Axel Vervoordt Interview for German TV

I can't understand anything the interviewer asks, and while Mr. Vervoordt answers in English, the German translation audio dubbed over his voice makes it difficult to make out what he is saying most of the time. If I can translate the transcript, I will post a follow up with some quotes. You can watch the interview here.

Zen and the Art of Axel Vervoordt

Here is a link to a great article about Axel Vervoordt, from the online edition of Art + Auction magazine.

The article mentions a Wabi hut on the grounds at 's-Gravenwezel, 'made of earth and fallen tree limbs'. I am fascinated by this, especially considering the vast store of tree limbs still awaiting removal here, the result of a recent ice storm. If any of you have seen it, please let me know more about it.

Happy reading and good weekend.

p.s. I found a picture of the Wabi pavillion; it's in the slideshow that accompanies the article.

Photo by Laziz Hamani

Interview with Belgian Pearls' Greet Lefèvre

When I stumbled upon Belgian Pearls, the design-focused blog by Greet Lefèvre, I knew instantly that I had landed somewhere special. Her carefully chosen images, posted frequently, often contain photographs of her professional projects and home, and her writing style is personal and engaging. Checking frequently to see what Greet had posted next was one of the primary drivers behind my developing interest in the blogosphere. The inspiration I always found there kept me coming back for more, and I was delighted when she agreed to be the subject of the first interview to be published here.
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James: Your blog, Belgian Pearls, is full of exquisite images that have captured the attention of some the web's most influential style bloggers and mavens. At time of this writing, you have over 150 followers, and I see link backs, mentions, and blog list entries for Belgian Pearls on many other blogs. When did you start blogging and what inspired you to create Belgian Pearls?

Greet: I started blogging in July this year after I had discovered and read a lot of blogs during the past year. I was so surprised about all these beautiful and inspirational blogs I discovered from around  the world! So all these blogs and bloggers inspired me to start my own blog. A second reason to start Belgian Pearls is the fact that I saw that a lot of bloggers and people and general, are so fascinated about Belgian Design and all things Belgian. So first I started to search other Belgian Design bloggers but I did not found one Belgian Design blog!!! So then, being a Belgian Designer, I was convinced to start my own blog! Question was ‘How introducing my blog into the blogger community?’ One of my favorite, inspirational blogs was Velvet and Linen. I was following this blog since a couple of months. So I contacted Brooke and she introduced me into the blogger world! I am so thankful to Brooke, she really has become a good friend!

J: I think it is clear to anyone who follows your blog that you are passionate about design. When did your interest in design start, and how has it developed over time.

G: Since I was a little girl I have always been surrounded by design, interiors and antiques. My father involved us in any project he was working on and took us along to museums, castles and a lot of exhibitions related to his business. As a child I loved to go in our working places to see our cabinetmakers, real craftsmen, working on a piece of furniture or wood paneling and loved touching the wood and loved the smell of the wood! So I grew up between the wood and the sawdust of the wood. My interest in design has been growing unconsciously during all these years. So my brother and I run our family business for the 4th generation now and I really think that the love of interior design is something you are born with! After I graduated, I joined my father in the company, by assisting in the administration department of the company for the first few years. At the same time I finished my studies as an antiques dealer and on weekends I started working in the antiques shop from a well-known antiques dealer in our region. Together with these studies and the experience I gained in the antiques business , my passion for antiques was growing! In 1998 we started a new showroom of interior design and made-to-measure furniture and this was definitely the start of my career as interior designer.

J: Your company, Lefèvre Interiors, was founded in 1890. Would you describe for us some of the principles or processes you use to help clients realize a vision for their home?

G: As our company exists since 1890, the word “confidence” is one of the most important pillars of our company. So first you have to earn the confidence of your client. The client needs to have the right feeling about you. He has to trust you! And mutual of course! If this feeling is present, you can start to talk with the client and discussing about his needs. So ‘listen very well to the client’s needs’ is the second important pillar of creating a good relationship with your client. I always have in mind that it is the interior of my client and not mine, which we are discussing about. My client and his family has to feel good, comfortable and happy in his home. So the wishes of all the members of that family have to be fulfilled. It is so important to know the way of life of your client. A third important pillar is to discuss about timing of the designing process and to keep your promises about the approach you proposed your client. And finally, maybe the most important pillar, is the delivery of quality! So our company is known for quality designing, quality made-to-measure furniture and wood paneling, so all supply companies with who we work with as wood suppliers, seating companies, painters,… have to deliver the same high-quality. Only if these mentioned principles are present, you can help your client with the vision in their home or room they want you to design. I spend a lot of time in discussing with my client to try to know them better and to put myself in his life world. And I try to learn to discover his taste and desire by showing my clients the interiors we already designed. I always ask them to show me images of what they have in mind or what they really like. Or if they have any furniture or decorative items they are devoted to and they want to keep in their home interior.

