LIVE MORE WORK LESS

When De Smedt began thinking about these projects, he was personally in need of an entirely new set of furniture, having just moved to an empty apartment in his former home base of Copenhagen from a summer residence in Sweden. He began to build the pieces himself that responded to this new way of living under confinement.

Among the pieces created during this period, was a cornerstone: a dining table that combined his work desk “without the hassle of clearing my desk every time I had a meal with my sons or friends” as Julien said. The desk was cleverly topped by a pivoting dining plateau. When open, the underside of the plateau functions as a work organizer and the lower deck has room for a laptop and all essentials of a work desk.

A more recent piece designed for the show in Paris is Cocoon: a two-times 2-meter-long sofa for informal meetings that folds onto itself to offer an escape and resting place away from the hectic pace of the office and lets you nap or meditate. “At home, it can be a fun place for kids, an improvised actual guest room or even a quiet space for online meetings.”

Throughout the space, there is also a series of rotating storage and display columns for books, artworks, music video media, and plants. Their slender, vertical, floor-to-ceiling nature gives them a resonance to the architecture they inhabit.

Finally, on display is a carpet ‘Financial Crush’ made in collaboration with Urban Fabric, a Canadian carpet maker known for its finely crafted, bespoke, sustainable rug designs. This piece is not only a visual masterpiece, but also a thought-provoking piece of social commentary. Drawing inspiration from mapping, anthropology, economics and politics, these designs invite reflection on the trajectory of our society - exploring themes of capitalism and environmental responsibility.

If you look at the tendencies in the way we live, more and more people tend to live in smaller places. There is a financial reason for that but also an environmental one. Following a difficult period as the one we lived during COVID crisis, all of the global population was subjected to a lockdown that forced a new way of living and working all around the world. Today, I would like to explore those horizons without seeing them as drawbacks. I tried to develop design pieces that allow different uses, adapting to the various situations we may experience throughout life.

Yes, for instance, I previously designed a trestle named Accordion which folds into a stick, making it the most compact in the world. And it looks like a sculpture even though it’s entirely thought of with rigorous pragmatism. Or think of another project shown in LMWL, the pull-pong table that allows a comfortable 8-seat dinner table to become a full-blown ping-pong table.

I work on many architectural projects that involve a combination of programs and allow different functions to interact with one another, and it’s exciting. For a single object or building, we can have multiple uses at different times, or on the contrary, bring together programs or uses that weren't originally meant to coexist. This is the case with the 'Gwell Estate Officetel' project in Seoul, where the approach was to create comfortable living spaces for residents, while also becoming a real hub and a fully-fledged community space. Other projects, like ‘The Mountain’ in Copenhagen or ‘La Maison Stéphane Hessel’ in Lille, involve a mix of programs that have no direct connection to each other in theory, but ultimately become complementary.

The connections between design and architecture lie primarily in the creative and functional approach to spaces and objects. As a designer, I strive to create pieces that meet practical needs while offering thoughtful aesthetics, always trying to find several functions in one object. As an architect, the challenge is similar, but on a larger scale: designing spaces that enhance people's lives while incorporating sustainable and innovative solutions. In both cases, the consideration of form, function, and human interaction is at the heart of my practice.

Julien De Smedt is the founder and director of JDS Architects based in Paris.
In his practice as a designer, his approach is to create meaningful products as a way to address matters of society.

De Smedt was born in Brussels and he attended schools in Brussels, Paris, Los Angeles and London, where he received his diploma from the Bartlett School of Architecture. Before setting up his namesake studio in 2006, Julien worked with Rem Koolhaas in Rotterdam and co-founded the architecture firm named PLOT with Bjarke Ingels in Copenhagen. The office has since developed projects internationally, which cover 40 countries and has worked with over 500 collaborators from around the world. JDS Architects has been awarded 100+ international architecture prizes.

Julien De Smedt has also been a guest lecturer in numerous venues and a visiting professor in various universities including MIT and Stockholm University. His work is also featured in the monograph ‘PIXL to XL’ and other influential publications such as ‘Agenda, Can we sustain our ability to Crisis?’ and ‘Built Unbuilt’.

As an architect and designer whose work is of international renown, Julien’s commitment to the exploration of new architectural models and programs has helped re-energize the contemporary architecture discussion. Regardless of scale, each of JDS Architects' projects reflects an approach that is affirmatively social in its outcome, enthusiastic in its ambition, and professional in its process.