Architecture

Pureness and a Poetic Dimension: Vincent Van Duysen’s Book List

By Steve Kroeter June 11, 2013

Vincent Van Duysen

Architect Vincent Van Duysen: Vincent Van Duysen Architects (Antwerp, Belgium)

“I like to surround myself with books, not only in my library but also in the bedroom, living room, and kitchen. In most spaces in my home you will find books. This allows me to pick up a book at any moment, at any place,” remarks Belgian architect and interior designer Vincent Van Duysen. He continues, “Through reading books I am able to enter another’s world while being inspired in a poetic way.”

Recognized for his elegant, minimalist residential and commercial spaces in locations ranging from the Belgium and the Netherlands to New York, as well as for his furniture and decorative objects, Van Duysen sent us a book list that highlights various sources of inspiration. The list also speaks to many of the characteristics of his own designs: an attention to formal details, and to the essence—the poetry—and texture of materials.

Van Duysen (along with recent book list contributor Michael Maharam) cites Donald Judd: Furniture, the catalogue of a 1993 exhibition of the artist’s furniture designs in Rotterdam, commenting: “I have never read about an artist who materialized the link between art and architecture in such a pure way as Donald Judd. I especially like his clean way of working and simple compositions using industrial materials.” Another of Van Duysen's selections is Jean-Michel Frank (also on Alexa Hampton’s book list), written by Frank’s studio assistant, Adolphe Chanaux. About this Parisian master of Art Deco interiors and furnishings, Van Duysen comments: “He worked very well with luxury and natural materials. I love the pureness of his designs, which are timeless.”

Vincent Van Duysen, interior detail of Residence B, Zwevegem, Belgium, 2010. Photo: Stijn Rolies

A book on Iwao Yamawaki, the Japanese photographer of the Bauhaus era whose images often explore the connection between human beings and architectural spaces, is also on Van Duysen’s book list. And Van Duysen’s “passion for Swiss minimalist architecture,” an architecture that he describes as “a tribute to craftsmanship and to life,” leads him to include Peter Zumthor Works: Buildings and Projects 1979–1997 (on Juergen Riehm’s book list as well). “Zumthor pays a lot of attention to the quality of space through volumes, materials, and textures and their composition,” says Van Duysen.” His work has a poetic dimension.”

Vincent Van Duysen’s work is the subject of two monographs. The first, Vincent Van Duysen, was published in 2001 by Gustavo Gili; the second, Vincent Van Duysen: Complete Works, was released in 2010 by Thames & Hudson.

View Vincent Van Duysen’s Profile

View Vincent Van Duysen’s Book List

See more architects’ blog posts and book lists

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