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The Courtray Design Biennale Interieur ( nl, Design Biënnale Interieur Kortrijk) is a major international
design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
exhibition that takes place once every two years (in even years) in the
Belgian city of
Courtray
Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders.
It is the capital and larges ...
(Kortrijk in Dutch). The first Interieur Design Biennale took place in 1968. The Biennale is organised by the Biennale Interieur npo. During the fair, producers and designers present their innovating interior products to a broad cultural, commercial and professional audience. Over the years, the fair has introduced a number of side activities such as the YoungDesignersFair, Design at Work, Exterieur, lectures and debates.
History
The first Design
Biennale
Biennale (), Italian for "biennial" or "every other year", is any event that happens every two years. It is most commonly used within the art world to describe large-scale international contemporary art exhibitions. As such the term was popularis ...
was held in 1968. The event took place in the 'Halls of Kortrijk', a new exhibition complex near the
E17 highway. The event became more and more international during the following decades, and so it became one of the most important
design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
biennales
Biennale (), Italian for "biennial" or "every other year", is any event that happens every two years. It is most commonly used within the art world to describe large-scale international contemporary art exhibitions. As such the term was popularis ...
in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
with international acclaim.
At the 2012 Design Biennale, the exhibition space came to the city centre for the first time. During this Biennale, not only the halls in
Kortrijk Xpo, but also the brand new Arts Centre in the Buda Factory were used to exhibit new design. A shuttle service connected both exhibition spaces.
The Biennale ventured even more in the heart of the city in 2014 with sublime locations such as the Buda Factory, the Buda Tower, the Broelmuseum and the
Broeltowers
The Broel Towers ( nl, Broeltorens) are a listed monument and a landmark in the Belgian city of Kortrijk (''Courtrai''). The towers are known as one of the most important symbols of the city.
History
Although they look identical, the towers w ...
.
In 2016, Interieur will be centred around
Kortrijk Xpo and the site of the
Vlasmuseum in the heart of Kortrijk.
Format
The aim of the Biennale Interieur npo is to promote creativity in product development and design, through the means of a major international Biennale, which offers an overview of the most recent developments and the most successful projects in product development and design.
The 2012 fair will, for the first time in its history, take place both at the Expo halls and in the city centre, where activities are planned in the Buda Design Factory.
Guests of Honour
World famous design personalities have been invited as guest of honour:
*1968: Simon Mari Pruys (NL)
*1970:
Raymond Loewy
Raymond Loewy ( , ; November 5, 1893 – July 14, 1986) was a French-born American industrial designer who achieved fame for the magnitude of his design efforts across a variety of industries. He was recognized for this by ''Time'' magazi ...
(VS)
*1972:
Gio Ponti (IT)
*1974:
Verner Panton (DK/CH)
*1976: Gillo Dorfles (IT)
*1978:
Philip Rosenthal
Philip Rosenthal (born January 27, 1960) is an American television writer and producer who is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the CBS sitcom ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' (1996–2005). In recent years, he has presented food and tr ...
(DE)
*1980:
Jean Prouvé
Jean Prouvé (8 April 1901 – 23 March 1984) was a French metal worker, self-taught architect and designer. Le Corbusier designated Prouvé a constructeur, blending architecture and engineering. Prouvé's main achievement was transferring man ...
(FR)
*1982:
Alessandro Mendini
Alessandro Mendini (16 August 1931 – 18 February 2019) was an Italian designer and architect. He played an important part in the development of Italian, Postmodern, and Radical design. He also worked, aside from his artistic career, for ''C ...
(IT)
*1984:
Herman Liebaers
Herman Liebaers (February 1, 1919 in Tienen, Belgium – November 9, 2010 in Jette, Brussels) was a Belgian linguist. He was director general of the central Belgian Royal Library and ''Marshal of the Royal Household'' of the Royal Court of B ...
(BE)
*1986:
Philippe Starck
Philippe Starck (; born 18 January 1949) is a French industrial architect and designer known for his wide range of designs, including interior design, architecture, household objects, furniture, boats and other vehicles.
Life
Starck was born on ...
(FR)
*1988:
Geert Bekaert
Geert Bekaert (1928–2016) was a Belgian architectural critic and writer on art and design. He was one of the most prolific non-fiction writers in the Dutch language of the late 20th-century. As a young man he was for some years a member of the ...
