smow blog compact Milan 2015 special: Ateliers J&J

In the late 19th/early 20th century Vienna based J & J Kohn helped establish the Austro-Hungarian Empire as an important centre for contemporary furniture design, advanced the careers of leading Wiener Secession era designers such as Josef Hoffmann, Otto Prutscher or Adolf Loos, as well as helping lay the foundations for the commercial furniture industry as we know it today.

And while we’re not going to forecast such a grand future for Brussels based Ateliers J&J, or at least not yet, from what we’ve seen Ateliers J&J are certainly well on their way to helping Belgium finally and firmly establish itself as one of the key centres of contemporary furniture design.

As we’ve noted so often we’re tiring of repeating it, Belgium is currently one of the more exciting centres of European furniture design, a fact recently illustrated by the MAD ABOUT LIVING – 24 Designers from Brussels showcase staged during the 2015 Passagen Design Week in Cologne and which the Belgian trade authorities underline annually in Milan with their “Belgium is Design” showcase, a showcase which while never proving that Belgium is Design, does have a habit of producing something special. Past editions having included highlights such as, for example, Curiosity by Liege based studio Two Designers, the O’Sun portable solar lamp by Alain Gilles, Kaspar Hamacher’s shelf “Das Brett” or the desk Strates by Mathieu Lehanneur.

And in 2015 it was three objects from Ateliers J&J’s adroitly titled inaugural collection: Collection 01

In Cologne Ateliers J&J a.k.a. Jonathan Renou and Jean Angelats presented Bureau 01 & Chaise 01, in Milan it was Fauteuil 01, Bureau suspendu, Chaise 01 and Chaise 02. Although the latter was only presented on a poster, albeit a poster which triggered an awful lot of longing and desire in our youthful hearts.

As we noted in our post from Cologne one of the principle attractions for us of Ateliers J&J’s work is that they don’t appear to be interested in making furniture, but much more in creating forms from bent steel tubing; and in doing so create furniture objects which although unmistakably the generic objects they resemble, have their own endearing character and bewitching self-assurance. A lot of the chairs one sees in Milan for example almost appear embarrassed to be there, knowing as they do that they are merely cheap imitations of someone else’s work created purely with the aim of generating profit. Ateliers J&J’s objects are autonomous creations with their own sense of purpose and understanding of aesthetics. A self-confidence underscored by the unapologetically honest way the oak shelving and desk element of Bureau suspendu or the supporting backboards of the Fauteuil 01 are simply laid over and through the steel tubing; why try to disguise what everyone knows to be happening? Especially when you achieve such an effortlessly charming result.

Ateliers J&J aren’t the only studio currently producing interesting bent steel tube furniture, but Ateliers J&J’s furniture does have a freshness, a vitality and an addictive charm which makes them compelling, relevant and unlikely to lose their claim to both for many a decade.

Full details on Ateliers J&J can be found at http://ateliersjetj.com/