Pascal François is an architect who starts designing from inside out. Light, functionality, materialisation and detail are the fundamental basics for his architecture. The I Love Belgium team selected house 0509 to illustrate this way of conceptualization. A black saw toothed factory roof building with a bright white interior. Read the rest of this entry »
22
Feb
2012
Feb
2012
0509 by Pascal François
11
Feb
2012
Feb
2012
Transparent living
When we first laid our eyes upon this one story house, we had a flashback to the case study houses program. The clear lines, opens spaces, glass curtain walls and the patio worked as immediate references. It was architecture firm hvh-architecten who designed this elegant house upon an elongated building plot. Read the rest of this entry »
6
Feb
2012
Feb
2012
Brutal Luxury
What is brutal luxury? It’s luxury meets Spartan minimalism meets concrete meets money. This warehouse conversion was entrusted to Atelier d’Architecture Bruno Erpicum & Partners. It’s now the home of a couple with a passion for architecture who were keen to make one of Düsseldorf’s rare ruins their own. Read the rest of this entry »
31
Jan
2012
Jan
2012
A Forest Pavilion
When buying an old building plot overtaken by nature, it’s easy to bulldoze away. Instead, the young owner of this plot in Viller-la-Ville fell in love with the surroundings and asked Brussels-based architecture firm Stekke + Fraas to build him a small living unit one with nature. Read the rest of this entry »
26
Jan
2012
Jan
2012
Le Manège Theatre
In the city of Mons we can find Belgians finest example of contemporary theatre architecture. With a small budget architect Pierre Hebbelinck transformed a run-down military riding stables into a transparent cultural hub.
Read the rest of this entry »
24
Jan
2012
Jan
2012
Chateau d’eau
Water Towers, there are tons of them here in Belgium… but you surprisingly hardly notice them. Probably because these huge water collectors are built in isolated places. You know, someone actually converted this giant container into a home. Who in their right mind could conceive of such an idea? Apparently someone with a great passion for water towers… Read the rest of this entry »
20
Jan
2012
Jan
2012
Mid-century Brussels
We don’t have the beautiful building uniformity of Paris, the smart town-planning of London or the museum-like quality of Amsterdam. What Brussels does have is a crazy mix of 19th century brick town houses with concrete mid-century office blocks. And it’s the latter that has a bad reputation in Brussels. As a consequence of the Brussels world exposition of 1958, Belgians capital fell victim to genuine construction fever. Driven by great optimism, architects went in search of a renewed modern style, enriched by transparency, poetry or colour. Read the rest of this entry »
17
Jan
2012
Jan
2012
The Narrow House
A building plot near Bruges, surrounded by a protected beech forest. 
A wet dream for most architects, if it wasn’t for the fact that the plot was only 30 meters wide and 75 meters long. For architecture office Govaert & Vanhoutte this was only an advantage. Read the rest of this entry »
10
Jan
2012
Jan
2012
dmvA – House Extension
We love to visit our neighboring countries for a weekend! That’s why you’ll find small Belgian colonies on French camping sites, Dutch farms or in the German woods. And if we get the possibility to buy a piece of heaven, we’re up for it! For Mechelen- based architecture firm dmvA this translated in a recently completed extension to an A-frame vacation house within the countryside of Brecht, Germany. Read the rest of this entry »
5
Jan
2012
Jan
2012
La Classe
Where to go for team building or a brainstorm session? The answer: La Classe. Inspired by the beautiful spaces they encountered in their day jobs, architectural photographers Anne and Jean-Luc Laloux converted this old school building into a contemporary group accommodation. This isn’t your rustic group holiday share. It’s an exercise in great interior design and a great time with friends. Read the rest of this entry »
14
Dec
2011
Dec
2011
Nest by CSD
Wallpaper categorized CSD architects within the next generation of architectural talents, catapulting them onto the “to-watch-list” of many architecture lovers. Here at I Love Belgium, we don’t like to wait and see, that’s why we’ll show you our favourite, the Nest House, now! Constructed on a very small plot of land in the centre of Antwerp this house measures only 4 meters wide by 12 meters deep. The challenges? To maximize the spatial qualities, to obtain an abundance of light, and to have a maximum of contacts between the spaces. Read the rest of this entry »