J: You have written on your blog that Belgium's antiquarian, art dealer and designer Axel Vervoordt has influenced your work. I also read that you attend the Open House exhibitions every year. Would you share with us some details of this influence and also some of your impressions on visiting the Kasteel 's-Gravenwezel and the shop at Kanaal?

G: At the time I was working at the antiques dealer, I became in contact with a lot of antiquarians and designers. So one of them was Axel Vervoordt! Ever since, every year I go to visit his beautiful castle and the exhibition warehouse Het Kanaal near Antwerp. Axel Vervoordt is a famous designer and known around the world! He is a trendsetter in designing! He always brings new ideas about interior design and how to use antique pieces in the interior! His love for all things of beauty is so huge!!! He is a real master and my big example! And yes, as a lot of other designers, mostly Belgian designers, I am influenced by his work! I love walking in his castle where, from the very first moment you enter it, you feel the authenticity, simplicity and sincerity that all of the rooms, antique furniture and decorative items, radiate.

Even in Het Kanaal, where you can discover his beautiful home collection, you can feel that Axel Vervoordt had been thinking very deeply about the design of this furniture collection. He exactly knows and feels what people expect of for instance, a seat, a coffee table etc. Not only of the designing and the materials but also of the comfort of it. He uses very natural materials, he loves wood and natural fabrics such as linen. In his book “At Home with May and Axel Vervoordt” he wrote that it is his duty to find a better place to all things entrusted to him. So that is also what I try to do when I am searching for antique furniture and decorative items for a client’s home. I try to give the object a place in the home where it “feels lucky”.

Mr and Mrs Vervoordt love to bring in nature into their home by using flowers and branches of their own garden. Not the stylish created bouquets buth a very simple flower or a blossom branch in a vase! Bringing in nature in ones interior is a must, to me. When designing a clients home, I try to remember his principle of full and empty! Axel Vervoordt uses in his book “The Story of a Style” the word “volledig”. It is a Dutch word that means full (vol) and empty (ledig). The two words are in harmony with eachother. In his lifeworld the word means to him :” The plenitude of the emptiness”. Keep the best and get rid of everything except the essential. This is the philosophy on which the life and work of Axel Vervoordt is founded. So also for me it is important to create an interior where my client feels good and where the essential thought is to be happy in that home, to enjoy the pureness of objects and to get rid of all things who are “too much”. I really try to explain to my client to use the entire home, all the rooms of it and not to withdraw in only one place of his home! So it is important to enjoy the library as well as the entrance hall, or the kitchen as the sitting area etc. But therefore all of the rooms have to be in harmony. To reach this harmony, Axel Vervoordt loves to create a room who is “empty” in alternation with a room who is “full”. So you can translate this in a room who is peaceful, a meditation room, in alternation with a room with more objects, furniture. So depending on your state of mind of the moment, you can choose for the room you want to be in at that particular moment.

And one of the most important things I learned from Axel Vervoordt, is to choose for the objects, the designing that you personally like the most! Only then you can feel peaceful and happy. That is why it is of great importance that you know your client very well. There a few rooms in the Castle of ‘s Gravenwezel, who inspired me to create the rooms in my own house. For instance the library room of the caste (PICTURE 1) and the kitchen of the castle (PICTURE 2). I took over a few ideas as you can see here in my own library ( PICTURE 3) as well as in my kitchen. Here I have also chosen to paint the inside of the kitchen niches in a blue colour (PICTURE 4).

PICTURE 1

PICTURE 2

PICTURE 3

PICTURE 4

J: Belgian design seems to be the hottest subject in the design world these days. What do you think of as primary attributes of Belgian design, and why do you think it attracts so many today?

G: Belgian designers are very loyal to their ancestors. They have a lot of respect for their work and try to live and work further in the mind of those. They take over from father to son their skills and 
craftsmanship. That explains why there are a lot of companies in Belgium who are still ran by people of the 3rd, the 4th or even the 5th generation. So there is a treasure of experience among the Belgian craftsmen, designers and architects. Belgian Designers have an enormous respect for their history.

