When you’re renowned for creativity, for making things, spaces, or places look great, folk always want to know how that transfers to your own living arrangements. Artists are famous for the live-work studio — perhaps its paint-splattered canvases propped up in the corner of the loo, or maybe a shark’s head in the fridge; creativity doesn’t sleep, inspiration calls at the most unsociable of times.
Design duo Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel (aka Studio Job) cross the divide between art and design, always difficult to define, their work never difficult to appreciate. Their bold use of iconography and contemporary take on Classicism is highly-regarded the world over; work as comfortable in a gallery setting as it is in a high-end design store, or the result of a collaboration with a brand like Swarovski or Land Rover.
Frequently opulent, always entirely singular, Studio Job’s design cuts against the grain, and exists in its own ecosystem of inventiveness. What, then, would their home look like? An ancient gilded marvel, overflowing with age-old antiques that inspire? A cold exercise in starkness, barren of ideas in an effort to purify the imagination? I have the keys, so let’s take a look.
Built in the 1950s, Job Smeets’s Antwerp loft — located in the creative and multicultural diamond district — has done time as a warehouse for a plumbing company, and as a school for Orthodox Jews; it now serves as the designer’s personal studio and home. (The duo were formerly a couple, their 2015 Train Crash Table representing the break-up of an almost 20 year relationship. Tynagel now lives and works from Amsterdam.)
Stripped to its carcass, the space is minimalism incarnate: raw exposed concrete, cast resin floors, raw wooden elements. The design comes via what Smeets calls ‘ornamentation’: respecting the existing architecture (‘remember, an architectural space you only have on loan … even if you bought it … this building will outlive us’) and filling it, simply, with a curated collection of vintage furniture and art. ‘Comfort has nothing to do with luxury, explains Job, ‘for us comfort is the luxury of being surrounded by authentic sculptures, paintings, objects, and furniture.’
Job Smeets’s Antwerp apartment is museum-like, uncompromising, rare and stupendous — and of course it echoes their work. Studio Job don’t care for trends, don’t care all that much for design, and insist their work isn’t art — incessantly awkward. Job’s design style? ‘No design involved.’
Studio. desk & secretaire: Ico Parisi, jaren 50. Circus: Model circus tent, Studio Job, 2005
tile: Bart van de Leck, 1936. tapijt: Shushi, Campana Brothers, 2011. kast: 663 Gispen, Wim Rietveld, 1954
kuipstoel: Gispen 416, Wim Rietveld & Andre Cordemeyer, 1955. poef: Playtime, Montis, Studio Job, 2005
desk lamp: Work, Tichelaar Makkum, Dick van het Hoff, 2007
studio/tekencel
cel: workskull, Atelier van Lieshout, 2005
lantaarn: porselein gekocht in Maastricht, 2012
telefoon: telefoon gekocht in Parijs, 2011
Utrecht Chair, Rietveld, upholstered with Ruins Fabric
designed by Studio Job for Maharam
Perished Persian, Studio Job for Nodus
Credenza, Pastoe DU-03, Cees Braakman
vitrinekistje Memento, Ridder & Clown
schilderij Marine, Constant Permeke
Toio Floor Lamp, Achille / Ciacomo Castiglioni
Living Room 1 (next to kitchen):
Sofa Elda De Joe Colombo. Big Frozen Vase, Wieki Somers. Paimio Chair, Alvar Aalto
Magneto Lamp, H. Fillekes for Artifort. Sofa, Martin Visser For Spectrum. Shelve Cabinet, André Cordemeyer For Gispen
Clockwise:
eetkamer. ronde tafel: Knoll, Eero Saarinen, 1953. draadstoelen: Knoll, Harry Bertoia, 1950-1952
wandlamp: Panama, Gispen, Wim Rietveld, 1955. keramiek bord: Aeroflot, Ravage, 1990
luchter: Paper Chandelier (special), Moooi, Studio Job, 2005. brons: Home Work, Pinnochio, Studio Job, 2007
porseleinen zwaard: Sword, Studio Job, 2003. eettafel: paper dining Table, Studio Job, 2007
stoelen: Pyramid chairs, Ahrend, Wim Rietveld, 1960. roze kan: TE, Grand Bernard, Scholten & Baijings, 2009
schaal: no screw no glue, Joost van Bleiswijk, 2008. tapijt: Labyrinth, Textiel Museum, Studio Job, 2006
Office. Circus, Studio Job. Sconce, Studio Job for Venini. Mirror, Benno Premsela. Children’s Clay Chair, Maarten Baas
Bedroom. Bed Treca De Paris with Perished Headstand by Studio Job. Night Stand, Edward Van Vliet. Lamps 237, Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce
Curved Sofa, Studio Job. Modular Sofa, Studio Job. Graphic artwork, Concetto Spatiazale, Lucio Fontana
trap. leuning: Clay, Maarten Baas, 2010. ronde tafel: Knoll, Eero Saarinen, 1953. Dome: Dome, Last Supper, Studio Job, 2009
slaapvertrek. Chaise Longue: Modular Furniture, Studio Job, 1999
Buffet: Pastoe DBo2 UMS, Cees Braakman, 1954. kandelaar: Tin Ware, TE, Studio Job, 2007
hang lamp: Blup, Pieke Bergmans, 2009. scherm: Paper Screen (special), Moooi, Studio Job, 2008
bed: Perished, Treca de Paris, Studio Job, 2007. nachtkastje/poef: Edward van Vliet, 2003
wandlamp: Arteluce 237, Gino Sarfatti, 1960. spiegel: Moooi, paper Mirror (special), 2006
leuning: Clay, Maarten Baas, 2010. zeefdrukken: Concetto Spaziale, Lucio Fontano, 1965
Salon. tapijt: Perished, Studio Job for Nodus, 2010
koffie tafel: PK 61, Poul Kjaerholm, 1956
vaas: Boris Sipek, 2000
bank: Kubus, Jozef Hoffmann, 1910
brons: Diamond, Studio Job, 2002
schilderij: Yellow, Bram Bogart, 2007
Office. Circus, Studio Job
Sconce, Studio Job for Venini. Mirror, Benno Premsela
Sushi, Campana Brothers for Nodus.
Children’s Clay Chair, Maarten Baas
Shelves, Wim Rietveld and André Cordemeyer for Gispen