Axel Vervoordt: Wabi Inspirations

by Axel Vervoordt, Tatsuro Miki, Michael Paul

Interior design guru Axel Vervoordt shares his latest inspirations for the home. Axel Vervoordt’s intense curiosity has fueled his work as an interior designer, spurring him to explore and draw inspiration from cultures around the globe. He was first exposed to Eastern art and philosophy years ago, but today it has become the guiding principle in his work, particularly the concept of Wabi. Developed in the twelfth century, Wabi advocates simplicity and humility, the rejection of all that is superfluous or artificial. Through extraordinary photographs from Japan and Korea to Belgium and Switzerland, Vervoordt invites us to explore the elements that inspire him: natural materials and time-worn objects that evoke the essence of Wabi. Today, together with the Japanese architect Tatsuro Miki, Vervoordt carries the principles of Wabi into his remarkable interiors. As Vervoordt reveals how he infuses his current creations with a fundamentally oriental approach, interiors devotees will gain new insight from this tribute to the designer’s latest sources of inspiration for the home.

Genres: Design, Interior Design, Architecture, Nonfiction, Art, Coffee Table Books

256 pages, Hardcover

First published February 22, 2011

Reviews

[Rosa Frei · Rating 5 out of 5]

The concept of Wabi Sabi is excellent illustrated in the interior designs of the Belgium architect Axel Vervoordt. The book is a joy and delight to read as it is equally beautiful in images and words.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning images that just make me want to throw out my entire current interiors. Plenty of inspiration for minimalists and lovers of nature, texture and monochrome. Also plenty of stunning examples of asymmetry.

[Juli Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, unusual, insightful.

[Zen Jayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is an art itself.

[Joaquín Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The photographs and designs are undeniably beautiful. The artist immensely talented. This is a great art book, very inspirational, buy it for the images and for design inspirations.

I did, however, not enjoy the texts very much, it felt a lot like a sales pitch, a bit too exaggerated and over done. Especially with the haiku-like styling, rather than using paragraphs for full ideas.
They simply split long ideas into short fragments.
That way they could make these pieces feel.
Like they carried a better pacing.
But it just made it clumsy to read.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful to look at and minimally structured, this book isn't a how-to-manual, but it gives some elegant and insightful descriptions. One can review it--- keep it as a table book, art book, or book of photography.

[Ernest Wilk · Rating 5 out of 5]

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