Wiedersehen macht Freude
My deckchairs, fitted with a custom designed fabric which shows all the colours of the 28 EU member state flags proportionally ( see post ‘Work hard, play hard’ ), have re-surfaced this summer in the old town of Luxembourg City. A year after the Luxembourg Presidency of the European Council they have been distributed to several city centre sites and used as public space furniture over the summer months.
Unfortunately we might have to take some classic blue, red & white out for next year.
Graphics: Laurent Daubach
Work hard, play hard
The third installation of my project for the Luxembourg Presidency of the European Council 2015 in the Atrium of the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels.
The idea of sitting together in a more sociable and friendly way, as one does between friends that work on a common project, is also the idea behind the installation in the Atrium of the Justus Lipsius building (see previous post ‘Presidency of the European Council design project – part 2’ ). The visitors are invited to claim the space and to move the deckchairs around by reconfiguring them as they wish.
The 28 deckchairs bring together in a proportionate yet abstract manner all the colours of the flags of the 28 Member States – by collecting & rejigging these colours into a new composition which was then printed onto the fabric in a ‘traditional stripey way’. Everybody will be able to find their ‘own’ specific colours within a collectif colour scheme.
The deckchairs also refer to the poetic image of time spent with family and friends, which for many Luxembourgers, means past holidays spent at the Belgian coast – a nod also to Belgium, the country with which Luxembourg has close links, and which houses the Council.
Client: Ministère de la Culture
Graphic artwork: Laurent Daubach
Presidency of the European Council design project – part 2
The Presidency campfire meeting room, for the Luxembourg presidency of the European Council
By analysing the usually conventional set-up of meeting rooms for diplomats & heads of state one thing becomes clear, there is always a certain distance between the individual seatings – not too close and yet not too far away from your interlocutor. On this occasion I was able to challenge this status quo by creating a space where everybody had to decide for himself how close he or she wants to sit in relation to their interlocutor (and how good a friend he or she really is).
The ‘campfire’ is a space for people that share a common project & a common cause. A place where you can sit all night talking to friends, sorting out differences and coming out with a stronger bond… even if that looks like a difficult thing to achieve at this moment in time.
Presidency of the European Council design project – part 1
For the luxembourgish Presidency of the European Council from 01.07 – 31.12.2015 the Ministry of Culture has commissioned me to design three spaces in the Justus Lipsius building of the Council of Europe in Brussels.
This part of the project consists of an curiosity cabinet made from 45 individual front or back-lit boxes. The cabinet shows a more unusual side of luxembougish history & culture, mixing together an apparent random selection of oddities and stories from past and present. One of the aims was to focus on the people (artists, writers, film makers, cooks, engineers & inventors) but also institutions, industries & customs that contribute to the fabric of the country, showing a side that would be little known outside its borders.
The content has been developed in collaboration with the Ministry of culture and a booklet has also been produced to help the baffled visitors to understand the slightly obscure images & objects.
Last but not least, luxembourgish artists Paul Kirps and Filip Markiewicz have also produced specific artworks for the cabinet.
Click here to download the exhibition booklet
Graphic design: designbureau.lu
Georges Zigrand Design Consultancy 
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