Hollywood Foreign Press Association giving so generously to this crisis," she says. "It's part of the responsibility of artists and those who support them to draw the worlds attention to crises that need help."

Many of the actors gathered among the white cushions and banquettes overlooking the beach were not only there to support the International Relief Committee but took the opportunity to see friends and colleagues and catch up about their new films launched at Cannes. They enjoyed a special menu created for the event by the Nikki Beach Chef Alessandro that included Tartare de Saumon Asiatique, Brochette au Poulet, Éclair au Chocolat, Savarin Chantilly and Perrier Jouët served a special champagne cocktail with fresh fruit.

Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach 

As much as the guests enjoyed the seaside locale, the reason for the gathering was not far from people's thoughts. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's fete for the International Rescue Committee is the latest in a long history of nonprofit organisations that have benefited from contributions that today approaches $30 million. The press association's president Lorenzo Soria commented that the HFPA has donated to organisations ranging from Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation which preserves historic films, scholarships for private and public universities and programs for underrepresented students from around the world with a passion for the arts.

"Tonight we shift our philanthropic efforts to another organization that responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises," Lorenzo Soria said.  "From Syria to Nigeria, from East Africa to Afghanistan, more people have been forced to flee their homes than at any time since World War II ~ 65 million to be exact. That is why this year we are honoured to lend our support to the International Rescue Committee.”

Lorenzo Sora &Jake Gyllenhaal give the
check to Elinor Raikes

Elinor Raikes, the regional representative of the IRC Europe, believes we are on the front line of the greatest refugee crisis the world has faced in decades. "Here in Europe, the IRC is helping people whose lives have been shattered, to recover and regain control of their future," she said. "Whether they are stranded due to border closures in Greece and the Balkans or applying for asylum in a country like Germany, they're trying to find their feet, find a school and job, and settle into a new home. This generous donation will go a long way in supporting individuals and families like these seeking safety on our shores.”

Actor Jake Gyllenhaal does a sterling job as MC at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association benefit

Molly Sims wearing a sparkling gown and husband producer Scott Stuber enjoy the evening

Ben Stiller was touched by the enthusiastic reception his new film the Meyerowitz Stories had at Cannes

 Actor Lily Collins with a new curly look wearing an Eighties style Miu Miu short dress is in a new film with
Tilda Swinton called Okja 

Adam Sandler with his wife actor Jaquie Titone is pleased his performance in the new Meyerowitz Stories film has been so enthusiastically received at Cannes

Tilda Swinton wearing a Schiaparelli silk dress with hearts pierced by arrows. The actor is in Cannes for her new film Okja

Jake Gyllenhaal with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Lorenzo Sora

MAD: Brussels New Hub for Fashion and Design

Director of the new fashion and design centre in Brussels, MAD, Alexandra Lambert (at right, in white) with deputy director Dominque Junne on the terrace of the newly renovated building with its soaring, curvilinear staircase. Cover picture of landscape architect & designer Bas Smets and all photographs by Elli Ioannou.

A new hub for Brussels' fashion and design has opened in the heart of the city's Dansaert district. Called MAD, mode and design, the centre is part of revitalising this rapidly changing area. The MAD headquarters will function as a cultural space supporting the design and fashion industry. The recently completed building was launched amid contemporary art and design fairs across the city last month. The opening exhibition features six designers all showing projects made in Brussels, reports Paul James McDonnell & Jeanne-Marie Cilento

V+ architect Jörn Aram Bihain 

TODAY, the strikingly monochrome MAD building cuts through a city block connecting two urban plazas. Designed as a centre for designers and the fashion industry, it will foster and develop new careers and businesses and show creative work. The imposing gallery evokes the centre's aim to become the key meeting place for fashion and design in Brussels. The pre-existing building was redesigned collaboratively by architecture firm V+ and design collective Rotor with most of the original form preserved. Jörn Aram Bihain from V+ says the aim was to improve the existing building, rather than make a grand architectural gesture. More importantly, the building acts as the background to what's going on inside ~ which as it turns out is a lot! Architects V+ (short for ‘Vers plus de bien-être’ ~ ‘towards greater well-being’) and Rotor worked on the conversion of the interior, the façades and the building's fixtures and fittings. White was chosen as the overall scheme in different tones in a variety of materials, textures and patterns. The space was originally conceived as a result of MAD's expanding needs and to allow it to conduct its three main areas of interest: research and development, professional support and cultural programs.

