Located close to the French border, one Belgian city has become a biannual fixture on the calendar for those who work with interior space. Since its foundation in 1968, Kortrijk's (Courtrai in French) Biennale Interieur has been at the beating heart of interior-innovation, curated by leading figures such as Philippe Starck, Gio Ponti, and Verner Panton.
This year, for the Biennale's 25th anniversary, Kersten Geers and David Van Severen (Office KGDVS)—a practice with strong roots in the city itself—have been invited to make their mark on the exhibition's architectural and artistic programme. Their take on the show, entitled Silver Linings, marks a shift from the presentation of objects to the creation of full scale, complete interiors.
We look at INTERIORS in the broader sense: from our everyday living rooms to high-tech environments, to art installations and complete interiors. We want to offer a catalogue of the hypothetical world. The silver edition of the Biennale Interieur seems like the perfect place to realise that ambition. With INTERIORS we want to investigate and explore ‘inhabited’ space – in the form of a rich collection of interpretations that not only focuses on objects, but strives for a complete spatial experience.
In 2009 Office KGDVS master planned the Biennale's home – the Kortrijk Xpo exhibition halls. Based on a grid of 5.7 meters, they added a grand loggia encircling the existing site and constructed new office space. The structural grid has become the modular framework for this year's Biennale; their ambition is to develop the whole of the show's setting into a "city" within the city – an urban indoor and outdoor space in which design, art, and architecture meet.
