Minimalist interior by Vincent van Duysen

A Belgian minimalist architect has converted an old farm in Flanders into a residential building. Preserving the architecture of the building characteristic of these places, he designed the interiors in a radical modern spirit

Vincent van Duysen rebuilt the former farm building. During the reconstruction, the architect glazed fragments of the exterior walls and embedded additional dormer windows* into the roof to illuminate the bedrooms.

Photo

Juan Rodriguez, Didier Delmas

Simplicity of lines, restraint, moderation, traditional materials, modern reading. It was these principles that formed the basis of the project of the famous minimalist architect Vincent van Duysen, who was commissioned by a family with two children to turn an old farm into a dwelling. "Before my eyes appeared a typical complex of rural buildings for West Flanders, consisting of a residential building, two large haylofts and three small outbuildings," Vincent recalls. — From the point of view of architecture, the buildings were nothing special. They were devoid of any individuality and features of the time, but at the same time they fit perfectly into the landscape. The buildings looked like a natural continuation of the harsh landscape with flat green expanses." The architect preserved the external volume of the buildings, filling them with a new function and completely changing the interiors.

Photo

Juan Rodriguez, Didier Delmas

Dining room. The oak plank floor is perfectly combined with a carpet made of vegetable fibers. Vincent van Duysen is downstairs.

Photo

Juan Rodriguez, Didier Delmas

"I wanted to give a new sound to traditional rural architecture and create a dwelling full of meaningful contrasts, inscribed in tradition and at the same time going beyond it," he says. The contrasts that van Duysen is talking about are not striking. You notice them gradually. Facades made of brick covered with a thick layer of clay, as is customary in these parts, are crowned with a gable roof — a tradition in its purest form. However, upon closer examination, you highlight the features of modernity. Dormer windows are made in the roof. Large fragments of the exterior walls have been replaced with panoramic glazing, thanks to which the house is viewed through and through, gaining an even closer connection with nature. The red tone of the tiles is enhanced by bright red entrance doors. These "rectangles of pure color", as the architect calls them, are painted in the shade of bull's blood, which local farmers traditionally used to decorate doors and shutters.

Kitchen. The vertical volume of the room emphasizes the lamp in the form of a giant black bracket hanging over the kitchen "island". The furniture is made to order.

Photo

Juan Rodriguez, Didier Delmas

The living room with panoramic windows, which appeared in place of a blank wall, opens onto the courtyard. The wall is covered with wooden panels with doors, behind which the cabinets and the chimney of the built-in fireplace are hidden. At the back on the left is the passage to the kitchen.

Photo

Juan Rodriguez, Didier Delmas

As a result of the reconstruction, the outbuildings turned into a full-fledged residential building. In the main building on the ground floor there is an entrance hall, a living room and a kitchen. On the second floor there are bedrooms. The former granaries, standing on the sides of the main house and closing the contour of the courtyard, now occupies a swimming pool, a space for holidays, a garage, a service room. The powerful brickwork reminds of the past, while the zoning and furnishing of the rooms are very modern. "Large glazed openings create the possibility of dialogue, a changeable and fascinating game with perspective," says the architect. Laconic built-in furniture with facades made of wide oak boards is made to order. Van Duysen deliberately avoids unnecessary details: he makes cabinet doors mostly smooth, and uses bare light bulbs without lampshades and lampshades for lighting. Above the kitchen "island", wanting to emphasize the height of the room, he placed a lamp in the form of a giant bracket.

A relaxation area has appeared in a two-light room next to the kitchen.

Photo

Juan Rodriguez, Didier Delmas

The swimming pool is equipped in a former granary to the left of the house. Nearby there is a space for celebrations.

Photo

Juan Rodriguez, Didier Delmas

The floors are lined with wood or aged basalt and complemented with carpets made of vegetable fibers. The furnishings are distinguished by clean, simple lines — beyond fashion and time, but thanks to the wood, clay, leather and stone finishes, they are very pleasant to the touch. Natural materials are another important principle in the work of an architect. "They add warmth to the interior, include it in the context of a centuries—old history in which man and nature are called to live in an inseparable bond," Vincent van Duysen is sure.

The entrance hall is a glazed atrium. Panoramic windows can be closed with wooden blinds.

Photo

Juan Rodriguez, Didier Delmas

Modigliani Ruben
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