MAD's terrace & Bauhaus staircase

A not for profit organisation, MAD originally began in 2011, and is the result of close cooperation between different Belgian and European institutions such as the European Regional Development Fund, the Brussels Capital Region and the City of Brussels. With funding from the EU, MAD is also part of the debate between national and international bodies discussing design in terms of economy and industry. It aims to encourage sustainability and inclusiveness by investing in jobs and the local community. At the MAD opening, Agnes Lindemans, the head of the European Commission Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, said of the new building: “MAD is emblematic and an ambitious project however it is also a hub of connecting economic activities and development of new projects aimed at national and international levels.” In addition, MAD has been increasing the local and international profile of Brussels designers and working to develop a methodology that is unique to Europe. For example, its Incubator program supports young designers with innovative social and ecological approaches.

The new MAD building has three levels with an interior finished in white along with concrete and the original brick. The ground floor is open to the public for exhibitions, seminars and events. While the upper floors are dedicated to hosting multipurpose work spaces. The top floor has its own restaurant and function space with a glass façade overlooking a large terrace. This is where you can see the signature design feature in the form of a white Bauhaus style spiral staircase that curves out from the back wall. This creates a recognisable architectural element on the urban horizon of the Dansaert district. The original forms of the building have been kept with well-thought out changes. From its main entrance, visible from the glass façade, we are greeted with the first of three interventions by exhibiting designer and landscape architect Bas Smets: a forest of birch trees sitting in their hessian sacks of earth, above ground, the branches rising up to the first floor glass ceiling. The installation brings nature inside. “Building Landscapes” takes over three different spaces and levels of the MAD building, with the remaining five exhibitors showing on the ground floor.

 Landscape architect & designer Bas Smets amid
his small forest of birch trees

Bas Smets says each space was chosen based on its orientation of light and location, creating three different climates and atmospheres. He collaborated with scientists and other artists for all three installations. Smets says the inspiration behind "Building Landscapes" is the city as a metaphor. All of the trees used for the installation were leased, rather than purchased with the aim to make them more economically and sustainably viable. On the mezzanine level is the second intervention, a garden of Mediterranean trees. A pale pink, soft light is created with a film on the glass wall to emulate a warm, summer evening. The floor of the mezzanine is filled with round glass 'windows' ~ showing the level below as well as reflecting what is above. The third section of the project sits majestically and naturally on the far end of the terrace of the MAD building. A white ribbon binds each tree in a criss-cross design that was inspired by the building's curving staircase. Bas Smets has also worked with Frank Gehry and Jean Nouvel and the Belgian designer recently created a special memorial for the victims of the Brussels attacks.

Designer Xavier Lust with his
works on show at MAD

In the ‘belly’ of the building, is an open-plan basement hosting Xavier Lust's work entitled “Nature, Symbols & Fluids”. The award-winning Belgian industrial designer and sculptor works mainly in steel and bronze and is best known for an innovative technique using metallic surfaces. The exhibition includes a bronze console with ovoid cut outs scattered beneath it, a bubble mirror sculpture and some of his more iconic works such as a steel picnic table and bench all cut in one continuous piece.

MAD's opening exhibition, "Occupation: Designer - Brussels Vision on Design" aims to change the landscape of the creative industry, working on new ways to think about design. This opening exhibition is created in conjunction with DAMNation, a communication agency with the unlikely manifesto to replace some words with other more politically correct ones ~ such as 'designer' with 'collective', 'hierarchy' with 'network',  'monologue' with 'dialogue', and 'copyright' with 'open source' and 'exclusive' with 'inclusive' and so on. MAD’s opening exhibition in the new building shows work that is all made in Brussels and includes designers: Annelys De Vet, Bas Smets, Benjamin Loyaute, Laurence Soetens, T.Lommee and C. Hogner and Xavier Lust.

“Occupation: Designer - Brussels Vision on Design” will host various workshops by the designers open to the public. The exhibition is  open till August 20th, 2017 MAD 10 Place du Nouveau Marché aux Grains, 1000 Brussels: http://new.mad.brussels/

 

Exhibiting designer and landscape architect Bas Smets stands under the forest of birch trees that sit in hessian sacks of earth, above ground, the branches rising up to the first floor glass ceiling. The installation brings nature inside.

The floor of the mezzanine level is filled with round glass 'windows' ~ showing the level below as well as reflecting what is above.

Mirrored wall on the third level of MAD's new headquarters

Designer and sculptor Xavier Lust's exhibition at MAD 

Detail of Xavier Lust's steel picnic table and bench all cut in one continuous piece

Detail of Xavier Lust's bronze table with deep cut outs 

Communication agency DAMNation's manifesto exhibited in conjunction with MAD

 

Looking up into Bas Smets leafy installation at MAD

 

The dynamic staircase that curves along one side of the MAD building