Belgian people in general are known as very hard working people. And they never stand still, they are always looking for innovations and renewal. Their work is their hobby. They deliver high-quality products. Belgian Design is not a” throw-away” design. Our designers love to work with natural, sincere materials. The designing is not “overdone”, it is rather simple and elegant without being ‘cold’. There is a “soul” in the work of our designers and craftsmen. The presence of the soul of our ancestors, I would say. All of this is translated into the Belgian design. Even nature is important in Belgian Design and is translated in the use of wood and natural fabrics. Belgian people love their homes and want to live in their homes and share it with family and friends. A Belgian is a “bon-vivant”, a pleasure lover. The designers have that in mind when creating an interior. Our designers and architects have an open mind, they love to learn, they are eager to learn, they are inquisitive.

J: Where do you find inspiration in your own design work? Do you use your own home as a sort of lab for design ideas?

G: There are a lot of inspiration sources to me. First of all I have a big collection of books , from the ones left from my father to the contemporary ones. I love magazines and reading about design. And I really love to visit castles and museums, studying the antique furniture and interiors, to get inspiration! To me this is one of the most important sources for inspiration. When we go on holidays,, I love to go to see castles, fairs, exhibitions, antiques markets,…in combination with of course the ”lazy” days. And the design fairs and exhibitions are also very important. And in fact , the working places in our company, are the lab for design ideas. There I discuss with my family ( my brother and my husband) together with our craftsmen the vision on a new design or the use of new patines or whatever. Also nature or fashion can be a source of inspiration to me.

J: Do you collect anything, and if so could you tell us something about your personal collections?

G: I am not a real collector of any particular piece of antiques or design. However a few years ago, I started to collect egg cups. I try to bring home an egg cup of every country we visit. I really like the design of it. Books, mostly about interior decoration and antiques, are my passion.

J: You have shared some great insights on Belgium with your readers on Belgian Pearls. If one of your readers was to visit Belgium for the first time, what would tell them to see or do?

G: Here are some of my favorites:

1° Brussels

1. The Atomium : is one of the most important landmarks. It was built for the 1958 Brussels World Fair. Is designed by the architect André Waterkeyn. It is a structure which represents a unit cell of an iron crystal. It was meant to last just for the Expo but its popularity resulted in it being made permanent. In one of the spheres is a restautant which offers you a magnificent view of Brussels.

2. Grote Markt : Central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guildhalls, the city’s Town Hall and the Breadhouse. It is together with the Atomium the most important landmark in Brussels.

3. Sablon Place : This location is a home to many antiques shops and art galleries.

4. Museum of Art and History : Important collection of art objects from different civilizations from all over the world.

2° Antwerp

1. Grote Markt : Not as big as the Grand Place of Brussels but certainly even beautiful. In the middle of the place stands the Brabo fountain, dated 1887 (refers to the legend of the origin of Antwerp) of the sculptor Jef Lambeaux.

2. Rubenshuis : The former house of our famous painter Pieter Paul Rubens (17th century) is now a museum with a wonderful collection of paintings by Rubens himself and by some of his contemporaries.

3. The Castle of ‘s Gravenwezel : Castle of our famous antiques dealer and designer Axel Vervoordt.

3° Ghent

1. Saint Bavo’s Cathedral : where you can discover the famous painting “The Mystic Lamb” of Hubert and Jan Van Eyck (15th century).

2. S.M.A.K. : Museum of Contemporary Art

4° Bruges

The historic centre of Bruges is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. Bruges is a canal-based city, and is often called “ The Venice of the North”.

J: Greet, it has been a great pleasure getting to know you this way. Thank you for sharing these insights to your world with us!
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You can visit Greet on her blog Belgian Pearls and her company website Lefèvre Interiors, where you can see many more examples of their cabinetry and furniture (all images below courtesy of http://www.lefevre.be/).

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Don't forget the contest...
enter for a chance to win "Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors".

Win 'Axel Vervoordt:Timeless Interiors'

Photo: Amazon.com

Today begins Axel Vervoordt's annual Winter Exhibition, or open house,  which runs Friday through Sunday, this weekend and next.  This is the first in a series of posts related to Axel Vervoordt that I will publish over the next ten days of the Winter Exhibition. I am giving readers and bloggers the chance to win a copy of 'Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors' by Armelle Baron (Author) and Christian Sarramon (photographer). Contest details appear at the end of this post. A description of the open house (below) comes from axel-vervoordt.com:

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The castle of ‘s-Gravenwezel, the private home of Axel and May Vervoordt, is like a permanently changing exhibition of wonderful furniture and objets d’art, from various periods and styles. During these two weekends, it is possible to visit all of the 50 rooms from the castle and its outbuildings, each of them different in ambiance and character. The post-industrial “Kanaal” with its 19th century red-brick brew houses and 20th century concrete silos display the pieces from the Axel Vervoordt Home Collection together with contemporary photography, unique archaeological pieces and some rare 20th century design furniture. Castle and Kanaal: Friday-Saturday and Sunday from 2 p.m. till 7 p.m. Entrance at the castle: 10 euro Free entrance at “Kanaal”