(BE)
*1990:
Andrea Branzi (IT)
*1992:
Dieter Rams
Dieter Rams (born 20 May 1932) is a German industrial designer and retired academic who is closely associated with the consumer products company Braun, the furniture company Vitsœ, and the functionalist school of industrial design. His unobtr ...
(DE)
*1994:
Jasper Morrison
Jasper Morrison (born 1959) is an English product and furniture designer. He is know for the refinement and apparent simplicity of his designs. In a rare interview with the designer, he is quoted as saying: "Objects should never shout".
Ear ...
(UK)
*1996:
Jean Nouvel (FR)
*1998: Rolf Fehlbaum (CH)
*2000: Konstantin Grcic (DE)
*2002:
Michael Young (UK)
*2004:
James Irvine (UK) &
Kirsti Paakkanen
Kirsti Paakkanen ( Poikonen; 12 February 1929 — 2 November 2021) was a Finnish entrepreneur and business executive.
Career
Paakkanen studied advertising, and worked for many years in the marketing departments of Finnish retail companies incl ...
(FI)
*2006: Alfredo Häberli (CH/ARG)
*2008: Jaime Hayon (ES)
*2010:
Jun'ya Ishigami
(born 1974 in Kanagawa prefecture) is a Japanese architect.
He acquired his master's degree in architecture and planning at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 2000. Ishigami worked with Kazuyo Sejima from 2000 to 2004 at SANAA, ...
(JP)
*2012: Nendo (Japan), Troika (UK),
Studio Makkink & Bey Makkink & Bey is an architecture and design practice based in Rotterdam and also in the Noordoostpolder. The studio, founded in 2002, is led by architect Rianne Makkink and designer Jurgen Bey, and works in various domains of applied arts including ...
(NL),
David Bowen (US),
Ross Lovegrove
Ross Lovegrove (born 1958 in Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh artist and industrial designer.
Biography
Ross Lovegrove was born in Wales in 1958. He studied at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University), graduating with a Fi ...
(UK),
Greg Lynn
Greg Lynn (born 1964) is an American architect, founder and owner of the Greg Lynn FORM office, an o. University Professor in the Institute of Architecture at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and a professor at the UCLA School of the Arts a ...
(VS) and Muller Van Severen (BE).
*2014: Joseph Grima (GB)
*2016: Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen (BE)
Designer of the year award
This ''Designer of the year award'' is awarded by the Biennale Interieur npo in cooperation with style magazines
Knack
Knack or The Knack may refer to:
Music and entertainment
* The Knack, an American pop-rock band famous for their hit "My Sharona"
* The Knack (1960s US band), an American garage rock band active in the 1960s
* The Knack (UK band), a British freakb ...
and
Le Vif Weekend. This award is supported by the ''
Design Museum Gent
Design Museum Gent is a museum in Belgium with an international design collection. The museum complex is located in the tourist centre of Ghent and comprises an 18th-century mansion and a modern wing. The museum holds a collection of Belgian desig ...
'' and ''
Grand-Hornu
Grand-Hornu is an old industrial coal mining complex and company town (''cité ouvrière'') in Hornu (Boussu), near Mons, in Belgium. It was built by Henri De Gorge between 1810 and 1830. It is a unique example of functional town-planning. Tod ...
Images''.
*2006
Alain Berteau Alain may refer to:
People
* Alain (given name), common given name, including list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Alain (surname)
* "Alain", a pseudonym for cartoonist Daniel Brustlein
* Alain, a standard author abbreviation u ...
*2007
Nedda El-Asmar
*2008
Stefan Schönin
*2009
Sylvain Willenz
*2010
Bram Boo (
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
)
*2011
Nathalie Dewez
Nathalie is a female given name. It is a variant of the name Natalie/ Natalia which is found in many languages, and is especially common in French and English speaking countries.
Notable people with the name include:
* Nathalie, Italian singer
* ...
(Belgium)
*2012
Alain Gilles (Belgium)
*2013
Jean-François D'Or
Jean-François is a French given name. Notable people bearing the given name include:
* Jean-François Carenco (born 1952), French politician
* Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832), French Egyptologist
* Jean-François Clervoy (born 1958), Fre ...
(Belgium)
*2014
Marina Bautier (Belgium)
*2015
Muller Van Severen (Belgium)
References
External links
Official Interieur website
{{List of Biennales
Belgian contemporary art
Design events
Art biennials
Culture in Kortrijk
Recurring events established in 1968
Tourist attractions in West Flanders
1968 establishments in Belgium