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Maarten De Ceulaer is the Designer of the Year 2025!
“Launching a design icon straight from the academy? Few designers can match Maarten De Ceulaer in that regard. Where others cling to a single form, material or technique, he remains curious about the unknown. That makes his work extraordinarily adventurous and surprising. And that is precisely why we have chosen him as Designer of the Year.” comments Amélie Rombauts, Head of Design and Architecture at Knack Weekend and Le Vif Weekend, on the jury’s choice.
De Ceulaer studied at Sint-Lucas Brussels and the renowned Design Academy Eindhoven, where he graduated in 2009. Already during his studies, he gained international attention with his Suitcase Series, a sculptural cabinet inspired by stacks of travel suitcases. The project was picked up before his graduation by the Italian brand Casamania and later further developed in collaboration with the prestigious Nilufar Gallery in Milan. With this, he laid the foundation for a career that moves between handcrafted limited editions and experimental gallery work on the one hand, and larger design commissions on the other.
In the following years, Maarten worked on numerous projects with a pronounced aesthetic and sensitivity to materials. He designed an installation and a series of benches called Transformations for Fendi during Design Miami, developed the Mutation Series with an American gallery, and created the Impulse lighting collection with Modular. His projects often stem from personal fascinations: a form, a material, a technique. This intuitive approach leads to designs that are both rationally structured and emotionally charged.
About the Award
Launched in 2026, this annual award organized by the magazines Knack Weekend and Le Vif Weekend, celebrates promising designers who have made significant contributions to the Belgian design landscape.
The jury was made up of experts from the Belgian design sector: Lauren Fonteyn (Flanders District of Creativity / For The Now), Dieter Van Den Storm (MAD Brussels), Lise Van Tendeloo (Wonder/Designregio Kortrijk), Bie Luyssaert (Design Museum Gent), Marie Pok (CID Grand-Hornu), Laure Capitani (Wallonie-Bruxelles Design Mode) and Amélie Rombauts (Knack Weekend/Le Vif Weekend)
His most recent project is called Cairn Lights, a poetic collection of light objects made from stacked stones. Inspired by cairns left by hikers on mountain passes or beaches, these lamps act as modern totems. The stones, carefully sourced from European stonecutters, are handcrafted, hollowed out and adapted as subtly as possible. De Ceulaer deliberately seeks a form of invisible craftsmanship in which the gesture remains subordinate to the object. “The Cairn Lights may well be my most personal work to date,” says De Ceulaer. “They are about silence, balance and timelessness. Objects that speak without words.”
Maarten De Ceulaer - Cairn Lights
