Designer, craftsman, artist and creative director, Lionel Jadot he doesn’t like to confine himself within the confines of words. “Definitions put an end to the spontaneity of creative thinking,” he says. AND Zaventem Studiosthe former industrial space founded in 2019 at the gates of Brussels which today is home to over 25 designers, is the emanation of his sense of freedom. A place designed to offer the possibility of experimenting without borderscultivating and putting into practice new perspectives, processes and connections. All in an analogue, artisanal, manual way.
An approach that also landed in Milan, on the occasion of the 2022 Fuorisalone with the first experiment of Baranzate Ateliers in the municipality of Baranzate, replicated this year in a warehouse in the Linate area, where the works of 14 new designers from the atelier were placed alongside those of some studios selected by Jadot. For lovers of the interconnections between art and design, an essential event capable of projecting far ahead. In Belgium, precisely, where Lionel Jadot he is an ambassador of collectible design and “functional art” even outside the walls of Zaventen Ateliers.
In the hospitality sector, for example, he took care of the artistic direction of projects such as Mixconcept hotel not far from the Belgian capital furnished with the works of the atelier’s designers, or Jama hotel chain present in Belgium, Lisbon and soon also in Rome. “Taking collectible design outside the usual circuits, as within large hospitality projects, triggers a virtuous chain that feeds the production chain of small artisans, designers and artists,” he explains.
A sensitivity for craftsmanship that Jadot developed during her childhood, when she collected waste materials from her parents’ workshop, chair manufacturers, to create imaginative objects (first) and experimental furnishings (later). Since then, i recovery materialsor they became the center of his artistic research: “what is discarded is something very precious for me: it is the raw material I use to give shape to an idea, to give voice to my imagination”.
Last September, Lionel Jadot was awarded “Designer of the Year” by Maison & Object: he created the installation for the Parisian fair Anthropocene Adhocsism involving 22 international designers. “Together we created a parallel universe, sort of dream world Made from discarded materials. It was a fantastic experience,” he says.
We asked Lionel Jadot to tell us the philosophy behind his kaleidoscopic work.
Interview with Lionel Jadot
Where does your interest in manual arts and handmade design come from?
«It started very early, given that I grew up playing with production waste from my parents’ atelierchair manufacturers. Our house was located on the second floor of the building that housed the shop, a space of over 300 m2 that represented toyland for me. After school I spent a long time playing with everything that was left on the floor and that was no longer needed. My sister and I enjoyed creating objects that came from our imagination. It all started there: growing up in this context has forever changed the way I see the waste. For me they have never been waste, but treasures with which to give substance to my imaginary worlds».
What did you build in particular?
«When I was about 7-8 years old I built my first chair using some pieces of wood and some velvet. Around the age of 10, however, I started recovering waste materials even outside the shop: I took a trolley and went around with my sister to find abandoned objects. For me it was like Christmas. I continued to nurture this passion even when, at 14, my mother enrolled me in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. It was a period of great creativity: we drew, we worked with the material, we were completely free to express ourselves as we preferred. I loved that kind of life very much: it was a chaos that suited perfectly to how I am, because in the chaos I can find my way. I don’t like being labeled».
In fact, it is difficult to define your creative path in just a few words.
«I find it so difficult that when they ask me how I would define myself I always answer that I am a chair maker! (laughs) I even got a chair tattoo, see? (Shows a tattoo on his arm) The chairs are part of me. In work, but in general in life, I have always followed my intuition. I have lots of ideas in my head: it could be an object, an interior design project or anything else. For me there are no limits. I love the fact that everything happens naturally, it’s like breathing: I move from one project to another with extreme naturalness, that’s how I am. I don’t understand why people need to pigeonhole, to put people into boxes. We are all on a journey. Limits kill creativity».
Was the Zaventem Ateliers project also born with this naturalness?
«Exactly: I was looking for a new space for my studio, and I noticed this abandoned structure while I was queuing on the highway. I fell in love with it in an instant. From the beginning I understood the potential of this place, it was an almost physical sensation. I wanted to create a community of creativessomething halfway between functional art and design. Then it all happened very quickly. Now 7 years have passed since the foundation of Zaventem Ateliers, and it is still a great adventure that moves and transforms together with us, that is becoming bigger, with new people arriving. Today we welcome 26 designers and we really are a big family».
What is the red thread what do the Zaventem designers have in common?
«Il red thread is that of to all be people with a fire inside. When selecting makers who join Zaventem, it is important that they have a vision, that they want to push research further in the field of craftsmanship. I need to see the passion in people’s eyes, to feel that I have a passionate talent in front of me. Zaventem Ateliers is like an amplifier, we also have emerging talents. There are more and more young people who decide to approach making with their hands. I’m very happy to see that interest in manual work is growing: when I was young they thought I was crazy.”
Does the rise of collectible design fit into this new interest?
“Certainly. In Belgium, but also in many Northern European countries, a lot of knowledge related to know-how has been lost over the decades. When I decided to focus everything on craftsmanshipthey told me: “you will never find a job, you should study to become a lawyer, doctor”. My parents were the only ones who supported me. Fortunately, this is no longer the case: many young people decide to start working with their hands, and it is precisely this that infuses the creativity of northern countries with soul and warmth. But not only that: collectible design and functional art have always been for me also a social theme».
In what sense?
«With the spread of Artificial Intelligence, I think the time has come to jump in the opposite direction, to focus on everything that makes us human. Losing the ability to do with your hands is a huge danger for humanity. We should all have someone close to us who knows how to do something with their hands, we should all know how to do it! Manual skill is a symbol of humanity, it helps to create relationships, to connect. I think that the rise of collectible design should be interpreted in this way, as an emerging need of humanity. Two years ago at Zaventem Ateliers we hosted an important exhibition of the French designer Fabien Cappellowho lives in Mexico City. The exhibition was called Resistance Items and contained 200 commonly used objects produced in Mexico City by small artisans, of whom the city is full. This exhibition contained thehe philosophy of Zaventem Ateliers: keeping the intelligence of doing alive and continuing to nourish it».
How did you decide to bring this vision into the hotel industry?
«Typically, large hospitality projects use huge budgets to order industrially created furnishings, often abroad. So why not use that budget to support small artisans, artists and designers located in the city where the hotel is located? Why not involve them directly in creating the furnishings? This creates virtuous circles and a situation win win for everyone: the hotel truly becomes an expression of the city in which it is located and invests in pieces that then acquire value, helping to support local creatives. The idea is precisely to spend the budget locally and create a new hospitality concept. A hospitality that is ethical and human. It’s all there.”
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Source: living.corriere.it
