Getting you through the world: Design September 2013

The fine arts are a known quantity in Brussels, home to dozens of internationally recognised museums and galleries. What you might not know is that the capital is also a hotbed of the functional arts: architecture, furniture, textiles and industrial design.

Although less glamorous, designers are far more influential in our lives than their high-art counterparts. Good art might have an effect on us, but good design helps us get on in the world long after we leave the museum.

Design September is a great opportunity to learn more about these unsung heroes of modern life. The seventh edition of the annual month-long festival features exhibitions, lectures, pop-up shops and open houses in every corner of the capital. In all, 120 events are on the programme.

The guest of honour is Jean-François D'Or, the 38-year-old Bruxellois who was named 2013’s Belgian Designer of the Year. The La Cambre alumnus launched his own industrial design label, Loudordesign, in 2003. His signature is logical, unfussy form. D’Or’s designs are straightforward from a manufacturing perspective and blissfully functional on the consumption end.

Brussels’ Mode and Design Centre (MAD) curates the special four-part exhibition MAD(e) in Brussels. All month long, the self-sufficient manufacturing collective C-Fabriek, industrial consultancy Triaxes, the textile department at La Cambre and students from Lausanne’s ECAL University of Art and Design engage in an artistic and professional dialogue that covers all aspects of design, from concept to finished product and beyond.

Another highlight is the SOFT! exhibition, presented for two weeks in the Anderlecht headquarters of Belgium’s textile, wood and furniture union Fedustria. Ten young textile designers, each specialising in a different aspect of the medium, show off their work. You’ll see innovations in wall covering, carpeting, weaving, knitwear and patterns.

Several brands and artists open their doors to give the public a glimpse of how design is done. Studio Oilinwater and graphic designer Svetlana Tchertykovtseva go one step further, inviting you to participate in a paper marbling workshop in their penthouse digs over Brussels’ city centre. Shoe designer Célineroselou (a La Cambre grad like D’Or) also invites you into her Saint-Gilles studio, where she crafts all her footwear by hand. The ceramicists at alternative porcelain workshop Porcepolis, meanwhile, show you how they push the boundaries of their medium.

Design isn’t just for grown-ups either. Webshop Kids Design is setting up a pop-up store in the trendy Delicatessen boutique for the entire month. Here parents can buy furniture, toys and decoration made with children in mind. These pieces, which bear global brands, are safe and durable yet playful enough to appeal to the imagination.

Lots of international partners are on hand to show off their wares during Design September. Hong Kong designers present at the Egg, Polish poster artists exhibit at Bozar, and a Portuguese team colonises the narrow, ancient streets of the Marolles district. Hungary, Spain, Britain and the Czech Republic are also represented.

September 5-30, across Brussels; www.designseptember.be

This article was originally published in Flanders Today