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Belgium is Design / 3

During Milan Design Week Belgium is Design presents "Reflections" at Triennale di Milano, an exhibition with two standout strands: mirrors and other reflecting surfaces.

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The reflection or mirror image is the thread running through this year's exhibition from Belgium is Design at the Triennale di Milano.

The first thread of "Reflections" features mirrors in all shapes and forms and also the way this type of glass can be absorbed in designs for a coat hanger, storage, fashion accessories, and even as an object for those who do not want to be confronted by their mirror image.

Maarten De Ceulaer, Mirror with Suitcases, Nilufar & Galerie du Passage. This piece is part of the Leather Collection, inspired by the designer’s great passion for travelling and exploring the world. The suitcases in precious leathers are produced in close collaboration with one of the most renowned leather artisans in Belgium, Ralph Baggaley. These pieces, though colourful and playful, evoke luxurious and sophisticated atmospheres, but at the same time they carry the dynamic vibe of modern nomads, that travel through cities and continents without restrictions or boundaries. This new version combines a mirror with suitcases, transforming them into functional elements. Photo Nico Neefs

Together these interpretations demonstrate that there is more to a mirror than with-or-without frame. Designed exclusively by Belgian designers, most are also produced by the country’s mirror manufacturers and companies, as part of an edition or in-house, while others have been commissioned for the collections of international clients.

Left: Alex de Witte, The Big Bubble, Dark.The Dutch designer Alex de Witte wanted to catch beauty and imagination in the reflections of a massive glass object. As a child we all played with blowing soap bubbles into the sky and wondered how our breath was captured in a transparent fragile bubble… The lamp won the Design District Award 2013 for best product. Right: Humeurs de Brillant, Delvaux. To mark the 50th anniversary of its Brillant model, the House of Delvaux, maker of fine leather goods, presents Humeurs de Brillant (Moods of Brillant) and the new Brillant model Black Edition. This is a larger-scale version of the model created for Expo 58 in Brussels. It is accompanied by nine new creations that symbolise the values of the House of Delvaux, toying with and flouting convention, each rivalling the other in the technical expertise used to craft these fine leather goods.

The other category in "Reflections" is objects that use reflective surfaces to create spontaneous and ingenious plays with light. Here we see how the choice of materials, techniques, coat ings and finishings, from intense polishing of metal to the use of glossy car paint and transparent glass, can transform and shape lighting, furniture, tableware and textiles.

Collectively "Reflections" tells a story where there is a dynamic dialogue between tradition and progress.

Leo Aerts, Calda/freddo, Alinea. This object has been designed as a volume, formed by the combination of two moulded sheets that have been welded together. The concave space between the superior and the inferior plate is filled with a special gel. Preheated in the oven or cooled in the freezer, the gel keeps its temperature for a longer period. Photo Lieven Herreman
Leo Aerts, Calda/freddo, Alinea. This object has been designed as a volume, formed by the combination of two moulded sheets that have been welded together. The concave space between the superior and the inferior plate is filled with a special gel. Preheated in the oven or cooled in the freezer, the gel keeps its temperature for a longer period. Photo Lieven Herreman
Damien Gernay, Blanc Cassé. The Blanc Cassé series explores the notion of a white colour that is physically altered to make it functional. White, as the original colour, is a reference to a painter’s canvas or the blank page of the writer, on which the act defines the object. A simple stainless steel disc has been painted and mechanically sanded in order to create a mirror. The object bears the traces of its fabrication, showing soft transitions between the different surface qualities from matt white to the black layer underneath and through to the polished steel. The image appears as an organic opening in the wall. The roughness of the polished metal creates a pointillist picture, imperfect as if painting in real time, where the grain of the metal would be a brushstroke.
Damien Gernay, Blanc Cassé. The Blanc Cassé series explores the notion of a white colour that is physically altered to make it functional. White, as the original colour, is a reference to a painter’s canvas or the blank page of the writer, on which the act defines the object. A simple stainless steel disc has been painted and mechanically sanded in order to create a mirror. The object bears the traces of its fabrication, showing soft transitions between the different surface qualities from matt white to the black layer underneath and through to the polished steel. The image appears as an organic opening in the wall. The roughness of the polished metal creates a pointillist picture, imperfect as if painting in real time, where the grain of the metal would be a brushstroke.
Nedda El-Asmar & Erik Indekeu, Hollow Ware Collection, Eternum. This collection consists of several sizes of coffee and tea pots, milk jugs, a tray and wine cooler with stand. The highly polished surfaces evolve from elliptical to round, reflecting the environment in a striking manner. State-of-the-art production techniques – high-pressure hydro forming (up to 70 bar) – were used to achieve this distinctive body shape.
Nedda El-Asmar & Erik Indekeu, Hollow Ware Collection, Eternum. This collection consists of several sizes of coffee and tea pots, milk jugs, a tray and wine cooler with stand. The highly polished surfaces evolve from elliptical to round, reflecting the environment in a striking manner. State-of-the-art production techniques – high-pressure hydro forming (up to 70 bar) – were used to achieve this distinctive body shape.
Nedda El-Asmar & Erik Indekeu, Hollow Ware Collection, Eternum. This collection consists of several sizes of coffee and tea pots, milk jugs, a tray and wine cooler with stand. The highly polished surfaces evolve from elliptical to round, reflecting the environment in a striking manner. State-of-the-art production techniques – high-pressure hydro forming (up to 70 bar) – were used to achieve this distinctive body shape.
Stefan Schöning, Twin, Fiam Italia. Side table in curved glass of 12 mm for the transparent or extra-light glass version, and 10 mm for the Nero95 model. Available in two different heights and shapes.
Left: Stefan Schöning, Twin, Fiam Italia. Side table in curved glass of 12 mm for the transparent or extra-light glass version, and 10 mm for the Nero95 model. Available in two different heights and shapes. Right: Ann van Hoey, Earthenware Ferrari Series. In this work I combine the old metier with one of the most luxurious status symbols of modern society, the Ferrari. On a Ferrari car, the glossy coating is merely meant to seduce the consumer. Here, however, the unexpected combination of pure craftsmanship with the pinnacle of capitalist consumerism, challenges the spectator to reflect upon the balance between tradition and progress. (Ann Van Hoey).
Ann van Hoey, Earthenware Ferrari Series. In this work I combine the old metier with one of the most luxurious status symbols of modern society, the Ferrari. On a Ferrari car, the glossy coating is merely meant to seduce the consumer. Here, however, the unexpected combination of pure craftsmanship with the pinnacle of capitalist consumerism, challenges the spectator to reflect upon the balance between tradition and progress. (Ann Van Hoey).
Ann van Hoey, Earthenware Ferrari Series. In this work I combine the old metier with one of the most luxurious status symbols of modern society, the Ferrari. On a Ferrari car, the glossy coating is merely meant to seduce the consumer. Here, however, the unexpected combination of pure craftsmanship with the pinnacle of capitalist consumerism, challenges the spectator to reflect upon the balance between tradition and progress. (Ann Van Hoey).
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