BRUT Collective of Six Emerging Belgian Designers Debuts in Milan.

Made up of a group of emerging designers from Belgium, BRUT Collective revealed their first set of collectable design pieces at Salone last month. The name of the group is an acronym for ‘bold movements and emotions beyond functionality’—a sort of stoic idea intended to describe their shared aesthetic and design intentions. In reality, however, their individual works are far weightier and more grounded, made of hefty marble, brass, pressed chipboard, and burnt cork.

BRUT’s six designers include Ben Storms, Bram Vanderbeke, Cédric Etienne, Charlotte Jonckheer, Linde Freya Tangelder, and Nel Verbeke. Each has a strong style of their own—but set on concrete podiums, cushioned by raw black coal at the BRUT Collective exhibition in Milan, presented an even heftier image of new Belgian design.

BRUT Collective’s installation at Isola District during Milan Design Week 2018.

Coal was chosen as a reference both to Belgium’s industrial past, but also the designers’ inclination for the beauty of untreated, primary materials. Among the works was Ben Storms’ InHale—a mighty marble slab in molten black and orange carried by a volume of air wrapped in a metal pillow. Bram Vanderbeke’s Fat Pyramid also featured, made of flat laser cut sheets of aluminium.

Cédric Etienne, who is one half of Studio Corkinho, presented a chocolate-hued armchair made out of compressed burnt cork bark granules. Charlotte Jonckheer’s alabaster white side tables are made from paper composite, while Nel Verbeke’s time instruments attempt to capture the mystery of passing hours—a copper hourglass titled The Sound of Time, and a black disc with copper dish attached called The Relic of Time.