在这次比利时行程中，最令人期待的一站，便是安特卫普的 VVD II Residence——Vincent Van Duysen 的自宅。这位将敏感气质转化为温暖极简语言的建筑大师，在这里构筑出一处安静而克制的居所。它不仅承载着日常生活的秩序，也像一座为精神留出空间的庇护所，让人感受到生活回归本质后的宁静与安定。

One of the most anticipated stops of this journey through Belgium was VVD II Residence in Antwerp — the private home of Vincent Van Duysen. A master who has transformed his sensitive temperament into a language of warm minimalism, Van Duysen has created here a quiet and restrained dwelling. It not only holds the order of daily life, but also feels like a refuge that leaves space for the spirit, offering a sense of calm and stillness as life returns to its essence.

车子驶进安特卫普，窗外先是一些很日常的城市景象：超市、加油站、来往的车辆，一切都很普通。再往前开，街区的气氛慢慢变了，转进一片维多利亚风格的住宅区后，周围一下安静下来，像是从城市的日常切进了另一种节奏。眼前这栋十九世纪的联排别墅，有着少见的宽阔立面，和比利时常见的窄高街屋相比，显得格外沉静，也让人一眼就注意到它。

As we drove into Antwerp, the view outside the window was still made up of ordinary city scenes — supermarkets, gas stations, passing cars, nothing unusual at all. But as we went further, the atmosphere of the neighborhood began to shift. Once we turned into a Victorian residential area, everything suddenly became much quieter, as if we had moved from the everyday rhythm of the city into a different pace altogether. In front of us stood a nineteenth-century townhouse with an unusually wide façade. Compared to the narrow, vertical street houses so common in Belgium, it felt especially calm and immediately drew our attention.

比利时建筑大师 Vincent Van Duysen

Vincent 早已站在门口等我们。简单的藏蓝色毛衣，深色牛仔裤，带着很自然的笑意，像是在等一位熟悉已久的朋友。很难让人想到，几个小时后他就要飞往米兰。和他面对面时，会很自然地觉得，他对生活节奏的把握，和他做空间的方式是一样的——安静、克制，却始终带着温度。比起“建筑师”这个身份，更先感受到的，是他在认真生活这件事本身，而那些让人感到宁静与安定的空间，似乎也正是从这里慢慢生长出来的。

Vincent was already standing at the door waiting for us. Dressed simply in a navy sweater and dark jeans, he looked calm, with a natural smile that felt more like he was waiting for old friends than receiving visitors. It was hard to imagine that only a few hours later, he would be flying to Milan. Standing face to face with him, it felt natural to sense that the way he moves through life is not unlike the way he shapes space — quiet, restrained, yet always warm. Before thinking of him as an architect, what came through first was simply the seriousness and care with which he lives. It is perhaps from this kind of everyday attentiveness that those calm and comforting spaces slowly take shape.

寒暄之间，

Vincent

也向我们介绍了同行的三位工作室伙伴：他的商业合作伙伴 Kristof Geldmeyer，以及两位助理，探访也就在这样的交流中自然展开。说起这座房子时，

Vincent

语气平静：“这个房子对我来说非常特别，我已经在这里生活了 25 年。”对他而言，这里不只是一处庇护所，也浓缩着他长久以来对生活与设计的理解。“虽然我在葡萄牙还有另一处房子，但这里的意义始终不同。”

In the midst of conversation, Vincent introduced the three studio members accompanying him: studio partner and COO, Kristof Geldmeyer, along with two assistants. The visit began naturally through this easy exchange. Speaking about the house, Vincent’s tone was calm: “This house is very special to me. I have lived here for 25 years.” For him, it is not only a refuge, but also a place that holds his long-standing understanding of life and design. “Although I also have another house in Portugal, this one has always carried a different meaning.”

