Each week, Kristen de La Vallière, design curator, editor and founder of say hi to_, asks three questions to our participants. Today Kristen talks with Belgian collective BRUT.

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Kristen de la Vallière: There has been a lot of focus on the negative aspects of the circumstances of the past year but we'd love to know how it has positively impacted your practice. How has the past year changed the way you view or run your design practice?

BRUT: As a result of a year of increased co-creation and introspection, challenged by the current situation yet all the more in line with its philosophy and ambitions, BRUT took new steps that will allow the collective to position itself even more vitally as a shared design practice and to formulate promising opportunities for future, client-oriented collaborations.

This leads to the introduction of BRUT Depot. A new space for permanent presentation and encounter, it’s situated within the Haptic House in Antwerp and offers the possibility to continuously visualise and access BRUT creations. In the BRUT Depot, we continue to pursue our dedication to materiality, monumentality and interpersonal relationships.

“In the BRUT Depot, we continue to pursue our dedication to materiality, monumentality and interpersonal relationships.”

KdlV: What do you think are some of the most important roles of a designer in 2021?

B: To reflect on the situation, accept the new challenges and adapt parts of the practice to cope with the changes we all face. To not stand still with the current situation but evolve with it and give thought to how to implement changes that in the long run are a positive turn for the running of a designers’ practice, such as exploring alternatives to reach your audience…

KdlV: How are events such as COLLECTIBLE, important for your creative practice?

B: Very important. 

As we hope there will be soon a more favorable climate to showcase physically, COLLECTIBLE continues to offer an interesting platform to show BRUT’s new collection to a large audience. 

At this point we have created our third edition which - as a shared and co-created context - should be seen as both a continuum of the convergence of the individual design practices and as a renewed positioning. For although this third edition is primarily a design statement in its own right, it also represents the further development of the possibilities and perspectives of the collective. Only a few events and fairs worldwide have focused on the niche field of collectible design. It is valuable, and we believe the interest of these collectors will only grow in the coming years.

About BRUT (Belgium)

BRUT is a collective of emerging Belgian designers (Charlotte Jonckheere, Linde Freya Tangelder, Nel Verbeke, Ben Storms, and Bram Vanderbeke) with a dedicated attention for the architectural, sculptural, and emotional potential of design. In close collaboration, they conceive and shape unique, sensitive and conceptual scenographies which contain and emphasise the individual works, while simultaneously  presenting collectively designed functional objects and structures.