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While living in Belgium on a temporary assignment, I attended the open house at the castle two weekends in a row in 2007.  I had never been to the Antwerp area,  and it seemed as though my GPS was not exactly sure how to reach the castle. After righting a couple of wrong turns I passed a sign for the village of -s-Gravenwezel and found myself on a narrow road through a forest. I soon came upon a clearing that revealed the shapes and colors and spires that I already knew from the well worn pages of my favorite books at home, 'Axel Vervoordt: Story of a Style' and 'Axel Vevoordt: Timeless Interiors'. 

Photo: Axel-Vervoordt.com

Driving slowly up the tree-lined drive, I was directed to park in a field that seem to have a high concentration of Ranger Rovers. As I walked back from my car toward the castle entrance, I noticed small barn or run-in shed for horses near the back of the parking field, and recalled reading that Axel said rides every morning. Moments later, as I walked past the towering gates I could hear water flowing through the moat that encircles the castle. Looking across and seeing the castle in full view, I recalled the first time I saw a reference to it in the magazine article that introduced me to Axel Vervoordt some years before, and prepared to take in what I was about to behold.

Photo: Axel-Vervoordt.com

I stepped onto a cobblestone drive that led through a small corridor where I was directed to the entrance in the outer building. The first room contained a simple  desk, with several AV staffers standing behind it chatting with each other and some visitors. One of them gave me a ticket in exchange for the ten euros admission, and I took the few steps down to the reception area (above) where I felt the warmth of a slow burning oak fire. The room felt eerily familiar, as I had seen it in photographs a hundred times. I slowly made my way through the first series of rooms, pausing to take in every detail.

Photos: Axel-Vervoordt.com

This work room (above) had many "manquettes", some on the bookshelf and table top, others hanging on the walls. These miniature models of various components of buildings, mostly roof lines and spiral staircases, have for centuries been made by apprentice carpenters as a sort of final exam. Books, blueprints, and other paper artifacts from Axel Vervoordt were for sale in this room, and I purchased my copy of 'Artempo', the catalog from his first Venice exhibition, here.

Photo: Axel-Vervoordt.com

The majority of the rooms had fireplaces, and every one of them glowed with the warmth and aroma of burning wood. Each room was staffed by at least one Axel Vervoordt employee who kept an eye on the fire and answered questions about any of the objets d'art or furnishings in the room. Much of each room's content was for sale, the castle serving the dual role of home and showroom for the Vervoordts. With her inventory clipboard in hand, the staffer in this pine room (above) was happy to discuss the details of the room's construction, revealing for me its hidden compartments and doors.

Photo: Axel-Vervoordt.com

This kitchen (above), which normally serves as a staff lunch room, was set up with cider, coffee and wine to wash down scones or cookies arranged on silver trays.

Photo: Axel-Vervoordt.com

I sat on a long bench in the Orangerie having a glass of wine before walking out into the courtyard of the U-shaped outer building to follow the wide cobblestone path to main house, its windows aglow in the dim light of this Belgian winter afternoon.

Photo: here

I will post recollections of touring the main house in subsequent posts over the course of the open house dates. In the meantime, you can let Mr. Vervoordt himself show you around a room or two in this video from Belgian television (below), the last of the two part series that began in this post on Monday, courtesy of YouTube.com.

  

Win 'Timeless Interiors' Contest

I created this blog a year ago with almost no experience as blog reader, much less, blogger,  and gave up after two posts. At the time of this writing, the Garvinweasel blog has only been re-activated for about ten days and  I have already met so many great people here. It really started  up again with the Velvet & Linen  Brickmaker's Table contest. I have discovered many new sources of information and inspiration, and I'm making new friends in the process. To celebrate the re-birth of the Garvinweasel blog, and to say 'thank you' to everyone following or linking to it, I will give away a copy of 'Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors" from Amazon.com. Here's how to enter:

- If you have a blog, just add a link to Garvinweasel on your blog list. If you'd like to do a post to help promote the contest, even better, but not required for entry.

