Vincent Van Duysen's Antwerp home

There are those moments in life when we have to unwind and recharge our batteries. For some, it is enough to relax with a cup of coffee and a good book while others may need a session of yoga or meditation, a walk in nature, or even a vacation in a faraway place. For me, the same applies to interior design. Every time I have spent a certain amount of time viewing grand and/or colourful interiors with many decorative objects there comes this moment when I feel the need to take a step back. That is when I turn to what I call the yogis or zen masters of interior design, guys like Axel Vervoodt and Vincent Van Duysen, and I view their projects that consist of clean lines and natural materials. When I have had my share of almost bare homes, and am ready for more decorative objects, I browse through some works by, for example, Thomas O'Brien and Alexandra and Michael Misczynski of Atelier AM.

This week I need to do some 'interior design yoga' and I'm starting with the aforementioned Vincent Van Duysen, a Belgian architect. His Antwerp home is perhaps familiar to some, as it has been featured in many publications. I once gave you a peek into the living room, which has a striped, hand-woven Iranian rug.

In the living room: a deep Axel Vervoordt sofa and a Pierre Jeanneret chair

These first five images appeared in T Magazine last year when the architect was interviewed about his home. It's an interesting read, especially when he talks about buying the 19th-century building and the lawyer saying: "There is one catch … there is a hermit living in the attic." Please read the interview if you want to know what happened to the hermit and to view more images.

Two custom-made Atelier de Saint-Paul tables, designed by Vincent Van Duysen himself.
The artwork is by Tadashi Kawamata

A 1940s staircase and Gaston, one of Van Duysen’s two dachshunds

In the kitchen: a La Cornue cooker, a custom-made table and Chinese farmer’s chairs

The image of the bedroom in T Magazine only showed a framed photo above the bed so I decided to include in my post this one by photographer Martyn Thompson. I think it appears in the book Vincent Van Duysen: Complete Works by Ilse Crawford and Marc Dubois, but it could also be from Thompson's book Interiors.

Here are a few photos from an old feature in Vogue Living that show another angle of Van Duysen's home:

photo credit:
1-5: David Spero for T Magazine | 6: Martyn Thompson via Vincent Van Duysen Architects | 7-9: Manolo Yllera for Vogue Living, July/August 2009 via Yellowtrace