
Zaventem Ateliers Reawakens an Art Deco Landmark in Brussels
Words by Eric David
Location
Brussels, Belgium
Zaventem Ateliers Reawakens an Art Deco Landmark in Brussels
Words by Eric David
Brussels, Belgium
Brussels, Belgium
Location
The meeting of historic and contemporary design rarely fails to intrigue, often revealing overlooked qualities and unexpected parallels. Such is the premise of Zaventem Ateliers, an exhibition of contemporary collectible design at the 1934 Art Deco landmark Villa Empain in Brussels (March 11 – 19, 2026), which has been taken over by 32 designers from Zaventem Ateliers. Hosted by the Boghossian Foundation, what makes this project stand out is not simply the collision between eras, but the decision to sidestep the conventions of exhibition-making: rather than arranging objects as static displays, it restores the villa to its original role as a home, each piece becoming part of the property’s daily life.

Metal chair by Lionel Jadot. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.

Bouze Lamps by Mathilde Wittock. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.

Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.
Considered one of the finest Art Deco residences in Europe, the villa was designed in the early 1930s by Swiss architect Michel Polak for Baron Louis Empain. Opulently appointed with luxuriant materials including marble, onyx and exotic woods, the property later served as a museum, a USSR embassy and a media headquarters before being abandoned in the 1980s. Acquired by the Boghossian Foundation in 2006, it underwent a meticulous restoration following years of partial destruction and vandalism, reopening in 2010 as a centre for art and dialogue.
Into this setting enters Zaventem Ateliers, an unconventional creative hub bringing together independent studios working across metal, textiles, ceramics and lighting, bound together by a shared commitment to experimentation and material intelligence. Nowhere is this ethos more evident than in Loumi Le Floc’h’s ongoing project Precious Peels, where aubergine skins are transformed into translucent bio-based surfaces that hover between paper and textile. In the exhibition, her ethereal screen is suspended in a grey marble-clad hall, its colourful patterns and shimmering translucency both contrasting with the sombre setting and subtly echoing its decorative vocabulary.

Precious Peels screen by Loumi Le Floc’h. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.

Tapestry by KRJST Studio. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.
Equally striking is KRJST Studio’s monumental jacquard tapestry. Positioned between two oversized stained-glass floor lamps, its organic, root-like texture enters into dialogue with the lamps’ intricate patterning and the surrounding veined marble wall panelling. Adeline Halot’s installation of metallic wires and flax linen coils forms another focal point. Uncoiling along the villa’s staircase, the serpentine intervention partially envelops the balustrade, fusing structure and softness in a single gesture.
If textiles introduce tactility, metal brings along a more assertive material presence. Vladimir Slavov’s monumental floor lamp, a textured bronze piece rising over two and a half metres in height and shaped like a giant flower, approaches illumination as a sculptural event, balancing precision with a raw, almost ritual force. Sharing a similarly elemental language, Maison Jonckers’ Between the Lines coffee table and TATAU side table combine hand-formed oxidised metals with etching-like incisions that recall archaic mark-making while maintaining material refinement.

Between the Lines coffee table by Maison Jonckers. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.

Designer Vladimir Slavov and his textured bronze and marble floor lamp. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.

Intervention by Adeline Halot. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.

Metal chair by Lionel Jadot. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.
Assembled from standard U and L metal profiles, Thibault Huguet’s LAMP#1 embraces construction constraints and economy of means, transforming industrial components into a deliberately pared-back object. A related logic underpins a metallic chair composed of angular planes by multi-hyphenate artist and designer Lionel Jadot, founder of Zaventem Ateliers, whose contributions throughout the villa reflect his longstanding affinity for repurposed materials and experimental processes.
Glass also plays a significant role, most notably in Lila Farget’s moulded works from the Maze Elements and Ondulations series. The former’s maze-like silhouettes reference the large-scale labyrinth installation she created for her 2024 solo exhibition at the Glass Museum of Charleroi, while the latter emerged from a study of a drop of water, its ripple-like surface animated by integrated blue lighting.
Other highlights include Mathilde Wittock’s sculptural Bouze Lamps, whose tubular forms are grown from two textiles derived from the same plant; Aurélien Veyrat’s wall panels composed of discarded bricks and plaster reclaimed from earlier projects; Pascale Risbourg’s hand-crafted clay candlesticks and column-like objects that draw on architectural and archaeological archetypes; and Cédric Van Parys’ billboard-inspired installation.

Ondulations series by Lila Farget. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.

Wall panels by Aurélien Veyrat. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.

Ceramic object by Pascale Risbourg. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.

Artworks by Cedric Van Parys. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.

Hibiki Cabinet by KRJST Studio in collaboration with Simon Tentoon. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.

Bouze Lamps by Mathilde Wittock. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.
At first glance, the encounter between these avant-garde works and the villa’s Art Deco heritage appears frictional. The villa’s polished symmetry seems distant from the raw, sometimes radical ethos associated with Zaventem Atelier’s makers. Yet the contrast conceals an affinity. When Art Deco emerged in the 1910s and 1920s, it was decisively forward-looking, propelled by new technologies, new materials and an ambition to redefine modern living. In that sense, both the villa and its temporary occupants emerged from a desire to redefine contemporary living. Bringing these two words together is therefore less a collision than a recalibration: a reminder that innovation is not the monopoly of any single era, but a recurring impulse that emerges when designers actively engage with material, space and the realities of their time.

LAMP#1 by Thibault Huguet. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.

Dream Particles aluminum crystal sculpture by Pierre Coddens; Rollmaster metal chair by Thomas Serruys; Sculptural lamp by Lionel Jadot. Installation view, Zaventem Ateliers at Villa Empain, Brussels. Photo by Stan Huaux.

Group portrait of the Zaventem Ateliers designers on the steps Villa Empain. Photo by Stan Huaux.


