over 75 birdhouse designs explore the concept of home at MAD brussels exhibition

Home Sweet Home: reimagining birdhouses through design

Home Sweet Home is an exhibition at MAD Brussels curated by Connie Hüsser that examines the concept of home through the typology of the birdhouse. The project brings together more than 75 birdhouse designs by Belgian and international designers, including Sabine Marcelis, Muller Van Severen, Max Lamb, Philippe Malouin, Shishi San, and others. Through this collective body of work, the exhibition positions the birdhouse as a design object that connects architecture, care, and coexistence across species.

In uncertain times, when the world seems to be faltering on many levels, the idea of home takes on a deeper and more poignant meaning. A home is more than a physical place; it is a refuge, a space of safety, identity, and care. But what does ‘home’ mean today? And for whom does it truly exist? Home Sweet Home starts from these fundamental questions and focuses on a small yet meaningful object: the birdhouse. What initially appears to be a modest functional item is transformed into a powerful symbol of coexistence, care, and empathy. ‘A small object like a bird’s nest can evoke an entire world,’ says Dieter Van Den Storm, Artistic Director of MAD Brussels. ‘It is both fragile and strong at the same time, just like the idea of home itself. After all, there really is no place like home.’

Linde Freya Tangelder | all images courtesy of MAD Brussels

Exploring Home: Birdhouses as Objects of Care and Coexistence

The exhibition is curated by Connie Hüsser, a Swiss interior stylist, journalist, exhibition maker, and curator. Throughout her career, she has developed a sharp eye and an intuitive feel for the unexpected. For more than twenty years, she has been creating distinctive scenographies: bold collages in which objects, materials, and colors come together, often anticipating emerging cultural trends. Since 2018, Hüsser has been traveling the world with Objects with Love, an exhibition project presenting a carefully curated selection of original designs by contemporary designers, with particular attention to a younger generation. In 2019, Connie Hüsser was awarded the Swiss Grand Prix Award for Design. In addition, she has been working with Vitra since 2004 and designed the colorful Leo smiley sponge series for the Danish design brand HAY.

Birdhouses make it possible for humans and birds to coexist. They not only allow us to observe and study the lives of our feathered companions up close, but also function as artificial refuges carefully created by human hands. Within this context, the concept of home takes on a broader meaning. Each birdhouse bears witness to human care and engagement, inviting reflection on migration, ecology, and shared habitats. With Home Sweet Home, Connie Hüsser encourages us to rethink what living truly means. Not only for ourselves, but also for the many other forms of life with whom we share this world.

Ferréol Babin

More than 75 Interpretations of the Birdhouse Typology

Belgian artist Linde Freya Tangelder on her creation: ‘With A Notch, I wanted to create a shelter in which the bird feels safe, without being cut off from its surroundings. The design sits somewhere between a pavilion, a wall cabinet, and a chair: a kind of outdoor house with an open view. Wood was an obvious choice. The carvings refer to my Sculpting Archetypes series, which consists of gouged and lacquered wood, shaped into sculptural, primitive archetypes, with carvings that reveal the natural tulipwood beneath.’

For Home Sweet Home, Hüsser invited more than 75 designers to rethink the birdhouse. Each design is a unique treasure in its own right: an object in which material, form, and color reflect the designer’s unique identity. Ranging from ceramic and metal to wood and textiles, some birdhouses appear delicate and precious, others robust or playful, functional or distinctly sculptural. Belgian designer Bram Vanderbeke created a birdhouse in cast aluminum, while Linde Freya Tangelder explored her signature architectural language using tulipwood. French designer Maya Eline Leroy embraced color through air-drying clay, gouache, and acrylic paint. British designer Bethan Laura Wood, Dutch designers Sabine Marcelisand Roosje van Donselaar, and Korean designer Kwangho Lee also conceived birdhouses in their recognizable styles. In total, more than 75 leading Belgian and international designers will usher in spring at MAD Brussels. 

Bram Vanderbeke

Audrey Large

James Shaw

Roosje van Donselaar

project info:

name: Home Sweet Home

curator: Connie Hüsser | @conniedeluxe

venue: MAD Brussels | @mad.brussels
location: MAD Brussels, Nieuwe Graanmarkt 10, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

dates: March 11th – April 25th, 2026

participating designers: Adrianus Kundert (NL), Akiko Mori (JP), Anna Zimmermann (CH), Andrin Bührer (CH) & Marko Peric (CRO), Antrei Hartikainen (FI), Arthur Vandergucht (BE), Atelier Fig (NL), Audrey Large (FR), Aurélien Veyrat (FR), Bertjan Pot (NL), Bethan Laura Wood (UK), BNAG / Oliver-Selim Boualam & Lukas Marstaller (DE), Bram Vanderbeke (BE), Bregje Sliepenbeek (NL), Carsten in der Elst (DE), Céline Arnould (CH), Chris Kabel (NL), Christian Neuenschwander (CH), Clara von Zweigbergk (SE), Daniel Rybakken (NO), David Taylor (SCT), Derek Wilson (IRL), Diego Faivre (FR), Elakform (SE), Fabien Cappello (FR), Fango / Francisco Jaramillo (CO), Ferréol Babin (FR), Flora Mano Lechner (AT), Fredrik Paulsen (SE), Germans Ermičs (NL), Hanna Whitehead (ISL), ​ Hyunjee Jung (KR), James Shaw (UK), Jenna Kaës (FR), Jenny Nordberg (SE), Jochen Holz (DE), Joseph Dupré (UK), Julien Renault (FR) & Levi Dethier (BE), Juri Roemmel (CH), Kajsa Willner (SE), Kiki van Eijk (NL), Klemens Schillinger (AT), Kristine Five Melvær (NO), Kuo Duo (KR), Kwangho Lee (KR), Lex Pott (NL), Linde Freya Tangelder (BE), Lukas Wegwerth & Corinna Dehn (DE), Marco Campardo (IT), Mark Braun (DE), Martino Gamper (IT), Max Lamb (UK), Maya Eline Leroy (SE), Michela Castagnaro (IT), Miguel Lauber (CH), Muller Van Severen (BE), Noelani Rutz (CH), Nicolas Zanoni (FR), Odd Matter (NL), Olga Flór (BE), Ori Orisun Merhav (BE), Pablo Francisco Figueroa (CL), Pettersen & Hein (DK), Philippe Malouin (UK / CA), Rasmus Nossbring (SE), Roosje van Donselaar (NL), Sabine Marcelis (NL), Sam Baron (FR), Seongil Choi (KR), Shigeki Fujishiro (JP), Silvio Rebholz (DE), Simon Klenell (SE), Soft Baroque (UK), Stephen Burks Man Made (US), Shishi San (BE), TAF (SE), Vormen (BE), Waltter Mahlberg (FI), Wang & Söderström (SE)