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Inside the Expo: Biennale Interieur

A not-for-profit organization, the Biennale Interieur in Belgium was founded in 1968 to promote good design. The Expo at Kortrijk Exhibition Centre caters for the commercial side of the event, while more cultural events take place around the city. I got started at the Expo and the first thing I spotted was this colorful, modular storage unit by Koenraad Ruys for Moca, which we’ve featured before.

Biënnale Interieur Kortrijk Expo

I’m a big fan of Utopia & Utility, so it was great to see product designer, Pia Wustenberg there with new products for the show.

Biënnale Interieur Kortrijk Expo

I loved these seemingly amorphous handblown Bubble lamps by Alex de Witte for Belgian brand Dark.

Biënnale Interieur Kortrijk Expo

A showcase of previous Biennale Interieur Designers of the Year included Mate by Bram Boo for Bulo, a series of desks with bold geometric privacy screens.

Biënnale Interieur Kortrijk Expo

Another previous Designer of the Year, Stefan Schoning was showing a room screen – Wand for Bosq.

Biënnale Interieur Kortrijk Expo

French design brand La Chance were showing a really exciting selection of work, including Salute by Sebastian Herkner

Biënnale Interieur Kortrijk Expo

…and Bolt by Swedish design collective Note Design Studio.

Biënnale Interieur Kortrijk Expo

TwoTowel design by Anieke Branderhorst for Netherlands-based Vij5 is a new kitchen product – half tea-towel and half hand towel. Ingenious!

Biënnale Interieur Kortrijk Expo

Also for Vij5, I loved the mint green Dashed Light by Leon Lange.

Biënnale Interieur Kortrijk Expo

Belgium-based Serax, run by brothers Axel and Serge Van den Bossche, was another discovery. The brand works with designers who usually create limited edition or handcrafted pieces and make them available to a wider audience at a more affordable price. This piece is by Niels Datema.

Katie Treggiden is a purpose-driven journalist, author and, podcaster championing a circular approach to design – because Planet Earth needs better stories. She is also the founder and director of Making Design Circular, a program and membership community for designer-makers who want to join the circular economy. With 20 years' experience in the creative industries, she regularly contributes to publications such as The Guardian, Crafts Magazine and Monocle24 – as well as being Editor at Large for Design Milk. She is currently exploring the question ‘can craft save the world?’ through an emerging body of work that includes her fifth book, Wasted: When Trash Becomes Treasure (Ludion, 2020), and a podcast, Circular with Katie Treggiden.