1999 年接手这栋住宅时，原有的居住痕迹其实早已被时间抹去。面对这座最早可追溯至 17 世纪的房子，

Vincent

先花了一整年去规划、构思，也重新思考光线、比例，以及人置身其中时与空间发生的关系。“设计最重要的是平衡空间与比例。”他说这句话时，语气依旧温和，却很坚定。接下来的两年里，

Vincent

几乎将一切剥离回结构本身，始终围绕本质、抽象与纯粹展开，让简洁的几何语言与朴素的日常感并置在一起，最后形成了这座房子如今安静、克制，却又带着质朴力量的样子。

When Vincent took over the house in 1999, most traces of its former life had already disappeared. Faced with a home whose origins could be traced back to the seventeenth century, he spent the first year planning and rethinking the relationship between light, proportion, and the way a person moves through space. “The most important thing in design is the balance between space and proportion,” he said, gently but with great clarity. Over the following two years, he stripped the house back almost entirely to its structure, working consistently around ideas of essence, abstraction, and purity. In doing so, he brought together a pared-back formal language and an unpretentious sense of everyday life, shaping the house into what it feels like now: quiet, restrained, and full of a grounded beauty.

穿过方正而安静的入口玄关，跟着 Vincent 走进客厅。这个空间其实早已被反复谈起，但真正走进去的那一刻，感受还是完全不同。约 10 米 × 11 米的开阔尺度，会在第一时间让人轻轻停顿一下。可它并没有因为大而显得空，反而有一种很自然的安定感。为了让空间更适合日常停留，Vincent 没有选择中心对称的布置方式，而是将起居区放在壁炉一侧，让整个角落更靠近生活本身；中间则摆放着一张可以工作、用餐、聚会的长桌，把不同的日常都安放在同一个空间里。

Passing through the quiet, square entrance hall, we followed Vincent into the living room. This was a space that had already been spoken about many times, yet the feeling of actually stepping into it was entirely different. With its open dimensions of around 10 by 11 metres, the room makes you pause, if only for a moment. And yet it never feels empty because of its size; instead, it holds a very natural sense of calm. To make the space better suited to everyday living, Vincent chose not to use a centrally symmetrical layout. Instead, he placed the sitting area beside the fireplace, bringing that corner closer to the rhythms of daily life, while a long table at the centre accommodates work, meals, and gatherings, allowing different parts of life to unfold within the same space.

空间的核心，是一个嵌入室内、由顶部采光的中庭。一株日本枫树静静立在其中，金属框架带着些许工业感，也将天光与绿意层层过滤，缓缓带入客厅、前厅与厨房。光线因此以一种很自然的方式进入室内，室内与室外之间，也像是共享着同一种呼吸与节奏。Vincent 面向众人，语气温和却很坚定：“最重要的是平衡空间与比例，让室内空间与外部环境建立联系，把自然带入家中。”

At the heart of the house is an internal courtyard lit from above. A Japanese maple stands quietly at its centre, while the industrial metal frame filters light and greenery before letting them fall gently into the living room, entrance hall, and kitchen. In this way, daylight enters the house naturally, and the interior seems to breathe in rhythm with the outside. Facing the group, Vincent spoke in a calm yet assured voice: “What matters most is the balance between space and proportion — creating a connection between the interior and its surroundings, and bringing nature into the home.”

在这里，感受到的并不是某种属于大师人物的距离感，而是一种很周到、也很放松的氛围。“我有三只狗，”Vincent 一边带着我们往里走，一边笑着提醒，“它们总喜欢在地毯上留下些痕迹，还请多多包涵。”这样细小的提醒，反而让整个空间一下子变得更真实，也更接近日常。Vincent 很自然地与我们分享这个家里的种种细节，还主动拉开了客厅里的隐藏式书柜：“需要整洁的时候就把它关上；如果想让空间热闹一点，就把书柜打开，让书也成为空间的一部分。”

What we felt here was not the distance of a legendary figure, but rather an atmosphere that was thoughtful, relaxed, and quietly welcoming. “I have three dogs,” Vincent said with a smile as he led us further inside. “They always like to leave traces on the carpet, so please excuse that.” Somehow, this small remark made the house feel even more real, and closer to everyday life. Vincent shared the details of the home with complete openness, even pulling open the concealed bookshelf in the living room himself: “When I want things to feel tidy, I close it. When I want the space to feel a little more lively, I open it and let the books become part of the room.”

