Interview with Saïd Belmir
Passioned by artistic process as well as the building technics used in architecture, his projects are the result of deep thinking taking in account the singularity of contexts.
Designer of the Day Interview
17 March 2018
I've been attracted by design during my architecture studies in Brussels thanks to Mr.Levy and its singular approach. After my graduation as architect around 2016, I've got the opportunity to work as graphic designer for supercar racing teams such as Bentley and Ferrari. Parallely, I designed a prototype for a new cultural mediation, which has been accepted to the incubator of the Louvre-Lens Museum. In 2017, I've got the Public Prize at the International Inspireli Awards for an architecture project, and the Silver A'Design Awards for the XX Table. This last prize allowed me to exhib around the world.
Every young graduated architects know the struggle to find an interesting job after school. In my case, I didn't find any agency ready to hire me as junior architect. So when you're jobless you have a lot of time to develop your own concepts. So that's what I did, I used my skills in architecture into small scale, and then, I became a Designer.
I love the Brancusi's approach, specially this sentence : " simplicity is complexity resolved ". This sentence sums up my whole work, because I like make my work so simple and obvious, than we forget the complex design process to reach this solution.
designing is like a need, because when an idea is growing in your mind, you have to extract it on a sheet for not being submerged by it. Then, you can judge if this idea deserves a development or not. If it does, the most exciting part of the design process is building the prototype
Nothing was really expected, design wasn't my first priority, I wanted to be an architect. And this is our environnement, the difficulties that we have to cross, the encounters that we gonna do, the struggle that we have to undertake, these things will shape us as a designer.
As I just said previously, Everything that I have planned didn't happen as I expected. So let's just live in streaming and check what is gonna happen.
Try, fail, learn from your fails and try again until to reach your goals. To sum up in one word : Perseverance.
working on some ideas, checking their feasibilities, choosing the ones which worth to invest time on them, developping them at 100%, and then checking the networks for the product promotion
On social media, I always follow the main design and architecture magazines to know what is up in the field. But I don't try to follow a trend in my work, my approach doesn't fit very well with this idea. However, as I'm looking to do something intemporal, my works could be in the past, the current, or the future trend.
A design is currently good when it reaches its goals in any aspects. it's a functionalist approach, but more in the alvar aalto's way. It's means it's including physiological psychological aspects.
You know your design is ready when everything that you gonna add is superficial.
Actually this is the XX Table, I didn't expect this recognition from the field for this table and it's still going beyond all what I've expected. And I'm still curious to see where this table will finish its path.
There is a lot ! But currently I really appreciate the Benedetto Bufalino's works.
I would like to propose some smart solutions that could improve or save lives around the world. Actually, I'm doing exactly the opposite by making expensive products and designing buildings for rich people. But that's cool, everything comes to those who wait.
The A'Design Award bringed me prestige, recognition and visibility. I clearly stepped to a new level thanks to this contest.
Design Legend Interview
13 May 2017
I did a master of architecture in Brussels, where I had the opportunity to study design in several aspects: Social design in an urban scale, furniture design, graphic design, and webdesign.
I find my motivation in the pleasure that I take when I create objects that express my ideas. Design is another form of communication that reaches users in a more implicit and sensitive way than traditional ways.
I chose to become a designer and I had no relationship in this world before starting my studies in this direction.
I like to design furniture that express purely physical balance and that have original structures. I like that the design object can express a concept, an idea.
To become a design legend, you have to be able to create something that is iconic. I do not yet consider my work as legendary, it is still too early and presumptuous to award me this title, but I hope wholeheartedly to achieve it.
A good designer does what we expected from him, and a great designer does what we expected of him and exceeds our expectations. The great designer adds to his products answers to needs that we had not yet identified as a user.
I try to find out if the design is unreleased, if it responds ingeniously to a problem, and if by the answer it brings, it encompasses a broader reflection than the basic instructions.
A good design is a timeless design, a design charged with intelligence, which expresses an idea, and which could become a source of inspiration.
I would like to continue my research on assemblies that require neither glue nor screws, and create a whole range of furniture easy to assemble, without tool or special preparation. I would like if one day the opportunity presents itself, offer my services to brands of furnishings.
It's a jealously guarded secret.
It is still too early to define a miracle recipe that will work systematically. I will be able to answer this question if in the future I win prizes regularly.
My references are mainly related to the world of architecture, such as Eero Saarinen, Kazuyo Sejima, Renzo Piano, Herzog & De Meron ... But I also appreciate some modern designers like Charles Eames.
I am very proud of the table that I realized because it combines the structural and aesthetic aspect while giving a modern interpretation of a Moorish geometric motif.
It is always necessary to continue learning, to experiment new things, to continue to collect references, to meet new people to exchange know-how.
I have always imagined myself as an architect, I have never seen myself do anything else. As it is a multidisciplinary profession, the design aspect is included in this profession.
My family, my close friends, the directors of the company Dutilleul-Industries who believed in my project and who produce my table, and my design teacher when I was studying Architecture.
