- Art & Design
- Other
In a workshop in Oostrozebeke, the fire never smoulders for long. There, brothers Steven and Brecht Dujardyn continue a family tradition in which craftsmanship, a sense of form and sustained discipline are central. Their workshop, Dujardyn Artconcept, is the result of a youth between anvil and forge hammer, under the quiet but determined gaze of father Wilfried, himself a passionate blacksmith.
Restoring antique carriages was once the inspiration to expand into a full-fledged craft practice, in which old craftsmanship is explored again and again. Steven and Brecht Dujardyn travelled through Belgium and France to refine their techniques. Brecht also followed an intensive training programme with the Compagnons du Devoir, a French trade association that has been training craftsmen to the highest standards for centuries. 
Today, they design and forge everything themselves: from delicate window locks and keys to monumental gates, bronze garden sculptures and wrought-iron chandeliers with crystal. Each piece emerges from fire and steel, but also from observation and precision. The forms are never casual, the connections show how each part fits into the whole. The brothers see it as their job to make forgings blend with their surroundings. 
For castings of parts in bronze or silver, the brothers make their own refractory moulds, based on hand-sculpted models
That is why every project starts with making sketches, models and moulds. Sometimes that means forging new pliers for a specific bend, sometimes reshaping a lost Art Nouveau flower in glass and bronze. Each project is unique, each detail tailored to the bigger picture. For castings of parts in bronze or silver, the brothers make their own refractory moulds, based on hand-sculpted models. Their historical knowledge gives them the freedom to both create minimalist touches and faithfully reconstruct heritage. 
What they do sits between art and craft. A distinction to which they themselves attach little importance. "You are only considered an artist after you die," it sounds. What matters is the result: ironwork that nestles into architecture as if it has always been there. Dujardyn Artconcept seeks to understand the past and carefully translate it to today. And as the brothers themselves put it, ‘the blacksmith forges the happiness of his own life.’
Curious about the book Belgian Craftsmanship III? It is available via shop.imagicasa.be.
© Dujardyn Artconcept, Philippe Debeerst, Thomas and Siemon Vanderhulst - Wandercam
Text by Carolien Depamelaere