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      Lionel Jadot assembles 52 designers to create custom interior for Mix Brussels hotel

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      An iconic 1960s office block in Brussels has become a hotel, featuring an interior designed by architect Lionel Jadot using only custom-made furniture and objects.

      Set to open today, Mix Brussels takes over the listed former headquarters of La Royale Belge, the insurance company now known as AXA.
      Lionel Jadot designed a sculptural fireplace for the lobby of Mix BrusselsThe conversion of the 25,000-square-metre building was overseen by a team of architects made up of London-based Caruso St John, Antwerp-based Bovenbouw Architectuur and Brussels studios DDS+ and MA2.
      Brussels-based Jadot assembled a team of 52 designers and makers (including himself) to kit out the interior with furniture, installations and sculptures that were all designed specifically.
      The hotel has 180 rooms, all filled with custom-made objectsAlmost everything, from the chairs to the doorknobs, is the work of an independent artist or designer.

      “We wanted to create something different so that when you enter, nothing is normal,” Jadot told Dezeen.
      “Nothing is from a catalogue, nothing is seen on Instagram,” he said. “Everything is custom-made in Belgium specifically for this project, by a big family of designers working together.”
      The hotel is located in the listed former headquarters of La Royale Belge. Photo is by Serge BrisonThe four-star hotel includes 180 rooms and suites, three restaurants, a food market, a co-working space, an auditorium and a health club.
      To win such a large commission, Jadot enlisted all of the designers from Zaventem Ateliers, a creative hub he founded in 2018 in a former paper factory on the outskirts of the city.
      Maison Armand Jonckers created a brass reception desk, which is topped by Lionel Jadot’s Disco Fan Light. Photo is by Mireille RoobaertZaventem Ateliers brings together 25 creatives in a collaborative environment that supports the creation of limited-edition and collectable art and design.
      When a design competition for the project was announced, Jadot convinced them that the hotel could become a celebration of the city’s craft culture.
      Arthur Vandergucht’s aluminium RB Tables furnish the hotel lobby. Photo is by Louis Vielle”This building is really iconic for Brussels and I have been in love with it since the age of 10,” he said.
      “Every Friday, my mum would drive us past it on the way to my grandmother’s house. I thought there was something about it that was really special,” he recalled.

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      “I told the team that we needed to be the ones to do this project,” Jadot added.
      As well as the existing members of Zaventem Ateliers, he also enlisted 27 other creatives to collaborate with them on the fit-out.
      The hotel includes a health club. Photo is by Louis VielleThe overriding concept, Jadot explained, was to create interiors that complemented the sculptural qualities of the building’s distinctive concrete-framed interior.
      “The idea was always to have a horizontality in the creation,” he said. “It was not for me to tell them how to work; the point was for them to feel free to pitch something.”
      Bedrooms feature curtains by KRJST Studio and tables by Pierre-Emmanuel Vandeputte. Photo is by Amber VanbosselThe contributing designers from Zaventem Ateliers include Maison Armand Jonckers, which produced the engraved brass reception desk, and Arno Declercq, who built a monumental blackened-wood sculpture.
      Artist Thomas Serruys created wooden stools that can be found throughout, while designer Adeline Halot produced lampshades for the hotel lobby and sculptural mirrors for the bedrooms.
      Other additions include mirrors by Jonas Moënne, nightlights by Studio Elementaires and a lamp by a lamp by Pascale Risbourg and Atelier Haute Cuisine. Photo is by Amber VanbosselAmong the lighting designs, eco-materials specialist Roxane Lahidji produced pendant lamps from salt, while Studio Elementaires created stylish nightlights.
      Textile works include printed curtains and weavings by KRJST Studio, who teamed up with designer Emma Cognée, and tapestries by La Gadoue Atelier.
      Jadot’s own contributions include a fireplace installation and various chairs, while other notable additions include a papier-mâché artwork by Papier Boulette, tables by designer Pierre Coddens and foam seats by artist duo Touche-Touche.
      Roxane Lahidji produced pendant lamps from salt. Photo is by Mireille RoobaertThe opening of MIX Brussels aims to help cement the city’s reputation as a hotspot for collectable art and design.
      As well as hosting annual fair Collectible, the city recently saw design gallery Maniera and contemporary art gallery Xavier Hufkens both expand their presences.
      Lionel Jadot and Woit Foundry created the custom knobs in the bathrooms. Photo is by Mireille RoobaertJadot hopes the project will defy expectations of hospitality design, showing that it is possible for this industry to support local creative talent on a large scale.
      “A lot of hotels opening today just order poor quality furniture from other countries, then after a few years, everything is destroyed,” he said. “It’s not a good way to do it.”
      Key to the alternative approach, Jadot said, was that the investors trusted him to project-manage the process.
      A papier-mâché artwork by Papier Boulette covers a wall in one of the meeting rooms. Photo is by Mireille RoobaertHe is proud that, unlike most new hotels, the completed interior is difficult to put a date on. He sees this as a sign that it will last a long time.
      “You don’t know really if this project was born today or yesterday,” he said.
      “We have created this combination, even though we totally avoided vintage. We only have collectable contemporary design, but it’s a really special mix.”
      The photography is courtesy of Lionel Jadot.