I am persuaded that perseverance is the key to achieving any goal in life. We must not resign ourselves.
Designers must be real communicators to convey their ideas, they must be pedagogues, they must be extensionists. They must take the reflex to contact the press, participate in exhibitions.
If the table is well received by critics and specialty shops, you should expect the development of a broader range based on the same constructive system to complete the needs users.
Being able to live thanks to my creations.
We always have to live up to the esteem people place in you, to be able to surprise them pleasantly with new creations.
The design, in all its aspects, already contributes to the creation of a better society. Design always seeks to meet the needs expressed or not still expressed by the users. The design targets a situation where an embarrassment is identified, and proposes a solution to make this situation more pleasant to use.
I am in direct contact with the company Dutilleul Industries for the creation of table XX. The next step is sales and exhibitions.
The path followed by this table is quite atypical, this is the first time I develop this kind of project until in this level. I'm progressing step by step with this project, and I discover every day new fields to be developed, such as marketing and communication.
I wish that the design, the refinement, the good taste in short, is accessible to the greatest number. With the democratization of fablabs, more and more young designers can build prototypes and realize their projects.
It all depends on the clarity of the idea in my mind. Sometimes my mind is struck with a fulguration in which everything is clear, and it is enough for me to draw the object. Sometimes, the work can be very tedious, very blurry, without being able to produce anything concrete. From then on, the prototyping process can be very long.
As soon as I have an idea that excites me enough to keep me awake all night, I begin to scratch the paper to keep a physical trace of this idea. The next day, I have enough perspective to review what I did the previous day, and judge whether it's really a good idea, or if it's shit. If it's a good idea, serious things start.
"Simplicity is complexity resolved." – Brancusi.
It's hard to say, it can work both ways. Ideally, we would like to see design always the source of new trends. In this case it is an actor who has an influence, not a passive follower of the movement.
Technology is paramount when designing an object, it is necessary to think about its manufacturing process, how it will be machined, with what tool, and what cost, if we wish one day to see it in reality. It's very frustrating to do extraordinary things that will never happen.
I use most modeling and rendering software such as Sketchup, Autocad, and Vray. I also work a lot with laser cutters et CNC machines.
Our relationship to color and different materials can vary from one person to another. To see more clearly how to deal with colors and materials, I use a lot of psychological studies such as Goethe's work on color theory.
I would like people ask me to design more products, I would like them to be receptive to my realizations, and my artistic vision.
That's really great! I share a kind of joy, pride, and I keep this project in a corner of my mind for a day to inspire me.
My previous co-design experience was a real fiasco. It must also be said that the conditions of creations were quite limited, and contained enormous compromises, and problems of ego. In the end, the result is something sad, which is not the result of a bright and clear mind. My ideal design partner should not be a designer. Rather it must be a technician who works the material, and who has acquired an incredible know-how with the hands. If our knowledges can be associated, we will become complementary, and the result may be excellent.
Technicians who work with materials, carpenters, blacksmiths, glass blowers ... in short, most people in the craft industry, who have a privileged relationship with the material.
"Form follows Fiasco," by Peter Blake. A book-killer against modernism, which takes with humor and irony the famous formula of Louis Sullivan: "Form follows Function".
It's a lot of time spent alone experimenting many projects, until one of them works. To become very good, at firstt you must love what you do, then do it regularly with the goal of becoming better than the previous day. Then one day, we realize that we are became is very good when we compare ourself to our peers.
Averroes who is the father of modern thought in Western Europe, and Blaise Pascal mainly because he always despises the complicated speeches of an elite, he was used to vulgarize his knowledge in order to transmit them simply to everyone.
I don't see much change for now. I especially hope this new notoriety will serve my projects rather than my person.
I do not have a favorite color, each color has a role to play depending on the circumstances. I love the Mediterranean coasts, and I would love to live there. I like richly spiced food with a fresh soda. I love summer. And I like the sneakers and clothing with a fit cut.
It was when I was a student, I had completely dried out the design courses because I had been taken by another design project outside of the cursus. When I came back after a long absence, I thought I was going to be sanctioned, but the teacher encouraged me to develop what I was doing. But this did not prevent me from a bad grade at the end of the semester.
I put small intermediate goals to achieve each day, for sleeping with some satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment. When we have the conviction to have advanced in his work, one can resume with more vigor the next day.
I always wanted to become an architect. The profession of designer can be included in that of the architect, because they have the same processes of reflection at the origin, although the architecture demands an even more important rigor.
I am rather pessimistic for the distant future. I do not believe in the existence of perpetual progress based on our current way of life. All the civilizations that have preceded us, however developed, have finally collapsed. I think that we need a mind revolution to make the world a better place.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this interview, and I wish to see you again on my official website www.saidbelmir.com to find out more about me and my projects.
