A drive through the Flemish countryside makes a couple of things very clear. Firstly, the term ‘countryside’ is a bit of a stretch; rapid urbanisation in many formerly rural areas of Flanders has resulted in an increasing division of land into parcels. Secondly, despite the first-glance diversity in residential structures, a definite vernacular regularity soon becomes clear.
Colloquially called ‘fermette-style’, this is a traditional housing type that copies the features of farms past: there’s rusty brown brick, gable roofs laid with clay tiles, and stepped dormer windows. Within this distinctly Flemish context, Vincent Van Duysen’s most recently completed residential project manages both to surprise and feel oddly at home.
During the half-hour drive from Ghent to the small village where the house is located, the landscape morphs from bustling city to ribbon development, and finally into stretches of fields, farms and detached houses interspersed among cobblestone streets. In these picturesque environs, Van Duysen’s tectonic composition of natural white stone appears confidently, yet unobtrusively by the roadside, peeking over a relatively low sliding gate. Made up of various structural volumes, the residence is modernist in its monolithic nature. There’s no visual distinction between the outer walls and the roofs, and there’s no unnecessary ornamentation, either inside or out. In all its simplicity, the residence complements and enhances the flatness of the landscape around it.
Esta historia es de la edición October 2019 de Wallpaper.
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Esta historia es de la edición October 2019 de Wallpaper.
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Guiding Light - Designer Joe Armitage follows his grandfather's footsteps in India, reissuing his elegant midcentury lamp and creating a new chandelier for Nilufar Gallery
For some of us, family inheritances I tend to be burdensome, taking up space, emotionally and physically, in both our minds and attics. For the London-based designer and architect Joe Armitage, however, a family heirloom has taken him somewhere lighter and brighter, across generations and continents, and into the path of Le Corbusier. This is the story of a lamp designed by Edward Armitage in India 72 years ago, which has today been expanded into a collection of lights by his grandson Joe.
POLE POSITION
A compact Melbourne house with a small footprint is big on efficiency and experimentation
URBAN OASIS
At an art-filled Mexico City residence, New York designer Giancarlo Valle has put his own spin on the country's traditional craft heritage
WARM FRONT
Designer Clive Lonstein elevates his carefully curated Manhattan home with rich textures and fabrics
BALCONY SCENE
A Brazilian island hotel offers a unique approach to the alfresco experience
ENSEMBLE CAST
How architect Anne Holtrop is leaving his mark on the Middle East
Survival mode
A new show looks at preparing for a post-apocalyptic landscape (and other catastrophes)
FLASK FORCE
A limited-edition perfume collaboration between two Spanish craft masters says it with flowers
BLOOM SERVICE
A flower-shaped brutalist beauty in Geneva gets a refresh
SECOND NATURE
A remodelled museum in Lisbon, by Kengo Kuma & Associates, meshes Japanese and Portuguese influences to create a space that sits in harmony with its surroundings