BRUSSELS.- Over the years, Brussels Design September has become the annual flagship event for design enthusiasts. For one month, the city hosts an array of over 100 unmissable cultural and commercial events offering a meeting platform between the public and a great number of Belgian and international designers.

Brussels Design September will feature exhibitions, conferences, open houses, an Arts & Crafts tour, Commerce Design Brussels and Brussels Design Market. A multitude of dialogues between designers, architects and design lovers as well as the chance to discover urban trails between the many pop-up stores, shops, workshops, galleries and cultural spaces.

This year’s edition will be marked by the latest trends in Belgian and international design and will be highlighted by the multi-disciplinary spirit of different influences, movements, crafts and professions of current day design.

Highlights and news of Brussels Design September 2017
This year, Brussels Design September introduces a couple of new events.

Exhibitions by renown designers in iconic places in the city like the Horta House, Bozar or MAD Brussels reinforce the cultural offer of this edition.

For the first time, Design September will take place in the public space of the city centre. An art work by Julien De Smedt in collaboration with Emeco and his iconic chairs that will take over the Chartreux district. You will also have the chance to discover the light installation by the Belgian office ACTLD.

Brussels Design Market brings a focus on the image of Brussels, the city of vintage: a vintage district in the city, a ceramics exhibition in Tour & Taxi, and many other events will celebrate the 15 years of the Brussels Design Market, which is the biggest vintage market in Europe.

Design of tomorrow and her production are central in the itinerary of FabLabs that brings a focus on 100% made in Brussels products. An exhibition in BIP presents its many expressions.

The Arts&Crafts itinerary brings a focus on jewellery with a tribute to jewel workshops and designers.

Brussels city of design
These few past years, Brussels has incontestably developed itself as city of Design. Thanks to the talent and the ingeniousness of our designers. The place of Design in the city starts to have its noble letters. Design September always wanted to connect with the city and represent its various exaltations and diversities. The importance of the event and its influence takes shape more and more: design in its most various forms takes an increasingly important place in the daily life of Brussels: urban furniture, installations, lights, innovations of our designers in the urban landscape. It has contributed in a positive way to the city’s reputation and to its economic and tourist activity. Brussels needs events that put creativity and innovation in the front row. Design September is proud to contribute to it.

Installation at ‘Le Quartier des Chartereux’
Great new innovation for Design September, the exhibition of design work in a public space! Brussels is a city that puts art in the spotlight in a multitude of venues and events throughout the year. The objective is to reclaim public space and create a culture of proximity.

For the first time, Design September will take in the public space of the city centre. An art work by Julien De Smedt in collaboration with Emeco and his iconic chairs that will take over the Chartreux district.

It is with this in mind that we solicited the work of Julien De Smedt, who is undoubtedly one of the most gifted architects of his generation. He is the founder and director of Makers With Agendas and JDS Architects, based in Brussels, Copenhagen and Shanghai. His work is recognized in Europe and abroad. Julien's commitment to exploring new architectural typologies and programs has contributed to the architectural debate with projects such as the VM Building, the Maritime Youth House, the new Oslo trampoline, or The Iceberg of Aarhus. Born in Brussels by French art lovers Jacques Léobold and Belgian artist Claude De Smedt, Julien attended schools in Brussels, Paris and Los Angeles before graduating from the Bartlett School of Architecture in London. Before founding JDS Architects, Julien worked with OMA in Rotterdam and co-founded with Bjarke Ingels the PLOT architecture agency in Copenhagen.

The Navy Chair
First built for use on submarines in 1944, the Navy Chair has been in continuous production ever since. With the famous 77 step Process, our craftsmen take soft, recycled aluminum, hand form and weld it- then temper it for strength. Finally, the chair is anodized for a durable finish. We guarantee the Navy Chairs for life. Coca-Cola and Emeco collaborated to solve an environmental problem: Up-cycling consumer waste into a sustainable, timeless, classic chair. Made of 111 recycled PET bottles, the 111 Navy Chair is a story of innovation. In 2006, Coca-Cola approached Emeco to solve an environmental problem — taking Coca-Cola bottles out of landfill and “upcycling” them into an iconic structural item, made to last. Emeco committed to the challenge with the new material, taking soft recycled PET plastic, originally intended for short-lived fabric and textiles, and build a tough, one-piece, scratch-resistant chair for heavy-duty use. The development process required both determination and tenacity - and the help of experts at BASF. Finally, after 4 years of development, the chair was ready. The 111 Navy - with the same iconic shape as the 1006 Navy chair but made of 111 recycled plastic bottles - was launched in 2010. “Although reengineering a core product was a significant investment for us, I was excited about the impact of using the PET from millions of bottles each year. We’ve turned something many people throw away into something you want and keep for long, long time,” says Emeco's Gregg Buchbinder. In the first five years since its launch, over 15 million bottles have been saved from landfills.

This sculpture will be a magnificent symbol for Brussels, both as a city of design, but also as a city of cinema, the Navy Chair being the most filmed chair in the history of cinema.

The installation will become permanent, given the quality of the materials and we hope that it will be part of the dynamism of the neighbourhood.