Designer Interview
13 May 2017
I've always been interested in art in all the fields. In high school I have been composing music and urban poetry a lot, frequenting many scenes in France and Belgium. In parallel, I used to always compose pictures by sketching a lot, by taking photographies, and now mostly, by making renders. While I was studying architecture, I began to be initiated to the design process in a more academic way, which fitted very well with my own background. Also during my studies, while I was living in a shared flat, I began to appreciate cooking, and composing foods with different flavours. In all of these fields, music, poetry, drawing, cooking, design, and architecture, there is the same skill at the origin: the composition. And I use this energy to stimulate our senses in many fields. So I think, that is my natural interest for composing which made me who I am.
I currently only represent myself, and I always strive myself to apply my philosophy in architecture and design.
For me, Design is creating something clever enough to make people think that the solution was obvious. The product has to find the good balance, for not being too much simplistic or complicated. When this fine feeling between simplicity and cleverness invades you, that means that you have reached your balance, and got your design. As Brancusi said: " The simplicity is the complexity solved."
As an architect, I like designing spaces and structures that can transmit feelings to the visitors. And from these works, I can also make derived products as home furnitures or lamps by using the same design process. For instance in a similar way, the architect Renzo Piano realised a stylistic work with a handbag inspired by his own work on the Whitney Museum of American Art.
My favorite design object is the common broom. The broom is so amazing than the design has not evolved for thousands years. We just made some tecnical adjustments but the raw concept is the same.This is for me the proof that our ancestors have reached their goal, by making something simple, clever and intemporal. We still didn't revolutionize that old concept, and the only alternative that we made is the vacuum cleaner, which needs bags and electricity for working, which is bulky, and which makes a lot of noise. What a progress, right ?
I don't remember exactly but I think the first thing I designed for a company is probably a logo.
I really like to work on flat pack design, with a laser cut or CNC machine.
I feel the most creative when I'm processing a project in my own way, with my personal vision. The creativity is a consequence which comes from the way we treated the project. We don't have to see the creativity as a goal to reach. The creativity is a gift that comes after you applied our unique thoughts on the project.
I focus the most on the structural and aestetical aspects during designing, and I try to find a common answer for these two aspects. A beautiful product that couldn't be made is a frustration, and an ugly product which works well isn't attractive.
we cross a lot of emotions during a design process. In the most of my cases, it always begins with a big enthusiasm, then when you begin the work on the details and technical aspects, the enthusiasm leaves you, to be replaced by the doubt and frustation.Then when you still don't find any technical solutions for your idea, you begin to not believing anymore in your project, and become sad and hopeless. And only here that you get your declic : you get your perfect technical solution from nowhere, everyhting works perfectly as you wanted, and you're filled by fullness and peace.
When my designs are realized, I'm happy for having reached my goal, and this is always a big emotion for me to be able to touch my works, in real and physical. But I know there is still a lot of steps to do after that. The promotion of the design product is the next step, which is almost as hard as the previous one. We have to raise the curiosity ans the interest of the customers.
There is a lot of things to take in the equation to define what is making a design successful, so it's very hard to respond. In my own experience, I think a design could be successful if it fills three points : good design of course, good recognition by the professionals in the field, and good communication.
The first aspect that I consider for judging a design as good or bad is the affordance.
The design field is living a revolution since a couple years with the apparition of a lot of fablabs, and the technological developments about 3D Printer, Laser Cut and CNC machine. It was never so easy and cheap to make prototypes in limited editions thanks to this new tools and services. We are truly living the third industrial revolution in the design field.
My last exhibition was in Prague, Czech Republic, for my international winning award Inspireli 2016, in architecture. That was a great opportunity, and the dream is to do it again in famous museums and galleries around the world. These are great opportunities to introduce people to my design works and make networking.
My design inspiration comes from the geometric art of the Mauresque's style and architecture. These patterns are intemporal and they can be applied in so many different ways in Design and Architecture. I feed my creativity each time I visit a monument, or when I read some books about geometry. for instance, I recommand to read the thesis of Craig S.Kaplan titled "Islamic Star Patterns from Polygons in Contact" from the School of Computer Science University of Waterloo.
I'm born and I'm still living in France. I've got an European education but I also have a cultural heritage from Morocco thanks to my family. That is influencing a lot my design process, and as you can see on my winning project, the Geometric Art from the Mauresque Style defines the heart of the project. Geometric patterns are fascinating supports for making beautiful and original structures.
When I have to work with a company, the most importance thing is to establish a confidence Relationship between us. To reach that, we have to communicate a lot, be transparent and clear on our tasks. In same time, we have to listen their demands, and be able synthetise their problems to give them the best possible answer.
My golden rule is from Brancusi : " The simplicity is the complexity solved."
The next goal about my design is to sell my creations to the customers around the world. Thanks to the collaboration with Dutilleul-Industries, I can produce my table XX in the highest quality. If I get nice feedbacks for my works, I would like to expand my activity with a company.
I develop all my designs by myself. I still don't find the match for the perfect teamate.
I'm currently working with the Louvre Lens Valley on a design project named EGG. This project is about the cultural mediation.
People can contact me on my website : www.saidbelmir.com