Vitra explores two ways of experiencing the home, bridging iconic design and new languages of living.
For the 2025/2026 edition of Home Stories for Winter, Vitra explores the quiet pleasure of everyday rituals through two radically different domestic worlds: the Beaux-Arts elegance of Martina Bjorn and David Van Severen’s Brussels apartment, and the raw, nature-rooted atmosphere of the converted home of Vera Köller and Lukas Cober near Maastricht. Two homes, two couples, two ways of inhabiting space—connected by a shared thread: design as a form of personal expression.
In Bjorn and Van Severen’s apartment, historic architecture and contemporary life fall into an effortless rhythm. The space is interpreted through proportion, balance and a sense of purposeful simplicity.
Modern furnishings slip naturally into the ornate fabric of the building—not as points of contrast but as elements in dialogue with its memory. Clean lines, essential materials and a selection of iconic forms become part of a unified whole where past and present feel seamlessly attuned.
This sensibility resonates in a curated ensemble of Vitra classics that naturally complement the home’s historic atmosphere. Among the designs by Charles and Ray Eames, the Eames Lounge Chair & Ottoman stands out as a synthesis of craftsmanship and comfort; the Wire Chair reveals its graphic lightness; the Aluminium and Soft Pad Chairs illustrate the duo’s refined approach to ergonomics; and the compact LTR table adds an industrial, architectural accent.
George Nelson’s Coconut Chair introduces a sculptural gesture translated into an open, welcoming form, while Ronan Bouroullec’s Courier Desk expresses a pared-back sensibility rooted in design precision and aesthetic purity. Each piece contributes to a shared visual grammar—a language shaped over decades of design history yet remarkably cohesive in the present.
Near Maastricht, Köller and Cober’s project emerges from an entirely different sensibility—instinctive, tactile, and deeply attuned to the surrounding natural landscape. Their former miners’ house has been transformed into a luminous and contemplative retreat, where raw textures, handmade objects and minimal interventions define a slower, intentional pace of living. Earthy tones, irregular plaster surfaces and soft daylight together compose a kind of primordial minimalism, allowing the true character of materials to come through. In this environment shaped by time and transformation, Vitra’s designs become an ideal complement.
Here, Vitra’s designs amplify the depth and tactility of the space. Jean Prouvé’s Standard Chair introduces an industrial clarity through its distinctive volumes and functional proportions.
Verner Panton’s Panton Chair adds a vivid counterpoint with its continuous silhouette and saturated hue, punctuating the calm palette.
Panton’s Amoebe, the Eameses’ Hang It All and their Plywood Mobile bring an element of play—graphic rhythms, suspended movement, subtle colour.
The Eames Anagram Sofa, with its flexible modules, adapts to different settings while maintaining a sharp, architectural presence. Each object finds its place naturally, shaping a visual dialogue in tune with the project’s instinctive, material-driven spirit.
Home Stories for Winter weaves together identities, materials and ways of living, showing how design objects can shift in meaning depending on the spaces that receive them. In this narrative, Vitra becomes part of a broader story—one made of atmospheres, gestures and thoughtful choices, where the memory of a place meets the expressive freedom of the people who inhabit it.
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