“Each Project Is Like a Small City to Me” in Conversation With Glenn Sestig

“Each Project Is Like a Small City to Me” in Conversation With Glenn Sestig

Whether an apartment building, house, storefront, office interior, or restaurant, Glenn Sestig’s architecture consistently reveals itself in tidy fragments of robust and determinately monumental geometry that tends to evoke urban qualities. His austere facades, colonnades, stair landings, and even reception desks and shelf displays appear to be quite hefty and substantial. And, in fact, every project, be it a small boutique or gallery, starts with rigorous planning – visual primary and secondary axes get established, circulation flow is laid out, and major anchors are identified before the architect moves on to addressing the appropriate materials, surfaces, and details. Every space is architecture first; its program and appearance will fit into it.

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Glenn Sestig was born in 1968 and grew up in Ghent, Belgium, a city proud of its history and architecture that go back to the Middle Ages. Yet, Ghent is not a museum town; it is a vibrant contemporary city peppered with strikingly modern structures, affirming its continuing artistic tradition. So, it is no surprise that Sestig would be inclined to study the subject that gets so much appreciation here. He earned his architecture degree from the Henry Van de Velde Institute of Art History and Archeology in Antwerp in 1993 and acquired his initial commission while working at Vincent Van Duysen, now famous architecture, interior, and design firm in Antwerp.

From the beginning, Sestig has been working with his life and business partner artist Bernard Tournemenne who is primarily dedicated to developing atmospheric palettes of textures, colors, and tones and is the creative director at Glenn Sestig Architects. The firm was formally established in 1999 with a focus on retail interiors, which now can be found all over Europe and increasingly in other parts of the world. In addition to designing boutiques, showrooms, and galleries his work expanded into houses, small condominium buildings, and renovation projects.

So many of Sestig’s interiors and displays are turned into architectural abstractions; they have become a key characteristic of the architect’s oeuvre. No matter what the scale or program, Sestig’s architecture is always hidden within. Every project is an adventure from the inside out. Each place is turned into a small city, shifting our focus from the subject of the display to its context and back, exhorting and transforming our imagination, and effectively raising our expectations. In the following interview with Glenn Sestig we talked about fulfilling the dream of his father, the influence of the Antwerp Six, his first breakthrough, treating each project like a small city, as well as a minor work of art, and what makes his architecture classical, not in a traditional but modern way.

Vladimir Belogolovsky: I would like you to start with your initial interest in architecture. What was it that sparked it in the first place?

Glenn Sestig: My interest in architecture starts from a very young age with this strange, almost maniacal desire for experiencing forms, volumes, and, in general, spaces that we inhabit, where we work, and where we have fun. I was also influenced by my father, who worked as a salesperson at a large state telecommunications company but wanted to be an architect. It never worked out for him. I think that’s what he wanted me to do. So, there was always that motivation on his part, and somehow, I subconsciously felt that. I was about 12 when I designed my own bedroom in my parents’ house. They still keep it exactly the way I designed it.

Later, when I was 18, my interest in architecture was transformed and enriched by going to nightclubs. Boccaccio was a famous nightclub in Destelbergen, near Ghent. It was frequented by people from all over Europe who wanted to experience new electronic music, experimental sounds, and artificial light that the nightlife offered. That’s how I eventually met many people in the artistic and creative world.

VB: You graduated from the Henry Van de Velde Institute of Art History and Archeology in Antwerp in 1993. Could you talk about that experience and your first steps in the profession?

GS: I spent five years there. It was fun and many days were spent nightclubbing. [Laughs.] While at the Institute, I preferred to be surrounded by students of fashion, design, and photography because we shared rigorous and even radical ways of seeing things. Yet, I did not necessarily want to reinvent the world, as was the case with many architecture students. After the emergence of the Antwerp Six, a group of fashion designers, the new wave was changing the fashion world. I saw them as my companions in the creative playground, so to speak. In fact, I almost switched to fashion, but my mother who is very lucid was able to put me back on track to pursuing architecture. I am very grateful to her for that.

Before getting my diploma, I had to do two years of internship. Half of that time I worked at a local architectural office; I did not enjoy that experience. So, I applied to another firm, and around the same time, I meet Bernard Tournemenne, my partner. He is the most determined person both in my private life and in my career. He is deeply involved in the world of fashion, which led to opportunities to meet many fashion designers and artists. Then followed my internship in the office of architect Vincent Van Duysen in Antwerp.

My first professional breakthrough came at the very beginning, while still doing my internships, when the owner of Soap, the most popular hair salon in Antwerp at the time, asked me to redesign the place in just nine days. He invited the entire Flemish art and design crowd of the time to the opening and that was our first exposure. So, immediately, I met so many people. Eventually, some of them became my clients.

VB: How do you approach the design process? What are some of your initial steps?

GS: It is always about the program first, which, in the case of retail projects, is all about statistics, mathematics, practicalities, and precision. We start with a diagram because everything must be placed in the most logical places to create the right flow. That’s how projects evolve. But I think architecturally. Each project is like a small city to me. I establish visual axes, and everything is planned from the inside out. Only after the plan is established do the materials follow. Then I focus on details. I prefer to work with natural stone to bring a feeling of warmth to my projects, and we tend to be understated. And, increasingly, we are asked by our clients to design our own furniture and objects instead of picking something from a catalog. So, we do everything from the plan to the smallest detail.

VB: And I read that you developed your own system of dimensions. Everything in your spaces is measured to 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24…

GS: …32, 64, 128 centimeters. Yes, that’s true. I never use 5, 10, 15… [Laughs.] I developed this system over the years, and it is a part of my own language that evolved over time. It is intuitive to me. I treat each completed project as a minor work of art. So, I am very rigorous about the dimensions and proportions that I use.

VB: What would you say your architecture is about?

GS: I find it very difficult to describe my own style. It’s not minimalism, even if some people call it that. Still, I would not want to label myself because that would limit my territory. The Leitmotif of my architecture is, above all, functional and not conceptual. And the gesture is rather intuitive and without calculations, with a strong concern for structure. I would also say it is classical, not in a traditional but modern way. I am inspired by the great architects of the 20th century. The idea is to give my work both timeless dimensions and a kind of “Glenn Sestig” signature at the same time. I never take on projects that are purely decorative.

VB: You call interior design interior architecture. Could you touch on that?

GS: My process is always to start with the plan. First, I am an architect, so I always define my space. The difference between an architect and an interior designer is a notion that needs to be redefined. Nothing is a given. I need to assert my position. All great architects of the 20th century worked out their projects from the inside out, taking into account all the additives, right down to furniture and other objects, creating a total experience for each space, whether a dwelling, an office, a bank, or a store. All our interiors are conceived architecturally. Every project is an adventure from the inside out.

VB: What words would you say describe your architecture most accurately?

GS: Intuitive, emotional, functional, monumental, symmetrical, and sequential, with emphasis on rhythm, colors, beauty, timelessness, and sophistication.

VB: What would you say are the current most pressing challenges or desires for you?

GS: I would like to work on some of the building types that I haven’t done yet. Especially, museums. I would like to design a spa or hotel. I also like working with older buildings on renovations. But most of all I would like to work on new challenging projects – clubs, galleries, and boutiques. I like the diversity that architecture offers – working on different projects at the same time. I like my architecture to be timeless. If you can do a building that will last for a very long time that’s what I like to achieve the most. That would be the most ecological thing any architect could do.