| Contact
SylvainWillenzDesignStudio Atelier A1 / 14, Rue Raphael 1070 Brussels / Belgium T +32 (0)2 521 43 16 M +32 (0)473 21 83 47 www.sylvainwillenz.com info@sylvainwillenz.com |
| About Born in Brussels in 1978, Belgian designer Sylvain Willenz studied Design Products at the Royal College of Art in London from 2001 to 2003. In 2004 Sylvain opened his own studio, based in Brussels. Sylvain's works deal with projects from lighting to product design and furniture. His Work is characterized by a clear love for materials and processes and bear a no-nonsense approach to design. The work-spirit is straightforward and uncomplicated. Projects celebrate design, archetypes, and industry. The Studio has been involved with soft rubbers and plastics, yet it has also been working with materials such as glass, wood, information-technology products and many more. SylvainWillenzDesignStudio works internationally with clients such as Established & Sons (UK), Freecom (NL/DE), Vlaemsch (BE), Areaware (USA), Latino (BE). Things like rubber, post-its, elastics,
graphics, stickers, plasticine, Internet, music, toys, highways, flowers,
cacti, fat books, chewing-gum, spraycans, cars, graffiti, shoes and
cooking, are just a few underlying inspirations in SylvainWillenzDesignStudio's
works. |
| Reference Since setting up his studio in 2004, designer Sylvain Willenz has given birth to a handful of remarkable designs. Dr. Bamboozle, a striking experimental seat made of bamboo and rubber, InnerTube, a soft and flexible lampshade, Milk, a twinkling ball of lights, Brackets Included, folded steal wall shelves inspired by a most common object, and STUFF, an elastic bag made of rubber that takes over the form of its content. A small, yet an early and consistent collection of design objects in which the signature of the young designer is distinct: An experimental use of materials, a liking for versatile and organic forms, an eye for detail and attention to the finished and manufactured product. This designer from Brussels gets a kick out of trying out and experimenting things. Sylvain sources his inspiration in the everyday objects and materials; from glue, tape, post-its, paste, chewing gum, to old rubber tires and spraycans. He combines wood, steal and aluminum and submerges his creations into rubber, one of his favorite materials. And although his objects can have an experimental character, Sylvain never forgets the production value and the feasibility in his designs. These elements taken into account, it is worth calling Sylvain a contemporary designer. Indeed, his first creations haven’t passed unnoticed. In 2002 he was the successful candidate of the international design competition Design for Europe at the Interieur Biennale in Kortrijk, Belgium. And in 2005, he was elected as the most promising designer of the year on the DesignBrussels fair. Thanks to his innovatory approach to objects, to his simple and fair objects and some dry humor, Sylvain is unmistakably an important Belgian talent. By Dieter Van Den Storm: Design Critic & Project Coordinator of INTERIEUR 06-08 |
| Awards 2008 Henry van de Velde Prijs LABEL for Torch Series, Design Vlaanderen, Belgium 2006 Henry van de Velde Prijs LABEL for InnerTube, Design Vlaanderen, Belgium 2006 Henry van de Velde Prijs LABEL for STUFF, DesignVlaanderen, Belgium 2005 Most Promising Designer, DESIGNBRUSSELS, Belgium 2002 First prize from Interieur, Interieur 02 Design for Europe, Kortrijk, Belgium 2002 First prize BSI British Standards Institution Awards, United Kingdom 2002 shortlist BCA British Cement Association Awards, United Kingdom 2002 shortlist Lights of the Future European Design Competion, Germany 1999 First prize RSA Royal Society of Arts Student Design, United Kingdom |