作为在法国里尔大都会举行的为期一年的“世界设计之都2020年计划”的一部分，比利时二人组Fien Muller和Hannes Van Severen在Croix郊区里尔的现代主义别墅Villa Cavrois展示了他们的标志性家具设计。 。
这座别墅是建筑师罗伯特·马莱特·史蒂文斯（Robert Mallet-Stevens）的开创性作品，于1929年至1932年之间为纺织实业家保罗·卡夫鲁瓦（Paul Cavrois）及其家人建造。负责别墅近期修复工作的Paul-HervéParsy解释说：“空间组织基于18世纪的概念。” “现代性与古典主义之间的这种矛盾使这座独特的城堡成为建筑大师的杰出典范。”建筑物的黄色砖砌外墙，几何形状和开放式瓷砖内饰产生了坚定不移的现代特征，在构思之初便广受欢迎，但如今已被标记为建筑宣言。
展览中每件名为“设计！ Villa Cavrois的Muller Van Severen位于城堡的不同房间中-一系列家具和物品，其中一些是专门为此次活动而设计的，旨在反映出豪宅的现代建筑。这对夫妇说：“在这个项目中，时间变得无关紧要，因为我们想创造一种诗意的感觉，即我们的物体可能与建筑物同时出没。” “因此，以同样的方式，建筑物本身感觉非常现代。”他们的家具重新诠释了传统设计及其功能：独特造型的“ Duo Seat + Lamp”（雕刻座椅）由钢制框架雕刻而成，带有两个相对的天然皮革座椅和头顶拱形灯，鼓励两个人坐在一个另一个没有并排坐着。同样，“ Sofa Cavrois”是一个绿色的弯曲的两人座休息室，悬挂在四个黄铜腿上，“敦促人们真正坐在一起而又不能完全坐在彼此的空间中。”
As part of the year-long World Design Capital 2020 program at Lille Metropole in France, the Belgian duo Fien Muller and Hannes Van Severen has presented a selection of their iconic furniture designs in the Villa Cavrois, a Modernist château in the Lille suburb of Croix.
The villa is the seminal work of architect Robert Mallet-Stevens and was built between 1929 and 1932 for the textile industrialist Paul Cavrois and his family. “The spatial organisation is based on an 18th century conception,” explains Paul-Hervé Parsy, who oversaw the villa’s recent restoration. “This contradiction between modernity and classicism makes this unique castle an exceptional example of architectural chef-d’oeuvre.” The building’s yellow-colored brick cladding, geometric forms, and open-plan tiled interior resulted in a steadfast modern character that was wildly unpopular at the time of its conception, yet today is labelled as an architectural manifesto.
Each piece that is present in the exhibition, entitled ‘Design! Muller Van Severen at Villa Cavrois’, is set up in different rooms of the castle—a series of furniture and objects, some created especially for the event, were designed to reflect the modern architecture of the mansion. “Time becomes irrelevant in this project, as we wanted to create the poetic feeling that our objects could originate from the same time as the building,” explains a statement from the pair. “So in the same way, the building itself feels very contemporary.” Their furniture pieces reinvent traditional designs and their functions: the uniquely-shaped ‘Duo Seat + Lamp’, a sculpted piece made from a steel frame with two opposing seats in natural leather and an arched lamp overhead, encourages two people to sit close to one another without actually sitting side by side. Not dissimilarly, the ‘Sofa Cavrois’, a green curving two-seater lounge hoisted on four brass legs, “urges people to sit really close together without being entirely in each other’s space.”
Design: Muller Van Severen
Photography: Muller Van Severen