7
Dec
2011
Dec
2011
Villa Dirickz
We know, we know, normally the I Love Belgium team writes about the “new” and “happening”. But sometimes we’re tending towards the old and established. That’s why we feel like talking about Villa Dirickz today, one of the finest examples of Modernism in Belgian architecture. Designed in the early thirties by architect Marcel Leborgne this villa, located in the green surrounding of Brussels, should be called a modern castle! Read the rest of this entry »
25
Nov
2011
Nov
2011
Living in Brussels
When visiting a city, buildings can tell a story. But when in Brussels, city planning and buildings can confuse. That’s why we tell stories through our interiors. A fact noticed by publishing house Luster who just released a book about Brussels living. Read the rest of this entry »
15
Nov
2011
Nov
2011
KOP by URA
A few months ago we stumbled onto the site of architecture firm URA. Although they have a pretty fine portfolio, the I Love Belgium team went gaga for a specific picture. One which announced a nominated project for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2011, titled KOP. An industrial warehouse with psychedelic yet uniform black and white pattern. Today the I Love Belgium office received the pictures of the finished building and we’re more then happy to share these with you! Read the rest of this entry »
20
Oct
2011
Oct
2011
Penthouse by JDS architects
Situated in the district of Elmegade, in Copenhagen, the I love Belgium team fell in love with this spacious 900m² penthouse and rooftop by Belgian architecture office JDS. What’s so special about it? Read the rest of this entry »
18
Oct
2011
Oct
2011
A Forest House
An architect’s house in the middle of the forest, yes this is I Love Belgium material! Behind this discrete forest house you’ll find architect duo and partners in life Eddy Francois and Caroline Dewolf. After having lived in a castle’s coach house, they’ve designed the forest house towards their previous living experiences and the wabi-sabi principal. In other words: they applied slow architecture with an aesthetic eye for the imperfect. Read the rest of this entry »
17
Oct
2011
Oct
2011
Staircase Lovin’
Let’s say that 80% of all houses have a staircase. Let’s say that 99% of all staircase are just a tad boring. And you know we don’t support boring! Therefore the I Love Belgium team researched into interesting staircase design. A good way to give you ideas if you’re on the hunt for one or if you feel like a change. And no, we didn’t go to DIY shops like Brico or Gamma, instead we browsed the net for all-Belgian creative ideas. And we found them at the architecture offices of Lhoas & Lhoas, Nu Architectuur, Lpp and SHSH. Let’s dicover! Read the rest of this entry »
10
Sep
2011
Sep
2011
Reading Between The Lines
We have one certainty in Belgium: churches are all over the place. Rarely the buildings are younger then 10 years as Christianity lost their ‘let’s hit to church every Sunday’ public. That’s why the I Love Belgium team was surprised to see this! Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, a collaboration between young Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh, have built a see-through church in the Belgian region of Haspengouw. The church is a part of the Z-OUT project of Z33, house for contemporary art based in Hasselt. Read the rest of this entry »
17
Aug
2011
Aug
2011
A Futuristic Lake Villa
You have a big family, you have a big summer house and you have a love for contemporary architecture? Then its time to contact Brussels-based architecture office Bureau Vers Plus De Bien-Être (or just simply V+) to redo your lake villa. A perfect example of this theory is the villa on the lake in Chatillon, France. Here they provided a classic villa four new extensions: a kitchen, balcony, underground bedrooms and music studio. Read the rest of this entry »
16
Aug
2011
Aug
2011
BotoxCloud by SAQ
No, we’re not talking about a syringe needle cloud filled with uplifting botox! BotoxCloud is a collaboration between Belgian architecture office SAQ and Berlin based art gallery Zirkumflex. So, the only thing that will be lifted are paper models who are cut and folded in a certain way so that they create interesting patterns and representations. Read the rest of this entry »
