Brussels Design September: five tips

(© Assa Ashuach)

For a whole month, Brussels Design September is enticing anybody with an eye for design to the city. There is no shortage of activities: a hundred events ranging from workshops, lectures, and debate platforms with designers to design exhibitions and bargain opportunities at flagship and pop-up stores. AGENDA gives five tips for a great day out.

Studio with a View
You probably remember De Bottelarij as the temporary location of theatre productions while the KVS was being renovated. It recently became the home of an open artists’ residence with a communal studio for five designers (Raphaël Charles, Maarten De Ceulaer, Julien Carretero, Charlotte Dumoncel d’Argence, and Damien Gernay), two photographers (Nico Neefs and Emilio Correia), and architect Dimitri Fache. Together, they form Studio With a View, a new collective that is also organising other design workshops and exhibitions. During Design September, you can wander around their latest creations. During the furniture and design fair in Milan last May, Maarten De Ceulaer was the highlight of the Belgium is Design stand. The prototype of his ballpoint blue soap bubble couch is enchanting. Nico Neefs’s video work – even of objects and furniture made by his designer friends – breathes extra life into the large space. Or would you prefer just to come and make a puzzle with the magnetic coffee table made of tree trunks by Raphaël Charles?
14/9, 18 > 21.00 & 15/9, 11 > 19.00, De Bottelarij, rue Delaunoystraat 58, Molenbeek, www.studiowithaview.be

Plasticarium
In addition to some extra emphasis on textiles and graphic design during Design September – catering to a niche audience, of course – it is striking that contemporary design is increasingly inspired by vintage design. The private museum Plasticarium, which is only accessible sporadically, will welcome guests on 22 September. Inside, on four floors, you will find the biggest Western collection of plastic furniture and objects dating from between 1960 and 1973, supplemented by pop-art from 1987 to 2000. Exceptionally, the original pieces by Verner Panton, Eero Aarnio, Joe Colombo, and Philippe Starck will be displayed beside a new collection of objects ranging from tableware and TVs to unique clothing creations. Assa Ashuach, who made an enormous impression at London’s Design Week last year, is leading a workshop. She is opening up her interactive 3D objects for games, use, and personalisation (you get to transform them) thanks to co-designing technology by Digital Forming.
22/9, guided tour: 14 > 16.00, workshop: 16 > 18.00, Plasticarium, rue Locquenghienstraat 35, Brussel/Bruxelles, by reservation only: 02-344.98.21, delphine@best.be

Automatic Art Shop
Parading past art is one thing, actually taking something home is taking things to a whole new level. To this end, there are not only dozens of design shops bursting with talent, but also markets like Brussels Design Market (in Tour & Taxis on 8 and 9 September) or a market with forty designers during the Fêtes Romanes in Wolubilis (29 and 30 September). But according to us, nothing is as innovative as new, talented students selling things. The Academy of Fine Arts is installing a design-friendly vending machine: the Automatic Art Shop. You probably know the type of machine: in Italy they are full of medication, in Austria you can get nuts and bolts out of them, while in our metro stations they are filled with drinks and sweets. Instead of sweets, this dispenser contains nothing other than fun design knick-knacks, and they are very cheap. Every student is selling a limited edition of 20 design objects, all on the themes of recycling, deception, and theft.
3 > 28/9, Mo > Fr 9 > 17.00, Académie royale des Beaux-Arts, Zuidstraat 144 rue du Midi, Brussel/Bruxelles, www.arba-esa.be, 02-506.10.10

(Automatic Art Shop © Natalia Oyarzun)

Sleeping with design
If you are a design lover who wants to brave the night in the same atmosphere, you should book a hotel room during Design September. Seven hotels are participating. They have all been decorated by the best designers. For example, the Pantone Hotel (place Loixplein 1, Sint-Gillis/Saint-Gilles) has photographs by Victor Levy, while the Monty Small Design Hotel (boulevard Brand Witlocklaan 101, Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe/Woluwe-Saint-Lambert) is selling work by the designers that decorated the rooms. There is also the cosy B&B Ruedarwin 17 (rue Darwinstraat 17, Elsene/Ixelles), which is open during the day for the exhibition of Andrea Mantello’s designs. You should also be sure to grab a drink at the trendy world-class hotel Be Manos (Luchtvaartsquare 23 square de l’Aviation, Anderlecht) that has sixty rooms in black and white design, and to take a look in the Vintage Airstream Room, a glittering trailer in the garden of the Vintage Hotel (rue Dejonckerstraat 45, Molenbeek). Finally, the Second Life Festival (23/9) with a design vintage market, jam session, screenings of silent films, and a hairdresser’s in the style of the 1950s at the rendezvous hotel Le Berger (Herderstraat 24 rue du Berger, Elsene/Ixelles) is a must.

Mad Bike Parade
The 2009 Brussels charter of Velo City envisioned the more prominent presence of bicycles in the city. MAD, the new Brussels Center of Fashion & Design, was happy to organise a promotional tour de force for the project. MAD teamed up with Bike Paradise (Spullenhulp), Cyclo, and Les Ateliers de la rue Voot to design inventive bike models so that the bike(r) would really stand out in city traffic. Through the MAD Bike Customisation campaign, designers, cycling fanatics, handymen, and technicians were called in, and they set to work on old bicycles, all kinds of parts, scrap metal, and other recycled materials. They conjured up unique bicycle designs. You can see the results cycle the streets during a parade in the centre; a kind of mini Zinneke Parade of alternative “vehicles”, if you will. Simply because design also wants to focus on recycling and soft mobility. One week later, twenty of the “customised” bikes will be auctioned. Buy one!
parade: 16/9, start/finish: Nieuwe Graanmarkt/rue du Nouveau Marché aux Grains, Brussel/Bruxelles, on-line auction: 16/9, 19.00 > 22/9, 19.00

Brussels Design September • 6 > 30/9, verschillende locaties/divers lieux/various venues, www.designseptember.be