Mövenpick: An ode to Belgian surrealism

Our studio was appointed to design the interior of the first Belgian Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts hotel located at Brussels Airport. We defined the facade of the building by David Vancanneyt — featuring large concrete curtains — as Belgian surrealism. This idea served as an inspiration for the dream-like interior design concept we created, where you can expect the unexpected.

Uniting Dreams and Reality

In the years after World War I, Brussels was — after Paris — the second most important center of the surrealist art movement. Nowadays, Belgium is known for surrealist art, mainly thanks to the international fame of René Magritte.

Surrealism unites dreams and reality, to find beauty in the unexpected. Works of Surrealism feature the element of surprise and unpredictable juxtapositions.

The architectural concept of the building, featuring extra large ‘curtains’ on the outside of the facade, reflected this idea for us.

Restaurant design

The design of the hotel's restaurant follows the same surrealist concept with melting features and surprising details — like stylised hands holding the arm rest, a levitating cloud-like veil on the ceiling sculpted from a metal mesh and interior objects that seem to float a few inches above the floor.