THE HOUSE OF THE LINGUIST seen by Tine Guns
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felt the assignment was different, because it was very much about a human connection — as if the lady needed a shelter. The house had to be redone entirely, from windows, techniques and floors, to the complete interior. The original lacked character, it had always been rented out. Central in Élise’s design were square cement tiles in reds and greens that partly covered the house. 2010 / 32
BRASSERIE VINOIS
Three years after their first refurbishment, the friendly owner of Brasserie Vinois in Deurle returned to Élise with the question to extend her restaurant with a new kitchen and re-examine the divided space. This time, a thorough make-over was needed, from electricity to plumbing, again within an extremely short working period. Élise couldn’t save the previous interior, the whole brasserie had to be redone. Due to budgetary limitations, she decided to stick to the essence. Only the old mirrors, the
black lacquered counter and the furniture survived, white cement walls were added, the kitchen and the wine closet were made visible to the customers, which increased transparency, and much to the delight of the owner, there was now room for extra tables. 2011 / 33
BARN CVDE
A couple in their forties, both active in the fashion industry, and their two teenagers, needed a provisionary home on their recently purchased property in Drongen, while their main residence was under construction. The main house, mid-eighteenth century, was surrounded by a beautiful natural landscape and had an annex from around 1900. At first sight, the annex looked like a garage, but once empty, Élise dis covered an old barn. It was in a terrible state: rotten walls that were about to crumble. The family had envisaged to use the barn as a temporary residence and keep it afterwards as a polyvalent space. Élise worked closely
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together with the architect Pascal Bilquin for technical support and the landscape designer Aldrik Heirman for reshaping the landscape and the driveway. She explored what she called the ‘anthropology of the barn’ — reconsidering its former use and translating it into a modern domestic concept. All inner walls were pulled down, repetitive pillars were built to carry the truss, which added a concrete mezzanine, and a hole was dug in the concrete floor to create a basin. The old barn gave Élise all the answers. She left it empty, the furniture became part of the architecture. The washed concrete flows towards the exterior, onto the terrace, into the pool. Different types of concrete — shelved, washed out — polished cement and terrazzo provided exciting variation.
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BUNGALOW TDW
Élise’s former clients, the couple from Evergem (cf. 21), bought a large 1970s bungalow that required thorough revision and interior refurbishing. The architecture was good quality, but the circulation was wrong. The position of the staircase couldn’t have been worse, the access to the basement — a proper level in its own right — was unpractical, and the kitchen dark and tiny. Élise had to turn the outdated bungalow into something modern. There was no time to break out the floors, and installing false ceilings is something Élise never does. Provisions for technical installations required a great deal of thinking. Élise opted for a red polyurethane floor, gliding through the house like a shiny snake and climbing up the walls, black concrete contrasted with pink for the kitchen, a plant container serving as the new staircase, bathrooms in cement and carpeted bedrooms.
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TOWNHOUSE JDW
The couple of medical doctors from the classical belle époque townhouse in Ghent (cf. 20) returned to Élise with the question to finish their kitchen and take care of the master bedroom as well as the private study on the first floor. Except for a new worktop, the kitchen was messy. The family wanted a long table where they could eat, study and enjoy the garden view. The first floor hadn’t been designed yet. The time frame was limited, and the works had to be well organised, because the family continued to live in the house. It was important for Élise to extend the atmosphere she had created in the living rooms, so she used poplar plywood and aluminium, ceramic lighting and tubular lightlines. On the first floor, she decided to concentrate on the walls, ceilings and doors of the beautiful, grand spaces and not to invest in furniture or decoration. The secret cupboards inspired her to create large jewellery boxes that gave access to new
realms. Other defining features were canvas wallpaper, lacquered ceilings and polished stone walls. 2011 / 36
HOUSE ÉVT
Élise fell deeply in love with a dilapidated art deco house in Mariakerke from 1935. Rain poured through the roof, all the way down to the ground floor, the wiring was a danger to the inhabitants, windows were broken, the circulation was unpractical with regard to the kitchen and the living room, divided into small compartments. And yet, in her view, it could become her dream house. All in all, it needed to be made inhabitable in just four months after she purchased it. One of the few advantages was that the house had never been renovated before, so nothing had to be restored to its original state. The wooden wallpanelling all through the house demanded a different approach — no question of cutting into the walls — and altering the interior proved a
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Élise Van Thuyne The Invisible Mark © 2018, Luster CONCEPT & BOOK DESIGN Gestalte, Katrien Daemers and Jessika L’Ecluse TEXTS Bert Huyghe, Elsbeth Ronner, Joeri Smet TRANSLATION Joeri Smet, Dirk Verbiest COPY EDITING Dirk Verbiest LITHOGRAPHY Katrien Daemers PRINT Die Keure — edition of 1.250 copies All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form without the permission of the publisher.
PHOTO CREDITS Katrien Daemers: p. 153 Montserrat Daniel: p. 127 Anna De Weert: p. 26 Filip Dujardin: p. 78-92, 94-95, 104-105, 128-129, 134-149 Richard Duyck: p. 117-118 Sarah Eechaut: p. 77, 98, 113-114 (right), 123-126 Tine Guns: p. 8-22, 93, 96 and back cover Heidi Lerckenfeldt: front cover and p. 37 - 49 Fien Muller: p. 106, 108, 115-116 Griet Stellamans: p. 114 (left) Hannes Vandenbroucke: p. 52 - 75 Élise Van Thuyne: p. 25, 28, 29, 32, 130 and miniatures Frederik Vercruysse: p. 34 Adriaan Verwée: p. 4, 33 and inside back cover
ISBN 978 94 6058 228 8 — NUR 454, 656 D/2018/12.005/10 www.lusterweb.com www.elisevanthuyne.be
Élise would like to thank everyone who left their mark on her work: to all the inestimable contractors, especially Marc Boelaert, Mattias Deboutte (Jan Verwerft Schrijnwerkerij), Dries De Loore (Dries De Loore bvba), Stefan Vandriessche (Arec Koeltechniek), Stephane Van Duyse (Bellton) and Elie Verhaegen (Vakwerk bvba), to Raphaël and Charlie, her sons, to Fien en Hannes for generously opening their doors, to all the commissioners and all those who collaborated on the texts, images and the graphic design of this book. Special thanks to Feral Group for embarking on the adventure of realising the metal window joinery from Repetition in Red, and to Stone, for providing the most precious terrazzo and handmade ceramic tiles, which helped Élise to achieve beautiful creations, and to its owner, Rinaldo Castelli, for taking care of Élise’s heart.