INTERIEUR 2012: BIENNALE IN THE CITY, CITY IN THE BIENNALE

The programme: DesignCity

The 23rd Biennale INTERIEUR 2012 will bring change and at the same time reinforce its connections with the avant-garde spirit of its creative roots. This year the Biennale breaks through the walls of the Xpo fairground and expands into the Buda Island in the city centre of Kortrijk, offering a selection of 300 carefully picked international exhibitors and an inspired cultural programme with exhibitions, 'Future Primitives' installations, custom-designed bars and a pop-up restaurant to name a few. The halls of the Xpo fairground as well as the new city locations will merge into one DesignCity with a continuum of lanes, diagonals, piazzas and unexpected places where installations, actions and encounters unfold. As curator Lowie Vermeersch explains: “A Biennale in the city, a city in the Biennale”.

'Future Primitives'

With a fresh curatorial direction, instead of having one guest of honour, Interieur now hosts seven specially commissioned Project Rooms by the following groundbreaking designers, artists and architects: Nendo (JP), Troika (UK), Makkink & Bey (NL), David Bowen (US), Ross Lovegrove (UK), Greg Lynn (US) and Muller Van Severen (BE). These design installations are linked by the theme 'Future Primitives' and will offer different investigations of which essential elements will play a role in our future living environment. The 60 m2 installations will be placed at piazzas created at various locations within the Biennale and together they function as places for inspiration and confrontation, for meeting people, to eat and drink. Taken together, the project rooms and piazzas represent the essence of the Biennale INTERIEUR 2012 – conviviality, innovation and diversity.

New locations

For the first time in its history, Interieur will also be present on the Buda Island, the cultural hart of the city of Kortrijk. On the Buda Island the main focus will be on the Buda Tower and the newly remodeled Buda Factory. The Buda Tower will house pop-up presentations by top brands such as Established and Sons (UK), Hay (DK) and Piet Hein Eek (NL) and an exhibition by Alessi called (UN)forbidden. The Buda Factory will present the international avant-garde within today's design scene.

The Interieur Bistro, located on the 1st floor of the Buda Factory, will be a hybrid between a restaurant and a design exhibition, where visitors can pick their favourite seat out of 200 displayed chairs and meet and mingle with design-minded souls day and night. For the concept behind the Interieur Bistro, Interieur has teamed up with DesignMarketo (UK) who will also be promoting the theme 'Freshly Cut'.

Ventura Interieur

Interieur is also proud to be present Ventura Interieur. This is a new partnership with Organisation in Design (NL), the team behind the successful Ventura Lambrate design district in Milan, which is devoted to emerging talent, interesting design happenings and events during the annual Salone furniture fair. Interieur and Organisation in Design came together after the realisation that both organisations have similar ethos in terms of curating their spaces, they both focus on showing a carefully chosen selection of interesting and exciting work that promotes both commerce and culture. Ventura Interieur at INTERIEUR 2012 will be an international platform that showcases a selection of young designers, new brands, academies and institutions.

A vibrant mix of 300 international brands

The Biennale Interieur 2012 presents a curated selection of 300 international brands. Together they create a relevant and vibrant mix of design including timeless classics such as Thonet (DE) and Pastoe (NL), material specialists Kvadrat (DE), Corian (FR) and Lasvit (PL), hip traditionalists De La Espada (UK) and Gubi (DK), Plinio Il Giovane (IT), architectural lighting companies Flos (IT), Deltalight (BE), TossB (BE), French éditeurs like Petite Friture (FR) and established European names Moroso (IT) and Arper (IT). They will be joined by design galleries such as London and Paris-based Carpenters Workshop and Belgian based Victor Hunt, who are representing the avant-garde in design.

Facts and Figures

With over 90.000 expected visitors, a selection of 300 international design brands spread over 40.000 m2 and a strong cultural programme, the 23rd edition of the Biennale Interieur is the most relevant show of the autumn to reach out to a knowledgeable design audience. The 2010 edition saw visitors from 59 countries, of which 4 out of 10 had a professional reason to visit the biennale. The Biennale Interieur in Kortrijk is conveniently located at less than 2 hours from four European capitals: Brussels, Paris, London and Amsterdam.

Biennale INTERIEUR 2012
20 – 28 October Kortrijk, Belgium