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      Maison Lune gallery in California showcases art and design in residential setting

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      This art and design gallery in Venice, California occupies a former private house where interiors by designer Gabriella Kuti provide a warm, neutral backdrop for the works on show.

      Maison Lune was co-founded by French artist and designer Sandrine Abessera and Ukrainian fashion designer Lubov Azria, who set about creating a “dream home, where beauty rules”.
      Maison Lune is presented as a collector’s house, where all the art and design pieces are for sale”We want to build an alternative to traditional galleries, which are often perceived as too elitist and intimidating,” said Abessera and Azria.
      The duo worked closely with interior designer Gabriella Kuti to turn what was a private house in a protected historical building into a space to showcase a rotating series of exhibitions.
      The house has various terraces and balconies used to display works outdoorsThe gallery is organised like a collector’s home, with artworks and design pieces spread across multiple rooms that total 4,000 square feet (371 square metres).

      Their intention was to allow visitors to journey through the different rooms and floors, which are designed to exude a warm atmosphere.
      The interiors were designed to provide a warm and neutral backdropThe team didn’t need to alter too much of the existing interiors but added storage and lighting to help better display the works.
      “The space was already an amazing canvas for this purpose: high ceilings, lots of lights and skylight, white limestone floors,” the co-founders told Dezeen. “We created more shelving with LA artisans and added more lights.”
      The gallery’s debut exhibition is titled Transcendence and is curated by Gaia Jacquet MatisseArchitectural features like circular windows, spiral staircases and marble bathrooms all bring character to the gallery.
      The house also has a terrace with a small swimming pool and balconies for displaying pieces outdoors.
      The team added shelving created by LA-based artisans for displaying smaller objectsEverything displayed through the various styled vignettes, from artworks to collectible design pieces, is for sale.
      The aim is to spotlight a wide range of both established and emerging artists and designers, who work across mediums and techniques including painting, sculpture, photography, furnishings, ceramics, lighting, textiles and objects.

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      “The pieces showcased represent the varied and changing cultural landscape of identities, values and beliefs,” the pair said.
      Inaugurating the gallery is a group exhibition titled Transcendence, curated by Gaia Jacquet Matisse and including work by her mother, Sophie Matisse, along with artists Bobbie Olivier, Jeannie Weissglass, Edson Fernandes, James Fischetti, Angela Damman and Santiago Martinez Peral.
      Existing architectural features like a circular bathroom window add character to the galleryTogether, the show aims to “examine the concept of duality within our existence as humans inhabiting the earth, alongside nature” according to the team.
      This debut exhibition will continue until the Frieze Los Angeles 2023 art fair, which takes place 16-19 February, then the gallery is scheduled to host four showcases per year.
      Maison Lune is located in a historic part of Venice, California, next to one of the city’s canalsPresenting art and collectible design in a residential setting has become a popular way for gallerists and fairs to contextualise the objects, and make them more appealing to potential buyers.
      Galleries like The Future Perfect, which operates showrooms in LA and New York under the moniker Casa Perfect, and the Nomad Circle series of travelling design fairs are among those that have found success through this format.

