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LUCIEN ENGELS, red chair for home Emile Vandervelde II

In 1954, Belgian architect and designer Lucien Engels created Émile Vandervelde II, a holiday home for children in Oostduinkerke. Engels designed not only the architecture, but also the interiors and all custom furniture. Tragically, the building was demolished in 1995 and only a small number of original furnishings were saved.

This is an authentic chair type A, crafted from solid beech wood with a distinct red lacquered backrest and asymmetrical handhold. It remains in good vintage condition, with honest signs of age and use. A rare opportunity to own a piece of Belgian modernist history and a beautiful survivor of a visionary project lost to time.

h x w x d: 69 x 41 x 49 cm / weight: 4.50 kg

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1,450.00 €
excluding shipping cost

About Lucien Engels

Lucien Engels (1928–2015) was a Belgian architect and designer whose work bridged modernist ideals and poetic spatial expression. Born in Vilvoorde, he studied architecture at La Cambre in Brussels, where he was influenced by key figures of the Modern Movement such as Louis-Herman De Koninck, Willy Van Der Meeren and Victor Bourgeois. He graduated with high distinction in 1950. From 1950 to 1954, Engels partnered with architect Roger De Winter. Together, they designed a series of row houses in Vilvoorde characterized by clarity and transparency. Their most notable joint project was the new wing of the Home Emile Vandervelde I children's holiday home in Oostduinkerke, a project that laid the groundwork for Engels' most iconic work: Home Emile Vandervelde II (1954), which he designed independently as a complete concept, including architecture, interiors and furniture. In his early works, Engels explored lightness and material expression, often integrating water features and pilotis. 

These elements are already visible in the Lambiotte House in Waterloo (1954). After a formative trip to the United States in 1957, where he encountered the work of Eero Saarinen, Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius and others, his approach became more monumental and rational. He embraced clear structural grids, expressive concrete skeletons, and a refined play of light, space and material. Throughout his career, Engels worked closely with the Socialist Mutualities, designing a range of buildings including the César De Paepe Clinic in Brussels and the Medical Center in Menen. His architectural style evolved from sculptural modernism to an almost monumental austerity in his later projects. In addition to his architectural work, Lucien Engels remained active as a visual artist throughout his life. He drew, painted, created collages, designed furniture, ceramics, and even door handles. After ending his architectural practice around 1988, he returned fully to painting, his lifelong passion, which he pursued until old age.