厨房、浴室，以及众多的藏书，所有与日常相关的功能都被安静地收纳在统一的壁板之后，空间也因此显得格外沉静。于是，那些被 Vincent 收藏其中的中古家具、当代陶器与艺术画作，便自然地浮现出来，在克制的背景里慢慢显出它们各自的存在感。也正是在这样的处理里，能够更清楚地感受到他一贯的空间观：建筑、室内与物件从来不是彼此分开的部分，而是需要被当作一个整体来思考。

The kitchen, bathroom, and even his vast collection of books are all quietly tucked behind a continuous wall of panels, giving the space a deep sense of calm. Against this restrained backdrop, Vincent’s collection of vintage furniture, contemporary ceramics, and artworks naturally comes forward, each piece speaking in a quiet but distinct way. It is also here that his enduring spatial philosophy becomes especially clear: architecture, interiors, and objects are never separate elements, but parts of a whole that must always be considered together.

通往顶层的楼梯被完整地保留下来，踩上去时，仍能听见一种厚重而缓慢的回响。二楼的主卧由旧时的客厅改造而成，保留了原有空间的开阔感，也因此拥有很充沛的自然光。与之相对的，是一间以炭灰色为主调的电视室，气氛更内向，也更私密。

The staircase leading to the upper floor has been fully preserved, and each step still carries a deep, resonant sound. On the second floor, the main bedroom was created from what used to be the old living room, retaining a sense of openness and receiving generous natural light. In contrast, a charcoal-toned TV room feels far more inward and private.

而真正让人眼前一亮的，是顶层的阁楼。拆掉原本的隔墙之后，十七世纪留下来的木梁结构完整地显露出来，空间一下被打开了。Vincent 将这里改造成一个开放式的阁楼套房，地面铺着回收而来的老木料，北侧的窗外还能望见城市里的教堂尖顶。这里的功能依旧被收在墙板之后，但整个氛围已经明显不同了，更多了一层被木质包裹着的温暖与舒适。

The real surprise, though, was the attic on the top floor. Once the old partition walls were removed, the original seventeenth-century timber structure was revealed in full, opening up the space completely. Vincent turned it into an open loft suite, with reclaimed old wood laid across the floor and a north-facing window framing the church spires of the city beyond. The functional elements are still tucked behind wall panels, but the atmosphere here feels noticeably different — warmer, softer, and held together by the comfort of wood.

文森特常说自己是一个敏感的人，这种天赋被他巧妙地转化为空间中的感官语言。指尖所及，是回收实木地板的温润、比利时蓝石的清冷、以及意大利灰泥墙面的细腻颗粒。跟随文森特行走在他的家中，能清晰地感知到，那些被总结为‘温暖极简主义’的理论，全然生长于他具体的生活。

Vincent often says that he is a sensitive person, and in his home that sensitivity never feels abstract. It comes through slowly in the materials, the light, and the way surfaces meet the hand. Beneath the fingertips, there is the warmth of reclaimed timber flooring, the coolness of Belgian bluestone, and the fine grain of Italian plaster walls. Walking through the house with Vincent, you can clearly feel that what is often described as “warm minimalism” did not begin as a theory imposed on space. It seems to have grown, little by little, out of the way he actually lives.

走到这里，我们也渐渐明白，为什么 Vincent 总是拒绝被简单地归入“极简主义”之中。早在世纪之交，当许多设计还在追逐新的形式和风格时，他已经把注意力放回到居住本身，去思考什么才是真正能够长久留下来的东西。也正因为如此，这个空间直到今天看起来依然成立，甚至仍会让人产生很强的共鸣。Vincent 在意的从来不是潮流，而是生活里那些更本质、也更持久的部分——如何创造一个真正能够承载日常，并随着时间慢慢变得更深厚的庇护所。

By this point, we began to understand why Vincent has always resisted being simply defined through the label of “minimalism.” As early as the turn of the century, while much of design was still chasing new forms and shifting styles, he had already turned his attention back to the essence of dwelling itself, asking what could truly endure over time. Perhaps that is why this house still feels so convincing today, and why it continues to resonate so strongly in the present. Vincent has never seemed interested in trends. What matters to him are the more essential and lasting parts of life — how to create a refuge that can truly hold everyday living, and grow deeper with time.