- If you are a reader, just sign up to follow Garvinweasel using Google FriendConnect

After doing one of the above, leave a comment here letting me know and you will have become a contestant. If you are already following, or already have a link to Garvinweasel on your blog, please leave a comment here along with my new friends so that I have a complete list for of all entrants in one place. The contest entry period will close at 6:00 PM Central Standard Time next Sunday evening, December 5, 2009. Later that night I will put all verified entries into a large hurricane glass (with candle removed) and ask Ms. XVI to shuffle them around and draw one name. I plan to take pictures for the post announcing the winner on Monday morning, December 6.

* Please note that in order to win, you must live in a country that Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk ships to directly. Delivery times are outside of my control, but if you are in the US or Canada you should have it in time for Christmas if you would like it for a gift to give. Outside the U.S or Canada, the winner would be responsible for any applicable duties and taxes. If other contest rules need to apply, I will post them as soon as I am aware of any need to revise. Best of luck!

Axel Vervoordt - Designer of the Year

According the Belgian on-line magazine Knack Weekend, British design house Andrew Martin has named Belgian art and antiques dealer Axel Vervoordt 'Designer of the Year'. I translated the Dutch from the article  using Babelfish followed with some light editing/translation of my own. The original article appears here.

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The internationally renowned antiquarian/decorator Axel Vervoordt is exclaimed by the already just as famous British decorating house Andrew Martin to stylist of the Year 2009. This London house not only creates fabrics and furniture for decorators around the world, but also developed its own line of furnishings and lighting. In the past years numerous famous decorators to receive the award include Kelly Hoppen and Michael Reeves. Vervoordt is not the first belgian to receive this recognition, which went to the late Jean de Meulder in 2000. The award will be presented on 26 November to the Vervoordt family. The emphasis lies on family, because the company of Axel and May Vervoordt is continued by their son Boris Vervoordt. The date for this presentation is designed to take place on the occasion of the annual open house days, next weekend, in the castle of s-Gravenwezel and the shop Kanaal, both on the outskirts of Antwerp.

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This international award is considered 'the Oscar of the Interior Design world', according to the Andrew Martin site, which contains photographs of past winners, including:

• Kelly Hoppen
• Thomas Pheasant
• Michael Reeves
• Stephen Falke
• Jean de Meuidier
• Amanda Rosa
• Jamie Drake
• Tera Bernerd
• Taylor Howes
• Helene Hennie
• Kit Kemp

The Vervoordt family (Axel, May, Boris, Dick) appear in a two part televsion interview (also in Dutch), courtesy of YouTube. Taped in the Oriental Salon on the second floor of the castle (for U.S. readers, first floor overseas), I enjoyed watching this even though I can understand only a few words here and there... words like 'Sting' and 'Madonna', two among a new generation of the exclusive and usually private AV clientele. The story began when Mr. Vervoordt made a handsome profit from his first sale of a painting,  purchased as a teenager while traveling to London with his father. Over the years he built his reputation and his business grew, eventually becoming the premier dealer and decorator among European aristocrats and global moguls, types who generally shy away from publicity. It is well known that Bill Gates has visited the Kasteel s-Gravenwezel to shop for antiques and art, and the Vervoordts' are rumoured to maintain an office in Seattle for the sole purpose of keeping the Gates' residence just right. You can see photographs of his work on one of the Royal residences of Belgium in the book Timeless Interiors.

Here is part one of the video interview. I will post part two on Friday, along with some notes on my recollection of visiting the castle's open house, and meeting Axel Vervoordt, in December 2007.

Fake Plastic Trees

A green plastic watering can
for a fake chinese rubber plant

in fake plastic earth...
Fake Plastic Trees, by Radiohead, from the album The Bends, 1995

 I came home this week with a load of laminate fake wood floor plank samples. Although the entry hall, small hall and dining room all have the original heart pine floors, the rest of the floors at Garvinweasel remind me of this mess we're in.

 Two rooms across the back of the original house were created from a porch, with the floor built at an angle to encourage water runoff. The conversion left the angle, creating rooms that felt like a carnival funhouse. Resisting the urge the install distortion mirrors and flashing lights, I decided instead to level the floors. My framing carpenter fabricated counter-angled mini-joists over the angled floor and attached an OSB subfloor, which has been begging for covering now for way too long.

 I also brought home some wide plank pine boards. I thought I could paint, stain or lime these, maybe different treatments for different rooms or sections of the house. I looked at poplar planks and thought they looked like Axel Vervoordt's style, my favorite. I did some google research on poplar and first found that it is rated too soft for floor use. Then I saw Axel Vervoordt's Venice apartment on Topsy Turvy Style, and read that he used poplar wide plank floors in the living room. I also found a source for reclaimed wood floors that stocks poplar, and another source for 'hardened, distressed' poplar flooring, so it's definitely under consideration. The fake plastic boards, however, are not.