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Design Milk’s Friday Five profile examines how Bram Vanderbeke drew on ancient ruins, Isamu Noguchi’s architecture and Lore Van Keer’s jewelry for the Anthology Side Table/Stool. The made-to-order piece combines cast concrete and aluminum and is produced in a limited edition of eight.
Design Milk’s Friday Five profile features Belgian designer Bram Vanderbeke discussing the inspirations behind the Anthology Side Table/Stool, a sculptural furniture piece developed with jeweler Lore Van Keer. The made-to-order design combines alternating layers of cast concrete and aluminum and is part of a limited edition of eight pieces, bringing jewelry’s stacked forms into a functional object.
Van Keer invited Vanderbeke to interpret her Anthology jewelry collection as furniture. He says the geometric forms of the collection, particularly the Anthology 10 ring, shaped the stool’s composition. Circles and hexagons in the jewelry informed the forms in the furniture, while the alternating materials give the design its layered appearance.
Vanderbeke also looked to Isamu Noguchi’s work for the design. In his atelier, he keeps a copy of Noguchi’s book A Sculptor’s World, which includes the artist’s ceiling and waterfall for the lobby of 666 Fifth Avenue in New York. Vanderbeke drew on the layered aluminum ceiling as a reference for the Anthology piece.
The stool is handcrafted in Vanderbeke’s Belgian atelier. Each piece is made using a new mold, so the resulting objects are unique, according to the source. The design is intended for indoor or outdoor use and is produced to order. The associated LVK x BV collaboration also includes a silver necklace; the source lists the necklace’s edition as 20 and the stool’s as eight.
From Jewelry Forms to Furniture
The collaboration shows how Vanderbeke translates references across jewelry, sculpture and architecture into a piece designed for use as a side table or stool. Its material choices also make that translation visible: the concrete and aluminum layers echo the stacked geometry he identified in Van Keer’s jewelry and Noguchi’s architectural work.
For readers interested in collectible design, the profile offers a concrete account of how an object’s references shape its construction and form. The limited edition of eight and made-to-order production distinguish the piece from mass-market furniture, though the source gives no price or information about current availability.
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Vanderbeke’s Building-Block Practice
Vanderbeke studied woodwork and construction before studying design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent and graduating from Design Academy Eindhoven. He is now an artist and designer based in his hometown, working across the boundaries of art, design and architecture. Design Milk describes his practice as focused on the relationship between objects, their architectural surroundings and the people who use them.
His earlier Cast Bricks collection provides another source for the Anthology stool. In work such as the Brick Chair, he arranges ordinary bricks so the spaces between them can act as molds for furniture. The method recalls construction and connects with his childhood interest in becoming a bricklayer. He also cites excavations and ruins, including the rough, stacked forms and textures of Roman columns, as recurring influences.
The profile places the collaboration within a wider practice that includes work for the Design Museum Gent shop and commissions for Bottega Veneta, Kelly Wearstler, Pieter Mulier and Van Keer. It also notes that Vanderbeke cofounded the Belgian collectible design group Brut Collective in 2018. This fall, Brut Collective and DesignUnDisciplined organized Cavea, a group exhibition featuring more than 70 works by more than 40 designers, according to the source.
“I liked the stacked shapes of the collection.”
— Bram Vanderbeke, as quoted by Design Milk
Edition Details and Availability
The profile does not state when the interview or the Anthology collaboration was first released, nor does it provide a price, ordering process or current stock status. It identifies the stool as made to order and limited to eight pieces but does not say whether any remain available. The source also does not specify the materials or production details for the accompanying necklace beyond describing it as silver and listing an edition of 20.
Ordering and Future Releases
The Anthology stool is described as a made-to-order design, but the source does not announce a launch date, sales channel or future production run. Readers seeking current ordering information would need to contact Vanderbeke’s studio or Van Keer’s team. The profile does not report a subsequent exhibition or release tied specifically to this collaboration.
Key Questions
What is the Anthology Side Table/Stool?
It is a sculptural furniture piece by Bram Vanderbeke, made in collaboration with Belgian jeweler Lore Van Keer. The design can serve as a side table or stool.
What materials are used?
The piece is made from alternating layers of cast concrete and aluminum. Vanderbeke says the layered forms reflect influences including Van Keer’s jewelry and Isamu Noguchi’s architecture.
How many stools are being produced?
The source describes the stool as a limited edition of eight. It says each one is handcrafted with a new mold, making every piece unique.
What inspired the design?
References include Van Keer’s Anthology 10 ring, Noguchi’s layered aluminum ceiling for 666 Fifth Avenue, Vanderbeke’s Cast Bricks work, and the stacked forms and textures of ancient Roman columns.
Is the stool available to order now?
The profile says it is made to order, but it does not give a price, sales link or current availability. It is not clear whether any of the eight pieces remain uncommissioned.
Source: design-milk.com
