Maarten Van Severen

 
Portrait of Maarten Van Severen Maarten Van Severen (* 1956 in Antwerp, Belgium; † 2005 in Ghent, Belgium), studied architecture at the Sint-Lucas Art Academy in Ghent, Belgium. He designed his first furniture pieces in 1986 and in the following year established an independent workshop, where he pursued the limited, semi-industrial production of his own furniture designs. This unified process of design and production was a fundamental aspect of his work over a long period of time, in which he devoted himself to the examination of basic furniture types: chair, table, chaise longue, shelving, cabinet. He developed primary solutions for these categories based on a comprehensive exploration of the questions of form, material and construction. Beginning in 1990, Maarten Van Severen began to collaborate closely with Rem Koolhaas and also turned his attention to interior design tasks. During this period he also assumed teaching positions at a variety of institutions, including University College West Flanders in Kortrijk (1996), the Academy of Fine Arts in Maastricht (1996-97), Delft University of Technology (1998) and universities in Helsinki and Barcelona. The beginning of his collaboration with Vitra in 1996 marked a new phase in his career, not least because It offered him the opportunity to work with new materials and production processes. The most important and successful piece from Van Severen's time with Vitra is his chair .03. Additionally, Van Severen's work with Vitra brought him more exposure and lead to collaborations with other important producers, for example his lounger LCP for Kartell. His relationship with Vitra remained, however, the most important and Van Severn's last designs for the company, including Kast and .07, were presented in Milan two months after his untimely death.

.03
.04
.05
MVS Chaise
A-Table
.06
LCP

More about 'Maarten Van Severen' in our blog

Vitra Design Museum Workshop: Part 1 - The Idea, 29.06.2010

...it as "reduced" as possible. And it was this question that was to dominate the development phase....



Vitra Design Museum: The Essence of Things. Design and the Art of Reduction, 28.06.2010

...or through reducing the exterior measurements. One particular example that occurs to us being Maarten van Severen's' .03 with its integrated compound spring supports...Museum runs until September 19th 2010. More details can be found at http://www.design-museum.de...



2010 Designer Furniture World Cup:Italy 0-Belgium 0, 24.06.2010

...little headway, and the match ended 0:0The Group A table and all Group A results can be found here....



2010 Designer Furniture World Cup: Switzerland 0 - Belgium 0, 11.06.2010

...this encounter was never going to be as extravagant as the opening' match, Fritz Haller and Maarten Van Severen fought a tense, minimalist battle in Durban. Fritz Haller's...and his trademark mini, midi, maxi' approach ensured a typically solid Fritz Haller performance. Maarten Van Severen's occasional forays were always very well considered' and...



(smow)air: Airport Design, Passenger Terminal EXPO 2010 with USM Haller and Vitra, 16.03.2010

...provide a range of elegant public seating solutions from Eames plastic chairs, over designs from Maarten van Severen and on to the dedicated "Airline" range by Sir Norman Foster....and you can read our reports from the 2010 Passenger Terminal EXPO here in the (smow)blog....



VitraHaus: Jongerius, Panton, Eames: The rejected colour schemes, 23.02.2010

...owing to the number of Bouroullec items that are on display inside the VitraHaus. Belgian designer Maarten van Severen is one of the real "in house" favourites at Vitra, and a man...to one of the true legends of Belgian design a colour scheme was created that paid homage to Maarten van Severen's Kast shelving unit. The cooperation between Vitra and...



VitraHaus by Herzog & de Meuron: Images, 20.02.2010

...with us, please email them to blog@smow.de Full credit will naturally be given for any photos used....



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