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 »
4
Feb
2012
Feb
2012
The New Mondriaan
“It is my intention to make poetic work and to be as simple as possible.” We have to admit, he’s succeeding in his intention. A.T. Biltereyst‘s plywood paintings evoke a flashback to the Dutch master of modernism Mondriaan mixed with the Geometric Abstraction and Hard-Edge paintings of the sixties! Read the rest of this entry »
1
Feb
2012
Feb
2012
Christopher Coppers
Two weeks ago, the I Love Belgium team, went to the opening of the Christophers Coppers Trash Tv exhibition at the Bodson-Emelinckx gallery. We had the chance to meet with the Brussels-based artist and talk about his paper work. 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
The Still Life
Photographer Fien Muller has a way of telling stories in still lifes. Whether she creates a striking “tableaux” with carefully arranged frozen fish or colourful scrap material, it’s always a feast for the eyes! To recognize her still lifes you need two ingredients: a white background with hanging/leaning/piling objects. 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 »
30
Nov
2011
Nov
2011
Sideboard Loving
We all have one ’cause we all need one! Sideboards are, according to our friend Wikipedia, traditionally used in the dining room for serving food. According to I Love Belgium a sideboard is used to handle our consumerist society. Indeed, we stuff our sideboards with CD’s (which we don’t use any more), books, useless presents and a lot more junk we rather hide. That’s why the I Love Belgium team searched 3 Belgian examples noteworthy to mention!
I LOVE BELGIUM
I LOVE BELGIUM
I LOVE BELGIUM
I LOVE BELGIUM
I LOVE BELGIUM
29
Nov
2011
Nov
2011
Berlinde’s Horses
Eyeless, and sometimes headless, deformed horses are the subject of Berlinde De Bruckere’s art. These pseudo-anatomical works inspire both a sense of nightmarish displacement and of visual comfort, of animal suffering and material abstraction. The glossiness of their skin underscores all of the things that are covered and hidden, a sensual, almost tender casing for these uncomfortable shapes. 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 »
7
Nov
2011
Nov
2011
A Passive House
According to Wikipedia a passive house refers to the rigorous, voluntary, standard for energy efficiency in a building, reducing its ecological footprint. For us it refers to the house of architect Lieselotte Steurbaut. This wooden beauty was constructed in only 6 months, with a budget of 1.140 euro/m2 and a monthly gas and electricity bill of 10 euros. Yes, this building should be the explanatory wiki-image of a passive house! 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 »
26
Sep
2011
Sep
2011
The Brick Rabbit hole
In Belgium we have a saying that goes like this: Belgians are born with a brick in their stomach. Yes, indeed we are a nation which loves constructing! That’s why the I Love Belgium team wanted to share this all-brick LENS°ASS project. A perfect example of contemporary forms combined with good old brick. 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 »
4
Apr
2011
Apr
2011
The Red Tile House
Roof tiles, we can’t imagine architecture and its history without them. There’s one house in Belgium embracing the local love for the red variation. META-architectuurbureau drew, back in 2003, a house which stands inconspicuously in its surroundings. Its strong point? Contemporary architecture with an ancient material going against the current building rage of fake ancient farmhouses (if you’ll visit little villages in Belgium, you’ll see what we mean). Read the rest of this entry »
9
Mar
2011
Mar
2011
House De Vijlder by META
Your kids are out of the house, you both have a home office and to top it off you just bought a building plot in front of a nature reserve. That’s the situation in which de Vijlder family approached META architecture office. Their question: design us a house with an atmosphere which is open to the inside while closed towards the street. The result: I Love Belgium worthy architecture! Read the rest of this entry »
