Living Box, designed by Vincent Van Duysen: starting from a typically architectural project such as a building, a stage for concerts and conferences, or a monumental space, Vincent Van Duysen reduced its scale, transforming it into a household object with particular features and the possibility of new uses.
Living Box was conceived as an independent item of furniture, usable in any room of the house, but mainly suitable for the living room. Despite its reduced size, it retains the rigour and monumentality of the building it derives from, accentuating its details by means of quality materials. Living Box expands its repertoire with an enhanced storage solution: the introduction of sliding "Stripe" doors, similar to those found in Molteni&C Kitchen Dada Engineered kitchens. These doors, crafted with a wood frame and central glass, enclose the interior space, creating private sections while preserving the elegance of the design. Additionally, LED lighting can now be integrated into the vertical sides, producing a refined illumination effect that highlights the inner structure.
Low yet expansive (230, 280, 330, 380) Living Box is defined by contrasting materials that make up its exterior and interior. The top features marble and different woods, specially arranged to decorate the surface. The entire composition is enclosed within an iris and pewter frame, thread-like if seen from above, but forming a thick profile surrounding the inside space if seen from the front.
The top can be fitted and integrated with trunking, useful for facilitating connections of any kind between multimedia equipment, TVs, or lighting fixtures. The remaining space can be left free or used to display artistic or personal ornaments.
The inside space, recalling a "magical cave," features numerous surprises. The woods used, including Eucalyptus and the new Sunrise Oak finish, completely envelop and mark the perimeter. Sunrise Oak revisits a classic theme with a contemporary touch, offering warmth and tactile softness. This light-toned finish is skillfully achieved through expert craftsmanship, enhanced by irregular brushing—a time-honored process reinterpreted in a modern key.
Sunrise Oak is like the revisitation of a classic theme reinterpreted with a contemporary taste, without excluding accents of warmth and tactile softness. The new finish, featuring a very light shade skillfully achieved by our expert cabinet makers, is further enhanced by the particular way in which the wood is irregularly brushed according to a time-honoured process reinvented in a modern key.
Suffused lighting is provided by LEDs, and with vertical lighting option, the visual impact is further enriched. The interior space remains free and devoid of sharp corners, thanks to special curved corner-covers, allowing for flexible display options. If this scenographic solution does not fit the purpose, one or more sets of drawers with an iris and pewter or wood finish can be introduced. These drawers offer a discreet yet elegant storage solution, concealing useful items while maintaining a refined aesthetic.
The self-standing drawer sets can be positioned anywhere in the room, allowing for multiple configurations—small architectural elements within a larger shell. The system is completed with a technical Tape container designed to accommodate video and Hi-Fi equipment, seamlessly integrating functionality with aesthetics.
“Very architectural, Living Box is distinguished by its different use of materials and its refined details. Very present and graphic, it’s steeped in the tradition of Italian craftsmanship and it’s definitely a key piece in one’s living room. Many small details make the product one of a kind, for instance the combination of materials, the internal built-in lighting, and so on.”
Vincent Van Duysen
Vincent Van Duysen was born in 1962, in Lokeren, Belgium and graduated in architecture at the Higher Institute of Architecture Sint-Lucas, in Ghent. From 1986 to 1989 he worked in Milan and Brussels. He opened his own studio in Antwerp, in 1990 focusing on architecture and interior design. The relationship between interior design and architecture in his work is profound. Furnishings and accessories are designed with an architectural perspective that is not limited by form, but is expressed with a careful perception of interior space and its relationship to the exterior architecture. By interpreting architecture and redefining its proportions, Van Duysen creates objects of great purity and simplicity that still retain a concrete character and solid form.
complete biography
“Protection is something very important that we all need and that is something that I want to translate into my architectural and design work”
Vincent Van Duysen
Living Box
Technical Details
Technical drawings 2d (.jpg)
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