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      Penthouse of SOM-designed tower transformed into collectible design gallery

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      Seminal furniture designs by Brazilian modernists sit alongside contemporary art in a shoppable exhibition within the 40th-floor penthouse of a recently-opened San Francisco residential tower by architecture firm SOM.Travelling French-Lebanese gallery Gabriel & Guillaume has decorated the interior of the penthouse of the new Fifteen Fifty building in bright colours and patterns, and furnished it with a mix of new and mid-century pieces, all of which are for sale as part of the showcase.

      Top: An open living space is at the centre of the penthouse. Above: The apartment’s office features a sofa by Carlo Hauner and Martin Eisler
      The exhibition, which will run through summer 2021, is a collaboration between the gallery, the building’s developers Related California and branding agency FrenchCalifornia, which specialises in creating exhibitions within model apartments.
      The team was tasked with decorating the three-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse – with interior architecture designed by Los Angeles firm Marmol Radziner – to create a scheme that is “livable and approachable”.
      “We always work to conceptualise and execute spaces that help visitors see that collectible design can be attainable and fun, so this project came very naturally to us,” FrenchCalifornia told Dezeen.

      The master bedroom features almond green walls and a hand-knotted wool and silk rug by Marguerite le Maire

      Pieces on show hail from Italy, France and Brazil, dating from the 1940s to present day.
      They sit alongside a contemporary art collection curated by gallerist Jessica Silverman, which includes works by American sculptor Davina Semo, multi-media artist Julian Hoeber, painter and photographer Ian Wallace, Israeli artist Amikam Toren and Berlin-based Claudia Wieser.

      A Jacaranda wood and marble dining table by Sergio Rodrigues sits in the dining room area alongside dining chairs by Martin Szekely
      Vivid paint colours such as the deep blue in the open kitchen, almond green in the bedroom and 1980s-style graphic green wallpaper in the office were chosen to reflect the spirit of the city while complementing the furniture and helping to define the different rooms.
      Describing their style as “eclectic”, Gabriel & Guillaume pulled together a diverse selection of furniture from different countries and eras.
      Pieces designed in the 1980s by French designer Martin Szekely sit alongside work by Brazilian modernists such as Martin Eisler and Carlo Hauner, who founded illustrious furniture brand Forma, and Jorge Zalszupin.

      The living space opens up into a dining room
      Contemporary furniture pieces include designs by Beirut-based Ranya Sarakbi and Niko Koronis, who is known for his work with resin. Rugs by Iwan Maktabi and textile designer Marguerite Le Maire, as well as pieces by ceramicist Maloles Antignac were chosen to complement the furniture.
      “When we buy pieces, we don’t think of how they will go together,” Nancy Gabriel and Guillaume Excoffier of Gabriel & Guillaume told Dezeen. “Most great pieces usually go together if proportions work – and when one piece looks uneasy with another one, just add a third one.”

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      In the past decade, an increasing number of galleries and art shows have moved their showcases from traditional gallery spaces to domestic settings.
      “Buyers, designers and decorators alike prefer to see pieces in situ and visualise a piece in a lived-in space, and the model residence is obviously the perfect platform to do this,” said FrenchCalifornia.

      The living room features ballet slipper pink walls
      “With retail moving fast online, when you want to actually bring people to an exhibition, you need to offer them an experience,” Gabriel & Guillaume added.
      “The coldness of a white cube does not do that. In comparison, getting into a home is always a more special moment. While you can see the pieces, you can also discover the way they go together and the curation of the space. The homely format definitely has more soul.”

      Tall windows in the bathroom offer views of the city beyond
      This sentiment is echoed by the founders of Nomad, a travelling art fair founded in 2017 that showcases collectible design in exclusive villas and apartments.
      Speaking about the fair’s residential context, Nomad co-founder Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte told Dezeen: “What is good is that you can relate on a domestic scale with the objects. Most design collectors don’t buy for their storage for investment, they buy pieces to live with them. So to have them in a domestic environment is definitely perfect because you can relate to them.”
      Photography by Douglas Friedman.

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