Rare Maarten Van Severen aluminium table , designed by Maarten Van Severen in 1988 and manufactured by MVS Studio — thus made in his own studio by Maarten himself.
Minimalism versus maximalism.
Anyone who appreciates the essence of design loves Maarten Van Severen 's designs: masterful combinations of pure beauty and sleek efficiency. The T88A aluminium table is a perfect example of this. Here, too, the form of a table has been reduced to an absolute minimum, without ever losing strength, precision, or presence.
Maarten Van Severen designed the table to be used. A table is a place to meet friends, eat with your family, work, and create. That is precisely why this design is so strong: it feels natural, clear, logical, and perfectly balanced.
This example is in authentic condition and has always been carefully preserved by a private collector . What makes this piece extra special is that it is an early version, manufactured by MVS Studio , and thus comes directly from Maarten Van Severen's own workshop in Ghent. This gives the table not only aesthetic power but also a special historical and collector's value.
In the late 1980s, Van Severen started making furniture in his own studio in Ghent. Every design was built, refined, and finished by hand, driven by an uncompromising pursuit of perfection in form, detail, and execution. His designs are simple, clear, and well thought-out, but behind that simplicity lies an almost radical discipline. He preferred to call himself a maximalist : someone who tirelessly applies all his energy, knowledge, and resources to achieve the desired end result, even when it ultimately appears minimalist.
Maarten Van Severen was a Belgian furniture designer and interior architect and is considered one of the few Belgian designers who managed to reach the international design elite. Without a doubt, he is one of the most important Belgian designers of the past decades. His furniture designs, with their characteristic clean lines, are known and admired worldwide.
His aim was for a piece of furniture to look as if it had always been there.
The T88A perfectly embodies that idea. A design that has nothing superfluous, and precisely for that reason says it all.
Van Severen passed away at the age of barely 48 , but left behind a body of work that is still regarded today as a highlight of Belgian design. This table is a rare, pure, and particularly powerful example of that.
