Nel Verbeke (1989, lives and works in Brussels, Belgium) is a concept
designer dedicated to the emotional potential of shape and space. A
vocation that led her to explore what she refers to as The Architecture
of Time and to create settings and circumstances that foster profound
contemplation and introspection. For her Two Alcoves Joining (Grey
Iron Edition i.c.w. Emma Scully), she reinterpreted the historical and
transcultural notion of the alcove as a place for spiritual retreat, arriving at
two freestanding niches united by a metal band. The concise but sculptural
volume, which functions both as a vase and as a bell jar, depending on how
you position it, interrupts the usual dynamics in a room and installs an
evocative focal point – a mental refuge that absorbs and quiets our gaze and
thoughts. In this, the transparency of the glass and the distinctive surface
and tone of the sand cast metal each play their own role, either hiding or
revealing what is preserved in between them.