The Village | Casa M

A tranquil haven in miniature

The Village was inspired by the events of 2020 and is our homage to home, a place that many of us all around the world rediscovered in a sense, re-evaluating its importance as it became a precious haven during the difficult months of lockdown.

Our homes reverted to their original role as a theatre for our domestic life and a shelter that provided protection from the world outside. We simultaneously also discovered that we were not alone, but part of an incredible global community. We were all in the same boat, and there was a sense of solidarity no matter where we were.

To reflect the multicultural nature of the world we live in, we decided to involve artists from different nations and backgrounds to bring our homage to home to life. We invited each of them to interpret their vision of home as a special haven and the result is a collection of varied and eclectic miniature houses that together form a small-scale representation of the global village we inhabit.

Belgian designer Vincent Van Duysen created Casa M, a set of two diminutive sculptures that were named after and inspired by the lines, colours and material of his own home in Portugal. Its role as a haven and a place where he goes to seek inspiration and take time out can be clearly felt in its miniature incarnations, where the clean, precise lines recall the buildings by modernist masters such as Jørn Utzon and his Casa Lis or Luis Barragán’s house and studio.

Closed, secure spaces that are the perfect antidote to uncertainty and worry transmit a feeling of tranquillity and comfort, accentuated by the warm tones of Havana-coloured cement.

Perfect as standalone pieces or a set of two, the Casa M sculptures also sit perfectly alongside the other miniature houses that make up The Village, recreating the idea of a village as a community and a community as a refuge.

“My mini houses were born out of my appreciation of Casa M, my house in Portugal. They represent an abstraction of that project which I consider like a sanctuary.”