Beautiful in Belgium

I’m in the middle of cleaning out files of old tear sheets and magazines and some designers keep popping up. One of them is Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen. His home in a 19th-century building in Antwerp has been featured in many publications and on many sites but it’s so good that it’s definitely worth revisiting. While his style is often described as minimalist, he told T magazine in 2013, “I try to reduce things to their essence, but not at the expense of comfort and soul. I think of the furnishings at the same time as I conceive the space.” It’s too bad more architects don’t feel the same. If they did, we would have outlets and switches in better locations.

I was also lucky to find photos of different incarnations of the home on Yellowtrace which I’ve also included. While Duysen would probably agree that the striped rug has become ubiquitous, I still think it looks better than the natural colored rug in the other photos. “Things that were the opposite of fashion became fashionable,” he also told T magazine.

The home is a great example of minimal design that has warmth and soul. It’s also inspiration to keep cleaning out those old piles of magazines. Who knows what else I might find.

Photos by Ditte Isager, Manolo Yllera, and David Spero.