Tomorrowland, a Belgian festival well-known to electronic music fans, is now translating its fantastical universe into a furniture collection called "Morpho." Designed by architect and interior designer Dieter Vander Velpen, head of Great Library Design Studio, it looks like it came straight out of a heroic fantasy novel, with its curves and patterns inspired by dragonfly wings, the symbol of the music event which expects to welcome nearly 400,000 visitors this year.
The former Montevideo warehouses in Antwerp look impressive. It is in this old 19th-century buildinge In the 20th century, a stone's throw from the port of the Flemish city, We Are One World, the parent company of Tomorrowland, established its headquarters. Bathed in light thanks to its glass roof, the entrance welcomes visitors with a bar topped by a large neuropteran insect wing. Continuing on, an immaculate white spiral staircase unfolds before us, adorned with an openwork railing of gilded metal, reminiscent of the elven aesthetic of... Lord of the Rings of Tolkien. To our right, at the end of a long table, a series of stained-glass windows majestically depict dragonflies and hummingbirds in a magical world. This unique, newly opened space is also furnished with various pieces from the renowned "Morpho" collection, which employs the same design language. Motifs of ribbed wings, a scale-themed table, and organically shaped legs are all present. Although more minimalist than the Tomorrowland festival, known for its fantastical and staged sets (the next edition promises a "magical" stage set made entirely of ice), the world of "Morpho" easily evokes a medieval fantasy video game. Yet, the new Antwerp establishment claims its inspiration as drawn from Mother Nature or Art Nouveau, a movement that flourished considerably in Belgium—as evidenced by the splendid Horta House in Brussels, built at the beginning of the last century. Great Library Design Studio partnered with three other Belgian companies to bring its project to fruition. The designers at Brussels-based RVB, specializing in bathroom design, created faucets in solid brass and marble. Atelier Vierkant in Ostend designed clay planters adorned with metallic lines reminiscent of tree branches. Finally, the Antwerp-based Ethnicraft provided the furniture. The stated objective of this collection? "To transcend the ephemeral in a world of spaces and objects." Great Library Design Studio should also be involved in the design "hotels, restaurants and concert venues, while creating inspiring objects and furniture collections that reflect the essence of Tomorrowland."
