During our study tour in Belgium, we had the privilege of visiting VVD II Residence, the Antwerp home of design master Vincent Van Duysen. Within this quiet refuge—one that offers solace to the spirit and brings life back to its essentials—Vincent delivered a special sharing session for Yintour participants.
Using the house he has lived in for over two decades as a starting point, Vincent spoke about its historical context and its personal significance to him. At the turn of the millennium, when much of the design world was focused on formal innovation and stylistic change, he chose instead to strip away excess and return to the essence of living. The result is a space that continues to resonate strongly today. For him, the purpose of design is not to create striking forms, but to continuously improve the quality, rhythm, and physical and mental experience of everyday life through long-term use.
Throughout the sharing, Vincent repeatedly returned to the notion of “comfort.” He described comfort as a composite experience shaped by function, proportion, and patterns of use, rather than by softness of materials or visual effect alone. As a result, the palette of materials in the house is deliberately restrained: wooden floors, Belgian bluestone, and hand-applied plaster walls from Italy together form a calm and disciplined backdrop. Through this sustained and restrained practice, design is able to return, ultimately, to living itself.
