ARCHITECTOUR WITH MWORKS
The Belgian designer duo present their favourite buildings in Brussels
FEATURE | 17 April 2022
Text & Pictures: MWORKS
Intro: Celine Lika
When designing their pieces, Belgian designers Mansour Badjoko and Martin Liesnard are strongly influenced by architecture. Particularly Brussels, the city they’re based in, is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the duo. They show us around their city, guiding us from one fascinating building to the next.
MWORKS has a very strong connection to architecture: To us, clothes are architecture for the body. Purpose and function are what is driving our approach to garments. Architecture is therefore at the very core of our brand.
When it comes to architecture, Brussels can be such an inspiring city because it’s a juxtaposition of a lot of different architectural styles – sometimes without any reason from an urban planning point of view. We’re lucky to be exposed to such chaotic diversity: many different stylistic choices, finishes, proportions, and colours.
We see buildings as abstract yet functional pieces of art that you’re able to enter and explore.
For our Spring/Summer collection, called ‘Building’, we created an imaginary building combining Modernist and Brutalist influences. The architecture in Brussels inspired us.
Former Royale Belge Headquarters
A beautiful and massive building on stilts, which is built over an artificial lake and surrounded by a dense forest. We love that the building looks so alien and a bit out of place compared to the natural setting.
Architects: René Stapels, Pierre Dufau
Boulevard du Souverain 25, 1170 Brussels
Former Royale Belge Headquarters
Former Royale Belge Headquarters
Signe de Lumière
Jacques Moeschal, the creator of this building, was both an architect and a sculptor. There are a lot of his sculptures next to motorways, looking almost like totems. The strong lines and geometric shapes in Moeschal’s work inspired us when we were designing our brand logo, which is printed on our MWORKS Maxi Logo Sweatshirt.
Architect: Jacques Moeschal
Porte de Namur R20, 1000 Brussels
Signe de Lumière
Former CBR Headquarters
Possibly the most poetic building of our selection. Completely unique and striking, we love the strong contrast of the oval copper glass with the white cement. The massive and simple shape of the building interspersed with soft oval shapes – elegant and timeless. Its aesthetic, and its architecture approach, has been an inspiration when designing and reinterpreting our new shirt, our Hooded Shirt. The large hood recalls the oval shape of the windows.
Architects: Constantin Brodzki, Marcel Lambrichs
Chaussée de la Hulpe 185, 1170 Brussels
Former CBR Headquarters
Residence Le Pesage
We couldn’t do an architecTour without including the shooting location for our Spring/Summer 2021 collection. We love this modernist building for its pillars and fascinating proportions.
Architect: René Stapels
Avenue d’Italie 43, 1050 Brussels
Residence Le Pesage
Former Banque Lambert Headquarters
Located near the Royal Palace of Brussels, this both functional and elegant building used to have a huge penthouse on the top floor. Today, there are a lot of skateboarders practicing in the front travertine courtyard. How decadent! We developed the Spring/Summer Couch Jacket and Pleated Pants in the upcycled, light blue version as an imaginative uniform for this building.
Architect: Gordon Bunschaft (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill)
Avenue Marnix 24, 1000 Brussels
Former Banque Lambert Headquarters
Former CGER Headquarters
One of the most iconic Brutalist façades in Brussels – a must-see. We were inspired by the details of this façade when we created the imaginary building for our Spring/Summer 2020 collection.
Architects: Marcel Lambrichs, Casimir Grochowski, Daniel de Laveleye
Rue des Boiteux 10-12, 1000 Brussels
Former CGER Headquarters
Former CGER Headquarters
Rectorate of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel
The University of Brussels was influenced by numerous different architectural styles. We could do an ArchitecTour of the university alone.
Architect: Renaat Braem
Campus de la Plaine 2, 1050 Brussels
Rectorate of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel